Page 98 of Archenemies

He drew a set of large headphones and pulled them from the stone. He held them out to Nova. “Noise-canceling headphones,” he explained. “Not even gunshots can get through.” He nudged her shoulder with the headband.

Nose wrinkling with doubt, Nova took the headphones andslipped the padded cuffs over her ears. Instantly the world, which had already been quiet, dimmed to impenetrable silence, fed only by the thundering of her own pulse, the drum of her own heartbeat.

Adrian’s lips moved. A question, she thought, but Nova shook her head at him.

Adrian grinned. He lay down, extending his arm over the patch of moss. An invitation.

Nova hesitated for far less time than she should have, then sank down and settled her head into the crook between his shoulder and his chest. It took a moment for her to get comfortable with the headphones on, but when she did, she realized that there were two heartbeats now drumming against each other. Though the aromas from the jungle had filled the room, this close to Adrian she could smell the chemical tang of paint mixed with an undercurrent of pine-scented soap.

Her attention landed on the star. It never dimmed. Never brightened. Never changed at all. Just hovered, peaceful and constant.

And this boy, this amazing boy, had made all of this.

She remembered why she had come there that night. To find the Vitality Charm. To protect herself in the upcoming fight with Agent N. To fulfill her duty.

It could wait. Just one more hour. Maybe two. Then she would put Adrian to sleep and she would continue with her plan.

For now, in this strange, impossible dream, it could wait.

Steadily, slowly, their heartbeats fell into sync. Nova listened to them thumping in tandem for what might have been an eternity. She was still staring at the star when, unexpectedly, it winked out and Nova fell into a quiet, dreamless sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

SHE AWOKE TO THE SOUNDof birds. In that hazy place between sleeping and waking, it seemed entirely normal that the city’s cooing pigeons and squawking crows had been exchanged for the trill and chatter of far more exotic creatures.

The tranquility lasted for only a moment. Eyes snapping open, Nova jolted upward, one hand sinking into moss and the other landing on a discarded pair of headphones. A blanket tumbled around her hips.

“Great skies,” said Adrian. He sat a few feet away, his back against the statue. A large sketchbook rested beside him, a pencil settled in its gutter. From her vantage point she could make out an upside-down, half-completed toucan.

He smiled. “For someone who never, ever,eversleeps, you sleep like a pro when you want to.”

Nova palmed her eyes, trying to rub away her drowsiness. “Time is it?”

“Almost five,” he said. “At night.You’ve been sleeping for nearly twenty-four hours straight. Which, by my estimate, still meansyou’re nowhere near caught up.” His expression turned serious, that little wrinkle forming over the bridge of his glasses. “I tried calling the number in your file, to let your uncle know where you are, but it said it’s been disconnected. Is there another number I should try? He must be worried.”

She blinked at him in bewilderment, unable at first to distinguish between the pretend “uncle” mentioned in her official paperwork and Ace. Her head felt like it was filled with fog and she wondered if everyone woke up this… thisgroggy.That was the word for it, right?Groggy?

How did people stand it?

“No, it’s fine,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s used to me disappearing at night and not coming back for days. Hard to be cooped up inside while everyone else is sleeping. Plus, now, with patrol duty…” She raked her fingers through her hair, working out a few snags. “Anyway, I’ll… uh… check my file. The number probably got entered wrong.” She rubbed her lashes again and was surprised to find flecks of white caught in them. “Have I really been sleeping for…” She froze, a sting of panic coursing through her limbs. “Do you think it’s because of Max? Is this some sort of aftereffect?”

“What, we can’t give credit to my magically efficient, noise-canceling headphones?”

Nova frowned, even as her fingers fell on the headset.

But then she realized he was joking. “Actually, the thought crossed my mind too. It could be related. Max mentioned having some mild insomnia since you were in the quarantine that day. We know he got a small portion of your power. So maybe now you’recapableof sleeping, but you can sleep by choice, not out of necessity? Or maybe the… conditions have to be right.” He cast a wistful look at the headphones.

Nova curled her fingers around them. Even now, all these years later, she could hear the gunshots inside her head, deafeningly loud. She wasn’t convinced that a set of headphones would allow her mind to rest, after ten years of terrors.

Or perhaps it didn’t have much to do with the headphones at all. She flushed, remembering how it had felt to lay her head against Adrian’s chest. To listen to his heartbeat. There had been a feeling she couldn’t recall having experienced since she was a child.

The uncanny sensation of beingsafe.

Adrian was watching her, his expression serious. “It’s all right, Nova,” he said, leaning toward her. “It’s been weeks since you came in contact with Max, and this is the first time you’ve slept since then. I’m ninety-nine percent sure that still makes you a prodigy.”

She blinked, realizing how drastically Adrian had misinterpreted whatever he was seeing on her face. He thought she was worried about her powers, but that was a long way from the truth. She knew her true power—Nightmare’s ability to put people to sleep—was intact. She wasn’t afraid of that.

No, what she feared was something far, far worse, and had much more to do with the way she had sunk so easily into oblivion while in the arms of Adrian Everhart.

---