Madeleine launched a ferocious kick at her brother’s head, catching him in the neck—and as he stumbled, she kicked the gun out of his grasp, sending it spinning across the carpet.
Cameron bared his teeth at her—but a commotion from the halls on the floor below them made them all pause. It was the sound of what seemed like a thousand boots, and shouts suddenly filled the air.
“Police!” came the shouts. “Police! Get down on the ground, now! Hands behind your backs!”
The police. They’d broken past the drone barricade and gotten in. Bruce turned his head toward Cameron and Madeleine, both of whom appeared stunned for a moment. Then Madeleine glanced down at the laptops. She knows. The drones had all been disabled. Her laptops had been destroyed, wiped out by Lucius’s security virus.
Cameron shouted a retreat order to the rest of his men. The three other Nightwalkers finally lost their nerve. One of them grabbed the nearest hostage, sending others screaming and running for cover. Bruce ducked as another fired a wild shot, the bullet clipping the balcony railing. Then he raced after them. They burst through the balcony doors and back into the hall, where a few police had already made their way to the top of the stairs. Cameron glanced from one end of the hall to the other. GCPD was swarming up from both ends, sealing off any chance of escape. Madeleine looked back at Bruce with a look of shock and betrayal.
“You unlocked the drones,” she said.
“Now we’re even,” Bruce replied.
To his surprise, a tiny smile touched the edge of her lips.
She took off running with Cameron toward the nearest stairwell door. Bruce sprinted after them—then halted for a split second. Near the door stood Richard, frozen in panic at the chaos unraveling around him. He held his gun out in front of him, his arms trembling. He stared at Bruce’s helmet with wide eyes and cringed, bracing himself for an attack.
Bruce just stood for an instant, watching his old friend shake. “Get out of here,” he said in a low rumble.
Richard needed no second bidding. With everything unraveling around him, he dropped the gun on the floor and ran in the same direction as the hostages.
Bruce had no time to watch Richard go. He bolted through the stairwell door before the police could reach them. Half a flight of stairs ahead of him was Cameron, who seemed to move with a speed and agility that belied everyone else. Cameron had scarcely reached the next step before he was five steps up and sprinting along the second set of stairs. Bruce pushed himself to go faster. All of his concentration, all the skills he had practiced endlessly at the gym and in simulations, now zeroed in on this moment, on the possibility that Cameron might still escape after all of this was over. No. Bruce flew up the steps after them.
Cameron paused one flight of stairs above Bruce, giving him enough warning to dodge as Cameron fired down at him. They sprinted up another flight. Cameron stumbled on one of the steps, slowing him down for a couple of precious seconds. Madeleine darted back to help him up. Bruce took advantage of the moment to hop effortlessly up onto the metal railing of the stairs, then leaped up and grabbed the next set of railings above him. He used his momentum to kick off against the railings and swing over them.
Cameron whirled, but Bruce anticipated his reaction. Bruce lunged forward and seized Cameron’s arm, feeling the cold metal of his joints. He slammed the gun and Cameron’s hand against the wall. The gun dropped and Bruce kicked it away. Several flights below them came the sounds of police as they headed up. They weren’t going to catch up in time, Bruce thought. Cameron pulled out one of WayneTech’s smoke bombs.
All Bruce could do was shout out a warning to the police below. “Incoming!”
Cameron threw the bomb down the stairwell, and an explosion of smoke engulfed the police.
Cameron struck out again at Bruce. This time, Bruce failed to dodge the hit. The blow was so strong that it sent him careening to one side, his back hitting the railings hard. Cameron fought to grab his neck with both hands. Bruce leaned back as far as he could go without falling over—he lashed out with fists, connecting again, and then barreled into Cameron, sending both of them crashing against the wall.
A click and a cold barrel nudged Bruce in the head. “Let him go,” Madeleine said.
She won’t shoot me, Bruce thought. But her act was so sudden that it made him freeze. And a moment was all Cameron needed. He shoved Bruce off him, then sprinted up the final flight of stairs and out through the door leading to the roof.
Madeleine stared at Bruce for an instant. The smoke from the bomb had reached them now, shrouding them in haze. “I should’ve known,” she finally said. He knew she was referring to the code that had disabled the drones.
“Turn yourself in,” Bruce replied. The helmet deepened his words. “Please.”
She held her position for a second longer, then turned away. “They’ll have to catch me first,” she called back at him. Bruce tried to seize her ankle, but she darted out of the way too quickly and vanished into the smoke. He cursed and ran after her.
The cold night air hit Bruce as he burst out onto the roof. Smoke poured out behind him. For an instant, the space was empty, almost desolate—were it not for the flashing lights coming from the street below, and the shouts of police. Somewhere in the distance came the sound of an approaching helicopter. Bruce turned in a quick circle. Where had they gone?
“You’re dead.”
Cameron’s voice came from behind him. An instant later, Bruce felt an arm lock tightly around his neck right beneath his helmet, both skin and metal pressing hard against his throat. He gasped, fighting for air. One arm rocketed back as he tried to strike Cameron’s face with his elbow, but Cameron tightened his grip, choking off more air.
A click. Through the haze, Bruce saw a gun pointed straight at him. At the other end of it was Madeleine, her face grim and determined.
“What are you waiting for?” Cameron growled behind Bruce. “Shoot him. We don’t have time to stick around.”
Madeleine’s dark eyes met Bruce’s. He saw her fingers tighten around the gun. “Madeleine,” Bruce managed to choke out.
She shifted the gun slightly—so that it pointed at Cameron. “He’s not our enemy, Cam,” she said calmly. The sound of a helicopter grew louder. “Let him go.”
“What?” Cameron’s voice turned incredulous. “He just ruined our whole operation! He just—”
“He ruined your operation,” Madeleine interrupted. “My mission was always to seek justice. Bruce Wayne is not corrupt. He is not the person who killed our mother, who cheated you of your treatments when you were dying. And killing him is not justice. Let him go, Cam.”
“Traitor,” Cameron sneered, even as Bruce felt the strength in his arm waver. “What happened to you, sis?”