Page 118 of Supernova

Their greatest weapon was Max, had always been Max.

But Adrian didn’t want Max anywhere near Ace Anarchy.

“You had help,” he finished lamely.

“He still has help,” Danna said. “Those villains haven’t defeated us yet. I’m ready for another round.”

Adrian bit the inside of his cheek, considering. She was right. They were beat down, but not defeated.

Ace would be expecting them to realign their forces before making a move. He would expect a full-scale attack on the cathedral, because that’s how the Renegades operated—with flashy attacks and extravagant displays of their strength. Whereas the Anarchists hadadapted to be stealthy and secretive. They used the element of surprise, and that’s how they had bested the Renegades this time. That’s how Nightmare kept beating them.

Maybe he could win at her own game.

He faced his dads. They were already discussing counterattacks and battle maneuvers when he interrupted them.

“How much Agent N do you think they have left?”

Hugh shook his head. “It’s impossible to say for sure, but from the amount we had in storage, and what was used here today…” He frowned, pondering the question, then shook his head. “I can’t imagine it’s much.”

“Let’s hope so,” said Adrian. “If we’re going to attempt a counterattack, it would be nice if they didn’t have any more of that stuff at their disposal.”

“It would,” said Hugh, “but we can’t know for sure. It wouldn’t have required much to arm those bees with it. But I can talk to the lab, see if they can pull together an estimate for us.”

“And do we have any left for ourselves?” asked Adrian.

It seemed to take a moment for his question to register. Finally, Simon said, “They replaced our supply with some sort of decoy.”

“Yeah, I know, but there must be some left, somewhere?”

“I have some.”

He bristled at the sound of Genissa Clark’s haughty voice, though he did his best to hide his dislike as he faced her. She looked terrible, her skin practically translucent, with garish purple spots beneath her eyes. She was clutching her head, as if it would roll right off her shoulders if her hand wasn’t there to support it. He was surprised to see her at all. He’d half expected her to be dead, but she must have only been unconscious.

Nightmare’s doing?

“I took some with me when we went after Hawthorn,” she said, unholstering a gun from her hip. “I still have one dart left.”

Adrian wanted to appear grateful, but he was already trying to figure out what he would say when Genissa insisted she be allowed to join him on the risky mission he was considering.

To his surprise, she held the gun out to him, handle first.

“You can have it,” she said, almost angrily. “I’m done playing heroes and villains. For real this time. The Renegades aren’t worth this.”

He took the gun and watched as she tried to saunter away, though her movements were stiff and jerky. Adrian opened the projectile chamber and saw the lone dart inside, swirling with green liquid.

“Uh-oh,” said Oscar. “I sense some serious vigilante recklessness coming on.”

Adrian glared at him, wishing he hadn’t chosen that moment to remind his dads that they were still supposed to be upset with him.

“The only way we’re going to defeat Ace Anarchy is if we can either get that helmet back or neutralize him,” he said.

“To do that,” said Hugh, “we need to get into the cathedral. And like I said, with that wasteland—”

“They’ll see us coming,” said Adrian. “But I know another way in.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

ASILENCE DESCENDEDon the cathedral tower, almost as loud in Nova’s ears as the bells had been before. Her rebellion echoed among the bronze and timber, that single, simple proclamation.

---