“Oh,” Addison breathed the word. “He’s attacking Boston or something?”

“Brockton Bay,” Shawn said. He wouldn’t start lying now. “Get ready.”

“But you—”

“The best thing you can do for me is to get ready, as soon as possible. I want you somewhere safe. Then I can focus.”

“You’re going to fight?”

Shawn opened his mouth to say something. Addison seemed to shake himself out of it, and didn’t even wait for the answer to the question. He was gone, feet tromping as he ran down the hall.

The rest of his ‘Dauntless’ gear went into a gym bag.

He pulled on a jacket, flipping up the hood well in advance of stepping outside. He lifted the gym bag, and had to put straps over his shoulder because of the weight of it.

Addi was waiting in the hallway as he emerged. Shoes on, coat on, ready to go.

“Come on.”

“You could back out. You get stronger every day. If you skipped the one—”

“Addison, no.”

He guided Addison toward the door. Outside the front window of the house, he could see other people had emerged from their homes. Some wore nightclothes and were looking around for guidance. Others were dressed and were hurrying in the directions they were supposed to go, for the nearest shelter.

“If you skipped this, wouldn’t you get so much stronger for the next one?”

“I could skip that one for the fight that comes after,” he answered. “And the one that comes after that. We don’t know if my power has a limit, but it’s possible it does, and the time I supposedly buy ends up being for nothing. This is my city, Addison. A city with you in it. With Jennifer. With your friends, your teachers, the places you love. There’s never going to be a place that I’ll step up to defend faster or with more conviction than our city.”

“Okay,” Addison said. He didn’t sound like it was okay.

Fourteen, now, and still soft-spoken. Still not fond of sudden twists or things being sprung on him.

Nobody is, here.

“Get dressed and hurry to the shelter, Mr. Combe!” Shawn raised his voice, calling out across the street.

The elderly Mr. Combe turned around, hurrying inside.

In another circumstance, Shawn would have helped the man. In this circumstance, he tried to tell himself, he was still helping by going to the front lines.

Robin lived a couple of blocks away, and had made a beeline for him right away. The Pelhams lived in the neighborhood too. Not a neighborhood of Jennifer’s level of taste but a nice area. Robin was staying human, jogging over at a normal speed, one hand in pocket, the other with phone pressed to ear. He had a grim look on his face.