by H. D. Gordon
My mother’s voice floated down the steps. “Nova?”
“She’s fine, honey,” Dad answered for me. “It’s okay, go back to bed.”
“Yeah, right,” Mom said. I could almost hear her rolling her eyes, as though she could possibly sleep, but she shuffled away from the door.
My parents were well aware of my newest hobby. While they weren’t thrilled about their daughter chasing criminals in her spare time, they’d been devastated by the loss of my little sister Starling. They didn’t want anyone else to go through what we’d been through, and they understood my agenda. They figured since they couldn’t stop me from going after Fortune, they should then do whatever they could to help me. But they don’t have to like it.
Dad brought me back to attention. “What happened?”
“Do you want the truth or what I’m supposed to tell the police?” I asked him.
He sighed. “The truth, of course.”
“Let’s sit down. I think I need to do that for my own sake and you’ll definitely need to after I tell you.”
I proceeded to explain the evening, from our arrival to a perfectly lovely homecoming and the nightmare that came after it. My father, who’d just recently been introduced to my gifted world, visibly blanched when I explained Fortune’s gift. He was called a Volter, a being who could summon electricity, and being a psycho, he had fun with it. The criminal robbed banks, terrorized our city of Arcania, and murdered innocent people for the thrill of it - including my little sister Starling.
Dad’s gaze flitted to the scorch marks on my dress, his neck turning purple with anger. He put two and two together, his fingers tightly wound as I told him how Fortune had zapped me. Then he paled, realizing that even though I was an Unbreakable, I could still be hurt. Before he could start down that path, Cole filled in any blanks, including his side of things when I’d been distracting Fortune.
“I was trying to get everybody out.” He looked away, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. “I saw two of Fortune’s guys drag a guy into a classroom. He had a bag over his head, but I knew it was him from the navy suit.”
“Are you sure?” I asked anyway, my voice an octave higher than normal.
“I saw his socks,” Cole said, crushing any possible hope. We’d made a point of Henry’s brightly colored accessory. “It was Henry.”
I sighed, sagging against the couch. “Was he…?”
“Yes,” Cole said quickly, “yes, he was alive. Kicking and cursing in true Henry form. By the time I made it inside, they’d smuggled him out the back window.”
“Francine must be beside herself,” Dad said, grimacing at the thought of Henry’s mother.
“She’s out of town,” I said quickly, “along with Jerry.”
“They’ll come back as soon as they see the news.” Dad’s mouth tightened into a thin line.
“Good point. That means we have to save him sooner than ‘as soon as possible,’” I said.
“Hold on,” Dad said, holding up a hand. “Why did they take Henry?”
“Oh.” My eyes flicked to Cole, who grimaced. “You’re not going to like this.”
Dad’s eyes closed for a few moments, his lips moving as though he might be counting to five. “The truth, please.”
“We prevented Fortune from robbing and/or bombing the First Union bank on Thursday.”
His jaw dropped, the words stumbling out. “What? You—how—Nova—”
“I know,” I said, wincing, “but that’s not the worst part. Henry saw us. He saw all three of us use our gifts.”
My father groaned and Cole’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “That might’ve been something you should’ve mentioned earlier…”
“I know, I know. He doesn’t know it was us yet, but he wants to do a story on it,” I added in a rush. “I think Fortune found out and that’s why he took him.”
“Because he saw the gifts or because he was a witness?” Dad asked.
I shrugged. “Either. Both. I don’t have a clue. All I know is we have to save him.”
“Let the police save him,” my father tried to say. I held up a hand to stop him.
“Dad, no offense, but let’s not have that argument. Arcania’s finest is a solid police force, but this is Fortune we’re talking about.”
He sighed, his own shoulders deflating. “And you’re the only one who has stopped him so far.”
I tried not to look too pleased at that, seeing as how tonight had blown up in our faces. Glasses still in his free hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Eyes squeezed shut, he stayed like that for another second.
“Nova, I don’t know what to do here.”
“The cops can do whatever they’re supposed to, but they won’t find Fortune. And we know even if they did, they can’t handle his gift. He’ll electrocute everyone.”
“Besides,” Cole added, much to my dismay, “Fortune’s challenged Nova. She’s the only one he’ll let get near him.”
At that, my dad’s head shot up to stare at me. His skin flushed, the vein in his forehead bulging. In one word, he demanded an explanation. “Nova.”
I shot a dirty look at my boyfriend, who ducked his head. Now I was sorry I’d told him that little piece of information. “I asked Fortune if he was going to kill me. He said no, that because I’d ‘one-upped’ him at the bank, I was special. Then he told me he’d be waiting for my next move and peaced out.”
My dad let out something between a growl and a shout, burying his head in his hands. He stayed quiet for a long moment, maybe thinking everything through. When his head came up, I was surprised to see him looking suspiciously at Cole.
“You’re the friend?”
“Boyfriend,” I corrected without thinking. As soon the word slipped, I grimaced. Cole pursed his lips together while my dad sucked in another deep breath.
“Another conversation for another day, young man. Are you the ‘friend’ helping her with these crazy plans?” he accused.
Cole blanched, but he was no liar. “Yes, sir. I wanted to help.”
“You and your sister,” Dad mumbled, more to himself than either of us. “Your sister who is now on Fortune’s side.”
Cole bristled but remained quiet. I didn’t blame him for being angry, but my dad was right in getting the facts straight. As far as I was concerned, Penelope had betrayed us and now we’d have to figure out how to handle her. Her Telekinesis gift was powerful and she knew how to use it against us. I was already not looking forward to that conversation with Cole.
Dad looked only at me when he asked his next question. “This Penelope, how powerful is she?”
I grimaced, not wanting to lie to him. Cole started to reply and I cut him off. “She’s powerful, Dad. It could get…complicated.”
Cole shot me a look I couldn’t read. I kept my gaze on my dad, more worried about him than Penelope. She could decimate buildings if she wanted to; I had to think of my family’s safety. Dad broke the hold, looking back to Cole.
“What’s your gift?”
“I’m a Timekeeper.”
“You, ah, fiddle with time then?”
Cole’s lips twitched, but he managed to contain his amusement. “Something like that.”
Dad turned a light shade of green for a few seconds; I waited for it to pass. He kept his head down, stared at his bare feet. When his complexion cleared, I tried to get us back on track.
“We have to save Henry. I don’t have a clue how we’re going to do that right now, but it’s going to happen.”
Dad finally looked up at me, determination on his strong face. “It’s time I help you. No more stumbling in the dark.”
I raised a brow. “You mean…?”
He nodded. “I’m bringing you everything we’ve got on Fortune.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Liz Long is a proud graduate of Longwood University. Her inspiration comes from action and thriller genres and she spends entirely
too much time watching superhero movies. Her day job includes writing for a magazine publisher in Roanoke, VA. To learn more about Liz (including more information on her books, plus writing, marketing, and social media tips), visit her website: http://lizclong.com.
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