AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shook her head furiously. “No, I don’t. He knows who Pyro Storm is.” She raised her voice again. “He was on the bridge with him! They werekissing!”
The whispers became mutters as more and more people stopped to look at them.
“A million dollars,” Nick heard someone say. “That kid has info worth amillion dollars.” Hands began to touch Nick’s shoulders, his back. Someone grabbed his arm, fingers digging in, jerking him away from Seth, spinning him around until he collided with a sweaty man who smelled like week-old sushi.
“Tell me who he is,” the man growled, face inches from Nick’s.
“Let me go!” Nick snapped, struggling to pull free. “You’ve got the wrong dude, dude!”
“I saw him first!” the woman shrieked. “He’smine.” She took a step toward them, dragging her dog behind her.
“Get your hands off of him,” Seth snarled, pushing his waybetween Nick and the sweaty man. “You try and touch him again, you’ll have to go through me.”
The man laughed. “You?Who the hell are you? I only want to talk to the kid. What’s his name?”
“Nelly!” someone cried. “His name is Nelly Babbish!”
“No it’s not,” another person scoffed. “Who the hell names their kid Nelly Babbish, you moron. His name is Nicodemus Bracewell!”
“Oh, becausethat’sa better name.”
“Itis. Nicodemus! Hey, Nicodemus!”
“What iswrongwith you?” Nick demanded as the crowd began to close in around them.
“Yes, hello,” the first woman said, phone pressed against her ear, trying to push her way through the people in front of her. “Did I dial the right number for the hotline? Yes? Good. I’d like to report that I’ve found Nigel Buckendorf.Nigel Buckendorf. The one who is always making out with Pyro Storm. I’d like my million dollars to be dispersed in rolls of quarters, and no, you don’t get to ask why.”
“Run!” Seth cried, grabbing Nick by the hand and shoving his way through the crowd. People tried to stop them, Nick ducking when hands reached for them. Someone grabbed the back of his hoodie and Nick thought it was going to tear, but the hand slipped as Nick stumbled. He looked back over his shoulder to see a few people chasing after them, the sweaty man and the woman with the dog leading the charge.
Seth ducked down an alley, grip tight on Nick’s hand. They jumped over a trash can on its side and burst out the other side of the alley as Nick pulled his hood up over his head. They pushed into the crowd, blending in as best they could. Nick could hear the woman screaming behind them when Seth shoved him into a darkened storefront, pressing the length of his body against Nick’s front. They were both panting as Nick held onto the straps of Seth’s backpack, holding him close. Footsteps slapped against the pavement, coming closer, closer, and Nick held his breath. Seth reached up and cupped the back of his neck, squeezing gently. Their pursuers rushed by them by without so much as a glance in their direction.
“You all right?” Seth asked.
“People are so stupid,” Nick mumbled.
Seth kissed him quickly, lips warm. “Yeah. They are. School is going to be a nightmare on Monday.”
Nick groaned. “I didn’t even think about that. I’m gonna get in trouble, and it’s not even my fault for once.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Seth leaned back out of the storefront, looking down the street. “I think they’re gone. Come on. We’re almost there.”
Ten minutes later, they stood in yet another alley in a neighborhood Nick wasn’t familiar with. Seth was stripping, and if they hadn’t just run for their lives, Nick would be enjoying it a hell of a lot more. He watched as Seth pulled his Pyro Storm suit out of his backpack, grimacing as he toed off his loafers, glasses askew on his face. “Keep an eye out, would you?”
Nick nodded, looking toward either end of the alley, making sure no one was watching. Just as Seth fitted his helmet over his head, lenses flashing as they came online, the air thickened around them, making it hard to breathe. It smelled of ozone, and Nick looked around wildly. Before he could warn Seth, a power line out on the street lit up with familiar, bright-blue electricity. It shot toward the alley, arcing like lightning. Nick jumped back at the sharpcrackas Miss Conduct appeared in front of them, electricity crawling along her costume, her blue curls bouncing as she pulled herself up to her full height.
“Honeybunch,” she said in a stern voice. “If you weren’t an adorable little queer, I’d strangle the shit out of you. But family’s family, and we gotta watch out for each other.”
Nick nodded knowingly. “Gay rights.”
Miss Conduct scoffed. “Andyou—you’re a brave little thing, aren’t you? Figure things out yet?”
Nick sighed. “I jumped off a building and floated and then got scared and fell the rest of the way to the ground earlier today, but that’s about it. I’m a work in progress.”
“Aren’t we all,” Miss Conduct said. “Now. You tell Miss Conduct who she needs to kill, and I’ll do it.”
“Whoa,” Nick breathed. “That was intense.”
“I’m a drag queen who can turn into lightning. Everything I do is intense.”
