Page 61 of No Capes
“No.” He frowns. “She left it behind. This is what Bridges asked me to do,” he replies, “to create a diversion at the pool so Arielle would have to address it, and no one would know where she went. People would freak out and assume she was kidnapped, chaos would ensue, yada. Only, I didn’t create a diversion, and she’s missing. Madeline, it’s stupid to come up here by yourself and start yelling about it. Bridgesknowsabout your powers.”
Oh no.For the first time, it hits me that I should do more than play pretend with my powers. Arielle is actually missing. She disappeared from Hallowfest, her favorite party of the year. Phil can’t find her, and neither can Dark Static.
I look to Dark Static, who always exudes confidence, to find he’s standing far away from me with his arms crossed. He’s on guard.
“What do we do?” I ask. “Do you think she’s okay? Do you think Phil’s behind this? Or her friends from that conversation we overheard?” Phil’s gotta be behind this.
D.S. lets out a long breath. “Calm down, Madeline.”
What?My hands numb, and now I’m scared for a new reason. He’s not pulling the rug out from under me, is he?
“Don’t tell me to calm down.” The words feel wrong on my tongue.
Dark Static looks at me, and I hate that I can’t see as much of him with his real mask back on. “Hey,” he finally says, but a quiet knocking raps on the door.
“Static, let’s go,” someone calls through it. “She’s not here, and we’re running out of time.”
The room fills with a loud silence when D.S. doesn’t reply. He can’t answer; he’s too busy staring at me. Not the “I think this girl is beautiful” kind of stare that I want from him, but a stare like he wants to get a point across and expects me to read his mind. Unfortunately, that’s not a power I have.
Confusion stifles my ability to talk. I thought we were both here to help Arielle, but why do I feel like that’s not the case?
Stiffly, D.S. opens the door to the bathroom and his counterpart, dressed in yellow spandex with the boots and mask to match, hops in. “C’mon let’s go—” says Golden Ace. He stops when he sees me. “Wait, Madeline’s coming too? You said—”
“That’s what we were talking about,” D.S. says.
“Oh.” Alone, Golden Ace is athletic and lean, but adding him in the room feels like placing a giraffe in a hiding hole for mice.
“Yeah,” D.S. says. “I’ll be ready soon.”
“Great.” Golden Ace mutters sarcastically. He leaves to wait on one of Arielle’s pink armchairs, and the door clicks shut behind him.
D.S. blinks. “I think it would be a good idea if you did not go looking for your sister.”
“Excuse me?” If voices could bite, D.S. would need a band-aid.
“Madeline. It’s dangerous and you don’t know what you’re getting into.”
“Oh my gosh,” I say. “Do you hear how cliché you sound? The big brave hero won’t let the girl come, so she protests and goes anyway? Do you want to finish this conversation, or should we find Arielle?”
“You don’t know what your powers are yet. What if we get into real trouble? You don’t have a mask or extra water or anything. Trust me,” he says, almost pleading. “This is way too dangerous for you. Gold and I will find Arielle. We’ll fix this.”
My dad would be devastated if he found out Arielle was missing. And, despite how awfully she has treated me, discovering that Arielle had kept my powers safe earns her a lot of sister points. I need to help find her.
“So what? I’m supposed to leave finding my sister to therealSupers? I thought we were a team.” I get that I don’t know my powers yet, but I need to find my sister. My dad and I can’t lose Arielle.
“Gold is on my team. You’re…”
When D.S. doesn’t continue, I click my tongue. “I’m what?”
Dark Static studies the tile floor, then the ceiling, debating whether he should take back his comment or double down. “Look, Maddy. Maybe this isn’t such a great idea right now. I feel bad saying no to you, but I can’t let you come with me. It just isn’t a good time for us to be… involved… that way.”
I cannot believe this is happening. This entire conversation feels so stupid and unnecessary, yet here we are, having it.
“I’m sorry, Maddy.” He sounds like he genuinely means it, but also like he thinks that “sorry” is the easiest way to end the conversation.
“It’s Madeline.” I move to walk past him and he lets me. I could boil water with the anger at my fingertips.
“You’re not coming?” Golden Ace asks as I scurry out of the pink explosion that is Arielle’s suite.
