Page 152 of Renegades

Here, today.

She had started to plot even before Ingrid had arrived late last night. Because as much as she refused to buy into the idea that she owed Ingrid anything, there was an undeniable appeal to faking herown death. No more Renegades hunting her. No moreAdrianhunting her.

She wasn’t sure they were ready. She would have preferred to take more time to prepare, but she also couldn’t deny that the opportunity had presented itself and was too hard to pass up. Adrian and the Renegades had reason to suspect that Nightmare was associated with the carnival. She and Adrian were investigating that day.

It would be their best chance to make it believable.

“So,” said Adrian, “where should we start?”

They both looked around again. There was a game of strength nearby, where kids were trying to swing a hammer bigger than themselves in order to get a weight to hit an alarm bell at the top. Beyond that was an abundance of games featuring everything from darts and balloons and bottles, to stacks of milk jugs, softballs, and hoops.

Nova was tempted to guide him straight toward the clues she’d spent the night placing strategically throughout the park, but she worried it would be suspicious if it was all too easy. Instead, she shrugged. “If you were a villain who spent most of your time at an amusement park, what would you do?”

“Games, probably.”

She frowned. “Games?”

“We don’t know much about Nightmare, but we do know she’s a good shot. She has to practice, right?”

“And you think she practices with carnival games.”

His eyes twinkled. “What’s wrong? Are you afraid I might beat you?”

She pointed. “Atcarnivalgames? Hardly.”

Laughing, Adrian dragged her toward a game where the goalwas to hit a bull’s-eye painted over the Puppeteer’s face. “Good, because you really have nothing to fear.”

And he was right.

Adrian might have been able to draw a functional rifle or illustrate a perfectly balanced blow dart, but he turned out to be a terrible shot himself. They made their way through the games and Nova defeated him at every shooting, aiming, throwing, and targeting contest the park had to offer, though Adrian easily bested her when it came to challenges of strength.

After nearly an hour, Adrian had won a small light-up wand that some marketing company had emblazoned with Blacklight’s name, even though Blacklight had never used a wand so far as Nova knew. Meanwhile, she traded in all her mini prizes for a gigantic Dread Warden doll, which was almost as tall as she was. Adrian cracked up when the carnival worker handed it to her.

“Look, I won you a prize,” she said, promptly passing it on to him.

“What? You don’t want it?”

“I truly don’t.”

Adrian held the doll out at arm’s length. “I should probably be flattered, but I can’t help but feel that there might be something a little creepy about having a giant doll of your dad lying around.”

“You think?”

He peered at her over the doll’s head. “Will it hurt your feelings if I give it to him for his birthday? He will find it hysterical.”

The dollwaspretty hilarious, with its mop of felted hair and flimsy cape. “Do with it what you will,” she said. “My feelings will survive.”

He tucked the doll under one arm as they started to make their way through the carnival again.

“How weird is it?” Nova asked. “To know that so many people completely, blindly idolize your dads like that?”

“Honestly, the weirdest part is that you sort of get used to it after a while.” Adrian shrugged. “And I’d rather people idolize them than want to kill them. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much middle ground with how people feel about the Council.”

She tore her gaze away.

“Luckily, these days, more people appreciate prodigies than despise them. I know there are still people out there who don’t trust us, especially after all the things they went through under the villain gangs.”

Nova knew it was true. Even today, walking around the carnival in her Renegade uniform, there wasn’t much variety in the reactions she got from complete strangers. Either they stopped to stare at her with slack-jawed smiles and awestruck eyes, whispering giddily once she passed, or their expressions soured upon noticing the gray uniform and the redR, and they would promptly cross the path or turn another direction entirely.

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