Dreams of the Golden Age (11 page)

Analise collected Morgan’s pension, gathered herself enough to comfort her children, put them all through counseling, and somehow mended the pieces of their lives enough to keep going. Their father was a hero, no one could argue that, and Celia knew that the knowledge actually helped. A little.

EIGHT

T
WO
weeks left on Anna’s punitive school escort. Soren, West Corp’s backup driver, dropped her and Bethy off today. He was younger and more intent on the job than the amiable Tom, so he didn’t smile at them over the backseat and actually scowled when Anna jumped out of the car on her own without waiting for him to come around and open it for her. Whatever. He’d learn. She left the car without saying good-bye to Bethy, slamming the door on the way out.

She was sure her face was burning. Her red hair and pale skin—she couldn’t hide a damn thing, couldn’t stop the blood from rushing and telling everyone that she was embarrassed. Pissed off. Furious, really. Everything, all at once.

She was going to kill them. If she had Sam’s laser beams, she would kill them. But all she could do was find them the minute she got to school. That was something: They could never, ever hide from her.

Teia and Lew were right out in front, off to the side of the steps. Thank God Sam wasn’t with them, but only because he wasn’t at school yet. The three of them standing together, they might as well have worn their costumes and waved a flag announcing their superhero identities. They might still do that, because wasn’t that their whole point?

They should have told her what they were doing. They should have
talked
to her.

The siblings leaned on the brick wall, side by side, waving at friends entering the building, looking pleased with themselves. Especially when they spotted Anna marching up the sidewalk. A double image of smug, arms crossed, beaming at her.

She couldn’t even talk at first and just stood there, glaring at them.

“Hey, Anna,” Teia said. Smugger than smug. Ultrasmug.

“What did you think you were doing?” Anna demanded. It was a stupid question, an unreasonable question. It didn’t matter what Teia thought she was doing, it was already done, and Teia might not even know it. “You went out late, didn’t you? Like three
A.M.
late so you knew I’d be asleep and not figure out you were running around.”

“And you thought you were the brains of the operation, didn’t you?” Teia said.

Lew laughed. “Just chill out. Nobody got hurt, we saved some lives, and people love us. They’re talking about us. It’s great!”

Anna hadn’t had a chance to gossip with anyone, but looking around, catching a phrase of conversation here and there—yeah, people were talking. New supers in Commerce City. Wasn’t it exciting? A couple of girls at the foot of the stairs were bent over a smartphone, wondering aloud if the boys were cute under their masks.

Teia was grinning like an idiot. Who did she think she was fooling?

Anna stepped forward, lowered her voice. “It’s too much publicity, you’ll get screwed over before you even get started.”

“You worry too much. This is exactly what we wanted—for people to pay attention.”

“You’ve painted a giant target on your chest. All three of you.”

Teia dramatically rolled her eyes. “That just means we’re doing something right. While you’re sitting on your ass.”

Anna leaned in close, looking for a big stick to poke with. “I notice you went for a fire. Very dramatic. Is it because of your dad, is that why you want to be a hero so badly?”

Teia’s expression darkened in a way Anna had never seen before. She almost took it back, but Teia said, “It’s got nothing to do with him.”

Anna started to apologize for the low blow, when Lew waved at someone over her shoulder. She didn’t have to turn around to know that Teddy and Sam were walking up the sidewalk. The gang was all here. Sam sauntered on over to join his conspirators.

“I guess you saw the news this morning,” he said. If possible, he was more smug than the other two put together. There they were, just like in the picture in the paper, and Anna wondered if anyone else noticed.

No. The girls were still hunched over their phone, giggling at the picture online. Nobody else saw it because they didn’t expect to see it. The biggest component of any superhero costume was context.

“It’s a mistake,” she said, no matter how lame it sounded. “You’ll see.”

“Anna.” Teddy grabbed hold of her sleeve and pulled. “Let’s go for a walk.”

She wanted to say something else to Teia. This wasn’t over. She wasn’t just angry, she realized—she felt betrayed. They were supposed to be in this together. She’d always thought of them, the whole group of them, as a team. Friends. Were they still? But she couldn’t think of anything to say, so she followed Teddy and scowled at everything.

