Pushing open the door, She closed it quietly behind them as she heard the elevator chime its arrival. She sucked in a breath. Damn it to Hades—Orion was closer than she thought.
And it wouldn’t be long before he figured out she’d already come and gone from her room. It wouldn’t be long before he caught her if they didn’t put some real space between them soon.
Orion was a hunter and being the best hunter in the universe meant he was also the best tracker. He could pick up a scent on the wind like a shark being attracted to a drop of blood in the ocean. He’d obviously found her trail without too much trouble. Following it would be easy.
“Come on,” she mouthed and waved her arm for Zander to follow her. She didn’t want to speak too loudly since there was no way of knowing how close Orion was. He could already be on the other side of the door for all she knew.
Turning, she bolted down the stairs, taking most of them two at a time. Not exactly graceful for a girl as petite as she was. Good thing she didn’t care about how she looked, only about how fast she could move. Hitting the bottom landing in the stairwell with a heavy thunk, she twisted and looked up the through the middle of the stairwell, peering over the banister.
Still no sign of Orion. Thank Gaia.
Zander peeked his head out the door then waved at her to follow. Instead of heading out the front door, Zander took a left and headed toward the restaurant.
“It’s an inconvenient time for lunch, don’t you think?” she whispered as she followed closely behind him.
“We’re not stopping to eat. The restaurant will have a back exit. Maybe the smells in the kitchen and in the alley will help disguise our getaway route a little more than if we just walked out the front door as expected.
“Good thinking.”
Maia glanced over her shoulder as they passed into the kitchen. Nothing. Maybe this really would work.
A yell from the lobby cut through the noise of the busy kitchen.
Then again, maybe it was just a matter of minutes before they were caught.
Pushing to run faster, she wove through the surprisingly large kitchen until they reached the back door, barreling through it with little care about what lay on the other side. It had to be better than what hunted them in the lobby. Together they tore down the alley like the buildings were on fire, splashing through puddles as rain continued to fall.
They came to the corner of Fifth Avenue and paused, deciding which way to go next. North toward the park or south toward downtown?
Zander pointed north. “I say we head back to the park. Back to where this all started. Maybe there’s something there to help us or maybe somewhere to hide.”
They took off down the sidewalk again but jogging was a lot harder on Fifth than it had been on the side street. A sea of open umbrellas clogged the sidewalk, making it almost impossible to find a pathway through. Ducking, they jogged underneath the canopy of umbrellas, bumping shoulders and briefcases as they went.
“Zander, stop,” she called. This wasn’t going to work. They couldn’t run the whole way to the park while fighting this kind of congestion on the sidewalk. “Come here.”
Maia wove through people until she stood in an alcove of a building, just off to the side of the sidewalk and its millions of commuters and tourists. There had to be a better way. Or at least another way.
“We can’t keep going like this. It will take forever to get to the park with this many people on the sidewalk. Besides, there won’t even be any people in the park today with all this rain. We’d be out in the open. I think we’re better off figuring out somewhere else to hide.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know.” Maia rubbed her hands across her face, trying to wipe away the rain and the tears mixing on her cheeks. She didn’t want Zander to know she was coming apart. That wouldn’t help anything.
Turning her back from the sidewalk, she faced toward the building instead. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths before opening her eyes. She peered skyward in a hope to find answers or comfort, or something. She came face-to-face with her father.
Well, not her father exactly, but a giant statue of Atlas with the world resting heavily on his shoulders. How was it that she came from such strong stock, but yet here she was ready to burst into uncontrollable tears at the first sign of trouble? Her father was the strongest person she knew. But where was he now when she really needed him? Why had he abandoned her on Earth where she had to figure all this out on her own?
“I need your help, dad. I don’t know what to do,” she whispered, staring into the closest thing to her father’s image she’d seen in what felt like a really long time. “I need help. Please show me what I’m supposed to do.”
Maia wiped the tears from her eyes, vowing not to shed another until she was safe back home on Pleiades, wrapped in her cozy blanket and tucked into her warm bed. Then she’d have a little cry fest. But right now she needed to get it together and figure her way out of this mess before Orion caught them. She blinked away the last few remaining tears and looked around, taking in her surroundings.
“Damn it to Hades, why can’t it stop raining already so I could have a chance to think clearly?”
“Listen, the rain is probably making it harder for Orion to track our scent. Washing it away a little.”
Across the street, passed the colorful canopy of umbrellas and taxis, St. Patrick’s Cathedral stood tall, almost beckoning her forward into its sanctuary.
“That’s it!” Maia went up on her toes and kissed Zander on the lips. “You’re a genius. We’ll wash away our scent.”
Chapter Twenty
Confusion filled Zander as he stood there looking at Maia. She appeared so happy all of a sudden. He wished he could feel that too, but first he had to understand why exactly she was so happy. “We’re going to what now?”
