“You can, can’t you? That’s one thing I’ve always liked about you.” Owen sat next to Nick on the bed. Their knees bumped together. There was a beat of silence, and Nick thought he was going to crawl out of his skin. Then, “I overheard my father talking in his office at the house.”
That … wasn’t what Nick had been expecting. Simon Burke? What the hell did he have to do with Extraorinaries? “About what?”
Owen lowered his voice until it was barely above a whisper. “Something big. Something top secret. Something that he doesn’t want anyone to know about. Burke Pharmaceuticals. The top three floors are research and development. Scientists working on the next big thing to make you sane. Or skinny. Or prettier. Or smarter. To make clean water. To increase crop yield. Burke Pharmaceuticals is in the business of making the world a better place because the future is now.”
“Everyone knows that,” Nick said. “It’s their slogan on all the commercials.”
“Right. It’s the public face. But what if I were to tell you there was another floor in Burke Tower? One that’s only known to a select few? Deep underneath the streets of Nova City.”
Nick’s heart stuttered. “What do they do there?”
“Oh, it’s still research and development, but nothing that’s shown in public offerings. It’s all very hush-hush, but I’m underestimated, even by him. He didn’t expect me to hear. He didn’t expect me to care. His door was wide open, and I heard everything.”
“Heard what?”
Owen looked down at his hands. “Can I trust you with this, Nicky?”
He had to play it cool. Suave. “You know you can. I mean, we’re friends, right?”
Owen smiled quietly. “Yeah. I guess we are.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “My father has figured out a way to make people Extraordinaries.”
And Nick … Nick didn’t know what to do with that. He burst out laughing, only stopping when Owen didn’t join in. It was ridiculous, right? Of course it was. There was no way to— “What the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s a pill. One tiny little pill. And, depending upon what kind you take, you could turn into smoke. Or summon storms from nothing.” He looked back up at Nick. “One pill, and you could fly.”
Stunned, Nick couldn’t even make the smallest of sounds.
“I think it’s meant for military application,” Owen continued as if he hadn’t just blown Nick’s mind. “To make soldiers faster. Better. Stronger. At least that’s how it started. But could you imagine what would happen if you took it? Nick, you could be the Extraordinary you always wanted to be. There’s a catch, of course, because it doesn’t last forever, and you’d have to keep taking the pills in order for your powers to work. But you’re used to that, aren’t you? You already take pills. It’d be easy, Nicky. Except…”
Nick managed to find his voice, though it was hoarse. “Except what?”
Owen looked regretful. “Except I’m not supposed to know about it. No one is. And it’s on a secure floor in Burke Tower. I mean, even if I could steal my father’s keycard without him knowing and find some way to bypass security, it would still be dangerous. I couldn’t do it on my own.”
Nick blanched at that. “I don’t—”
“Is that your mom?”
Nick followed Owen’s gaze, mind reeling. The photograph on the nightstand. “Yeah. That’s … her. Look, Owen, I don’t know if—”
“She’s pretty. I’ve never seen a picture of her before. That must have been rough.”
Nick turned his head away. “It was.”
He felt Owen’s hand on top of his again. “I don’t know what you went through, then. I don’t know if anyone will. It’s … different. But I know what it feels like to lose people, Nick. And to never want that to happen again. You lie awake at night and think if only you’d been there. If only you had the power to do something to prevent it from happening. Or, at the very least, to keep something like it from happening again. To you. To others. I know what it’s like to want to never be scared again. To be able to do something about it. And I could do that for you, if you’d let me.”
Nick stood abruptly. Owen’s hand fell back onto the bed. Suddenly, Nick didn’t know what he was doing, or how he’d let it get this far. He didn’t want Owen in his room or in his house. It felt too big, too