The Dragons of Heaven Read Online Free Page A

doors and into the free-standing box-office. Just another shadow of a car passing by outside.
    It was the best vantage I could hope for. I couldn’t hang about outside. My quarry had been watching the theater for a week and would have a good notion about what belonged and what didn’t. With the police scaring the street people into the alleys, I was in the not-belonging category.
    I crouched in the box office, searching Washington Square across the way. There. She was just a shadow among the trees, leaning up against a burned out park lamp, but I had an affinity for seeing into shadows. She wore her dark hair pulled back into a thick plait that hung past her waist. Her face was like a mask, all sculpted features and arched dark brows. Somewhere in Mumbai, a Bollywood casting director was crying that this woman had chosen a life of crime instead of superstardom. Her black clothes stood out in a dark blot against the softer shadows of the park. On previous nights she had been settled onto a bench, drinking some steaming liquid from a thermos, but tonight she stood tense and ready. My waiting was over. Whatever she was planning, tonight was the night for it. I settled in and waited for her to move.
    A few months ago, if you’d told me I was going to be charging around at night spying on nefarious characters and foiling heists, I would have laughed my ass off. Granted, until now the best I’d managed was to stop a few muggings and one impromptu dog-fight, but none of this had been part of my life plan.
    You wouldn’t know that to see me now: running around in a costume, using my shadow powers for the greater good. That Shimizu girl had put her finger on it: rail against the Citizen Vigilante laws all you wanted, there was something deeply satisfying about going out and making a difference in the world.
    The thrill warmed me against the damp of the night as I prepared for my first encounter with the kind of crime that adventure heroes were meant to fight. Finally, I was doing something worthwhile with my gifts.
    The interior theater lights went out, and to my left came the clunk of locks and the murmur of people chatting as the manager and staff closed up for the night. As they disappeared into the BART tunnel down the street, the woman in the park stirred, lifting a pair of binoculars the size of opera glasses. Green lights flashed along the top edge. The binoculars were digital, some kind of night vision. I ducked lower and held still. It meant I couldn’t see what she was looking at, but better not to be seen myself. When I poked my head up again, the space by the lamppost was empty. I scanned the trees, the shadows that were pierced by the headlights of each passing car, but the seconds ticked by and I couldn’t spot her. With increasing unease, I pressed my cheek to the box office window and scanned the street for any sign of movement; still nothing. Dammit, how had I missed her?
    I dithered for a moment before pushing open the box office door and peeking out into the theater.
    The lobby was lit by dim lights from the concession stand and the amber glow of street lamps from outside. My thief was nowhere in sight. I knew the theater’s layout as well as any visitor, but not knowing what my thief was after meant I wasn’t sure where to go. I hated being so new and clueless. For the thousandth time, I considered ditching my legacy and going back to being a simple street magician who was too busy trying to find a flop to worry about fighting crime.
    I didn’t want to give up. Couldn’t. I could manage this; I just needed help.
    I closed my eyes and concentrated again on the Shadow Realms. This time, instead of stepping into shadow, I pulled something out of it. The mass was sticky and unformed, more like tar than taffy, and it clutched at my mind with little claws of darkness, scrabbling for purchase. I whispered a name, shaping the darkness before it sent me into a panic. This was