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“I thought of that too,” Seth said grimly. “But Miss Conduct and TK have never met Burke. Miss Conduct didn’t even know who he was.”
Nick scoffed. “Of course that’s what they’d say. They wouldn’t just come out andtellyou they know each other. They’d be pretty shitty villains if they did.”
“I’m kind of with Nick on this one,” Gibby said, sounding apologetic. “Where have they been this whole time? Why come around now? You gotta admit, Seth, the timing is a little weird.”
“It’s not like that,” Seth said, jaw tightening. “We’re not teaming up or anything, and it’s not like I trust them completely.” He looked down at his hands. He had a scratch on the back of his right hand, red and slightly irritated. “They saw what happened on the bridge, like everyone else. Miss Conduct said it gave her the courage to try and find me. Same with TK.”
“Well,yeah,” Nick said. “They could be telling you what you want to hear.”
Seth jerked his head up. “Like Owen did to you? Because that sure worked, didn’t it?”
Nick flinched. He tried to tamp down on the quick flash of anger thrumming through his veins. When he spoke, he kept his words even. “You’re right. It did work, which is why I’m asking you to be careful.”
“Do they know about us?” Jazz asked. “About Lighthouse?”
“Well, Miss Conduct does because Nick told her. TK doesn’t. I was trying to keep everything compartmentalized until I could figure out what the plans was. If it wasn’t for tonight, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
“You wouldn’t have told us?” Nick asked incredulously.
“No,” Seth said, the line of his jaw twitching. “I wouldn’t havebecausetheyweren’t ready for me to. And I wasn’t either. Again, Nick, not everything is about you. We’re still feeling each other out—”
“You seemed to be feeling Miss Conduct just fine,” Nick muttered before he could stop himself.
Seth gaped at him.
Nick groaned. “Goddammit. That’s not what I meant. I don’t think—ugh, I suck. That was a stupid thing to say, I’m sorry. Ignore me. I’m being a dick.”
Seth deflated. “A little, but I can’t blame you for that, especially since I was about to tell you again that you don’t know what it’s like being this—thisthing, but that’s not true anymore, is it? Because you’re part of this now, Nicky, more than you were before.” His expression softened. “Your mom, huh?”
Nick swallowed thickly. “Yeah.” It took him a moment to be able to get the next word out. “Guardian. She wasGuardian.”
“And your dad knew?”
Nick nodded. “He did. And the Concentra … it was doing something to me.” A thought struck him, terrible and wonderful in equal measure. “What if I don’t have ADHD at all? What if it was only my powers manifesting themselves against the drugs?”
“Hey, Nicky?” Gibby asked. “Don’t take this the wrong way—”
“Becausethat’snot an ominous start or anything,” Nick mumbled.
“Yeah, well, I know you,” she said dryly. “You need a disclaimer.” She sobered, bumping her shoulder against his. “Even if you can do what you say you can, that doesn’t necessarily explain everything else. No one thinks like you do, and I mean that in the best way possible. You can have both, okay? Superpowers and ADHD.”
“You’re pretty great,” Jazz whispered into the top of Gibby’s head.
“She is,” Nick agreed, bumping Gibby’s shoulder back. “Thanks, Gibby. Maybe you’re right, but the only way I’ll know for sure is to—”
“—is to talk to your dad,” Seth finished for him.
Nick shook his head. “We need to figure out what Burke thinks he’s doing, sending Extraordinaries after us.” He looked down at the ground. “And if my dad is part of it, we need to be careful with what we say and who we trust.” He grimaced. “He went out with Gibby’s and Jazz’s parents this afternoon. Said it was just a meeting, but I know it’s really a type of support group for parents whose kids get involved in the mess we’re in. Do you think … do you think they’re in on it too?”
“No,” Jazz said immediately. “I would know. Daddy tells me almost everything, whether I want to hear it or not. If he thought your dad was doing something wrong, he’d say something. I don’t think they know anything other than what we’ve already told them.”
Nick felt a little better hearing that. But then,a little betterwasn’t much in the face of betrayal. “Gibby? What about your parents?” He didn’t think for a minute Trey and Aysha would be involved in this, given how angry they were at Nick’s dad, but today had been a stupidly awful day, and he had to make sure.
Gibby didn’t answer. Nick raised his head to look at her. She was staring off into nothing, eyes slightly glazed over. Jazz rubbed the top of her smooth head. “Gibby?”
Gibby shook her head. “No, I don’t think they know anything. But—”
“But what?” Seth asked.