Not the most coherent sentence he’d ever spoken, but it summed up his thoughts fairly accurately at the moment. How exactly were they going to wash away their scent? That wasn’t even possible, was it?
“There,” she nodded toward the cathedral across the street. “Let’s go while the light’s red.”
What was in the cathedral that would help them? Sure, they could pray or something, but hanging out in there, hoping for sanctuary, would only give Orion time to catch up. Zander sprinted to keep up with Maia as she bolted out into the street, narrowly missing a taxi. If the spectacle of two people running across Fifth Avenue didn’t catch anyone’s attention, the constant honking and screeching tires surely would.
Zander breathed a sigh of relief and said his own little prayer of thanks for having made it across the street without becoming road kill. He paused on the front steps of the cathedral for a moment to scan the street behind them. A tall form rounded the corner they’d been on only moments ago, followed closely by a very tired looking Jude. Even from here Zander could see him struggling to keep up. Jude never had been one to exercise much, especially not in the form of jogging. Serves him right for what he did.
Damn. How was Orion so bloody fast?
Whatever Maia’s plan was, he hoped it worked because their lead on Orion was getting shorter and shorter and it was only a matter of time before there was no lead left. They needed something to help them break away from him, but what?
Zander ducked his head and turned back to where Maia had disappeared inside the front door of the cathedral. Maybe if he kept his head down and tried to look like any other tourist, Orion wouldn’t notice him running up the front steps.
Following Maia into the building, he was engulfed by the quiet of the sanctuary. Hard to believe Fifth Avenue was just outside these heavy doors. Panic pounded inside him. If the sanctuary was supposed to provide instant comfort and calm to its visitors, it obviously was ineffective against being chased by the best hunter in the universe. Maybe if he had been able to sit and relax on a pew for a little while, it would have helped. But as it was, he only felt the overwhelming need t
o keep running.
He joined Maia as she strode down the center aisle between the sections of pews. “Okay, I give. What are we doing in here?”
They stopped at the large basin sitting on a pedestal in front of the altar. The basin was ornate, decorated with scrolls, crosses and angels, and looked impossibly heavy. It had probably been placed in this exact position when the cathedral had been built and hadn’t been budged since.
“This,” Maia said, waving her hands over the bowl. “We’ll wash away our scent and it will make it harder for Orion to track us. Not impossible, but harder.”
She grabbed two enormous goblets off the altar and dipped them into the holy water, filling them to the top.
“What are you doing? You can’t take holy water. It’s for the priest.”
“True, but it’s also the purest water on the planet. The priest uses it to wash away sins. Surely it can wash away whatever it is Orion tracks us by. So unless you have some other ideas on what we can use to cleanse ourselves so we stand any hope of getting away from Orion, then I suggest you take this and follow me.”
Zander took the goblet, following her back behind the altar of the sanctuary area and into the crypt. “I don’t feel good about this.” He looked around to see if anyone followed them.
“Look, I don’t feel great about it either, but I don’t know what else to try. Even this isn’t going to wash away our scent completely, but it should be enough to at least confuse Orion. We’re not stealing the goblets or anything. We’re using the water and leaving the goblets in here.”
“I’m going to owe the church a big donation for this if we get away from Orion in one piece.”
“Great. You can give them some for me too. Now dump.”
She tipped the goblet of holy water over her head, letting the water slowly fall down her body. He followed suit, begrudgingly. Not having any other viable options or ideas didn’t leave him with much choice but to do as she suggested and hope he didn’t burn in hell for the choice later. The church was there to help people, right? Well, he needed help right now and borrowing a little holy water would have to be okay.
He glanced down that the puddles of water gathered around their feet. “We’ve made a huge mess.”
Maia shrugged. “No bigger than we did walking in out of the rain. It’s fine. Stop worrying.”
She went back to the altar and put her goblet back. Zander did the same. “Okay, now we’re about as clean and scentless as we’re going to be, so what next?”
“Now we get as far away from here as we can and hope Orion isn’t able to follow us. That means we have to get out of here before he sees us.”
“I spotted him across Fifth on our way in. He’s bound to be coming up those front steps as we speak. We can’t go out the way we came in.”
Maia looked around then headed for the perimeter of the room. “There has to be another exit around here somewhere. It wouldn’t be safe to have a congregation this big and only have one exit.”
Zander and Maia rushed as quietly as they could past people praying and lighting candles until they came to a small alcove leading to a door. He pushed it open, hoping it wouldn’t set off an alarm to alert the entire building—Orion included—about where they were sneaking away. Thankfully, the door stayed silent as they exited the building, closing with a small click.
They stepped out into a small grove of trees, the noise of the busy city hitting them full force after the quiet of the church. All around them were sounds of raindrops in the trees.
“Through here,” Maia said, leading the way down a worn path between the tall trees. He hoped to find a gate soon. Then they could be out of the church and off to their next place, hopefully somewhere safe and out of the rain, where they could hide for a while.
