The Betrayal of Renegade X (Renegade X, Book 3) (7 page)

“It was my invention,” Sarah says. “And my biases about justice. Maybe you won’t trigger a malfunction again, but something else might, and I have to be ready for it. I’m really trying to change, and to make up for what I did.”

“You don’t need to change. Or to make up for anything.”

“But if I did, maybe Kat wouldn’t hate me.”

“You can’t make someone like you, Sarah. And trying to force it just makes it worse. You know that.”

The lady in front of us glances back again, still texting like crazy. Then the guy who’s sort of in front of her, sort of to the side, notices she’s focused really intently on something and looks over. His mouth actually drops open and he nudges his wife and his teenage daughter, jerking his head at me. Then they all stare.

I flash them my most cheerful smile, even though people pointing and staring at me wherever I go is getting pretty old. But at least it pays well. “Pictures are five dollars. Ten if you want to be in it, too.” Twenty if they want me to make my hands go all electric, but it’s too crowded in here to offer that one.

The parents turn around, looking kind of embarrassed, though their daughter’s eyes light up. Offering up photo prices gets some curious looks from other people nearby, until they recognize me, and then I can see them considering it.

“Special holiday discount,” I tell them, even though those are my usual prices.

Sarah rolls her eyes at me as a crowd starts to gather. People actually step out of the line to come get a picture with the Crimson Flash’s infamous half-villain son. Though I’m not sure if all of them realize who I am yet, just that there’s a celebrity in the store.

There’s a big gap between Sarah and the rest of the line now. What would have been at least a half-hour wait is probably down to only ten minutes. She looks over at me, and I gesture for her to get going. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Okay,” she says. “But if I don’t see you, you’ll be at my demonstration, right? I need a volunteer from the audience, and if you can’t do it, I need time to figure out someone else.”

Sarah’s unleashing—I mean, unveiling—a new invention on the unsuspecting senior citizens at the retirement home, now that she’s deemed herself “rehabilitated” and is working on projects again. I think I’d make a pretty obvious plant, what with being under eighty, but I don’t have time to argue about it right now, since there’s a growing crowd of people anxious to take pictures of me. And even though I’d really like to double-check that this new invention of hers isn’t the exploding type, I just nod and say, “I wouldn’t miss it.”

I
swivel back and forth in Zach’s desk chair, being careful not to knock over the stack of paperbacks on the floor. They’re all fantasy and sci-fi novels. Some are new, and some have yellowed pages and bent spines, but pretty much all of them are based on TV shows and video games.

“It’s not fair.” Zach’s sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at his phone. He’s looking at his mom’s Facebook page, at a picture she posted earlier of her and Curtis eating pizza during her lunch break. It’s a cutesy double selfie that practically screams,
Look how in love we are!
Zach’s mom is grinning, squished up close with Curtis, who has a glob of tomato sauce on his nose that he either doesn’t notice, or thinks is funny somehow. Ugh.

“Moms shouldn’t date,” I tell Zach. “And if they do... it shouldn’t be with
that
guy.”

“The other day, she said she had to run to the store. But she had this big smile on her face, like she was looking forward to it. And she was gone for hours. I know she was meeting Curtis.”

Riley appears in the doorway, scowling at me with his arms folded. “You’re sure Sarah said it was boring?”

I told him about her getting him the same DVD set earlier and that he’d better step it up. “Boring
and
pretentious. Don’t forget that.”

“But...” He sighs and stalks off to his room across the hall. Then I hear him typing at his computer, presumably shopping for Sarah’s new Christmas present.

Zach turns off the screen to his phone, like he can’t even look at his mom being happy with Curtis anymore. “He was supposed to be our dad’s best friend. And best friends don’t...”

“Sleep with their dead best friend’s wife?”

He nods. “She says it’s just casual, but it’s more than that. Everyone can tell. Amelia even told me I had to bring her to their wedding. Their wedding! They’d better not get married.” He makes a face.

“Or have another kid.”

“
What?
” A look of pure horror washes over him.

Oops. “Er, I mean, I’m sure they won’t do that.” Just because my mom did doesn’t mean they will.

“Curtis doesn’t have any kids. And me and Riley only have a few years before we’re out of school.”

“Listen, Zach, just because they could get married and have a kid doesn’t mean they will. Sure, it seems like things are going well now, but Curtis is a douchebag. Your mom’s going to see that eventually. You said she hasn’t dated since your dad died, right? So she’s just using him to test the waters. It’s going to get old.” Hopefully.

He perks up. “You think so?”

Riley appears in the doorway again. “What do you think about a soldering iron? Sarah said she could use a new one.”

“God, Perkins. Could you be any more hopeless?”

“Go away,” Zach says. “Damien’s hanging out with
me
. He was just about to tell me something important.”

Riley glares at me, ignoring his brother. “It’s a really nice soldering iron. It’s a great gift.”

“Yeah, for someone who
never
wants to get in her pants.”

His face turns bright red and he looks away. “It’s thoughtful. Sarah will appreciate it.”

I roll my eyes at him, then tell a disappointed Zach that I’ll be back in a few minutes. I push past Riley and cross the hall to his room, sitting down at his computer and closing all the tabs he has open for stupid crap like low-level robotics kits and a desk organizer.

