Page 31 of Supernova

In their shared bedroom, Honey threw open the sash of the window and began screaming at the bees in the room tofly free, fly free!The bees followed her command, soaring out the window in a great cloud, where they were joined by the hornets and wasps from the small yard below. Together, they swarmed over the neighbor’s house and disappeared. Nova didn’t know how or when they would manage to find their queen again, but Honey seemed unconcerned as she grabbed a jewelry box and an armful of dresses and shoved them into a suitcase. There was no saving the nests and hives dotted throughoutthe room, but no matter. Nova trusted Leroy when he said everything would be destroyed. She doubted there would even be ash left of these papery structures.

While Honey moved on to the cosmetics on her vanity, Nova pulled her duffel bag from where it had sat largely forgotten in the corner for weeks. She had kept few of her belongings from the subway tunnels, so there wasn’t much packing to be done. She stuffed her Nightmare costume inside, shoving the metal mask deep into its folds, followed by her heat-seeking throwing stars, the altered mist-missiles, the ink pen with the hidden blow-dart chamber, her shock-wave gun and specially designed wall-scaling gloves, the repurposed bazooka, the binoculars that had taken months to perfect…

She paused and scanned the room, even as she heard the growling engine of Leroy’s sports car back in the alleyway.

What else was there?

Through the window, she saw Leroy climbing out of the car. He left the driver’s side door open for a quick escape and popped the tiny trunk. Phobia was there, too, standing amid the abandoned hives. If he had an expression, Nova couldn’t tell what it was beneath the black shadows of his cloak.

“Catch!” she yelled, tossing out the duffel bag.

She didn’t really expect either of them to move to catch it, so was surprised when, at the last moment, Phobia spun his scythe and caught the duffel’s handles on the hooked blade.

“Here, throw mine down, too,” said Honey, shoving the suitcase at her. “I’ll start packing Leroy’s chemistry things.”

Nova tried not to think about the time that was slipping through her fingers. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before they were gathered behind the sports car, cramming their belongings into the trunk. Nova nestled Ace’s helmet inside the plasticbin that held Leroy’s beakers and measuring tools before latching the lid.

“Is that everything?” she said, panting. She peered up at their almost-home.

“It’s going to have to be,” said Leroy, pulling a small device from his pocket. “Learned this trick from Ingrid. There are days when I miss her.” He adjusted a dial that might have been foraged from a simple egg timer. “What do you think? Two minutes?”

Even as he said it, the sound of sirens reached them, distant but coming closer.

Nova’s stomach sank. Maybe the Renegades were responding to a nearby theft or a kitten stuck in a tree. But she knew better than to hope.

“I suggest thirty seconds,” said Honey, slipping into the passenger seat of the car. She scooted toward the center console, making room for Nova.

“Thirty seconds it is,” said Leroy, punching a button on the detonation device.

Hair prickling on the back of her neck, Nova moved toward the open car door, but then froze. “Wait—the Vitality Charm. Honey, did you grab the Vitality Charm?”

Honey leaned forward to see Nova beneath the low frame of the car. “You mean that necklace? No. But, Nova, there isn’t time—”

She cursed and swiveled toward the house. “Go without me! I’ll catch up!”

“Nova!” Leroy yelled, but she ignored him as she sprinted back into the house. Through the kitchen, rounding the stairwell banister, and up the stairs for the last time. The entire place reeked of the chemicals Leroy had doused over the floors and walls only minutes before. The small bomb in the kitchen would be detonated remotelyfrom Leroy’s device and the explosion would cause a chain reaction of precisely crafted chemicals igniting one after the other, sending a wave of molten-hot vapor through the structure and, according to Leroy, destroying everything it touched.

Including Nova herself if she didn’t hurry.

In the bedroom, she flew to the thin mattress pad on the floor and dug her hand underneath. Her fist wrapped around the chain and she yanked it out. Flying to the window, she leaned out just as the yellow sports car was swerving out of the alleyway onto the road.

Bracing her hands on either side of the window, she climbed up onto the sill and surveyed the small yard. She would aim for the empty hives and nests, which would allow at least a bit of cushion for her tuck-and-roll. With the pendant clutched in her fist, she eyed the area and mentally prepared herself for the jump when she heard pounding from below. A fist beating against the front door.

Her heart leaped into her throat. How much time had passed since Leroy set the device? Ten seconds? Twelve?

The front door splintered as someone kicked it in. Heavy footsteps could be heard clomping in the front room.

“Nova!” someone yelled.

Her breath left her.

Adrian.

“Nova, it’s me! We need to talk!”

The bomb. The chemicals.

Nothing will be recognizable when I’m done with it.

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