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“Why didn’t I notice?” Nick asked.
“Maybe because you don’t always see things that are right in front of you.”
That stung more than Nick thought it would. Because all he could hear in that was Dad asking him why he had to be the way he was. “That’s not fair. You know how my head is—”
“Oh, I know,” Seth said. “I know exactly how your head is. But it can’t be an excuse, Nick. Not forever. You want to be anExtraordinary? Fine. There’s a bus filled with kids that’s about to fall off a bridge. There’s an apartment building ten miles away that’s on fire and about to collapse filled with people who can’t escape on their own. Who do you save?”
“I don’t… that’s not—”
Seth looked up at him, eyes blazing. “Who do you save, Nick? You want to help the city, right? That’s what you said. You want to help the city. The people. Your dad. Who do you save?”
“I would help one,” Nick said. “And Shadow Star would help the others. That way everyone is okay, and no one would get hurt. And maybe I’d even convince Pyro Storm to help put out the fire, because he can’t beallbad—”
“Funny how that works,” Seth muttered. He shook his head. “You have faith, Nick. That’s good. But it’s not going to be enough.”
Nick bristled. “What the hell, man? All I wanted was to come over here and check on you—”
“Even though I told you to stay away—”
“—and now you’ve got bruises and muscles and you’re wearing boots in bed—”
“It’s my house. I can do what I want.”
“—and you’re trying to quiz me or something, and you’re talking crap about Shadow Star who is the greatest Extraordinary alive. And maybe you don’t want me to be like him. Or Pyro Storm. Maybe you’re just jealous about—”
Seth’s laugh was almost hysterical. “Jealous? AboutExtraordinaries? That’s not even…” He tilted his head. “Huh. That actually makes a lot of sense.”
Nick wasn’t expecting that. “It does? I mean, of course it does. You’re just jealous that… that, um. Okay, wait. Why are you jealous?”
Seth looked up at him again. That same strange glint was in his eyes. “I’m right here, you know? I have been. For a long time.”
Nick was confused. “I know.”
“And then there was Owen, and you—”
“Made a sexy but regrettable mistake,” Nick admitted. “I blame teenage hormones and this thing he could do with his tongue.” He grimaced. “That makes me sound terrible.”
“And now you’ve got this stupid crush on Shadow Star.”
“Don’t,” Nick snapped. “It’s not stupid, okay? He saved me, and he knows who I am without me having to tell him, which means he might like me or something, and even if he doesn’t, I can show him that I can be—”
“Who is he, Nick?”
That stopped Nick right in his tracks. “What?”
Seth stared at him intently. “Who is he? He’s Shadow Star. But who is he behind his mask?”
“That doesn’t matter to me.”
“It might if you find out. It might change everything. What if it were me?”
Nicholas Bell did what was possibly the stupidest thing in a short, short life filled with many stupid things. He didn’t mean to, of course. It was a knee-jerk reaction. He didn’t think he could have stopped it even if he’d tried.
He laughed. Helaughed,because the idea of Seth of all people being Shadow Star was so preposterous, he couldn’t even fathom it.
Seth’s expression hardened.
“I’m sorry,” Nick gasped, trying to fight it down but failing quite spectacularly. “You’re Seth. There’s no way you could—I mean, that’s dumb. Come on, man. Don’t do that. You don’t need to be him. You’re fine the way you are. And besides, it’s not like you would keep that a secret from me, right? I mean, if you were Shadow Star, you’d tell me. It’s just… dumb.”
