(Max's POV)
We headed south and east, out of the park, hoping to get lost among the ever-present crowds of people jamming the streets.
Fang put Angel down and she dutifully ran, her small face white and streaked with tears. I felt really, really bad about Celeste. Iggy ran next to me, his hand out to barely brush against me. He was so good at keeping up, following us, that it was easy to forget sometimes that he was blind. We passed Fifty-fourth Street-the police were still behind us.
"Inside a store?" Fang asked, pulling up beside me. "Then out through a back exit?"
I thought. If only we could take off, get airborne-leave the ground and the noise and the crowds and the cops behind, be up in the blue, blue sky, free…My wings itched with the urge to snap open, unfurl to their full size, catch the sun and wind in them.
"Yeah, maybe so," I shot back. "Let's turn east on Fifty-first."
We did. Then we pounded down the pavement. Really fast. I almost laughed when I realized it was a one-way street going the wrong way: The cruisers would have to take a detour.
If only we could find a safe haven before they caught up to us…
"What's that?" Nudge called, pointing.
I skidded to a halt, the way they do in cartoons. In front of us was an enormous grey stone building. It soared up into the sky, all pointy and lacy on top, not like a skyscraper. More as if grey stone crystals had grown toward the sky, stretching up and thinning out as they went. There were three arched doors, with the middle one being the biggest.
"Is it a museum?" Gazzy asked.
I scanned for a sign. "No," I said. "It's Saint Patrick's Cathedral. It's a church."
"A church!" Nudge looked excited. "I've never been in one. Can we go?"
I was about to remind her that we were running for our lives, not playing tourist, but then Fang said quietly, "Sanctuary."
And I remembered that in the past, churches used to be safe havens for people-cops weren't allowed in them. Like hundreds of years ago. That probably wasn't the case anymore. But it was huge and full of tourists, and it was as good a place to try to get lost as any.