Hailey swung around the south end of the block, opposite the gunfire. She took a quick survey from afar, squinting in the dim light. Most of the street lights were out (shot out, in fact, as she peered more closely), and she could make out guns peeking through second floor windows and over the edge of balconies. People were streaming out of the block to the south and east as fast as they could, fleeing the gunfire and the monsters.
Oh god... not this. Please, not this. Not again.
Viper's men hadn't learned how to deal with the golems yet, apparently. As one of them burst onto the street from the alley between two houses, a rattle of gunfire peppered it. It moved, as if sentient, to respond, sliding across the street. As it did, a rougher-sounding gun—a hunting rifle, in comparison to the modern military pops from Viper's men—opened up in return.
A balcony window shattered, just above a rifle that Hailey could barely see even from her vantage. The man holding it didn't move an inch, even with a gunshot that missed him by centimeters.
Return fire flooded the street. A puff of blood behind a fence as one of Brian's men took a bullet and collapsed. The golem continued forward, approaching the patch of grass along the sidewalk in front of the houses. It slid up the curb, making for the house with the most gunfire.
The sidewalk exploded.
Hailey looked away before the flash blinded her. As she turned back, she realized it was actually the grass that had exploded, though the sidewalk around it hadn't done much better. A crater had completely replaced the stretch of concrete and dirt.
The golem was gone.
Okay, so explosives can kill them... Good to know.
As she watched, Viper's men were starting to retreat. Police cars rolled up, lights and sirens blaring. A helicopter with a spotlight beat its way in on the air currents, not that far from where Hailey was flapping in place, and another was en route. The mercenaries fled to the west, blending in with the civilians or just fading into the forest. Hailey considered diving after one of them, but she wasn't sure she could beat them one on one. Not in her current state.
She was totally exhausted after the day she'd had. She'd flown up to Tacoma faster than she'd ever flown before. Even now, she was relying on her tourmaline pendant just to stay airborne.
Hailey kept scanning the area, and tried to force her eyes into better night vision. She wanted to catch Brian, or whichever of Brian's men was summoning the golems. She couldn't see anything though, just tons of faceless people. He could be anyone, or he could even be hiding inside one of the houses. It wasn't like she could just go through every house and interrogate them one by one—as tempted as she was by that idea.
Jess... Oh god. She must be in so much pain right now.
Reluctantly, Hailey gave up on finding anyone. She'd lost track of Viper's men, and she had no idea where Brian's might be. It was too much of a mess, and now with rescue vehicles and the huge police presence, she couldn't do anything.
I can help. Jess would want me to help.
There was someone crying out in pain. Hailey zeroed in on it. She dove toward the wrecked house, landing in the debris outside the front door. Firefighters were already trying to bust though the front door. Hailey hurried forward and slammed into it with her shoulder, blasting through it.
With the two guys at her back, she sprinted through the house and up the damaged staircase. A young man was trapped underneath a fallen beam, his arm pinned. The firefighters started to call for equipment, but Hailey shook her head.
She grabbed the huge crossbeam with both arms, prepping the spell as she did. She was still exhausted, and could feel the magic draining from the gemstone just to pull this off, but she had to. After what she'd done down on the street... she couldn't leave.
The firefighters braced the guy, then one of them gave her a signal. Hailey grunted with exertion as she heaved the beam up and out of the way. They slid him out, and started bandaging his wound even as they carried him bodily from the building. A split-second later, Hailey found out why they were rushing.
The beam, lifted free of supporting the structure frame, split in half. The ceiling collapsed, with Hailey underneath.