Carrie Vaughn - Dreams of the Golden Age

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.

TWOweeks 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.