Nova scanned the nearby tables. She recognized most of the Renegades by now, and it was odd to see so many out of uniform. Eating. Chatting. Enjoying one another’s company. They did not seem like superheroes.
They did not seem like the enemy.
Her mouth suddenly dry, Nova gulped down a glass of water.
It was too late to back out now. She had a job to do. Ace was relying on her.
Oscar made a joke and everyone at the table laughed, except Ruby, who turned to Nova and rolled her eyes at whatever ludicrous thing he’d said. It might have been an inside joke between them, if Nova and Ruby had any inside jokes.
If they had been friends.
The speakers squealed, drawing the audience’s attention toward the stage.
“That’s my cue,” said Hugh Everhart, flashing one more perfect smile at Jade and Sterling as he got up from the table.
Nova watched him go, remembering how not very long ago, she had tried to put a poisoned dart into his eye.
Renegades.
They. Are. Renegades.
At the microphone, Blacklight was welcoming them to the gala and explaining what their generous donations would be put toward. He did not mention the hospital heist, though of course, everyone here knew about it. Everyone here knew that they needed funding to replace the stolen drugs, for kids who were sick, patients who were dying. Here was something that the Renegades, with all their extraordinary powers, couldn’t fix. Sure, they had prodigy healers who rotated shifts at the hospital, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough to help save every person who became afflicted with every disease.
But people relied on the healers. They assumed that if they ever had to go to the hospital, a prodigy would be there to take care of them, even though statistics proved that far more people were cured through modern pharmaceuticals or preventative medicine than any amount of prodigy assistance.
There was no profit in pharmaceuticals though. Not with prodigies at the helm. Would there be now, after this theft proved the value and necessity of modern medicine?
Onstage, the rest of the Council joined Blacklight, and the whole lot of them beamed with pride. Nova was transported back to the parade, where they had stood like kings and queens atop their float, basking in the cheers from their doting public.
This was why she was here. To put an end to the idolizing of these so-called heroes and the promises they made but couldn’t keep. The heroes who had not saved her family. Who had not saved her. The heroes who had ruined Ace. Who had made society dependent on them.
Her reasons were stuck on repeat in her head, like a mantra, lest she dared forget them again.
Captain Chromium took the microphone from Blacklight, all teeth and dimples.
“I am inspired every day to be working with some of the brightest, bravest, most compassionate prodigies this world has ever seen,” he began, “and I hope each and every one of you will leave here inspired as well. Because it is together that we have restored Gatlon City from the despair that once burdened it, and it is together that we will continue to establish a city, a country, and a world that will become better and brighter than ever before. The amount of support we see here tonight is proof of that!”
The audience cheered, and Nova forced her hands together, though every clap echoed with resentment.
They had not protected her family. They had not saved Evie.
She barely heard the rest of his speech. She paid no attention as the others said a few words, and then the winners of the silent auction were announced. The applause was dim in her ears.
She glanced at the clock.
Her heart rate sped. Her blood pounded through her veins, in sync with the seconds ticking by.
A flurry of servers emerged through a side door, carrying trays laden with dinner plates. A fillet of flaky white fish was set before her, drizzled with dark balsamic vinegar and thick orange marmalade, a dollop of mashed potatoes sprinkled with rosemary, a pile of sweet roasted carrots and charred cherry tomatoes. There was even a sprig of parsley, bright green and fresh.
It was the most enticing meal Nova could ever remember having been handed to her, and she had no appetite for it.
Everyone around her was talking about the money that had already been raised for the hospital. Nova forced down a few bites, though her stomach tried to rebel.
The more she thought about it, the more her eagerness grew. Eager to get on with it. Eager for this night to be over. Eager to be on the other side, to be past the dread and the guilt and the uncertainty. Eager to have Ace look at her with shining, proud eyes and tell her it had all been worth it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“SHOULD WE DANCE?”
The words, whispered almost against her ear, made Nova jump nearly out of her skin. It took her a moment to process the question, blinking at Adrian as her nerves tingled. She had a list building in the back of her thoughts. A dozen lists. Everything she still had to do. Everything that could go wrong tonight.
Adrian gestured toward the dance floor. She spotted Ruby and Oscar already out there. Nova hadn’t noticed them leave the table. Rather than letting his cane impede his moves, Oscar was using it as a prop—spinning Ruby away one second, then using the cane as a pretend fishing pole to “catch” her and reel her back in. Ruby shook her head, momentarily mortified, but her laughter soon took over. And then she was following along, puffing out her cheeks and pretending to swim circles around him. Other dancers were giving them odd looks, but the two could have had the dance floor to themselves for all they seemed to care.
“Yeah,” Nova breathed, reminding herself to act normal. As normal as possible, anyway. “Okay.”
Adrian took her hand as they made their way through the tables. Though his grip was loose, it still sent a series of lightning bolts shooting up her arm.
Only once he’d taken her into his arms and they were surrounded by the upbeat notes of the band did Nova remember that she didn’t know how to do this. She had been trained to fight. To kill. What did she know about dancing?
But Adrian seemed no more comfortable than she was, and she was relieved when the extent of his skills seemed to be pressing one hand against her lower back and turning them around in time with the music. Nova observed their fellow dancers. Her attention found Blacklight, who normally struck her as pompous and vain, but she was surprised to see him intentionally making a mockery of himself. One moment he was flourishing his hands in the air, then twisting his hips in imitation of some mid-century dance steps. He looked like he was having fun.
Not far away was Tsunami, who was dancing with a man who was almost portly compared to her petite frame. They were moving way too slow, and gazing into each other’s eyes, as if for the moment they were the only people in the room. Was that her husband? Nova had never seen him before, and he didn’t at all fit what she would have pictured Tsunami’s partner to look like. Too short, too round, too … balding. He was about as opposite the mate of a great superhero as she could have imagined, but there was no mistaking the doting glimpses between them.
Her jaw clenched, though she wasn’t sure what about them made irritation rear up inside her.
Dragging her focus back to Adrian, Nova tried to school her expression into pleasantness, while inside she wanted to scream. How could Adrian be so nice, so sweet, so authentic, always so damned authentic? How could he be one of them?