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14
Later, as the sky began to darken, Nick and Seth hurried through the streets of Nova City, keeping their heads down. Nick had just gotten off the phone with Dad, who said he was as caught off guard as the rest of them, not having known about the press conference until it happened. He sounded upset, saying he’d been unable to get ahold of Cap.
“And before you ask,” Dad said, “I haven’t said a word about Seth to him or anyone. I’m not going to out him. I promise.”
Nick believed him. He was still pissed, but Dad seemed to be trying. Perhaps a test was in order. “A million dollars is a lot of money.”
Dad snorted. “Yeah, it is. But no amount of money will ever make me hurt Seth.”
Nick gnawed on the inside of his cheek, thinking hard. “Can I send you something?”
“What?”
“Hold on.” Nick pulled his phone away from his ear, opening the text thread he shared with his dad. He sent an attachment before saying, “Picture on its way to you.”
“Okay. It’s … I see it. Let me figure out how to … open … it …”
“Oh my god, Dad, you’re such a Luddite. You have to click on it and it’ll—”
“Yeah, yeah, I see that. It’s … whoa.”
“Whoa,” Nick agreed. He’d sent a picture he’d taken of Jazz and Gibby in their dress clothes, standing next to each other, hands clasped between them, Jazz’s head resting on Gibby’s shoulder.They had bigger things to focus on, but Seth said they needed to remember the little things, too, pushing Gibby and Jazz together and telling Nick to take their picture.
“That’s real good, Nicky,” Dad said quietly. “They look wonderful. Reminds me of … your mom. Ah, she had this … dress she liked to wear. Made her feel beautiful. She only wore it for special occasions, and she was just—”
Nick’s heart broke a little more at the wistfulness in Dad’s voice, but he knew what his father meant. “She was just.”
Dad hesitated, and Nick listened to him breathing. Then, “I need you to know that—shit. The Rook’s here. Kid, I gotta go. We’re going to hunt down Cap and demand he tell us what the hell the mayor is thinking.”
“And make sure you tell him that I’m not a fan of the people he’s hanging out with,” Nick said.
“Will do. Where are you? I won’t be home until late.”
Nick glanced at Seth, who didn’t seem to be listening as he pulled him through the streets, making sure he didn’t bump into anyone. Seth knew Nick and multitasking were not on the best terms. “Hanging out with friends. Probably not going to do much. Get something to eat, make plans for prom.”
“Text me if you’re going to be late. I’ll call you when I know anything. I can’t—I’mcoming, Rook, stop honking the damn horn! Nick, love you, talk soon, don’t do anything stupid.”
The phone beeped as the call disconnected. Nick sighed as he shoved it into his pocket. Seth looked back at him. “All right?”
Nick nodded. “He says he didn’t know this was going to happen. You get ahold of Miss Conduct and TK?”
“Miss Conduct, yeah. She’ll be there. Nothing from TK, but that’s not surprising. He shows up when he wants to.”
“You think he’ll come?”
Seth glanced back at him, narrowly avoiding a group of tourists following a guide as he extolled the virtues of Nova City’s illustrious history. “I don’t know. If he does, he does. Why?”
“He’s the only one we know like me,” Nick said. “Maybe he’ll take pity on me and want to help me out a bit. I can’t keep jumpingoff buildings to try and get my powers to work. What happens if we get into a fight? I’ll tell the bad guys to hold on a minute so I can climb ten floors and jump down?”
“I don’t know,” Seth said slowly. “He doesn’t seem like the type to want to take on a protégé, even though you’d be the best protégé anyone has ever had.”
Yeah, it was love, all right. Seth could have saidsidekick, but he didn’t. If that wasn’t enough to convince Nick, he didn’t know what else he was waiting for. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, someone screamed in front of them.
Seth stopped suddenly, Nick bumping into his back. He recovered, peering over Seth’s shoulder to see what was wrong.
A woman stood in the middle of the sidewalk, holding a leash attached to a tiny dog that yipped over and over, tail whipping back and forth. With her other hand, the woman pointed at Seth and Nick, finger trembling. “It’shim,” she cried. “That’s the kid they keep showing with Pyro Storm! He knows who Pyro Storm is!”
People around them began to whisper as Seth took a step back, crowding protectively against Nick. “Lady, you’ve got the wrong idea,” Seth said, the warning clear in his voice.
