“Shh.” The hand on his shoulder tightened,then relaxed. Those stern blue eyes opened, but Vic’s brow remainedfurrowed in thought. “They’re nearby. Bunch of punks. Tore out yourstereo.”
Matt grasped Vic’s hand in both his. “What?How do you—”
With one thick forefinger, Vic tapped histemple. “I picked them up. They’re the only ones moving around atthis hour, you know? Listen. Take Sadie back upstairs and get mycell. Call the cops.” Matt nodded but when he tried to move, Vicstopped him. “Don’t mess with the non-emergency number. CallKendra.”
Matt nodded again. “What about you?”
A muscle twitched in Vic’s clenched jaw.“Those kids picked the wrong Jag to trash.”
* * * *
Officer Kendra Jones was one of the fewpeople they trusted with the secret of Vic’s powers. Vic’s constantpresence at various crime scenes over the years had raised hersuspicions, but even she’d been surprised by the source of hissuperhuman abilities. She’d been his biggest ally, fieldingquestions from the other officers and assisting him when he neededit, though she dogged him about joining the police force. She sawhim as some sort of super man, a modern day comic book hero shewanted to recruit in the city’s fight against crime.
But Vic wasn’t a hero—he was a man, nothingsuper about him. Most of his powers were crap, or fizzled longbefore they could be harnessed and used. He’d only be a liability,he tried telling her, but she refused to listen. However, hecouldn’t deny her friendship came in handy—it was a lot easiercalling her directly when he needed a hand at the scene of a crimethan having to call dispatch and hoping the cop on duty would takehim seriously.
While Matt took the dog back up to theirapartment, Vic jumped off the stoop and hit the sidewalk at a run.His mind stretched out like a blanket, covering the immediatevicinity, registering every person it flickered over in its searchfor the perpetrators. He ignored those asleep and concentrated onthe trio of young men currently racing down a side street. One heldMatt’s stereo close to his chest, cut wires slapping his arms as heran. Another clutched the sleeve of CDs that had once hung fromMatt’s sun visor. Another swung a metal baseball bat,indiscriminately hitting walls and trashcans and mailboxes as theypassed.
In his bare feet, Vic took off after them.With each step he took, he pushed against the ground, hard. Nowwould be a good time for a power like super speed to kick in, hethought, shoving the soles of his feet against the rough pavementand pumping his arms to hurry. I never get anything good when Ineed it. And Kendra thinks I should join the force? She’sdelusional.
At the end of the block, Vic jumped from thecurb into the street, tiny stones and gravel biting into his skinas he ran. When he reached the next block, he jumped the final fewfeet, eager to be back on smooth concrete again…
Only he didn’t land.
He soared into the air above the sidewalk,pitched into the wind like a child’s ball. Jesus, hethought, mind racing as he watched the ground blur by beneath him.His heart lurched, his arms crossing before his face, his wholebody anticipating a fall that never came.
He was airborne. Flying. So this is whatit’s like.
At the last minute, he zigged left andnarrowly avoided a midair collision with a street light. The movecareened Vic into the side of a building; a cluster of bricksrained down from the impact, but Vic pushed against the buildingand zoomed higher. The night, which had felt warm a moment ago, nowchilled his face and head with a wind that whooshed over him.Overshooting the building, Vic crested at the far end of the blockhigh above the neighborhood. There he took a moment to tuck hisbillowing shirt into the front of his jeans and scan the area.
Movement in a shadowy alley caught hisattention. Got you.
As he hung suspended in the air, he’d floateddown a little, as if the weight of his body were too heavy to stayup for long. Now he found his toes brushing over the rooftop;pushing against it, Vic launched himself into the air again. Thistime he had a destination in sight, and he angled for the alleywayand the three guys there whose laughter pierced the night.
Like a bird of prey Vic swooped down amongthem, his landing anything but graceful. The force of his impactshuddered the earth and rattled windows along the street. Itknocked the boys off their feet—this close Vic saw they were barelymen, nothing but punk teenagers getting into trouble. “Holy shit!”one of them cried, scrambling to his feet, Matt’s stereo cradledagainst his chest. “Who the fuck are you?”
“This isn’t yours.” Vic grabbed the kid’scollar and hauled him up. He kicked out wildly as Vic held him offthe ground, but Vic kept a sure grip on his shirt and he didn’t getaway. Dragging him along, Vic closed in on his friends.
One kid cowered against the wall. At his feetlay Matt’s CDs, broken and crushed where they’d been stepped on anddestroyed. “Where’d you come from, man?” he asked as Vic stormedby. “You just fell out of the sky!”
Vic didn’t respond. He snagged the kid’sshirt, which twisted when the kid didn’t move, so he grabbed holdof the kid’s arm instead. Two down, one to go.
The third teen faced Vic, confronting him.The baseball bat swung dangerously in front of him. Dull angercrept into Vic when he noticed the dark sunglasses the kid worecocked up on top of his head. Those were Matt’s. “Come on, man,” hetaunted, backing up with each step Vic took. “I ain’t scared ofyou. Come on.”
But apparently he was. The closer Vic came,the more the kid backed up, until he exited the alley. Sensing anopportunity to run, he dropped the bat and took off. Vic racedafter him, the ground falling away as he threw himself after thekid.
The boys in his hands screamed as they tookto the air. Now they no longer struggled to get free—they clutchedVic’s arms, terrified of falling. Vic shifted their weight to holdonto them, wrapping an arm around each boy’s waist as they flew andleaving his hands free
