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Dad’s annoyed sigh is the only answer I get. He pulls open the metal door, revealing a hallway that makes a square path around a room bordered in solid glass walls. Straight in front of us on the other side of the glass is another medical room of sorts. An unsettling feeling falls over me.
In the center of the room is a massive machine—solid white with shiny surfaces that reflect off the high beam overhead lights. It’s shaped like a huge donut, almost like a human CAT scan machine, only bigger.
Jake takes my hand and wraps his arm around my waist, leading me toward the door. It doesn’t escape my notice that he makes every effort possible to avert his eyes from the room with the machine. Dad avoids looking at it as well.
But I can’t take my eyes off it.
As we step into the hallway, I can’t help but break the icy silence. “Is that—?” I ask, finding myself suddenly unable to say the words that float so easily through my mind. The depowering machine.
“Yes,” Dad says. “And let this be the last time you ever see it.”
Jake leads me out of the medical ward through dozens of unfamiliar hallways. Having never been injured until last night—and wow does my head still hurt—I’ve never had a reason to come here. But Jake takes my hand and meanders through a maze of halls, all marked with abstract symbols instead of numbers and words, as if he comes here all the time. Of course, as a Retriever, he probably does.
It’s a struggle not to wince as I talk. Each movement of my jaw causes pain in my temple. The silence is annoying though, so I grit my teeth through the pain and make conversation. “So what made you choose the field of Retrieving?”
He answers without hesitation. “They wouldn’t let me be a Hero.”
I snort. “Been there.”
We round a sharp corner and he glances back at me with a smirk. “You have no idea. I passed my Hero exam.”
I stop dead in my tracks until Jake’s grasp on my hand lurches me forward again. “Why are you a Retriever if you passed your Hero exam?”
He palms the door in front of us and we step into the east side of Central, a hallway I actually recognize. Jake glances around before answering. “You’ll notice all the hair on my head is black.”
I nod. “I noticed.” I definitely noticed. Besides my own darkening hair, I’ve never seen a Super with black hair. Dark brown, rarely. Light brown … sometimes. Blonde? Mostly.
Most villains don’t have even have black hair. Only the worst cases of villains do. Jake may be the only Super in the world who understands what I’m going through right now. “They didn’t let me be a Hero either,” I say. It feels good to admit this to someone without fear of judgment. “So what have you done to piss everyone off?”
He shrugs. “Have a genetic anomaly, I guess.”
“You ever lose control and freak out on someone?”
He cocks an eyebrow. “You think I’d be here if I did?”
My MOD dances in my suit’s tiny pocket. I pull it out and see Pepper’s name flashing on the screen. “Hello?”
“Drop everything you’re doing and come to the studio now.”
“Your studio?” I ask like a dumbass.
“What the hell other studio would I mean?” His voice is rushed, his breathing ragged. I picture him talking to me while doing cartwheels across his sparkly marble floor. “Actually,” he amends, his voice calmer now. “Valid question. I’ll see you soon.”
The line goes dead.
Jake and I climb into an awaiting KAPOW pod. “We need to stop at Pepper’s,” I say.
His lips squish to the left side of his mouth. “No.”
“Uh, how about yes.”
“As much as I love taking orders from pretty girls, President Might’s orders will trump yours any day.”
My body falls into the seat as the pod lurches forward, its destination set to the coordinates of my house. Jake must have set them when I was talking to Pepper. I curse on instinct as my head jerks with the pod’s momentum, but the wave of pain in my whiplashed head is nothing compared to an hour ago. My body is finally healing.
Jake’s eyes narrow as I say his name with the tone of a pissed off mother. “We’re going to stop at Pepper’s.”
His mouth opens to disagree with me but I press my palm against his lips in the second it takes for him to suck in a breath of air. “I am stronger than you are. We are going to Pepper’s with or without your cooperation.”
