long moment before going, “She’s Falconess’s kid,” in a bland tone.
“I have a name, you know. It’s Keliah,” Keliah says sharply.
“It’s nice to meet you, Keliah,” Trent says. “Don’t mind my brother, he’s just in a bad mood.”
“A worse than usual mood, you mean,” Sunny says as he comes in, yawning hugely before dropping into the seat in front of me. “Sup, Em? How’s your training going?”
“I’m going to have a second Ditto!” I say, getting excited again. “And Falconess brought a file on the last duplicator--her name was Duplicitous and she was a super villain in the eighties!” I say, pulling out the file that Falconess let me keep and opening it to show the newspaper clips.
“A super villain?” Trent says, looking fascinated as he reaches for one of the papers. “I never thought about that...”
“I’m not going to be one, obviously--“
“Why not?” Max asks.
“What?”
“Well not yet, of course, but for a little bit we could hypnotize you to the dark side and let you go on a rampage. Then Trent would have to turn you back to the good side--it’s the sort of ridiculous plot that the norms eat up–after your debut, of course.”
The idea is intriguing--until Vinny walks into the room, talking on his phone. “Yeah... yeah... sure, Flint, but--are you okay? Yeah? Right. At least remember to eat something, got it? Yeah. See ya.” He hangs up, scowling slightly as he takes his seat. The entire room turns to look at him and he takes his sweet time before talking. “Skystep found him,” he says simply.
Right. That’s why I’m not going to go super villain.
CHAPTER FOUR
The official story of my parents’ death is that they were caught in an avalanche while trying to save a group of hikers. For a long time I believed that’s exactly what happened. Even heroes have a difficult time dealing with natural disasters. But then, one night before bed, I found out differently.
The first time that the sisters and I got into a one-sided fight, I was stunned. I had a black eye--it stung every time I reached up and touched it, and my eye was starting to swell shut to the point I couldn’t see out of it. I was going to tell the parents about what happened. They were in the front room, talking about something serious, though, so I found myself hesitating at the end of the hall.
“So...she’s back?” Geoff said almost off-handedly. “I thought they put her under lock and key after what happened to the Divines.”
“You know as well as I do that it was an accident. There were complications,” Marlina said, finger quoting the word. “Phasing ability is hard to handle--Skystep is worse. They should have never tried to, especially in a place like that.”
“So she accidentally set off an avalanche,” Jeoff drawled. “Yeah, right. She probably got irritated with the two and slipped through the rocks. She might be pretending to play the game, but we all know the truth.”
“Shush,” Marlina said. “Their daughter is just down the hall. She should be coming into her powers soon, we don’t want her hearing.”
“You mean Century doesn’t want her hearing,” Geoff said. I reached up, touching my eye as I realized I could see clearly out of it. I took a step back, then another, rushing for my bedroom rather than confronting them.
Skystep had killed my parents.
***
“I’ll never be a super villain,” I say quietly, making Max look at me curiously. “Never.”
He hesitates, and I can see his mind racing. I can almost feel him trying to look into my mind--Max is supposed to have telepathic abilities, you know? But so am I, I think, imagining a brick wall right in front of my thoughts.
“Whoa,” Max says, jerking back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” he says, holding up both hands in front of him. “Unless you want to explain, that is?”
“No,” I say, turning
“I have a name, you know. It’s Keliah,” Keliah says sharply.
“It’s nice to meet you, Keliah,” Trent says. “Don’t mind my brother, he’s just in a bad mood.”
“A worse than usual mood, you mean,” Sunny says as he comes in, yawning hugely before dropping into the seat in front of me. “Sup, Em? How’s your training going?”
“I’m going to have a second Ditto!” I say, getting excited again. “And Falconess brought a file on the last duplicator--her name was Duplicitous and she was a super villain in the eighties!” I say, pulling out the file that Falconess let me keep and opening it to show the newspaper clips.
“A super villain?” Trent says, looking fascinated as he reaches for one of the papers. “I never thought about that...”
“I’m not going to be one, obviously--“
“Why not?” Max asks.
“What?”
“Well not yet, of course, but for a little bit we could hypnotize you to the dark side and let you go on a rampage. Then Trent would have to turn you back to the good side--it’s the sort of ridiculous plot that the norms eat up–after your debut, of course.”
The idea is intriguing--until Vinny walks into the room, talking on his phone. “Yeah... yeah... sure, Flint, but--are you okay? Yeah? Right. At least remember to eat something, got it? Yeah. See ya.” He hangs up, scowling slightly as he takes his seat. The entire room turns to look at him and he takes his sweet time before talking. “Skystep found him,” he says simply.
Right. That’s why I’m not going to go super villain.
CHAPTER FOUR
The official story of my parents’ death is that they were caught in an avalanche while trying to save a group of hikers. For a long time I believed that’s exactly what happened. Even heroes have a difficult time dealing with natural disasters. But then, one night before bed, I found out differently.
The first time that the sisters and I got into a one-sided fight, I was stunned. I had a black eye--it stung every time I reached up and touched it, and my eye was starting to swell shut to the point I couldn’t see out of it. I was going to tell the parents about what happened. They were in the front room, talking about something serious, though, so I found myself hesitating at the end of the hall.
“So...she’s back?” Geoff said almost off-handedly. “I thought they put her under lock and key after what happened to the Divines.”
“You know as well as I do that it was an accident. There were complications,” Marlina said, finger quoting the word. “Phasing ability is hard to handle--Skystep is worse. They should have never tried to, especially in a place like that.”
“So she accidentally set off an avalanche,” Jeoff drawled. “Yeah, right. She probably got irritated with the two and slipped through the rocks. She might be pretending to play the game, but we all know the truth.”
“Shush,” Marlina said. “Their daughter is just down the hall. She should be coming into her powers soon, we don’t want her hearing.”
“You mean Century doesn’t want her hearing,” Geoff said. I reached up, touching my eye as I realized I could see clearly out of it. I took a step back, then another, rushing for my bedroom rather than confronting them.
Skystep had killed my parents.
***
“I’ll never be a super villain,” I say quietly, making Max look at me curiously. “Never.”
He hesitates, and I can see his mind racing. I can almost feel him trying to look into my mind--Max is supposed to have telepathic abilities, you know? But so am I, I think, imagining a brick wall right in front of my thoughts.
“Whoa,” Max says, jerking back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” he says, holding up both hands in front of him. “Unless you want to explain, that is?”
“No,” I say, turning
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