“They’re going to get themselves killed,” Anna muttered. “Why can’t they just listen to me? Can’t they see I might actually know what I’m talking about?”

“Maybe they want to get themselves killed. Go out in a blaze of glory,” Teddy said, and Anna looked at him sharply.

“That’s stupid. It’s a stupid idea.”

Teddy shrugged. “I have to admit, if that happened to me everyone would stop asking me what I’m doing after graduation. It’d save a lot of trouble. And I’d get the blaze of glory.”

She stopped. They were almost at the corner of the building, at a stand of shrubbery. Beyond that was lawn, then the wrought-iron fence that separated the school grounds from the road and the city. Part of her wanted to just keep walking. It would feel good but wouldn’t solve anything.

“Please tell me you’re not going to go team up with them.” That you’re not going to stab me in the back, too …

Teddy slumped against the stone wall. “No. They didn’t tell me what they were doing, either. I wouldn’t team up with them now. It’s not just about getting themselves killed, they’re likely to get everybody else killed, too. They’ve got all the firepower, and I don’t want to get in their way.”

“They should have told us,” Anna groused. “We’re supposed to be a team, why didn’t they tell us?”

“Because you’d argue about it, and they didn’t tell me because they knew I’d tell you.” He shrugged, like it was that easy. He still had the lingering shading of a bruise around his eye from his previous encounter.

“Well, thanks for that. I think.”

He chuckled, and the knot in Anna’s gut eased a bit. Maybe she did worry too much. Maybe she was making a big deal out of nothing.

“I just wish I knew which of us was right,” she said.

“You both are, probably. Here’s the thing: I figure I’ve got powers for a reason. I don’t just want to sit on my ass pretending I don’t. I want to use them. And you’re right, there has to be a better way. I think that’s what they’re trying to figure out. What we all are.”

“It’s different for you,” Anna said. She picked a leaf off a lilac bush, tore it apart. “I know you have to get out and use your powers. You can’t keep them shut off all the time. But the thing about me is—my power never shuts off. I can’t ever
not
use it.” Bethy was at the middle school now, walking down the hall with a gaggle of friends. Mom and Dad were together in her office, talking presumably, which made Anna feel somehow warm and protected even when they were across town. Her grandmother had a charity board meeting at one of the fancy hotel restaurants downtown. She knew exactly where her family was, knew how to find them. She couldn’t get away, and she would never be alone.

“But don’t you want to
do
something with it?” Teddy said. “Not just have it
sitting
there?”

Right. That was the whole question. They could be heroes, if they could just figure out how. “We have to show Teia she’s wrong,” Anna said. “Getting on the front page of the papers isn’t the way to do the most good.”

Teddy said, “So, what? Does that mean you’re finally ready to go out and do something, as long as we avoid publicity?”

She took a deep breath and said, “Yes.”

They looked at each other, then back along the building to the stairs, to their rivals. A warning bell rang, summoning them inside. They’d have to talk about it later, but already Anna felt better. Like she had a plan.

Teddy said, “So when do we show them how it’s done?”

“Tonight.”

He grinned. He’d been waiting for her to say the word.

Back in front of the school, just a few minutes before the final bell was due to ring, a car pulled up to the drop-off zone. A latecomer, except that Anna recognized the car and the driver who stormed out, leaving the motor running: Ms. Baker, Teia and Lew’s mom. She came around to the sidewalk, hands on hips, glowering in an expression of fury.

“Teia, Lew, get over here!”

They did so, because how could they argue with that? Warily, Anna and Teddy approached the twins.

“Mom, school’s starting in a minute,” Teia said. Her brow was furrowed, confused.

“You’re not going to school today. Get in the car.”

That should have been great, but something was wrong. Teia hung back, glancing at Anna.

“What’s up with her?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know. Okay, wait, I do know. She was all in a fit this morning and asked if that was us in the picture, and of course we told her no. But you don’t think she suspects, do you?”