He hadn’t slept much last night, not with his activities with Maia keeping him awake. That and the stress of being chased was tiring. Luckily adrenaline pumped inside him helping to keep his feet moving. Soon, he would need to crash.
But first things first, he had to get Maia somewhere safe. Then they could rest together.
A wrought iron gate blocked the path in front of them. They quickly passed through it then made sure to latch it behind them as it had been. Maybe at first glance it wouldn’t look like they’d come this way. With any luck, the rain on the wet path would be enough to blur their tracks.
They came to another crowded street corner, the congestion on the New York streets as busy as always despite the rain. A sea of yellow cabs whooshed by them in the rain, all of them full.
“We’ll never get a taxi,” he said. “We need to head for the trains.”
“Which way?”
“That way,” he shouted, pointing north along Lexington Avenue. “There’s a subway stop not too far from here.”
They took off at a sprint again. Lexington was a quieter street, which made it easier to run around pedestrians without having to duck and swerve as much as they had on Fifth. In a few short minutes, they darted down the subway steps and into the station.
Maia ran to the turnstile and doubled over as the crossbar hit her square in the gut, unmoving. “Ouch.”
“You have to pay for transportation here, honey. Us Earthlings don’t get to magic ourselves everywhere we want to go.”
“Nice. Make fun of me while I’m in pain.”
Zander swiped his metro card and she eased through the gate. He swiped his card again and passed through himself. Glancing over his shoulder, he peered back up the steps to the street, praying he wouldn’t see Orion.
Nothing.
Zander caught up to Maia as she stood on the platform looking at the overhead signs. “Which one, Zander? There are three trains in this station.”
He checked his watch. “The six. Head to the six. I take that one all the time and it should be arriving right away. Look for the downtown train.”
“Where will that take us?”
“Does it even matter? It will take us away from here.”
“Good point,” Maia said, taking off again.
They sped down the stairs to the lower level of the subway station just as the downtown number six pulled into the station. The doors opened with a hiss, allowing the eager occupants to step onto the platform. People bustled past them on all sides, hurrying up the stairs to fresh air and other subway lines.
Zander followed Maia onto the train. They collapsed into the hard plastic seats as the doors slid closed across from them. The platform blurred beyond the window as they lurched forward on the tracks.
Orion and Jude were nowhere to be seen.
“Maybe we finally did it,” he said, leaning his head back against the window and letting his eyes close. His body relaxed into the comforting and familiar vibration of the train. If he wasn’t careful, he could fall asleep right here, right now.
“Did what?” Maia asked from beside him.
He twisted his head to the side to look at her. She lay with her head back and eyes closed as he had. The temptation to relax for the few seconds they had was too great to ignore. “I think we might have actually escaped Orion and Jude.” Saying his friend’s name almost seared the back of his throat with the betrayal. “I didn’t see them on the platform when we pulled out.”
“That doesn’t mean they aren’t still coming for us. Just because you didn’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t still close by.”
“How is that even possible? I would have seen Orion on the platform for him to get on this train. I didn’t take my eyes off those stairs.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said with a shrug. “He’s a master at this. You’ve never seen anyone like him here on Earth. His skills, his talent—it really is otherworldly. And if he ditched Jude at some point, he’ll be even faster.”
“I’ll take your word for that. They were still together at the church.”
“Good, maybe Jude will turn out to be a benefit to us by hindering Orion.”
He allowed himself to ease back into his seat. H
e’d much rather be in a bed, with Maia cuddling by his side, but unfortunately that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
What were they going to do? Orion didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would give up the fight and stop searching for Maia. So what options did they have? Give up? Stay on the run forever?
He knew the answer.
Find a way to send Maia back home where she would be with her family and safe from Orion.
Safety. One very important thing he couldn’t offer her.
Damn it. He wanted more than anything to keep her with him, to keep her safe. Hell, he’d wanted that more than he’d wanted to achieve his own personal success by sharing her with the rest of the world and claiming the fame that would come attached to a discovery like Maia. He’d given up a life-long friendship with Jude for her.
And all so he could turn around and send her back to where she came from so that she would be safe. He couldn’t keep her safe here on Earth when there was someone as powerful as Orion after her.
He’d failed her.
But he wouldn’t fail getting her home. He’d protect her long enough to keep her as many steps ahead of Orion as he possibly could until they figured a way to get her back to the stars.
And then he knew what would happen next.
If Orion didn’t find him and tear him a new one, and if Jude didn’t find him and turn him over to the authorities for withholding information about extraterrestrial life—a matter that would be viewed as a breach of national security—then he’d shrivel up and wither away from a broken heart.
Still, that was a better scenario than handing over Maia to Orion or the FBI.
They rode in silence for a while, listening only to the hum of the people in the subway car around them. When the train pulled into the station at City Hall, Zander pulled Maia from her seat and out the door onto the platform.
“Why are we getting out here?”
“This is a transfer station. They won’t know if we hopped on another train or went to the street.”
Catching Stardust Page 18