own bones.
Disgusting but true.
There was a price to pay for beating herself up like that, but the upside was irresistibleâbefore Gaia began to fade, most losers were on the pavement.
Not this guy. Shadow Man was fast. More than fast. A real speed demon.
Gaia and the shadow whipped along the path through the heart of the park, jumped a hedge, and skirted a gnarled old oak. Gaia didnât gain a step. She could never get close enough to see more than a hazy form in the distance. Several times she almost convinced herself that nothing was out there but shadowsâno man at all. But she didnât stop.
By now Gaia was solidly in the zone. Nothing mattered in the world but catching the guy in the shadows. The chessboards came and went in a blur. The playground. The sprinklers. Then they were out of the park, powering north on Fifth Avenue.
In the back of her mind nagged the vague thought that she had no clear reason to pursue him except for the fact that he was running away from her. But the chase was on, and her instincts pushed her hard to catch him.
She zipped past knots of people and saw startled faces turning her way. A woman jumped back as Gaia thundered past. A guy dropped a bag of groceries, and apples went bouncing along the sidewalk.
Gaia didnât slow. They had been running now for a solid minute at a speed that would have been impressive for a ten-second sprint. Her chest heaved in and out as she tried to draw in all the air in New York.
Then she realized she was gaining on the shadow. Not much, but the gap was definitely closing.
Another hundred yards and she had gotten close enough to see that he was wearing some kind of long, floppy black coat. Not a trench coat, but something from a cowboy movie. A duster.
How could he run this fast in that thing?
Gaia followed as the duster flapped past the trendy crowd waiting outside Clementineâs, past the glowing signs at Starbuckâs, and on across fourteenth Street without even looking at the streams of passing traffic. Her heartbeat seemed to move up through her body with every step. One moment it was pounding against Gaiaâs ribs. The next it wasbeating in her throat. The next it was throbbing in her skull.
Shadow Man took a hard right onto a side street, then ducked down an alley. Gaia was right behind him. The gap between the two runners had closed to no more than fifty feet. Forty.
A mesh fence blocked one end of the alley. Gaia slowed a step, getting ready to fight, but the guy in the black coat didnât hesitate. He jumped up, landed one foot on a Dumpster, and sprang from there to the top of the fence. Two steps and he was over the ten-foot barrier. He hit the other side running.
âWhat?â
Gaia gasped.
She might not get scared, but she was still quite capable of being amazed.
Gaia ran up to the fence, looped her hands in the mesh, and flung herself upward. She flipped head over heels and her feet came down on the top of the gate. A very slick move.
Then the top of the gate sagged, and she fell.
The pavement wasnât friendly to Gaiaâs knee. She hit with a force that sent jolts of fire running up her thigh and set off flares of white light in her head.
Gaia stayed there for the space of two breaths. Then she got on her feet and ran again.
Black Coat had widened his lead on Gaia to a good hundred feet, but she soon had it back to fifty. He cutright again, this time along University Place. Gaia followed.
The pair sprinted past a series of nightclubs. The door of each one spilled out different music, but Gaia went past them so fast, they blended like notes in some insane song. Disco high C. Jazz G. Bass blues.
Thirty feet.
Shadow Man was wearing running shoes. Gaia could see them now. The off-white soles flashed at her under the flapping hem of his long coat. She found something comforting about the shoes. At least it was nice to know he wasnât running so fast in penny loafers.
Twenty feet.
A
Disgusting but true.
There was a price to pay for beating herself up like that, but the upside was irresistibleâbefore Gaia began to fade, most losers were on the pavement.
Not this guy. Shadow Man was fast. More than fast. A real speed demon.
Gaia and the shadow whipped along the path through the heart of the park, jumped a hedge, and skirted a gnarled old oak. Gaia didnât gain a step. She could never get close enough to see more than a hazy form in the distance. Several times she almost convinced herself that nothing was out there but shadowsâno man at all. But she didnât stop.
By now Gaia was solidly in the zone. Nothing mattered in the world but catching the guy in the shadows. The chessboards came and went in a blur. The playground. The sprinklers. Then they were out of the park, powering north on Fifth Avenue.
In the back of her mind nagged the vague thought that she had no clear reason to pursue him except for the fact that he was running away from her. But the chase was on, and her instincts pushed her hard to catch him.
She zipped past knots of people and saw startled faces turning her way. A woman jumped back as Gaia thundered past. A guy dropped a bag of groceries, and apples went bouncing along the sidewalk.
Gaia didnât slow. They had been running now for a solid minute at a speed that would have been impressive for a ten-second sprint. Her chest heaved in and out as she tried to draw in all the air in New York.
Then she realized she was gaining on the shadow. Not much, but the gap was definitely closing.
Another hundred yards and she had gotten close enough to see that he was wearing some kind of long, floppy black coat. Not a trench coat, but something from a cowboy movie. A duster.
How could he run this fast in that thing?
Gaia followed as the duster flapped past the trendy crowd waiting outside Clementineâs, past the glowing signs at Starbuckâs, and on across fourteenth Street without even looking at the streams of passing traffic. Her heartbeat seemed to move up through her body with every step. One moment it was pounding against Gaiaâs ribs. The next it wasbeating in her throat. The next it was throbbing in her skull.
Shadow Man took a hard right onto a side street, then ducked down an alley. Gaia was right behind him. The gap between the two runners had closed to no more than fifty feet. Forty.
A mesh fence blocked one end of the alley. Gaia slowed a step, getting ready to fight, but the guy in the black coat didnât hesitate. He jumped up, landed one foot on a Dumpster, and sprang from there to the top of the fence. Two steps and he was over the ten-foot barrier. He hit the other side running.
âWhat?â
Gaia gasped.
She might not get scared, but she was still quite capable of being amazed.
Gaia ran up to the fence, looped her hands in the mesh, and flung herself upward. She flipped head over heels and her feet came down on the top of the gate. A very slick move.
Then the top of the gate sagged, and she fell.
The pavement wasnât friendly to Gaiaâs knee. She hit with a force that sent jolts of fire running up her thigh and set off flares of white light in her head.
Gaia stayed there for the space of two breaths. Then she got on her feet and ran again.
Black Coat had widened his lead on Gaia to a good hundred feet, but she soon had it back to fifty. He cutright again, this time along University Place. Gaia followed.
The pair sprinted past a series of nightclubs. The door of each one spilled out different music, but Gaia went past them so fast, they blended like notes in some insane song. Disco high C. Jazz G. Bass blues.
Thirty feet.
Shadow Man was wearing running shoes. Gaia could see them now. The off-white soles flashed at her under the flapping hem of his long coat. She found something comforting about the shoes. At least it was nice to know he wasnât running so fast in penny loafers.
Twenty feet.
A
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