Page 136 of Supernova

She held him down with his head bent over the windowsill.

Adrian was about to lift his chin again, prepared to show Honey and Nova, Ace and his dad, just how defiant he could be, when he heard a click and felt the gun pressing against his scalp.

He released a dry laugh. “Come on, Nova.”

“Stop talking,” she growled.

He lifted his head as much as he could. Hugh was watching him, horror pulsing beneath his strong exterior.

Maybe he’d been wrong yet again. Maybe Nova would kill him.

Maybe that, too, would be its own sort of justice. He had trusted her so deeply. Welcomed her into the Renegades without hesitation. Begun to fall in love with her. It was, in part, due to his own blindness that she’d managed to cause so much grief.

Adrian forced himself to be calm. He let his body relax. He lifted his chin, pressing the back of his head hard against the gun. He held his dad’s gaze and tried to convey what they both knew to be true.

Hugh Everhart could not sacrifice himself. If Adrian was going to die today, he needed to die knowing that the Renegades would persevere. That they would stop Ace Anarchy. That they would end this war between heroes and villains… again. For good, this time.

He wished he could convey these thoughts to his dad. He believed in him and the organization he had created, even if he had fought against so many of their rules. He wasn’t afraid to die. He was a superhero. The son of Lady Indomitable… and also the Dread Warden and Captain Chromium. Being prepared to sacrifice himself for the greater good was a part of the job description.

And they both knew that Adrian was not the superhero this city needed. Captain Chromium was.

As he stared, he saw something enter his father’s eyes. An apology?

Driving the pike back into the ground, he grabbed the flask from the air and unscrewed the lid with his thumb.

“No!” Adrian screamed.

His father threw his head back and drank it.

Heart pounding, Adrian watched, they all watched, as Captain Chromium turned over the flask to show that it was empty before dropping it into the dirt.

They waited.

Adrian wondered what the physical indications would be. Would his muscles begin to shrink? Would the chromium chain and spear melt away, as Ruby’s bloodstone had?

Captain Chromium yanked the spear from the ground, gripping it in his fist while the seconds ticked by.

Ten.

Twenty.

Thirty.

The air came rushing back into Adrian’s lungs and he found himself laughing as the truth sank in, for all of them.

It hadn’t worked.

His invincibility had held.

“How disappointing,” said Ace. “But there is more than one way to destroy a hero.” He gestured toward the bell tower. “Nightmare, you were once forced to watch as your loved ones were murdered in front of you, due to the negligence of this man who calls himself a hero. Today, you will have your revenge! Today, Captain Chromium will know what pain you felt, as he, too, witnesses the death of the person most precious to him. I sentence Adrian Everhart to death! Nightmare, you may have the honors.”

“NO!” Hugh screamed.

Even as Adrian lifted his head, refusing to cower from his fate, Captain Chromium pulled back his arm and heaved the spear with all his extraordinary might at the bell tower.

He sent it straight at Nova.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

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