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The building had no name, just floors stacked like bad decisions.
Rain turned the concrete into glass.
Kade was already moving when the first knife came.
He cleared a gap between rooftops, landed sideways, and let momentum drag him into a roll that shaved skin off his shoulder.
He came up sprinting. A man dropped in front of him, blade high. Kade ran at him, planted a foot on the man’s thigh, vaulted, and snapped the man’s neck on the way over. The body hit the roof a half-second later.
No pause.
Another attacker slid in low. Kade jumped, caught a dangling cable, swung wide, and kicked off the wall. His heel crushed the man’s nose flat. While the man staggered, Kade ripped the knife from his hand and drove it into the side of the knee. The joint folded inward with a wet sound. Kade finished it with a downward stab into the collarbone and kept running.
Breath burned. Muscles screamed. He ignored all of it.
He vaulted a stairwell railing and dropped two stories. Someone followed faster than expected, knife flashing. Kade caught the wrist mid-air, slammed them both into the wall, and headbutted until the face went slack. He dragged the blade across the man’s throat and let gravity take the rest.
Boots pounded above him.
Kade sprinted up a slanted roof, leapt, grabbed the edge of a higher building, and pulled himself up as a blade stabbed where his hand had been. He rolled onto the rooftop and met the last two head-on.
Close.
Ugly.
One cut his arm. Shallow. Acceptable. Kade answered by slamming his elbow into the man’s throat and stabbing straight down into the chest, riding the blade until the body stopped fighting. The last attacker hesitated, just long enough.
Kade ran up the wall, kicked off, and came down with both knees into the man’s shoulders. The spine gave. Kade finished it with a clean thrust through the base of the skull.
Rain washed the roof. Blood followed the grooves and vanished over the edge.
Kade stood there shaking, knife dripping, city breathing below him. Then he wiped the blade on his sleeve, vaulted the edge, and dropped back into the vertical maze,
another cut moving through concrete and night.
Rain turned the concrete into glass.
Kade was already moving when the first knife came.
He cleared a gap between rooftops, landed sideways, and let momentum drag him into a roll that shaved skin off his shoulder.
He came up sprinting. A man dropped in front of him, blade high. Kade ran at him, planted a foot on the man’s thigh, vaulted, and snapped the man’s neck on the way over. The body hit the roof a half-second later.
No pause.
Another attacker slid in low. Kade jumped, caught a dangling cable, swung wide, and kicked off the wall. His heel crushed the man’s nose flat. While the man staggered, Kade ripped the knife from his hand and drove it into the side of the knee. The joint folded inward with a wet sound. Kade finished it with a downward stab into the collarbone and kept running.
Breath burned. Muscles screamed. He ignored all of it.
He vaulted a stairwell railing and dropped two stories. Someone followed faster than expected, knife flashing. Kade caught the wrist mid-air, slammed them both into the wall, and headbutted until the face went slack. He dragged the blade across the man’s throat and let gravity take the rest.
Boots pounded above him.
Kade sprinted up a slanted roof, leapt, grabbed the edge of a higher building, and pulled himself up as a blade stabbed where his hand had been. He rolled onto the rooftop and met the last two head-on.
Close.
Ugly.
One cut his arm. Shallow. Acceptable. Kade answered by slamming his elbow into the man’s throat and stabbing straight down into the chest, riding the blade until the body stopped fighting. The last attacker hesitated, just long enough.
Kade ran up the wall, kicked off, and came down with both knees into the man’s shoulders. The spine gave. Kade finished it with a clean thrust through the base of the skull.
Rain washed the roof. Blood followed the grooves and vanished over the edge.
Kade stood there shaking, knife dripping, city breathing below him. Then he wiped the blade on his sleeve, vaulted the edge, and dropped back into the vertical maze,
another cut moving through concrete and night.
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