Athena rolled her eyes. “Right, whatever. I guess it makes sense people with powers would think they’re better.”

“It’s not an entirely illogical viewpoint,” Handshake said.

They turned off the road and into a big parking lot next to a tall but squat building with a big entranceway covered by an awning where a young man in a too-tight suit was standing. Handshake pulled the car to a park way off in a corner of the parking lot where it would be hard to spot, then he shut the car off.

Everyone got out.

The early evening was turning a bit chilly, and Athena sort of wished she had mittens on to cover her hands, but those wouldn’t have been tough looking. Instead, she shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and wiggled them around to keep the blood flowing while she followed the others to the hotel.

The guy at the front—the valet?—jumped when he saw them coming and hurried to open the door for them. “W-welcome to the Oliday Inn,” he squeaked as they passed.

“This way,” Handshake said as he walked right across the lobby without so much as a glance around. Not that there was much to see. The lobby had some fake plants and a big desk behind which sat a person with a smile on their lips but not in their eyes.

The few customers were all on benches next to a “Free Wi-Fi!” poster. None of the customers noticed the four of them moving by.

The conference room they were going to meet the bad guy in was on the second floor. Handshake took the stairs, despite there being a perfectly usable elevator.

They walked down a corridor, then slipped into a room where Handshake turned around to face them. “Please close the door,” he said.

Athena, being the last one in, took a moment to look around first. It was a conference room all right, with a big table in the middle and a stack of chairs against one wall. “All right,” she said before pulling the door shut.

“No, this isn’t the room we’ll be meeting Cement in,” Handshake said. “That’ll be deeper down. But I figured we’d cover a few things first.”

Big Sister Emily nodded. “I was hoping we would,” she said.

“Wonderful. First, let’s look over the terms of our contract,” Handshake said.

“Our what?” Teddy asked.

Handshake smiled. “Our contract. I wouldn’t have you come here without first outlining the terms.”

“Sounds like some capitalistic nonsense to put you on top,” Teddy said. “Do you need some elitist lawyer sort to read it?”

“Um,” Handshake said.

Athena stepped up and caught his eyes. “What are your terms?” she asked while making the darkened corners of the room ever so slightly more suspicious.