“We’ll consider it,” said Hugh, and his tone gave nothing away—no promises, no hopes.
“Thank you,” said Adrian, inclining his head.
They were dismissed.
Adrian ushered his team back through the hall. Oscar and Ruby both seemed to deflate the moment they stepped away from the podium, as if they’d been holding their breaths the whole time, and it occurred to Adrian that the Council might be really intimidating to them. He supposed he was intimidated a bit, too, but he knew it wasn’t the same.
“Wait—Miss McLain?” called Kasumi.
Nova froze. Her back straightened like a pin and Adrian caught a flash of nervousness cross her features, before she quickly schooled them into her practiced nonchalance. Still, she couldn’t fully hide the gulp as she turned back around.
“Yes?”
“We understand that you have an interest in weaponry,” Kasumi said. “It so happens that our armory has become quite overwhelmed as they attempt to catalogue all the equipment that was saved from the fire. We thought you might be able to assist them. It could be a good opportunity for you to learn about some of the other operations we do here.”
Frowning, Adrian stepped up beside Nova. “Hold on. Nova has demonstrated that she’s more valuable to the Renegades than for basic data entry. Can’t you get someone—”
“I’ll do it,” said Nova. He turned to her and saw that she was smiling, though it was the stretched-thin kind of smile that didn’t quite seem to fit her. “I’d be happy to help.” She looked at Adrian. “It will keep me busy during our probation. And, besides, I can always work nights.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
NOVA FOLLOWED THE OTHERS into the elevator, still edgy over the whole experience before the Council. She was proud of herself for staying so calm during the proceedings, when every time she looked into their faces she thought of little Evie, she heard gunshots, she remembered all over again that these were the people who had promised to protect her family, and had failed.
“Well,” Oscar said brightly as the elevator doors shut behind them, “that could have been worse. They say probation—I hear vacation.”
“No kidding,” said Ruby, slumping against the wall. “I was worried they’d take us off street duty forever and force us to do, I don’t know, admin tasks or something.” She grimaced at Nova. “Sorry about that assignment, by the way. It sounds awful.”
Nova shrugged. “Boredom is my ultimate enemy. I like having something to keep busy with.”
Truthfully, she couldn’t imagine a better assignment. Entry into their arms database and computer systems? Irresistible. Anything that could speed up the process of uncovering new, useful information would be gratefully welcomed at this point.
Anything to get Leroy, Honey, and even on occasion Phobia out of “her” house. It hadn’t even been a day yet and already she was rife with anxiety, sure that some Renegade would decide to check up on their new recruit, only to find her home overrun with Anarchists.
Besides, they couldn’t avoid the tunnels forever, no matter how much they were enjoying daylight and plant life on their very own patch of land. Even if that patch of land was smaller than a sleeping bag and that plant life was nothing but nettles and dandelions.
Dandelions, she had heard Honey say that morning, were severely underrated.
The elevator plummeted back down to the ground floor and they spilled out into the lobby.
“Lunch, anyone?” said Oscar. “It’s taco day in the cafeteria.”
“I’m going to visit Max,” said Adrian, glancing up toward the sky bridge. “I’m sure he’s been watching news stories about the library all night.”
Nova’s pulse jumped. Though her focus had been caught up in the Sentinel lately, she remained intensely curious about Max. The Bandit. She still knew so little about him, his abilities, or why he was stuck in that quarantine. “Can I come too?”
Adrian looked at her, surprised—but, pleasantly, she thought. “Sure, if you want.”
When they arrived outside the quarantine, Max was smashing a hammer into the rooftop of the Cloven Cross Library. Pieces of glass were scattering around his knees but if he was worried about cutting himself, it wasn’t apparent. He was, at least, wearing protective goggles as he decimated the model.
Adrian knocked at the window.
When Max showed no sign of having heard him, he knocked louder.
Max startled and looked over his shoulder, pushing the goggles up on top of his moppy hair. He grinned, and there was something so bizarre about seeing that bright smile, coupled with the goggles, the hammer, and a demolished library that Nova couldn’t keep back a laugh.