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The cameraman coughed pointedly.
Rebecca Firestone schooled her face. “Right. Edit that out in post. Three, two, one.” She smiled. “Nicholas Bell has been a central figure in the ongoing mystery of the Nova City Extraordinaries. On McManus Bridge, dozens of witnesses, including myself, saw him kissing the Extraordinary known as Pyro Storm, who was considered—and, potentially, rightly so—the villain of Nova—”
“Hell yes, I did,” Nick said, leering at the camera. “Go gays!”
“—who was considered the villain of Nova City,” Rebecca Firestone said through gritted teeth. She turned to Nick, eyes narrowed. “Mr. Bell, would you care to comment?”
“I would,” Nick said as Gibby groaned behind him.
“You would?” Rebecca Firestone asked, momentarily shocked. “Of course you would. What do you know about Pyro Storm? Did you know Owen Burke was Shadow Star? What is yourrelationship with both of them? Emotional? Physical?” She thrust the microphone in his face.
His moment to shine. Rebecca Firestone would regret ever being born. “My comment is this: I’m a minor, and Rebecca Firestone is attempting to speak to me without my guardian present.” He let his bottom lip tremble as he shook his head. “I wish there was an adult who would help save me from Rebecca Firestone’s incessant questioning. I was a victim, and she’s making me relive my trauma of a night I wish I could forget, even though I was the one who savedherfrom—”
“You littleshit,” Rebecca Firestone growled before composing herself.
The whispers from those standing in front of the school grew louder, a few of them laughing. Rebecca Firestone glared at Nick before that evil grin returned, her eyes alight in a way that made Nick uneasy. Without looking away from Nick, she held out her hand toward her cameraman and snapped her fingers. The cameraman reached down to a large duffel bag at his feet. He muttered under his breath that he wasn’t paid enough for this shit before he pulled out a tablet and handed it to Rebecca Firestone.
She tapped the edge of her microphone against the screen. “Tell us, Mr. Bell, have you seen Pyro Storm since the events on the bridge?”
He shrugged, knowing he had an audience of his peers and that it was best to keep them guessing. There was a chance he could turn this around in his favor. “Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t.”
“Mm,” she said. “And your boyfriend—Seth Gray, right? What did he think about you kissing another man?”
Uh-oh. That wasn’t good. “We didn’t get together until after that.” Total lie, but she didn’t know that. “Seth is the best,” he added quickly, because he was of the mind that Seth Gray deserved to be complimented publicly. “His smile is like sunshine, and his bow ties give me life.”
“Right,” Rebecca Firestone said. “Young love. How precious. I would ask, however, what your boyfriend would think about you as you continue to fraternize with Pyro Storm.”
Nick squinted at her. “I’m doing what now?”
Her smiled widened, her teeth bared. She turned the tablet around, showing Nick the screen. He felt Jazz and Gibby crowding his back, peering over his shoulder.
On the tablet was a picture. Nick knew exactly when it’d been taken. New Year’s Eve. He’d had plans to go out with Gibby and Jazz and Seth, but they’d been forced into action when Seth had been alerted about a break-in at the history museum, where a display of priceless jewels on loan from India had been shown for almost a month. Pyro Storm had foiled the heist, and all the jewels had been accounted for. Their night out had been shot, but Nick figured it was worth it to keep relations between India and the US on the level. He was nothing if not diplomatic.
After, he’d met up with Pyro Storm in the streets of Nova City, hidden away in the shadows of an alley. Right at midnight, Seth had kissed him sweetly, promising that the New Year was going to be awesome.
Apparently, they hadn’t been alone. Because here, on the screen, was a picture of Nick wearing ridiculous gag glasses covered in glitter that showed the numbers for the New Year, pressed up against the brickwork of an old building, Pyro Storm kissing him, Nick’s hands hidden under his cape. The picture was blurry and had been taken from across the street, but it was obviously Nick, head tilted as he kissed an Extraordinary.
“What the hell?” Nick asked furiously, trying to swipe to see if there were any other photos. There weren’t, but one was enough. “What is this?”
“An exclusive,” Rebecca Firestone said as she plucked the tablet from Nick’s hands. “Care to comment as to why you, someone who says he’s in a healthy relationship, would be playing with fire?”
“Wow,” Jazz said. “Did you really think of that all on your own? You’resoimpressive.”
Rebecca Firestone ignored her. “Mr. Bell? Thoughts? I’d hate to come between young love, but this is something that should be addressed. Anyone can see what you were doing. In fact, someone did, which is why this picture was sent to me from an anonymous—yet concerned—citizen of Nova City.”
“No comment,” Gibby snapped, grabbing Nick by the hand and attempting to pull him away. “Lady, you don’t want to piss us off more than you already have. I’ll sic my girlfriend on you, and you don’t want that. You haven’t seen scary until you’ve seen Jazz-scary.”
Rebecca Firestone scoffed as she looked over at Jazz in time to see her step out of her heels, flip them expertly in her hands, and advance with them raised like weapons. “Try me,” Jazz said primly as she cocked her head.
“What are you doing here, Firestone?” Nick jerked his head to find his boyfriend pushing his way through the crowd, his dress pants perfectly creased, his black sweater lint-free as if freshly rolled, and a goddamn paisleycravat. Ascots and cravats were almost the same thing, but ascots were more informal, which Nick only knew because of Seth, and while it was mostly useless information, it still made him slightly weak in the knees, current situation be damned. Who the hell did Seth think he was, walking in here to save the day, looking so stupidly adorable that Nick thought he would justdie?
Seth stepped between his friends and Rebecca Firestone, whose smile faded, brow furrowing as she looked him up and down.
“Leave now,” Seth said coldly, and the growing crowd around them tittered. They’d never seen Seth so assertive, and Nick wouldn’t be surprised if half of them weren’t immediately and irrevocably lusting after him. If they weren’t, then they should’ve been. Seth was pretty much the hottest thing in existence when he wore a cravat and spoke forcefully. “Don’t make me tell you again.”
“Uh,” the cameraman said. “Yeah, I’m getting out of here.” He lowered his camera, pointing the lens toward the ground. “I was already worried about this assignment, seeing as how your last cameraman died, but that young lady is scary, and I don’t want to die or go back to prison.”
Jazz feinted toward him, heel raised, and he stumbled backward, almost tripping over his duffel bag.
