Terror (2 page)

She formulated a plan. At the count of three she would snap her head to the right, as if suddenly bedazzled by some eye-catching window display.
One. Two. Three.

She stopped on a dime and turned. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a blur stream to the left and disappear.
Whisht.
Had it been a figment of her imagination? She quit feigning interest in the window and full-on stared down the street behind her. Nada. Just some hipster couple moseying along, pushing a baby carriage.

Gaia moved on, picking up the pace.
Please, not now.
Her spine felt tight. She felt like she needed a massage. Turning onto Eleventh Street, Gaia speeded up to a shuffle-jog. This was the homestretch. She took a wide, looping swath and looked down the block behind her, trying not to be blatant about it.
Boom.
There he was—a guy in a blue jacket. Was that her follower? Probably was, judging by the way he was pretending to look up at the buildings.
Don't panic, Gaia.

The second she moved out of the stalker's vision, she broke into a sprint down Waverly. Ed would have to wait. The last thing she needed was for this guy to trace her to Ed's hospital room. Gaia's entire body tingled with adrenaline at the thought.

She crossed the street to the other sidewalk. The parked cars would help conceal her. She dodged
slow-moving pedestrians, ran a quick sixty-yard dash, then ventured a look back. The follower was nowhere to be seen. But when she turned back around, she was staring into steel blue eyes.

“Oh my God!” Gaia yelled. For a split second she thought it was her father. She put a hand to her chest to soften the thumping of her lungs against her rib cage. A more probing look into his deepset blue eyes showed that it wasn't her dad—it was Oliver.

“What are you doing, Oliver?” she said, still gasping. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“Oh, I'm sorry.” Oliver looked like he was forcing his face muscles into smiling position. “I was just thinking, What a pleasant surprise to run into my niece on the street.”

Gaia felt pretty ridiculous. She really needed to take a chill pill. Then she noticed that Oliver's eyes matched his jacket. She felt hot bile churning in her stomach.
He's the follower.
“Right,” she said. “What serendipity. Imagine the shock of running into someone you've been following for blocks.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Oliver raised his palms to proclaim innocence. “I live right near here. I was just walking around.”

Gaia shot Oliver a suspicious glance. “I thought you said you moved to Broome Street.”

“I did.”

“That's down in SoHo,” she said, knitting her brow. “It's not
that
nearby.”

“Whatever you say.” Oliver grabbed Gaia by the elbow. “I didn't come here to talk Manhattan geography—there's something much more important on my mind. But you seem a little agitated, Gaia. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” Gaia lied. She knew she was probably overreacting, but this didn't feel quite right. Had Oliver been
following
following her or just hey-there's-my-niece-up-ahead following her?

“How about we step out into someplace less public so we can talk?” As Oliver guided Gaia by the elbow, it was he who seemed agitated.

Gaia pulled her arm away. “I can steer myself.”

Oliver put up his hands. “Sorry. I'm just… a little tense, that's all. Not feeling so comfortable in crowds these days. You know how it is. I believe this is your street right here.” Oliver pointed. “How about we duck down Bank?”

Gaia looked down Bank Street. It was a tree-canopied block, and the boardinghouse was still a few blocks away. As much as she trusted Oliver—these days, anyway—she wasn't in a state of mind to be stepping onto shady side streets with anyone. This next block had a total population of one—some guy throwing garbage bags onto a pile. Without consciously deciding to, Gaia started shaking her head. Why was he so insistent on privacy? Didn't the best
intelligence operatives hide themselves in plain view?
Had
he been
following
her? And if so, why? Why didn't he just call her, like a normal human/uncle would?

“No. I'm sorry, but if you want to talk, we can talk right here,” she said. There was an unintentional edge to her tone.

“Is something wrong, Gaia?” Oliver asked with sincere curiosity. “Why are you so fidgety?”

Gaia realized she was rocking back and forth on her heels and shaking her head like an autistic savant. “I'm fine. Nothing's wrong.”

