“We have to go!” I tell him, urgency beating a staccato rhythm through my blood. “We have to go now!”
“That’s what I’ve been saying,” he growls. “You’re the one who wanted to scheme and think and wait. If you take any longer with that plan of yours, Deacon will be dead!”
Rebel and Dante choose that moment to walk through the door.
That was fast. Rebel looks pale and shaken, and Dante looks only slightly less murderous than Draven.
“What happened in there?” Rebel asks, her voice trembling. “Where’s your mom? Where’s her lab?”
She’s the only other person who knows all of our secrets. She knows about everything that used to be in here. She alone knows how bad things really are.
“Gone,” I tell her, my voice breaking on the single syllable. “She’s gone, Reb.”
Rebel’s next to me in a second, pulling me into a hug.
I just stand there, hiding my face in her shoulder as I struggle with all the emotions ripping through me. Tears burn my eyes and I can feel a sob—of fear and horror—welling up in my chest.
I swallow it down, refusing to give in to it. Not here, not now. Not with Draven, all curled lip and stormy eyes, staring at me like he thinks this whole situation is my fault.
Not thinks, knows. Because it is my fault. It is. I stopped them from rescuing Deacon last night. I did nothing to stop the heroes from torturing him tonight. I used my mom’s badge and got her caught up in this mess too.
He doesn’t need to say any of that out loud. I already know.
I let myself draw strength from my best friend—all our recent differences forgotten in the wake of everything that’s happened tonight—and then I pull away. Dry-eyed. Composed.
No way am I going to let two villains see how weak I feel, even if Rebel trusts them. Even if they’re in the same position I’m in now. Even if they don’t seem all that villainous after all.
“How did you get here so fast?” I ask when I’m sure my voice will be steady.
“We were just around the corner,” Rebel says.
“You followed us?” Draven stares at his cousin incredulously. “After we agreed that you were going to stay put?”
Dante shrugs and looks a little sheepish as he glances my way. “I know Rebel trusts you, Kenna, but I don’t know you. The heroes already have Deacon. No way was I going to take a chance on them getting Draven too.”
He tries to sound tough when he says it, but I can see the terror in his eyes.
Somehow, that thought grounds me. If villains can keep their fear in check, so can I.
“We need a new plan,” I tell them, and my voice is steadier, more powerful than it’s been since I walked into the house and discovered this disaster. I look at Draven, daring him to make another comment about my planning. The right plan is the only thing that’s going to get our loved ones back. “They took everything my mom had, so we’re going to have to figure out what to do on our own.”
“I say we get Quake and Nitro and hit the lab with everything we’ve got,” Dante snarls. “Between the two of them, they can level the place.”
“And Deacon along with it,” Draven says with a glare. “If he’s in as bad shape as Kenna says, there’s no way he can hold out against an attack like that.”
“Not to mention the fact that tearing apart the lab would be a declaration of war, which would be even worse than getting your uncle involved,” I explain. “The lab is one of the most important League facilities. Blasting it will bring every superhero in a thousand-mile radius after us.”
Draven tips his head and gestures at me as if to say, Exactly.
“Besides,” I continue, “my mom might be there too.” As well as all the other people who work there—people who I love and admire and who I know could never be involved in torturing villains.
Then again, if someone had asked me twenty-four hours ago if any heroes would be involved in torturing villains, I would have laughed at the mere idea. Now, not only do I know they’re involved, but my own mother’s life might be in danger because of it.
“Do you have a better idea?” Dante demands. “Does anyone?”
The fact is, I don’t. But I need to come up with an alternate plan quickly, because Dante’s clearly not going to wait long before trying to rescue his brother. And I don’t blame him. My skin crawls just knowing my mother is in their clutches.
Mom always says that every problem has a solution. You just have to think it through.