Archenemies (Renegades, #2)(80)

“It is?” said Max.

Hugh nodded. His focus turned to the wall behind Max and Adrian and there was a hint of concern, but also hope. “Assuming it worked?”

Max turned around and Simon flickered out of invisibility. Max gasped, then smacked Adrian on the arm. “You should have told me.”

Simon was standing beside the elevator, the Vitality Charm around his neck. He would have been close enough to touch Max’s shoulder as they’d walked by.

“I … don’t feel any different,” said Simon. He was tense, which wasn’t like him.

For a long second, no one moved. Simon was standing only five or six paces away from Max, close enough that he should have felt the effects of Max’s power immediately. He would feel weak, first, and then the draining away of his abilities. When it had happened to Adrian, he had felt it most in his hands. His fingers had gone numb, threatening to never be able to bring his drawings to life again. He wasn’t sure what the Dread Warden would feel. Vulnerable? Exposed?

“Anything?” said Hugh.

Simon shook his head. “I feel normal.” He vanished, his whole body disappearing like a light being turned off.

Max grabbed Adrian’s forearm and squeezed. The suit hissed around the cuffs.

Simon appeared a second later, a couple of steps closer and beaming. He reached for the medallion around his neck. “It’s working.” He laughed. “Adrian, this is incredible. Max, I—”

Before he could finish, Max launched himself forward, wrapping his arms around Simon’s waist.

Simon’s face crumpled with the unexpected embrace, and he bent forward, locking his arms around Max’s shoulder.

“Does this mean I can kick your butt at cards too, now?” Max said into Simon’s shirt.

Simon chuckled. “You’ll be disappointed to know that I am a much better card player than he is.”

Hugh cleared his throat, dragging Adrian’s attention toward him. He jerked his head to the side, indicating for Adrian to follow him. “Let’s give them a minute.”

Adrian’s cheeks were beginning to hurt from his grin, but he couldn’t smother it as they made their way across the dusty floor.

“Simon’s right,” Hugh said, keeping his voice low to avoid an echo. “The Vitality Charm is amazing, and I’m mortified to know it’s been sitting in our vault all this time and neither of us knew about it. Max’s life could have been so different…” His voice trembled, but he covered it up with another clearing of his throat.

“Better late than never,” said Adrian. “I’m glad I found it when I did.”

“Me too. And we’re going to assign some people to look more closely at the objects we have in the collection, see what other things of value might have been missed.”

“You should talk to Nova about it,” said Adrian. “She’s been really invested in her artifacts work lately.”

“I will,” said Hugh. “It will be fascinating for us all to hear what else we might have been neglecting down there.”

Once they reached the far wall of windows, Adrian checked the distance between them and Max and unlatched the face shield. Hugh tensed as he watched Adrian pull off the hood, but Adrian flashed him a grin. “We’re far enough away.”

When Adrian showed no sign of having his powers drained, Hugh conceded with a nod. “Listen, Adrian, there’s something I thought you should know. Sooner than later.”

Adrian’s eyebrow shot upward. “Oh?”

“There’s been a breakthrough in the Hawthorn case.”

Adrian stood straighter. “What? When?”

“Early yesterday morning. After … that unfortunate fatality.”

“The girl that overdosed?”

“Yes. We told Hawthorn’s allies that if we’re able to trace the drugs she bought to the ones that were stolen, they could be charged with aiding in involuntary manslaughter. One of them started talking. Gave us a few leads on where Hawthorn might be hiding out.”

“That’s great,” said Adrian. “I’ll notify my team immediately. We can…” He trailed off as Hugh started to shake his head. Adrian’s enthusiasm waned. “You’re not giving us the case, are you?”

“We’ve already put Clark’s team on it.”

It felt like being punched in the stomach. Adrian groaned. “Frostbite? Seriously?”

“I know you don’t get along with her, and I don’t blame you. They’re … a frosty bunch.” Hugh quirked a grin at his pun. Adrian did not return it. “But they’re a good team, one of the most effective we have. I trust them to handle it.”

Adrian scowled, knowing it made him look like a petulant child. He was tempted to say that the only reason Frostbite brought in so many criminals was because her team didn’t play by the code—he’d witnessed as much when he’d seen them bullying the Anarchists in the subway tunnels and trying to frame them with a false confession.

But he resisted the urge, not only because he had no evidence of Frostbite’s transgressions, but also because he felt the shame of his own hypocrisy. The Sentinel didn’t follow the code either, and it was a part of the reason that he, like Frostbite’s team, was so good at bringing criminals to justice. Catching bad guys was easy when you didn’t have to deal with the inconvenience of evidence and trials.