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Nick looked around, trying to find the ladder they were talking about. The platform he was standing on was long and skinny, surrounded by metal struts. If he walked along it, he’d have to maneuver around the struts, but it’d be doable. And there, at the other end of the platform, was a metal ladder, leading down to another platform.

He took a step toward it.

Then, “Please.”

He closed his eyes.

“You can’t leave me up here,” Rebecca Firestone said, voice quavering. “I don’t want to die.”

“Nick!” His dad had gotten hold of the megaphone again. “You need to movenow! We’ll help the woman.”

A loud crash exploded above, and Nick’s eyes snapped open as the bridge groaned. Nick stumbled toward the edge of the platform, managing to grab one of the struts before he could tumble over the side. He looked up in time to see Owen throw Seth into one of the spires. The spire broke with a metallic groan. It fell, bouncing off the struts, orange sparks shooting out with each impact. The cops below shouted as they ran. Nick saw Cap grab his dad and pull him out of the way as the spire fell onto one of the cruisers. The windows shattered and the car crumpled. Dad struggled against Cap, trying to get to the nearest ladder.

Nick knew what he had to do. He didn’t like it. But even though he wasn’t an Extraordinary, he sure as hell could act like one.

He turned away from the ladder and back toward Rebecca Firestone.

She struggled against the shadows around her, gasping as she stared up at the battle happening above them. Nick reached up and grabbed one of her legs, and she screamed as she looked down at him.

“Stop kicking,” he snapped at her. “I’m trying to help you.”

“Get me down!”

“I will if you stop yelling!”

“Don’t shout at me! Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Oh my god,” Nick muttered. “I hate you so much.” He tried pulling on her leg, but the shadows held. He thought about trying to climb the spire, but he couldn’t find anything to hold on to that wasn’t a body part, and he didnotwant to climb Rebecca Firestone. If only there was a way to get rid of the shadows, he could—wait! Holy crap. That was it.

He reached into his pocket for his phone.

Only to remember how it’d been crushed when Owen had taken him. For all he knew, it was still on the sidewalk in front of the Gray house.

He looked up at Rebecca Firestone. “Do you have your phone?”

“What? Why do you need my phone? Get your own! I can’t upgrade for another seven months—”

“You are theworstperson to rescue. I’m not trying to take it. I want the flashlight on it.”

“Why?”

Nick gave very serious consideration to turning around and leaving her right there. “For the shadows! It’ll—”

Thumpthumpthumpthump.

Nick turned slowly.

A helicopter approached the bridge. Nick could see an Action News logo on the tail. Someone was hanging out the side, a camera pointed in their direction. “How many helicopters do you guys have? That seems excessive.”

“Oh thank god,” Rebecca Firestone said. “They’ll rescue me.”

“Lady, you’re hanging from the top of a bridge. There’s no way they can land. You need to get your phone. It’s the only way I can get you—oh no.”

A spotlight on the front of the helicopter burst to life.

It hit Nick first, blinding him. He raised his hands to shield his eyes.

It rose toward Rebecca Firestone. The effect was instantaneous. The shadows holding her in place disappeared. She fell, landing hard on the platform. She bounced… and rolled off the side.