“You mean the offer wasn’t sanctioned by the Council?”
His head turned toward her. Instead of answering her question, though, he asked again, “Are you okay? Do you need … help? Getting down?”
“I’m fine,” said Nova, running her thumb down the gun’s handle. “What do you want with Nightmare, anyway?”
The Sentinel cocked his head and she could imagine him watching her. She wished she knew what he looked like. The blank canvas of his face had become deeply unnerving.
“She and I have unfinished business.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And the Council, too, no doubt?”
“They don’t dictate everything I do,” he said, a little stubbornly. “Nightmare is a threat to all Renegades, but … I have my own reasons for wanting to find her.”
“Okay, Mr. Alter Ego,” said Nova, attempting to infuse some lightness into her voice, “my curiosity is piqued. Who are you, really?”
He turned to face her more fully and she was sure, at first, that he would tell her. He certainly seemed to consider her question long enough.
Finally, he said, “I’m not your enemy.”
Her cheek twitched. “Prove it. Lots of people think you’re an impostor, trying to discredit the Renegades. If that’s not the case, then take off the helmet and show yourself. No secrets between allies, right?”
Again he stood unmoving for a long, still moment, before he shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Insomnia!”
Nova swallowed. Lifting her head, she could barely see Ruby and Oscar on the street below, staring up to the top of the theater with worry scrawled on both their features. Spotting her, Oscar pointed, then cried out, “Are you okay?”
Nova didn’t respond. She was looking past them, around them, scanning the ground below in all directions …
Ruby and Oscar were alone. Adrian was not with them.
Her gaze darted to the library, but the fire had gotten so bright and the air so hazy with smoke she almost couldn’t stand to look at it.
“Where’s Adrian?” she yelled down to them, and watched as both of their faces fell.
Nova shuddered. Adrian wouldn’t have just disappeared. He must have been trapped inside. Dread clawed at her, even as she told herself it was a good thing. One less Renegade in the world. One less superhero …
But she was seeing his notebook full of stunning, heartfelt drawings. She was hearing the way he laughed when she told him about juggling and bird-watching. She was seeing Max’s face light up as Adrian drew the tiny glass figurine for his tiny glass city.
She was not convinced that his death—and such a horrible, horrible death—could possibly be a good thing.
“It’s all right,” said the Sentinel gently. “Here. Let me take you down to them.”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
She glanced back and frowned, wondering if she was imagining the way his shoulders had curled inward, giving the strangest impression of … of shyness.
“I have to go soon,” said the Sentinel. “But it would only take a second for me to—”
“No,” said Nova, pushing herself up to standing, though her legs still felt weak. “You haven’t answered any of my questions, Sentinel. Who are you? What do you want with Nightmare?” Her voice rose, scratched raw from the hazy air. “Are you working for the Council or not?”
“I can’t tell you any of that. I’m sorry.”
He did, in fact, sound apologetic, but that only served to stoke Nova’s fury. Here he was, her enemy, the Renegade she most needed information about, and so far she felt like she’d learned nothing that she didn’t already know yesterday. “All right, how about this question,” she snapped. “Is that suit bulletproof?”
“What—?”
Nova revealed the gun and fired. The bullet hit him in the chest, squarely over his heart. The bullet did not penetrate the armor, but he still cried out and stumbled back—though whether in pain or surprise, Nova couldn’t tell.
She frowned. “I guess it is.”
The Sentinel touched a gloved finger to the bullet lodged into the chest plate. “What are you—?”
Nova fired again. And again. Each bullet pinging off the armor.
The Sentinel leaped upward, flipping over Nova’s head and landing behind her. He tried to grab her arms but Nova dropped to the ground and rolled out of his reach. Leaping back to her feet, she pivoted and raised the gun again.
“Stop!” the Sentinel demanded, lifting both hands in supplication. “I’m not fighting you. I’m on your side.”
“I just witnessed you trying to strike a deal with a villain!” Nova yelled. “You won’t give up your identity, and you all but admitted that you don’t follow the Council’s laws. That makes you a criminal.” She shot again, but this time the Sentinel dodged, throwing himself behind the spotlight. Nova marched after him. “So, you’re either a villain who’s pretending to be on the Renegades’ side, or you’re a brand-new class of Renegade, and for whatever reason, the Council doesn’t want us to know about it. Which is it? And why?”
She rounded the spotlight, only to be knocked down as the Sentinel slammed into her. Nova fell hard on her back and felt the gun being ripped out of her hand. The Sentinel threw the gun over the side of the building. Then he reached for her waist and snatched the shock-wave gun from her belt too.
“Hey!” she yelled, grabbing for the gun.
The Sentinel’s fingers wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back to her feet in one swift motion, yanking her so close her own breath fogged against his visor. “I’m not a villain, and I’m not your enemy,” he said, “but I can’t tell you or anyone else who I am, not until I’ve found Nightmare and gotten the answers I need.”
He released her suddenly and Nova dropped back, rubbing her wrist—though more to clear off the sensation of his cold grip than because he’d actually hurt her.
Then he tossed her stun gun over the side of the building too.
“Hey!” Nova yelled again. “I made that one!”
The Sentinel didn’t answer. Turning, he launched himself into the air. Nova watched as his body cleared the smoldering remains of the library and disappeared into the thick black smoke.