"Tanya Huff - Victoria Nelson - 03 - Blood Lines" - читать интересную книгу автора (Huff Tanya)

Neither of them paused at the first water station.

The lead switched back and forth twice more, the sound of high tech rubber soles pounding down on the
metal stairs reverberating throughout the enclosed space like distant thunder. Later in the day, the
plexiglass sheets that separated the climbers from the view would begin to cloud over with the
accumulated moisture panted out of hundreds of pairs of lungs, but this early in the morning, the skyline
of Toronto fell away beside them with vertigo-inducing clarity.

Giving thanks in this one instance that she had almost no peripheral vision and therefore no idea of how
high they actually were from the ground, Vicki charged past the second water station. Three hundred
feet to go. No problem. Her calves were beginning to protest, her lungs to burn, but she'd be damned if
she'd slow and give Celluci a chance to get past.

The stairs turned from yellow to gray, although the original color showed through where countless feet
had rubbed off the second coat of paint. They were into the emergency exit stairs for the restaurant level.



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Almost there… Celluci was so close she could feel his breath hot against her back. He hit the last
landing seconds behind her. One, two strides to the open door. On level ground, his longer legs brought
them even. Vicki made a desperate grab at the edge of the doorway and exploded out into the carpeted
hall.

"Nine minutes, fifty-four seconds. Nine minutes, fifty-five seconds."

As soon as I have enough breath, I'll rub it in. For the moment, Vicki leaned against the wall, panting,
heart pounding with enough force to vibrate her entire body, sweat collecting and dripping off her chin.

Celluci collapsed against the wall beside her.

One of the Heart Fund volunteers approached, stopwatch in hand. "Now then, I'll just get your finishing
heart rates…"

Vicki and Celluci exchanged identical glances.

"I don't think," Vicki managed to gasp, "that we really want… to know."

Although the timed portion of the climb was over, they had another four flights to go up before they
reached the observation deck and were officially finished.

"Nine minutes and fifty-four seconds." Celluci scrubbed at his face with the lower edge of his T-shirt as
they moved back into the stairwell. "Not bad for an old broad."

"Who are you calling old, asshole? Let's just keep in mind that I can give you five years."

"Fine." He held out his hand. "I'll take them now."