“You’re absolutely, totally right,” Rain said, visibly agitated with the public speaking, being in the limelight. “And we’re on your side in this. More of us than you’d think, we agree with what you’re saying.”

Breaking 14.3

There were no big television cameras to capture us, no news crews with their own setups. Just the people with laptops hooked into masses of wires that seemed to weigh more than the laptops themselves, those wires threading their way beneath seats to the big screens at the back. But there were people with phones out.

The thought crossed my mind that we could have Kenzie intercept anything too crippling. It was a fleeting thought, and one that sat uncomfortably in my head after it had fleeted.

“You don’t sound surprised,” Gary Nieves said. Rain’s statement had thrown us all for a loop, and whatever else he was, slimy fearmonger, a scarier kind of politician than even Citrine, a stubborn asshole, he was used to this battlefield, under the withering stares of uncountable eyes, where every word mattered.

I could see Rain hesitate.

My own thought was on how to handle the link to Citrine. And it wasn’t an easy route to take, because I wasn’t at peace with the choice to work with her.

“It sucks,” Rain said. He reached up to touch his hair or his face and he seemed to realize, belatedly, that he still wore his mask. Rather than stumble, he jumped into his next statement as if invigorated. “All of this is scary, and what you describe doesn’t sound good, but I’m—we’re living it. It’s scary to think about capes taking over worlds, but I’ve seen it. I saw the woman who used to rule Earth Shin take steps to reclaim her throne, and I—”

He stopped there for just a bit longer than a fraction of a second.

“We saw her die,” Tristan filled in. “She tried to take over, but the Wardens were watching her, her enemies were watching her, and when she made an attempt she was killed. Imprisonment and trial would have been nice, if I’m being honest, but… no choice.”

She was throwing buildings around.

“And now others step in to fill the void. Her sister.”

My sister. Amy.

It was tough to hear, but I had kind of anticipated that line of attack. I felt irrationally pissed off, which was a lot because I had a right to be pissed that he was picking at my scabs.

“We don’t talk,” I told him.

“Shouldn’t you? Putting aside the fact that you’re family, you grew up together, you seem to be implying you’ve taken on the responsibility of watching and handling the dangerous ones before they get too far.”

“Not my team. All heroes. Even some of the villains.”