Page 67 of No Capes
“Let’s run.” I stand.
“Wait,” says Arielle. “We need a plan.”
“If you want us to get killed, sure, let’s wait and see what happens.”
Arielle narrows her sky-blue eyes. “I know you hate me, but I did it all for you, Madeline. You and Dad. If I hadn’t married Phil, if I hadn’t been there to stop him from installing cameras in yourbedroom, if I hadn’t been there to convince him that Mom and Dad were never actually that close, and Dad never knew what Mom investigated… If I hadn’t been the person to administer your high school swim test, which Igotto dobecauseI married him… If I hadn’t spent the last three years learning his contacts inside and out and discovering his weaknesses, then you and I wouldnotbe having this conversation.”
She pauses, somber. “It’s also why you can’t tellanyone,not even Dad, about Phil’s powers. We can’t know who he has influence over, and we need to keep whatever leverage we can. Alright? Promise me.”
“Yeah, yeah. Promise.”
Arielle listens for footsteps on the other side of the wall. Someone shuffles closer, then moves away.
Arielle wets her lips. “I thought you wouldn’t realize you had powers until you were off at college, or you had left Capital City—until you didn’t have to see me every day, ignoring you. But it caught up to you. It shocked me when your powers came through on the Super test, but I knew I had to keep them secret.”
“Did Mom know?” I ask. “Did she tell you I have powers?”
Arielle shook her head. “She thought you might. I suppose she saw something when you were younger, or she could have gotten a feeling when she was pregnant with you that she never had from me. Powers are random, Mads, but she said that as soon as you figured out who you are in this world, that’s when your powers, if you had them, would appear. That’s why I didn’t think you would get them until later.”
I fidget with my jacket zipper. My emotions settle, and I realize the extent of what Arielle has risked for me. It’s a felony to lie about the results of a Super test, and Arielle had lied to the top branch of the government. She risked more than Phil finding out about my powers; she’d risked her life.
“All those years of being horrible to you backfired in the end,” says Arielle. “Phil found out I sabotaged him. Currently, we’re playing the grown-up version of hide-and-seek, and there are bigger consequences to being found.”
“POLICE, DROP YOUR WEAPON.” The muscles in my legs contract, coiling like springs as my body prepares to bolt for its life at any moment. We’re going to die if we don’t do something.
“What do we have that we can use?” I ask.
Arielle stands and wipes her hands on her soiled ball gown. She rakes fingers through her hair and dusts herself off. Then she’s all business, which is helpful for two reasons:
Arielle has hawk-like reflexes.
Arielle has a black belt in karate.
“Drink up.” She lifts the jug of water and before I can tell her not to, empties a third of it over my head.
“Oof, cold.” I shiver as the drips soak into my skin. My heart almost stops as they disappear into my arms like water poured into a flower’s soil, and energy takes their place. “That’s never happened before.”
Arielle disregards my weird skin condition. “We don’t need to fight. We just need to get out of here. You said Fox is outside?”
“He’s supposed to be.” Fox’s predictability status is far from perfect.
“Great. Let’s go to his house. Brynn owes me a favor, and Phil will have already searched there.”
The police officer’s call echoes from the other side of the wall. How close he is makes me jump. “Hey, I think I found something.” Tap tap tap. “It sounds hollow.”
“Happy to be a part of your grand plan,” I say. The water races through me, ready to do anything that could save us.
I expect ice from her for the sass, but it doesn’t come, nor does her need to control. She’s been carrying the weight of everything for so long, maybe she had to let it go to have any sense of what is real.
“Can you blow up this kitchen?” Arielle asks. On second thought, maybe she hasn’t returned to reality yet.
