Adrian leaned back in his chair. He stared at her across the field and she stared back, unflinching. A volley of justifications were storming through his head, each more logical than the last.
A prodigy who never slept could be valuable—for surveillance, for security, for the simple mathematics of added work hours on the force. And they were without Danna right now. They were down a hand. They could use someone skilled in combat. She did say she was skilled in combat, right?
Plus, she was interested in science and electronics, and their research and development division was always looking for assistance, always starting new projects and running new studies. Surely they could use someone like this. Surely the Renegades could use her.
But all the logic in the world couldn’t smother the truth that Adrian felt in his drumming heartbeat.
There had been something about her at the parade. He’d been watching her when Magpie had taken the bracelet—that was the only reason he’d seen it happen. Because he’d been drawn to her, even then. Not because she was pretty, though he’d definitely noticed that too. But because there was a fierceness in the set of her jaw that intrigued him. A resolve in her eyes that made him curious.
“Uh, Sketch?” Oscar whispered. “If this is a blinking contest, you lost, like, eight minutes ago.”
Without looking at his teammates, Adrian grabbed the tablet. It was instinct, not logic, that forced his hand. The inexplicable certainty that she was meant to be there. With him.
Well—no, not with him. But with his team. And with the Renegades.
A bell chimed. His response popped up on the scoreboard—ACCEPTED.
Nova turned and stared at the board, as if in disbelief, and there was that suspicion again when she looked back at Adrian.
“Oookay,” said Oscar. “You go ahead with that. Not like we should discuss this as a team or anything.”
“Trust me,” whispered Adrian. “I have a feeling about her.”
On his other side, Ruby snickered. “Yeah, I can tell exactly what kind of feeling you have about her.”
Adrian turned toward her, annoyed. “Not like that.”
She raised a suggestive eyebrow.
An ear-splitting horn blared over the noise of the audience. Adrian jumped and glanced around, bewildered. It took him a long moment to understand what the horn meant.
Their decision was being challenged.
A few tables down, Genissa Clark stood, hands on her hips.
Adrian groaned and leaned back in his chair, dragging his palm over the top of his close-shaved hair. “Seriously, Clark?”
“The acceptance of Insomnia has been challenged!” said Blacklight, to a roar of glee from the audience. Adrian glanced at Nova, but she was so lacking in expression he wondered whether she knew what that meant.
“Oh, come on,” Ruby yelled. She pushed back her chair and stood, craning her head to look at Genissa. “You’re only objecting because it’s us.”
Genissa sneered. “Don’t flatter yourself,” she yelled back. She pulled the microphone closer, allowing her voice to be amplified to the stands. “We challenge the acceptance of Nova McLain on the grounds that there is no way for us to validate the truth of anything she’s said. We can’t prove whether or not she sleeps, nor have we seen any evidence that she knows about electronics or physics or … any of that other stuff she said. We object to this acceptance on the basis that, from what we’ve seen from Nova McLain today—which is precisely nothing—we cannot determine that she is worthy of the title of Renegade.”
It was everything the crowd had come for. Drama. Doubt. A potential duel.
Adrian sighed and tried to catch Nova’s eyes, apologetically, perhaps, though he wasn’t sure what he had to apologize for. But her attention stayed fixed on Genissa. She didn’t look upset. If anything, a spark of excitement had entered her gaze that Adrian was sure hadn’t been there before.
“There has been a challenge!” Blacklight repeated, for anyone who wasn’t paying attention. “Insomnia, in order to take your place among the Renegades, you must defeat one member of the challenging team in a one-on-one duel. You may choose your opponent. Do you accept this challenge?”
“Wait,” said Adrian—so loud that his own voice booming back at him made him jump. “Frostbite, listen.” Genissa turned a haughty gaze on him, one eyebrow lifted. “I know we can use skills like hers, both on my team and in the broader Renegades organization. I respectfully ask that you retract your challenge.”
Genissa laughed. “News flash, Everhart. The rest of us don’t sleep for sixteen hours of the day, either. It’s not exactly a superpower, and besides, how can any of us be sure she’s telling the truth?”
“Why would she lie?” he said, the question echoing through the stadium.
“Because she wants to be one of us,” responded Genissa. “Because they all want to be one of us.”
“Then why wouldn’t she make up a more…” Adrian flipped his fingers in the air. “… super superpower? Why not—”
“I accept the challenge.”
Adrian’s attention darted back to the field. Nova was standing with her hands clasped behind her back, chin lifted as she stared at Frostbite. “I accept the duel.”
Smirking, Genissa Clark pushed her chair back from the table, ice crystals already forming along the knuckles of her hands.
“Not with you.”
Genissa paused.
Nova pointed a finger at the enormous figure lurking behind Genissa’s table—too big to sit with his teammates, his body too heavy for the collapsible chairs. He lumbered forward and the bright lights of the arena reflected off the rough stones implanted along his gargantuan arms.
Adrian’s jaw dropped.
Beside him, Oscar started to choke on his drink. “Is she nuts?”
On the field, Nova turned her hand over and curled her finger, gesturing for the beast to come closer. “I’ll fight the Gargoyle.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EVERHART.