Page 1 of Secret Spark

CHAPTER1

Sadie readjusted her bouncy red ponytail to prep for closing time cleaning. Another few minutes and she could politely inform the woman and man typing away at a corner table that Vector City Coffee closed at ten.

Her feet hurt, which wasn’t her fault. These cute purple Mary Janes had insoles from the drugstore down the street. Pounding concrete sidewalks on her commute and standing all day behind the counter was simply a tiring thing to do. Blaming cute shoes was like arguing with that vindictive pigeon who pooped on her apartment balcony every day: a big waste of time.

Besides, the shoes went perfectly with her bright blue cigarette pants and matching sleeveless top. It would’ve been a disservice to the outfitnotto wear them, even though said outfit was covered by her drab gray work apron.

The energy of a warm summer night permeated the coffee shop. Most of the drinks she’d made that day had been iced, which was fine. It was a good lazy Sunday for iced coffee or tea. It just didn’t allow her to craft fun designs on top of a hot cappuccino.

The open, airy vibe of Vector City Coffee and white-and-gray décor telegraphed cold drinks, cold sandwiches, muffins that were not fresh from the oven. The moody indie music and stiff metal chairs made you feel more like sitting at attention than relaxing.

All things Sadie would change.

Her heartbeat doubled as visions of her dream café played about her head. Warm, cozy, inviting. Wooden tables, comfortable chairs, a couch or two. And color. And a jukebox if she could find (and afford) one. It’d be stocked with oldies and real old oldies and random pop songs from the past few decades. Whatever struck her fancy, because it’d behers.

She slid the glass door on the back of the display case to start gathering the unsold pastries. A boom sounded outside. Then a second one, louder and closer. A huge burst of unnatural wind stirred dust and garbage along Bromley Street.

The intensity picked up. Several bolts of small, contained lightning flashed across the street.

“Not again,” Sadie groaned, shielding her eyes.

One of the wide front windows shattered as a large lump of a man crashed through it. The coffeehouse vibrated from the impact.

He sat up fairly quickly. Brushed bits of glass off his skintight black spandex. His face was masked other than eyeholes and a space for his nose and mouth.

He stood, stamping more glass off his massive frame. No mistaking which Superhero with that body. It was Lunk. Tremendous strength packed every bulging muscle.

Amit came running out of the back, untied apron flapping around him. Utter disbelief made the manager’s brown eyes grow comically huge.

Lunk looked around, met Sadie’s gaze, then gave a small shrug. “Sorry,” he said in a deep timbre.

“Aw, come on!” Amit all but shrieked.

A lithe figure in black and crimson ran past the newly created hole, laughing loudly. Her long, dark hair bounced with every step. Oh, no.Spark.

Two more Villains quickly crossed the street—Ice in his black getup striped with dark blue, Breeze in his charcoal-gray outfit. Ice shot a spray of snow at Lunk’s face on his way by.

Lunk frowned, then charged through the broken glass and back out to protect the citizens of Vector City.

Catch dropped to the sidewalk from above. Hooray! Catch was here! Looking commanding and protective in head-to-toe navy blue. She followed in hot pursuit.

Sadie’s heart soared as she leaned over the counter to catch one last glimpse of her Superhero crush. “Go get ’em, Catch.”

“I don’t believe this.” Amit stomped over to the accident site. “That’s the third time this year. What are these dumbasses doing?”

“Last time, it was one of the bad guys,” Sadie said.

“Yeah, who got thrown through the door by Flight.” Her boss kicked at a large chunk of glass.

Sadie picked up the cordless phone. It’d been smart to add the twenty-four-hour emergency board-up company to their speed dial.

The man and woman at the corner table went back to typing.

Amit grumbled and groused as he snagged the phone from her. “Why couldn’t it have been one of the others? Why’d it have to be the biggest frickin’ Super the city’s ever had?”

Sadie nodded in agreement.

“Flight crashes through tall buildings, since he flies around. Race is too fast to get caught.”

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