“Listen, Gaia, I feel that you're acting like you used to act around Loki. But I'm not here to hurt you.” The softness of his voice caught Gaia's attention. Loki wasn't capable of such a soft voice. “Quite the opposite. I'm trying to make up for lost time and finally be the uncle you need me to be. I'm here to protect you, especially with your father away.”

“That's considerate of you,” Gaia said. “But I told you, I can protect myself.”

“You're wrong. You have no idea.” Oliver's voice had risen a few octaves. It was as if some inner switch had been flipped. He sounded like a beleaguered teenager whining about his curfew. “If you keep making these visits to St. Vincent's, you'll
definitely
need my protection. Is that where you're going right now?”

“Whoa.”
Does he know about the procedure?
She took a moment to put one finger in the air, trying to
process what Oliver had said. Her paranoia seemed suddenly justified. “Wait a second. You really
have
been following me.”

“No.” Oliver's eyes started darting in a way that implied he was telling a half-truth. “Not me personally, anyway…”

“Great,” Gaia said. “Which means you have operatives. I thought you were going to lay low, Oliver. Avoid using your old resources. The Agency told you to.”

“Look, Gaia, I don't have to listen to the Agency anymore. That's the whole point. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, even if it's a risk for me. That's a covenant I've made with myself. And I plan to stick to it.”

Gaia looked into his eyes. Having operatives follow her felt distinctly like a Loki move. But the strength of Oliver's conviction, as exhibited by his steely blueeyed gaze, was persuasive. If his intentions were bad, then he was a hell of an actor. And having witnessed firsthand how formidable a foe Oliver could be, it was nice to have him on her team now. Besides, who knew? Maybe he was right. She had just been attacked. Maybe she should lighten up on the paranoia front. Maybe she did need him.

“Okay,” Gaia said. “So what do you think I should do?”

“I think you should leave New York,” he said without the slightest hesitation.

“What?” Gaia asked, immediately dismayed. “When?”

“Tonight. With me.”

Gaia didn't even have to think about that one. Almost every time she left the city with her uncle, she seemed to end up strapped to a table in a dingy warehouse somewhere. Not that she still distrusted him like that. But this was the last thing she needed right now, just as she was about to embark on a life of normalcy. And the thought of leaving Jake at this point was outright repugnant. “I can't do that,” she said flatly.

“Gaia,”
Oliver said, his tone suddenly impatient. “I can't keep watch over you every second of every hour, and New York right now is a hotbed of enemy agents.”

“How do you know?” Gaia said. “Who's the enemy? And why are you so sure they want me?”

“I haven't fully figured that out, but I have some ideas. All I know for sure is that you're not safe in Manhattan.”

But that's where I live.
Gaia realized this conversation was a dead end. She couldn't leave New York, period, because it was the only place in the world where someone as abnormal as she could try her hand at being normal. If someone was after her, she would just have to be more careful. For now, though, this wasn't the most important issue in her life.

To suddenly split town because her wild-eyed uncle was raving about some imagined
apocalypse was exactly what she
didn't
need. “Listen, Oliver.” She put her hand on his shoulder to loosen him up. “I appreciate you looking out for me and all, but I have something else to attend to right now. A friend needs me. And as for leaving Manhattan with you, all I can say is that it's not happening. But thanks…”

Gaia flashed Oliver her best sympathetic smile and shouldered past him.

OLIVER GRABBED GAIA'S SHOULDER FROM behind and jerked her to a standstill. He didn't use enough force to hurt her, just enough to let her know he meant business. She couldn't just walk away from him. He was trying to help.

“Please don't grab me,” Gaia said, and Oliver could hear that she meant it.

“I'm sorry. I was just trying to get your attention.”

Sometimes force was necessary to get a point across. Oliver knew this as well as anyone. As Loki, he had used force to manipulate all kinds of situations, usually to further some evil scheme. But rarely had he felt the need to use force to protect someone from
harm. It was a confusing dilemma, too, because verbal logic didn't seem to work in persuading Gaia of the danger she was in. He also knew for a fact that she didn't respond well to force. But
something
had to be done.

