Page 19 of Supernova

He pulled a flashlight out of his back pocket and, to Nova’s relief, led her away from Honey’s room, toward an intersection of the tunnels wherehertrain car stood against a wall. There were sheets of paper taped around the tunnel and on the windows of the car, “exhibits” left behind by the Renegades, indicating anything that might have seemed noteworthy at the time.

To her surprise, Adrian didn’t head for Nightmare’s car, but rather into the adjacent tunnel. The beam of his flashlight danced over a wall of old advertisement posters lined up side by side, each one taller than Nova. Her lungs squeezed when she realized what he’d discovered.

Approaching the last poster, an ad for a thriller novel, Adrian dug his fingers beneath the corner of the frame. The poster swung outward toward them, as it had swung toward Nova hundreds of times when she’d gone to visit Ace.

“Wow,” she mused, stepping forward as she pretended to examine it. She shone her flashlight into the narrow tunnel, the sides showing scrapes and scratches where she and the other Anarchists had passed. “Where does it go?”

“To the catacombs under the cathedral,” said Adrian.

“Really? That has to be at least a mile away.”

“Only about two-thirds of a mile,” he said. “The tunnel is a straight shot. It would take a lot longer on the surface. I think this tunnel might have been used after the Battle for Gatlon. It’s probably how the Anarchists managed to get away. And how they’ve been going back and forth, visiting Ace Anarchy and taking him food and supplies.” He shook his head. “You know, I came down here weeks ago, when I was trying to find that puppet Winston Pratt wanted? I saw this poster and… I had a feeling about it. I was so close to finding it, way back then. We could have found Ace Anarchy.”

She forced a small chuckle despite the sourness roiling in her stomach. “Good thing you didn’t. To just stumble onto Ace Anarchy like that? You would have…” She trailed off, not wanting to hurt Adrian’s feelings. But they both knew he wouldn’t have stood a chance against Ace, even if Ace was a lot weaker than he’d been ten years ago. At least, she hoped Adrian knew that. He was talented, but notthattalented. “I’m shocked the Sentinel was able to capture him.”

Adrian’s mouth twisted into a frown and she could tell he wanted to say something—probably defend his own abilities—but he resisted. “Well,” he said finally, “they say Ace Anarchy was pretty weak when they found him. Without the helmet, he’s just another telepath.”

Now it was her turn to resist the urge to argue. “If you ask me, the Sentinel got lucky.”

Adrian grunted, but she didn’t think he agreed with her.

“So…,” she started, rocking on her feet. “You’ve gone to the catacombs, then?”

“Just once. But I didn’t learn anything that we didn’t already know. I’ve been down here a few times since then, though. I justkeep thinking that Nightmare has to show up here again at some point, right?”

She shrugged. “Maybe not. Maybe she knows the Renegades are watching it too closely.”

“Maybe.” He fit the poster back into place. His expression changed then, the start of a teasing smile appearing at the corners of his lips. Nova immediately tensed. “Nice bracelet, by the way.”

She blinked.

Then blinked again.

She reached for her sleeve and tugged it down instinctively, but it was too late to cover the star that was inexplicably set into the prongs of her bracelet—and glowing far too obviously in these dim tunnels.

“I didn’t steal it,” she said hastily. “At least… I didn’t mean to steal it. It just kind of…”

Adrian chuckled. “I’m not mad. You can have it.” He cocked his head, eyes still twinkling behind his glasses. “I realized it was missing after you left, but you didn’t say anything, so I thought maybe I shouldn’t, either. But the curiosity is killing me.” He took her hand and gently pushed up her sleeve, revealing not just the star, but the delicate bracelet that her father had made years ago, the last thing he had ever made. “It fits the setting perfectly. Like it was made for it.” Adrian’s face was awed.

Nova was more awed by the rush of electricity at his touch. It was hardly the first time he’d touched her, so how did it still affect her this way?

“Did you know it would fit the bracelet? I mean, was the bracelet part of the dream you had?”

“No,” she said. “I had no idea it was going to…” She peered at the star, not sure how to explain what had happened. “I went backinto the room to see it, after you fell asleep. I just wanted to touch it, to see if it would do anything. And it… flashed, sort of? And the next thing I knew, it was there, in my bracelet.” She grimaced apologetically. “I probably should have told you, it’s just… it was in your house. It felt a little bit like stealing.”

“As far as I’m concerned, that room was made for you,” said Adrian. “You’re welcome to anything in it. The parrots, the wildflowers, the noise-canceling headphones…”

She flushed, remembering all too well the muted sound of their heartbeats falling into sync as she drifted off to sleep for the first time in ten years. It was quite possibly the most magical moment of her life. There were still times when she wondered if she’d imagined it all, sure that it had been too fantastical, too surreal, to have actually happened.

But Adrian was here, his fingers laced with hers, their toes practically touching, and ithadhappened.

“Well, thank you,” she said, inching just a bit closer to him. “I have become a little attached to the star, and… it really does seem like it was made for this bracelet.”

“I’m glad you like it. It was my first time giving a girl jewelry, which is sort of a big deal, so…”

She squinted one eye at him. “You didn’t give me jewelry. You gave me a jungle.”

He laughed. “That, and almost a full day of blissful sleep.”

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