Archenemies (Renegades, #2)(97)

“And they were great!” Simon said, as if his enthusiasm would soothe over the little issue of privacy invasion. “Did you ever finish them?”

Adrian lowered his fork and twirled it through the spaghetti again, his shoulders tight. “I got through three issues, then lost interest. It definitely wasn’t great. I’m surprised you even remember it.”

“I thought it was fantastic,” said Simon.

“I was eleven, and you’re my dad. You have to say that.”

“I always wondered if Rebel Z might have been partly inspired by yours truly,” Hugh said with a wink.

“He wasn’t,” Adrian deadpanned.

“Ah, well. Can’t blame your old man for hoping.”

“What are we talking about?” Nova interjected.

“Nothing,” said Adrian, at the same time Simon answered, “A comic book Adrian started years ago. About this superhero who had … some sort of biological tampering done, wasn’t it?”

Heaving a sigh, Adrian explained, without much zeal, “It was about a group of twenty-six kids who were abducted by an evil scientist and subjected to a bunch of tests trying to turn them into prodigies, but only the twenty-sixth kid survived the testing. He turned himself into a superhero and made it his mission to seek revenge against the scientist and all his cronies. And later there was going to be a big government conspiracy involved, but I never got that far.”

“Sounds good,” said Nova, only partly teasing, because it was clear how uncomfortable this conversation had made him. She wanted to sympathize, even if it didn’t seem like anything to be upset about. A comic book made years ago—who cared? But then, she’d always hated when Leroy wanted to see her inventions before they were ready to be shared, so maybe she understood after all. “Can I read it?”

“No,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it got thrown away.”

“I don’t think so,” said Hugh. “I think it’s in a box in the office somewhere, or maybe in storage.”

Adrian cast him a look even colder than Frostbite’s icicles.

“Well, if you ever stumble across it, I’d love to see,” she said.

Simon cleared his throat, and Nova could sense him about to change the subject again before Adrian decided to never bring another girl to dinner. “Nova,” he started, dabbing his mustache with a napkin, “how are things going in weapons and artifacts? Did you ever find … what you were looking for?”

Nova aimed for innocence as she said, “What do you mean?”

“I figured part of your motive for applying to the department had something to do with your interest in Ace Anarchy’s helmet.”

Though Nova’s heart felt like it would jump out of her skin, Simon seemed nothing but jovial as he turned to Hugh. “You should have seen her with the replica. She took one look at it and knew it was a fake. I was impressed.” He grinned at her. “Have they shown you the real one yet?”

Pushing her food around, she said, “They showed me the box it’s in.”

Simon nodded. “I hope seeing it for yourself was a relief. You didn’t seem convinced when I said we had it well protected.”

Nova glanced at Adrian, and she knew they were both thinking of the conversation they’d had during the Sidekick Olympics. She kept her face neutral as she prompted, “Are you sure?”

Hugh guffawed.

“Now, don’t you go getting me into trouble,” Adrian muttered.

“What?” said Hugh. “What are you talking about?”

“Just that Adrian thinks he might be able to get into it, if he tried.”

“Ha! Adrian? No. Nice thought.” Hugh stuck a forkful of pasta into his mouth, as if the conversation were over.

“I obviously haven’t tried,” said Adrian. “But I think it’s possible.”

“How would you do it?” said Simon.

“Draw a door on it?”

“A door!” Hugh chuckled. “Please. That’s…” He hesitated, his brow creasing just slightly. “That would never work. Would it?”

They all exchanged uncertain looks.

Nova took a drink of water, avoiding eye contact so they wouldn’t see her budding urgency. “It doesn’t really matter. Adrian is never going to try to get that helmet. But it does bring up an interesting point. There are so many prodigies, with so many abilities. How do you know the box is infallible if you’ve never challenged anyone to get inside? It’s just a box.”

“Just a box.” Hugh huffed, and his momentary concern seemed to have passed. “It’s an interesting theory, but there’s no point in speculating. I know myself and I know how my powers work. There’s only one prodigy who can break into that thing, and it’s not Adrian”—he gave Adrian a pointed scowl—“or anyone else we need to worry about.”

“Really?” Nova’s spine tingled. “Who is it?”

Hugh tossed up a hand, exasperated. “Me!”

Nova lifted an eyebrow. “Because you could … manipulate the chromium some more?”

“Well, sure. Or I could make a sledgehammer to take to it, if I was feeling destructive. But the helmet is safe. No one’s gotten to it yet, and no one ever will.”