The brash light flared to life in the same instant that the steely cylinder slipped from her grasp. She tried to catch it in the air, but again it eluded her. It felt like she was trying to get ahold of a fish she’d just pulled from a lake. It leapt between her hands twice more, flashing in every direction along the way, then tumbled toward the tiled floor beneath her. She threw out the toe of her boot to catch it, but only succeeded in kicking the electric candle over the low parapet. It turned end over end, falling three stories, before popping upon the cobbles below.
