She shut her eyes and told herself that if anyone became suspicious she would be able to find a perfectly reasonable explanation for why she had gloves so similar to those Nightmare had been seen wearing.
She tried not to think of how the Anarchists would scream at her for doing something so stupid, something that risked giving her away, all to save one measly Renegade—
Exhaling, she opened the pouch and reached inside.
An enraged roar echoed in every direction. Nova looked up to see a massive, inexplicable tidal wave of water rolling toward them—towering over them, its crest foaming white. Yelping, Nova grabbed Ruby and Oscar by the backs of their shirts and hauled them away from the library. They all fell back onto a patch of ivy and watched, speechless, as the wall of water fell and gushed over the library. The fire hissed and a great cloud of steam rolled up over them. The water gushed outward, flooding the land around the library and soaking Nova’s backside. No longer clean and clear, the water was muddled with ash and debris.
She spotted Tsunami, standing delicately in the center of the road, her palms open toward the sky and her face serene. The image she struck was so in contrast with the chaos of the past hour that Nova found she could only stare at her in wonder. Then Tsunami dropped her hands and turned her head just slightly. She gave a subtle, encouraging nod, and Nova noticed the other Council member who had arrived.
Captain Chromium barreled forward, and Nova had barely grasped these new arrivals before the Captain was tearing through the wreckage as if the fallen library were nothing more than a child’s set of building blocks, tossing whole floor beams aside, crushing his fist into half-standing walls of stone. Steam continued to rise up from the ruins, and though the fire was extinguished, Nova knew all those materials must still be blistering hot. But what did he care? He was Captain Chromium.
Ruby climbed to her feet first, and Nova and Oscar followed, watching speechlessly as the superhero tore a path through the destruction. At some point, the blast of the horn started up again, and he changed his course, making his way through toppled, burned bookshelves and crumbled stone columns. From the corner of her eye, Nova saw Ruby slip her hand into Oscar’s. Nova squeezed her own hands into fists.
Halfway into the wreckage, near to where the children’s books had once been, the Captain grabbed a massive bookshelf and heaved it off into the rest of the remains. And there, underneath, was …
Nova stared, incredulous.
Ruby let out a strangled, confused noise.
Oscar started to laugh.
In the middle of the burned, smoldering building, Captain Chromium had found an igloo.
Or, the remains of an igloo. Much of it had melted away, and some chunks of ice had cracked and fallen in front of the igloo’s arched entrance.
Seconds later, a figure emerged, crawling through the small opening.
Adrian was drenched. In one hand he held the horn, like something that would be strapped to a motorbike. In the other hand, he carried Nova’s pen.
Before he could speak, the Captain pulled him into an embrace. Adrian grimaced slightly, but didn’t pull away.
When the Captain had let go, they picked their way back to the others. Adrian spared a grateful smile for Tsunami, who smiled back, then disappeared around the front of the library, presumably to see if anyone else needed assistance.
“An igloo, Sketch?” said Oscar, shaking his head.
Adrian shrugged. He looked positively exhausted, but there was still a lightness in his eyes, a faint smile on his lips. The marked joy of one who had defied death. “Sometimes inspiration just strikes, man.”
Finally allowing a sob to escape, Ruby ran forward and wrapped her arms around Adrian, giving him one tight squeeze, before pulling back and punching him in the shoulder. He flinched, more than Nova thought was warranted, given that it hadn’t been that hard of a hit.
“Where were you?” Ruby cried.
Adrian blinked at her, then glanced back at the quickly melting igloo.
“I mean—why didn’t you get out?”
“I was looking for that missing kid,” he said, wrapping one arm around Ruby and giving her a friendly embrace. After he let go, she stepped back and crossed her arms, a sour scowl still drawn into her face, clear that she wouldn’t forgive him that easily for the distress he’d caused. “I was in the stacks and the smoke got so thick I couldn’t see anything. I got really disoriented and felt like I was just walking in circles. Once I realized I was trapped, I made the igloo to protect myself. Then the ceiling collapsed. The igloo protected me, but … at some point I passed out. Smoke inhalation, I think.” He inhaled deeply, gratefully. “When I came to and realized I was still inside that igloo, I made the horn to call for help.”
He turned to Nova and held out the pen she had given him, what felt like ages ago. “Thanks for this.”
She took it numbly, holding his gaze and feeling like she should say something, but she couldn’t think of any words that would convey what she was feeling. She wasn’t even sure what those feelings were.
But she couldn’t deny that she was glad Adrian Everhart was alive. She was glad that his smile was just as warm and relaxed now, after an extremely trying day, as it had been at the parade. She was glad …
Well. Maybe she was just glad.
Adrian looked like he wanted to say something to her, but couldn’t quite find the words. He was staring at her, a question in his eyes, but he seemed to think better of it as he swallowed and looked away.
“We need to get you to headquarters,” said the Captain. Nova started. Momentarily caught up in Adrian’s dark brown eyes, she’d almost forgotten the Councilman was there. “The med staff will want to see you.”