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“Why did you do it, then?” he asks.
“She… she had a knife! She was coming after August with a fucking knife. She was going to kill him and… but I rewatched it, and she didn’t have anything,” I admit, deflating a bit at the end.
“That’s fucking weird,” Nolan says.
“Right?”
“August didn’t believe you?”
“It wasn’t that he didn’t believe me, it’s that Valerie dragged me off and showed me… that I was quite wrong. What if my powers are still acting up because of that snow globe?” I ask as I watch Zacia start to knead on Nemesis. Nemesis isn’t happy about this and grabs Zacia in a headlock. Of course Zacia doesn’t care, she’s just thrilled to have a buddy to play with.
“I don’t know,” he admits. “I’m sure that’s not it. You haven’t had trouble in six months. Hasn’t everything been completely back to normal with your powers?”
“Yeah, I guess.” I sigh. “I don’t want to be a hero. Why does no one understand that?”
“Well… people seem to think that if you’re not a villain, then you have to be a hero… and if you’re not a hero…”
“What about a reader? Can I be a reader?”
Nolan grins. “You can… but I think it’s going to be pretty hard to avoid the rest of this stuff when you’re dating August.”
“Hmm…” I grumble. “How’s the noise in your head?”
“Okay. It’s quieter in here. And at night, it’s nearly silent… so I’ve actually been able to sleep alright for what feels like the first time in a long time.”
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“Landon… I like the silence. I don’t like the world out there. I like it here… and I like you visiting me. Your mind is weirdly soothing. You’re not as chaotic as the rest of our family.”
“Okay… I guess. I still feel awful. I could break you out if you want. I’ll just blow a hole in the side of the building—”
“And then we’ll both be villains again.”
“Hmmm… wasn’t life kind of easier?” I ask.
He grins again. “Maybe a little bit.”
CHAPTERTHREE
AUGUST
I turn to find Landon but realize that I can’t even see him. “Where is Landon?” I ask in a panic.
“I sent him to headquarters,” Valerie says. She seems a bit unsure about what to do in order to calm the panic and accusations. And Valerie is rarely unsure.
“What? Why the hell did you do that? He literally thought there was a threat, so you separated us?” I ask in disbelief. Of course she’d do this. She always wants to control thingsherway and never cares about the rest of us.
The look she gives me tells me that she believes I might be borderline losing it. “There was no threat. Watch the damn video again,” she says as she forces her phone in front of me so I can watch Hannah closely. Hannah doesn’t even move in a menacing manner before she’s flung across the stage. And boy does Landon whip her. There’s absolutely no way to play it off like it was an accident.
“Landon wouldn’t just… make it up,” I say. Landon might not agree to this hero stuff and he might hate dealing with the public, but he’d never do something like this without a valid reason.
“He got pissed about what she said and is trying to hide it,” Valerie says with a sharp tone that irritates me. “Let’s go. We need to make an apology speech, and you’re going to have to do a lot of groveling to keep this relationship.”
I glance at her, honestly surprised she’s not demanding I break it off. Maybe she knows I never would. Instead of saying anything, I turn my attention back to the video and play it again before noticing something… Landon moves. It’s quick. Like… quick enough I can’t even be positive.
I rush back to the man who’d taken us out on set. “I need to talk to your tech crew or whoever is in charge of the video or whatever they’re called.”
He seems uncertain but gives me a nod and hurries me back to a room and over to a woman sitting in front of multiple monitors.
