her.
Exhaling, she slipped her palm into his and together they climbed to their feet.
“Adrian … I…”
Her words caught as Adrian’s fingers tightened around hers. His other hand reached for the clasp on the bracelet.
She tried to pull away, even as the bracelet fell from her wrist. Adrian caught it and met her gaze, his expression both distraught and determined.
“What are you doing? Give it back.”
She tried to lunge for him, but her body wasn’t fully cooperating and her movements were too jerky, too slow. Adrian backed away. Nova tried again, reaching for the bracelet, when she felt cold metal latching around her now-bare wrist.
A cuff. The kind that fully enclosed the entire hand. A cuff intended for prodigies.
For villains.
Her other arm was yanked back behind her and within seconds, that hand had been imprisoned, too. She looked over her shoulder, vitriol rising through her aching chest, but the anger died away when she saw Ruby standing there, and Oscar not far behind. Both of them watching her with that same distress, and the same determination. With Nova handcuffed, Ruby couldn’t back away from her fast enough.
“I’m confiscating the bracelet as potential evidence,” said Adrian, dragging her attention back to him.
“Evidence?” she said, surprised that her voice even worked. “But that’s … My father made it. It’s all I have. You can’t … Adrian! Evidence of what?”
“Evidence of your crimes against society and the Renegades.” He winced, as though he were in physical pain, when he said, “You’re under arrest … Nightmare.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
BY THE TIME Tsunami and Torrent had doused the flames on Wallowridge, the row house was in ruins, along with most of its neighbors. Ruby had sent a message to Adrian’s dads, telling them about Danna’s return and about Nova … about Nightmare.
Adrian’s insides were still in knots and he couldn’t help the surge of denial that eclipsed his thoughts, even now. Even after having said the words himself. You’re under arrest, Nightmare. Even having sorted through all the evidence he’d been storing in his mind, that somehow made it all seem so obvious once the last puzzle piece was put into place, and yet …
Not so obvious.
It had to be Nova. Of course it had to. Who else could have such inside knowledge of Agent N and the Vitality Charm, the helmet and HQ security? Who else was so observant, so smart, so determined?
Nova adored Max. Nightmare had tried to save him.
Nightmare loathed the Sentinel. Nova had done little to disguise similar feelings for the vigilante.
Nova had been at Adrian’s house the night the Vitality Charm had gone missing and—sweet rot, he’d fallen asleep. He’d been kissing her and then he’d fallen asleep, and he was such a fantastic idiot for not drawing a connection sooner.
Even their superpowers were related. Nova never slept. Nightmare could put others to sleep. There was a harmonious balance that wasn’t uncommon in the world of prodigies.
It was so obvious.
And yet.
And yet.
Denial was still there, screaming inside his skull. His fist was wrapped so tight around the bracelet he’d taken from her that the filigree was leaving small indentations in his palm.
Not Nova. It couldn’t be Nova. The girl who had rushed into the quarantine to help Max when he hurt himself. The girl who had studied Adrian’s art with such awe. The girl who had fallen asleep in his arms.
The girl who had kissed him and he knew—he knew—the kiss hadn’t meant nothing. It couldn’t have just been a lie, a manipulation. No, he had felt it. He had been so sure she felt the same way about him as he did about her.
But then … she had put him to sleep.
That had been her. Her power. Her touch.
He groaned, rubbing a hand over his hair as he paced back and forth in front the house’s smoldering remains.
Nova … no, Nightmare. He needed to start thinking of her as Nightmare. She wouldn’t even be housed temporarily at headquarters or the medium-security prison that was a few miles outside the city limits, like criminals sometimes were while it was decided the best placement for them. No. She had been taken away in an armored vehicle bound straight for the docks, where a boat would be waiting to take her to Cragmoor Penitentiary.
There was already enough evidence piled up against her, even if, so far, it was all hearsay and circumstantial. Danna’s accusation, and a whole lot of coincidences. Too many coincidences.
All they needed now was a single piece of evidence. Real evidence. Ace