"Ho! Where are you?"
"Following your locators. A couple of minutes away."
He laughed. "You're not going to believe what that boy at the bash told me. The one your Smokey was dancing with?"
"Never mind! Just get here fast!" Tally scanned the air, watching in frustration as the Cutters' boards lifted higher into the dark sky. In a minute, the Smokies would be gone for good. It was too late for regular Specials to get here, too late for anything…
Rage and frustration surged through Tally, almost overwhelming her. David was not going to beat her, not this time! She couldn't afford to lose her head. She knew what to do.
Making a claw with her right hand, Tally dug her fingernails into the flesh of her left arm. The delicate nerves woven into her skin screamed, a torrent of pain piling through her, overloading her brain.
But then the special moment struck, icy clarity replacing panic and confusion. She drew in the cold air in gasps…
Of course. David and the girl had ditched their own hoverboards. They had to have left them close by
She turned and ran back toward the city, hunting in the darkness for the half-remembered smell of David.
"What happened?" Ho said. "How come you're the only one online?"
"We got jumped. Be quiet."
Long seconds later, Tally's nose caught something: David’s scent lingering where his hands had polished and tuned, where his sweat had fallen in the chase. The Smokies hadn't bothered to recover their old-fashioned boards. She wasn't completely helpless.