“I think you're in serious danger. I've been tracking those two phony agents who came asking about you, and I don't like the looks of it. I'm pretty certain you'll be their next target. We need to discuss this.”

Gaia's arms were wrapped around her chest but more in a comforting than a defiant way. “I'm supposed to be somewhere… right now, actually.” She looked at her watch. “I'm already late.”

“Hey. Don't blow me off, Gaia.” Oliver could feel his patience slipping. He lowered his tone. “Just because you're brave doesn't make you immortal.”

The look on Gaia's face was something he'd never seen before. That last line seemed to have hit her hard. If he hadn't known her better, he would've called it
pure terror.
Which made no sense, but at least he was getting through to her. Then again, her facial expression was now morphing like a fast-moving storm cloud toward something like angry resentment.

“I'm not kidding, Gaia,” he said. “These people are playing for keeps. My research shows that big money and lots of people are behind this movement. And judging from the attacks so far, they're not out to send
messages. They're totally prepared to liquidate whoever gets in their way.”

Gaia was sucking on the inside of her cheek. Oliver had seen her do this. It meant that he had her attention. “So,” she said. “What do you want me to do? You keep talking about
they,
but who are
they?
I guess I can take your word that someone's out there, but still, your accusations are so vague that I wouldn't even know who to watch out for.”

“Fair enough.” Oliver put up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. She seemed willing to cooperate now. He had pierced the outer layer of her armor. “Maybe if you answered a question or two, it would help lead me toward some more specific answers….”

“So shoot,” Gaia said.

“Who have you been visiting at the hospital?” Oliver asked.

“I can't say.”

“You should be wary of letting doctors get too familiar with your body,” he said. “If they find out how unique you are, you'll spend the rest of your life as a science project.”

“You don't think I'm aware of that?” Gaia asked loudly. “If that's all you came to say, you can just save your breath.”

Oliver felt the urge to pound something. That was another thing that hadn't changed over the years—Gala's ability to irritate him to the
boiling point with that petulant tone of hers.
Calm yourself,
Oliver thought.
If you get pissed, you'll lose her.
She was getting defensive, though, which meant he'd hit a nerve. He exhaled. “Please, at the very least, do your uncle the favor of lowering your voice in public. I don't think it
that
odd to want a little privacy for our conversation. Do you? I assure you that it's not an uncomplicated matter. So let's just sit on a stoop here or maybe walk to a quiet coffee shop if you want where we can discuss things.”

“Sorry,” Gaia said. “But it's not a good time.”

“Are you going to St. Vincent's?” Oliver asked.

“No…,” she said. “Maybe. Why does that matter?”

“Maybe it doesn't,” Oliver said. “I don't know. I just want a few minutes of your time.”

“Which I've already granted,” Gaia snapped, looking at her watch again. “As I said before, I'm late. And this person is not in the best of health.”

Oliver felt himself boiling over. He grabbed Gaia by both shoulders. He stared into her eyes, hoping to mesmerize her. “Whoever it is can wait a few more minutes. It's not Jake, is it?”

“Don't worry about it,” Gaia said. Oliver sensed she was slipping away. “Look, you can send me an e-mail as soon as you know more details about this new enemy on the streets. That's the best way to get ahold of me. E-mail.”

Gaia started to walk away.
She needs to hear this,
Oliver thought. His instincts told him to grab her, but reason took hold. He hustled in front of her and started walking alongside her. “You have two options. You can leave the city now or go into the thick of battle with an unknown, yet populous army. Take your pick.”

“Leave. Me. Alone.”

“I can't,” Oliver said. “I don't know what it is, but I sense that you're particularly vulnerable right now. You have to watch your back.”

“I will.”

Oliver was suddenly consumed by urgent rage. His eyes widened, and he stepped toward Gaia. It took some mental control to keep from literally shaking sense into her. “Ignoring this warning could be suicide, Gaia. Don't do it.”