The words “I told you so” were on the tip of Anna’s tongue, and she bit them back. “Even if she did, what has that got to do with school?”

“Teia, into the car, now!”

“I’ll call you later,” Teia said, running to climb into the car after her brother.

Teia and Lew didn’t come back to school for the rest of the day.

*   *   *

Teia called that afternoon, and Anna hid out in her bedroom to talk so no one would overhear.

“What happened?”

“Mom’s completely freaked out but she won’t say why,” Teia explained. “Something about Elmwood not being what it’s cracked up to be, how we’d be better off in public school—”

“But she was so excited when you got the scholarships,” Anna said.

“I know, and I don’t want to go to a different school! All my friends are at Elmwood! I’m thinking this isn’t about the picture in the paper—she found out something about Elmwood.”

“If this was about Elmwood,
my
mother would be freaking out.”

“Then I don’t know what it is. All we can do is play dumb until she cools down.”

She was right—her only other option was to tell their mother that they had powers. Who knew what would happen then? Celia and Arthur could handle their kids having powers. They expected it. But Ms. Baker?

“Maybe you should cool it with going out. Lay low for a while.”

“Hell, no,” Teia said, vehement. “She’s not going to stop us.”

“Maybe … what would she do if you just told her you have superpowers?”

“She would lock us up forever,” Teia stated. “After what happened to Dad. You weren’t totally wrong, we couldn’t help but think about him. But it felt … good. It felt right. But yeah, Mom would
freak.
She couldn’t actually stop us from going out. But she’d never talk to us again.”

That sounded about right, from Anna’s experiences with Ms. Baker. Not an optimal outcome.

Teia went on, “If Dad were still here, I’d tell him. He’d understand. Convince Mom, you know?” More than sad, even, she sounded regretful, imagining that other life where he was still alive.

“Yeah, I know. What are you going to do?”

“Keep doing what we’ve been doing. Can’t stop now.”

“If you could just be careful for the next week or so—”

“
You
be careful.
You
stay home twiddling your thumbs. That’s what your real power is, isn’t it?”

“I’m only trying to help—”

“I gotta go. Mom wants to have a family night. Bye.”

She’d already clicked off before Anna could reply.

*   *   *

Anna knew how to go out and fight crime without drawing attention because of her grandparents. Or she thought she did. The others wore the masks as much because they looked cool as to hide their identity. They didn’t understand how important hiding their identity really was. Things had pretty much fallen apart for the Olympiad when their identities had been revealed.

Teddy’s observation about them having all the firepower had clarified an issue for Anna: It was easy for Teia and the others to be brazen and forward with their powers, to look for publicity and appear in pictures on the front page of the paper all high and mighty and badass. Their powers were offensive. They could actually
do
crap. All she and Teddy could do was duck and stay out of the way. How were they supposed to look badass in a picture that way? They couldn’t. But that wasn’t the point. The point was to help people, stop bad guys, protect the city. The best heroes didn’t need publicity. Publicity was a by-product, not the point. Finally, she figured out how to prove that.

At dinner that night, her parents were distracted. Even Grandma noticed and bustled around the kitchen and chatted more than usual. Anna had planned all kinds of excuses about staying up late studying and not to worry if they saw her bedroom light on, she had to write an essay for tomorrow, and so on. But nobody even asked her how her day went. She stayed quiet and tried not to act too weird. Bethy kept looking at her, like she knew Anna was hiding something, and Anna almost yelled at her for it. But she kept her mouth shut, hunkered in on herself, and studied the lasagna on her plate.

Even if Bethy had powers, Anna wouldn’t have taken her little sister along. She didn’t think Bethy was getting powers. She wouldn’t be able to shut up about it if she were.

Late, after everyone else had gone to bed, Anna put on black pants and boots, a black long-sleeved T-shirt, and found a stocking cap and mask to hide her hair and face. Didn’t look like much when she stood in front of the mirror to check herself out. She looked like a bank robber. Strands of red hair kept slipping out from under the hat. Like that wasn’t a tip-off. Oh, well, it would have to do.

She pulled off the hat and mask and shoved them in her backpack with the rest of her gear.