Page 97 of Archenemies

“After that, every time I closed my eyes, I would hear those gunshots in my head. I couldn’t sleep. After a while, I stopped trying.”

Even recently, when she had briefly fallen asleep inside Max’s quarantine, the nightmare had plagued her. The hitman looming over her. The cold press of the gun to her forehead. The gunshots echoing through her skull.

BANG-BANG-BANG!

She shuddered.

Adrian rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Nova,” he whispered, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry. I knew they were killed during the Age of Anarchy, but I never thought—”

“That I witnessed it? I know. It wasn’t something I thought belonged in my Renegades application.”

He nodded in understanding, his expression heavy with sorrow.

And though telling the story brought her sadness, it also brought anger. The resentment that had crowded out her own sorrow for the last ten years.

Where were the Renegades?She wanted to shout.Where was the Council? Where were your dads?

She clenched her teeth and peered down at their entwined hands. His was warm and solid, while her hand had gone limp.

“My mom was murdered too,” he whispered.

She swallowed. “I know.” Everyone knew. Lady Indomitable had been as much a legend as any superhero.

“I didn’t see it happen, of course. No child should have to go through that. But I did”—his brow scrunched in pain as he spoke—“for a long time, I wondered if maybe it was my fault. At least, in part.”

She jerked, startled at how his words mirrored her own guilt. “How could it have been your fault?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense, but…” He grimaced. “Remember how I said I used to have really vivid nightmares? The ones with the monster? Well, part of that recurring dream I had was where my mom would leave our apartment, flying out through the window to go save the day somewhere in the city, and I would be watching her go, when… this shadow would come over her and she wouldn’t be able to fly anymore. I would watch her fall. I would hear her scream. And I would look up and the monster would be on the rooftop, just… staring at me.”

Nova shivered.

“I had that dream more times than I could count. It got to where I would throw tantrums every time my mom put on her costume. I didn’t want her to go. I was so terrified that she wouldn’t come back. And then, one night, she didn’t.” He met Nova’s gaze. “When they found her body, it was clear the fall had killed her, and there was a look of… of terror on her face. For a long time I thought that my dreams had made it come true. Like maybe they were prophetic or something.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” said Nova, squeezing his hand. “They were dreams, Adrian. It was just a coincidence.”

“I know,” he said, though Nova wasn’t sure if she believed him, or if he believed himself. “But she couldfly.How could she have fallen so far without being able to…” He lowered his head. “No villain ever took credit for her death, as far as I know. Which is unlike them—a lot of the villain gangs liked to brag about their victories.And killing Lady Indomitable… that would have been a victory worth bragging about.” His voice turned sour, and it was clear that this mystery had haunted and frustrated him nearly as long as Nova’s past had tormented her.

“You want to find out who did it,” she said slowly, “so you can have revenge.”

“Not revenge,” said Adrian. “Justice.”

She shivered. He said it with conviction, though she wasn’t sure he would recognize the difference in his own heart.

And what of her own heart, she wondered.

Did she want revenge against the Council, or justice?

Her whole body felt heavy thinking about it.

This wasn’t for her. This moment of peace. This sense of safety. This world with no heroes and no villains, where she and Adrian Everhart could sit holding hands inside a childhood dream.

This world didn’t exist.

Rubbing his forehead, Adrian let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.This,” he said, gesturing around, “is supposed to be a dream, not a nightmare.”

A faint smile twitched at the sides of her mouth. “It is a dream, Adrian. The first I’ve had in a long time.”

His eyes shone at her words. Then he fished his marker from his jeans pocket and glanced around. “I have an idea,” he said, turning to a crumbling stone wall. He began to sketch. It amazed Nova that he could create something real and tangible out of nothing. He could go on like this forever, creating a dream within a dream within a dream.

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