Julian Sterling nodded briefly at Silas. "Please convince our guest to change his decision."
She didn't yell or charge. She simply stepped forward smoothly and silently, her face showing a calm, professional expression. She raised a hand, and the panther-like creature appeared beside her.
It was a beautiful and scary creature, designed to only eliminate its target.
"Jonah!" Seraph's voice came through in his ear, sounding urgent. "We're blind! The balcony is shielded with privacy wards! Talk to me! What's happening?"
The shadow panther attacked.
Its movement was smooth and deadly, almost mesmerizing. It made no sound as its paws glided across the floor, launching itself at him.
Jonah reacted on pure instinct. "Maul!"
His own Progeny appeared with a loud THUD that shook the ground. He met the panther's direct attack.
The two creatures slammed into each other. It was clear they weren't equal opponents. Maul was of pure force. The shadow panther was precise. It didn't try to match Maul's power. Instead, it twisted away at the last second, its body flowing like smoke to avoid Maul's attack. Its sharp claws raked Maul's side, leaving deep, burning cuts.
Jonah stumbled back, making a sound of pain as he felt the stinging feeling of the hit through his link with his Progeny.
Silas was already in motion, her fighting style perfectly matched to her creation. Her movements were precise, effective, and extremely professional.
Jonah was immediately on the defensive. He summoned Nyx, trying to use her speed to find an opening, to get around them, but Silas's shadow panther was always one step ahead. It moved with a scary grace, blocking every attack and pushing him back to the edge of the balcony.
"There's no point to this, Jonah," Sterling commented, watching the duel with clear disinterest. "Her power is a more developed form of yours. It's stable and can be fully controlled. She is what you could become, if you'd just let go of your emotions."
Jonah gritted his teeth, dodging another swift strike from the shadow panther. He was trapped.
He needed a diversion. He needed chaos.
"Seraph! Vanessa!" he shouted, hoping they could hear him through the wards. "Plan B! Now!"
________________________________________________
Down in the crowded ballroom, Seraph heard the faint sounds of the fight from the balcony. She met Vanessa's eyes across the room. There was no need for words. They both knew what "Plan B" meant.
Seraph fitted her uniform as she to walked calmly towards the middle of the room, where a huge, ice sculpture of the Sterling Syndicate's logo stood, shinning under the lights. As she moved, she casually picked up a heavy tray of champagne glasses from a passing waiter.
At the same time, Vanessa, who was standing near the edge of the ballroom, secretly pulled out a small, modified datapad. She found a quiet corner behind a large, exotic plant and began to work, her fingers moving fast across the screen.
Seraph reached the ice sculpture. She saw the head of security, a serious looking man in a black suit, watching her closely. She gave him a polite, fake smile.
Then, she swung the tray.
The tray hit the ice sculpture with a loud sound. The logo broke apart into countless pieces of ice.
Women screamed. Men shouted in shock. The calm atmosphere of the event quickly turned into widespread panic.
"Oh my goodness!" Seraph yelled, her voice full of perfectly acted shock. "I am so, so clumsy!"
The head of security and two of his guards immediately began to push through the panicked crowd toward her, their faces serious.
Across the room, Vanessa finished her work. She hit the final command.
The lights in the ballroom blinked out, making the room confusingly dark. Almost immediately, the fire sprinklers began to work. Water poured down from the ceiling sprinklers, soaking the guests with cold water.
________________________________________________
Up on the balcony, the sudden darkness and the noise of the alarms was the opening Jonah desperately needed.
For a crucial second, Silas and her shadow panther froze. Their fighting instructions found it hard to adjust to the sudden, unexpected changes in the area.
"Specter!" he whispered.
His Phantom Weaver appeared and instantly created a glowing illusion of Jonah. The illusion screamed in fake terror and ran towards the door leading back into the gala. Silas and her panther, their senses confused by the darkness and the noise, quickly attacked the fake copy.
Jonah acted without hesitation. He turned and quickly ran towards the balcony's edge. He then jumped onto the railing, his heart pounding rapidly. For a second, his shape was dark against the night sky, a hundred floors above the ground.
Then, with all his power, he summoned Nyx beneath him. His Progeny appeared in a flash of dark energy, catching him on her back. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novelFirｅ.net
They dropped into the night sky, flying down toward a helipad on a lower roof that he had seen earlier.
He looked back just in time to see Silas realize her mistake. She stood on the edge of the balcony, a furious, frustrated expression on her face as she watched him escape. It was the first real emotion he had seen from her.
He found Seraph and Vanessa on the helipad, already pulling open the door of black business jet.
"Get in!" Seraph yelled over the loud alarms.
They all quickly entered. Vanessa activated the ignition controls, and the shuttle's engines powered up with a whine. They ascended from the helipad just as Silas and a team of heavily armed guards stormed the roof. The guards were equipped with advanced sonic rifles that discharged glowing rings of concussive force, which buzzed past the cockpit.
The shuttle turned sharply and shot off into the night, leaving the building behind them.
Jonah slumped into a seat, his body shaking and his mind repeatedly replaying the brutal manner in which Silas had fought. He observed his friends, their attire soaked, their faces serious under the shuttle's dim lights.
They walked into extreme danger and only just managed to escape alive.