Scarred

"Looked like one to me. Jeez, did I miss the part where Dad collected crappy art?" But my nerves crawled. Our big sister had sold off Dad's stuff? What for? Wasn't like she'd needed the money. Overpriced, Vincent had called it. Like he knew what the museum had paid, and why…

Ad shrugged. "Smells fishy to me. But all our corporate records are cactus, at least until Glimmer can get them back. If he can."

"With your alleged 'encryption'?" Glimmer scoffed. "Spare me. But I gotta scrape the goo off the blacktop first. Someone really did a job on your servers."

Vincent, he meant. Or some slobbering IT savant whom Vincent kept chained to his dungeon wall. These days, he was probably too busy to wreak all the destruction by himself. Outsourced the boring bits.

"Michael might know something about this rock, too." Ad was thinking aloud. "He and Dad were inseparable back in the day."

"Or Espectro," Glimmer added. "He tried to steal it. Maybe he knows what it really is."

"Could be just the six figures Espectro wanted. Still, it's a thought."

"Either way, he's shit outa luck. And so are we." I glared at the video screen, where the spaces that used to be Sophron and Flash cackled at me, triumphant. "Scumbags stole my rock," I muttered. "Not happy."

"So what do we do?" Glimmer grounded his chair and flicked the screen blank. "Write these kids off as Gallery nitwits? Or are we facing a new threat?"

"What, another one?" I echoed glumly, but secretly part of me was delighted at the prospect of fresh asses to kick. "That's a relief. I was afraid we might actually have to stop panicking for a few hours."

Adonis tugged his hair, considering. "Glimmer, can you trawl for more info? Priors, alliances, ideology, anything you can find. Even 'they're just crazy kids' would be useful. I want to know what we're dealing with."

Glimmer flipped him a salute. "Sure thing, boss."

Ad shot him an ironic eye-cross and heaved himself off the bed. "I'll talk to Michael, see what he knows. I don't care what that damn rock is, it's mine, and I want it back."

"That's the spirit." I jumped up, wiping banana-whiffy hands on my coat. I felt good, considering. Rested. Ready for action. "What about me?"

A hard blue-eyed challenge. "You can take it easy."

"What? C'mon, aren't we past this?" But sickness had washed back into my stomach, with added warm seawater, and I knew it was hopeless.

"This, as in, the way you've been acting these last few weeks? Breaking things, shouting at people? Not eating properly, drinking yourself blind and playing pick up the loser?" Adonis laughed, hollow. "No, Vee. We are very far from 'past this'. You're lucky I don't lock you in your fucking room."

My rage-muscle clenched. It filled me with that slick, tense heat, the kind that groaned and demanded to be satisfied. Oh, God. I held on, tried to breathe slowly, searched desperately for a fiber of calm. I wouldn't lose my temper this time. No, I would not.

"Look," I protested, sweating, "the only reason we know anything about these grunge-metal idiots is because of me. Let me be useful. I can help."

"You're right, you can. Go help Peg with the dishes." Adonis walked out, not looking back.

I opened my mouth. Shut it again. Gritted my teeth, and slammed a rage-stuffed fist of power into the brick wall.

Crunch! Mortar crumbled. I'd pulled my punch at the last second, instead of smashing the fucking wall to smithereens. I'd done the right thing. It didn't make me feel better.

My eyes swelled with unshed tears. I wanted to run after him and beg him to forgive me. But I feared he never would.

"Goddamn it," I hissed into the silence.

"Hey." Glimmer's voice draped a cool blanket on my skin. "Let him be. He doesn't mean anything…"

"He does mean something." Even Glimmer was taking Ad's side, now? "Can't you see? He's determined never to trust me again. How am I ever supposed to prove myself if—"

BOOM! Something above us exploded, and flung me flat on my face.

~ 7 ~ (#u63e7c8ce-943b-5dfe-abee-c0561b1a1f92)

The building quaked. Glimmer dived on top of me, shielding me from anything that might fall… and all the lights in the room popped out. Bulb, computers, everything.

The echo subsided, and together we scrambled up. My ears still rang. I dusted myself off and spat grit. "Okay?"

Glimmer coughed, waving his hands to clear the dust cloud. "Awesome. You?"

"What the hell was that? Lightning strike?"

"With no storm? Not likely." Glimmer grabbed his go kit—pistol, phone, tablet, flash drive—and headed for the door. Dust eddied in his wake.

I trailed after him, but my heart squelched into my throat to strangle me.

Shit. Had Vincent followed me home? Jeez, had I let my guard slip? Gotten distracted by his tricks and given us away? How would I ever live that down?

A confused crowd milled in the darkened corridor. Harriet emerged, wide-eyed like a scolded dog. She knew that crash wasn't lightning.

"Okay?" I asked.

Harriet just tossed her hair. "What's going on?"

"Nothing friendly. Stay close." Glimmer was already halfway down the stairs.

In the refectory, dust clogged my nostrils. Peg was directing traffic, making everyone sit down and stay calm, and I was grateful. Most of those we'd taken in were ordinary folk who'd never fought a day in their lives.

Not crime-fighters. Just people who didn't fit in, minding their own business, who happened to have a little something strange or wrong about them. And then one day, they found themselves running and hiding for their lives with a genocidal archvillain in disguise for mayor. Hell, most of 'em probably voted for him. Nearly everyone did.

Peg, on the other hand, had kept her composure. Like she was accustomed to taking charge. Good for her—and right now, good for us, too. But I made a mental note to ask Ad about her later. He wouldn't appreciate my interference. I didn't give a fuck. We were family. She was just an interloper.

Ebenezer, who was sweeping broken window glass into a frosted pile, tossed me an ironic eye-roll. Eb was a scary bastard, but short of a pitched battle? His augment was kind of useless. Mike and Jem, our more conventional warriors, lurked nowhere to be seen. Probably still upstairs, waiting for Jem to revive. Great. Like that'd be any time soon.

"Where's Adonis?" I demanded.

Peg pointed outside. Her cheeks shone pale with worry. "Be careful, Verity. It's not safe."

A distant glaze in her eyes sprang bumps on my arms. Huh? What was her augment, again? But no time to figure her out now.

Glimmer and I ran to the door. He motioned with his pistol, and his silent presence slipped into my head, a sweet-feathered tickle. Me first. You take the left. I'll cover you.

I nodded, flushing—gotta admit, I kind of like it when he does that—and eased the door open.

He danced out and I followed, back to the wall. Particles swirled on the breeze. I sniffed, and sneezed on dust. Definitely not smoke. But what…

A skewed metal strut caught the corner of my eye, and I gaped.