He follows me, shutting the door behind him and then coming to peer over my shoulder at the computer screen. “The soldering iron is practical, plus I know she needs a new one. She’ll use it all the time.”

“It’s
too
practical.”

“You got her socks.”

“
Fun
socks. Socks she’ll actually
like
. And I only got her those so I wouldn’t show you up.”

“Fine. I won’t get her the soldering iron.”

“And no desk organizers.” I swivel around and give him an accusing look.

He holds up his hands. “Okay, okay. Let me think for a minute.” He sits down on the edge of the bed, his forehead wrinkling in thought.

I click through a few more tabs and notice his email is open. There’s a message from the League, labeled
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SCHOLARSHIP
. I swallow. “Hey, Perkins... About what Curtis said the other night.”

“He was being a jerk.”

“Yeah, no kidding. But what did he mean about you having some scholarship?”

“It’s from the League. I got it because of...” He takes a deep breath. “The League gives out scholarships to kids who have a parent who died in service to the city. So...” He waves his hand, trying to sum it up.

“So, because your dad died, they’re paying for you to go to Heroesworth.”

“Pretty much.”

“And now? Curtis said you were on probation.” Because Riley supposedly broke one of their stupid rules.

He stares at the floor, not looking at me. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Except that if you lose it, you can’t go to school anymore, right?” How am I supposed to get through another year and a half of Heroesworth if he’s not there and I only have idiotic douchebags to work with?

“That’s not going to happen. I’m only on probation. As long as I keep my grades up, and as long as I don’t break any more rules, I should be fine.”

“Except you’re not the one who broke a rule.” He shouldn’t be punished for what I did.

“According to the League, not stopping you counts.”

“And you’re okay with that? You think that makes any sense?”

“We were the only ones there. It’s not like anybody really knows whether I could have stopped you or not.”

“Uh, yeah, they
do
.” I hold up my hand, making electricity wash over it in waves for a second. Riley can turn invisible. I can zap things. And he was somehow supposed to stop me? “The League really expects you to... what? Take a shot of lightning to the head to protect some murderer?”

Riley scowls. “He wasn’t a murderer. That’s the whole point. We were wrong about him. Heroes out in the field could be wrong about the criminals they’re chasing, too. And they’re—
we’re
—not supposed to let other heroes hurt unarmed citizens. That rule is there to protect people.”

“From
League members
.” Because even they know that signing some stupid piece of paper doesn’t really mean they can be trusted.

“Everyone makes mistakes. And you know what happened to Sarah, and she would never hurt anyone.”

I don’t agree with that, but I get what he’s saying. “That wasn’t her mistake. It was mine.” If I hadn’t accidentally zapped her stupid personality enhancer, she never would have gone on some crazy villain-hating spree. “Just like this was.”

Riley rolls his eyes at me. “Come on, X. Don’t be like that. You didn’t know.”

But even if I had, that wouldn’t have changed anything. “And what if I screw up again and get you in more trouble?”

“You won’t. And you wouldn’t have this time if you’d just
listened
to me.”

“But if I do, you basically get kicked out of school.” Which means no joining the League, which is, like, his whole future.

“So don’t break the rules.” He makes that sound so simple.

“Yeah, but—”

“No
buts
. You’re my friend, and we were
owning
that class. We make a good team. You messing up once doesn’t change that, so just shut up about it.”

“But—”

“Seriously, X. I mean it. It’s not like you’re going to make the same mistake. Everything’s going to be fine.”

Except it wasn’t a mistake. I mean, assuming the situation had been real, like we thought it was. And that was a rule I actually
knew
about. What happens when I break one on accident?

But Riley’s smiling at me like he doesn’t care that I screwed up, because we really do make a good team. I messed up and got him in trouble, and he’s still my friend, and he still wants to work with me. So I smile back and say, “Yeah, you’re right. Everything’s going to be fine.” Even if I don’t really believe it.

“D
amien.” Gordon walks into the living room later that evening, waving a brochure. Only
walks
might not be the right word. It’s more like he’s trying not to stomp.

I stop doing my homework and set down my binder next to me on the couch, giving him my full attention. “What’s wrong, Dad? You sound like something’s bothering you.”

He scowls. “I found this in my desk.”

“Oh?” I say that all innocent, like I don’t know what he’s talking about. And no, it’s not the same brochure I found. It’s not the one about sending superpowered kids to some camp that’s not-so-secretly an asylum.

“Did you make this?” He holds the brochure out to me. It’s glossy, full color—really professional looking. So I’m not sure why he thinks I made it. Well, other than the picture of him I used for the photo on the front.

In the picture, he’s standing there in his Crimson Flash outfit, with his red cape billowing out behind him. On the top of the brochure, it says,
If you’ve got severe bowel problems made worse by your superpowers, don’t worry—you’re not alone. And at the Super Sanitarium, we’re here to help.

I raise an eyebrow at him. “I think you need to be more selective about which companies you agree to be a spokesperson for. Unless you really do have severe bowel problems. I mean, don’t sell people false hope.”

He glares at me. I can hear his teeth grinding. “Let me put it another way. I
know
you made this brochure. Now I want to know why.”