“I might not,” Ashley said. She felt a pang.

She didn’t want this. Rain did, but for her, it was something she had to do, a necessary evil.

“But you didn’t want to talk about that. I’m sorry,” Kenzie said.

Ashley shook her head.

Victoria took the empty space on the bench beside Ashley. She showed her her phone.

It was a picture of Presley, hair dyed an inconsistent color that was more gray-white than pure white.

The freckles reminded her of Amy, which would have been a tricky topic to raise.

It reminded her of J, a memory from a past life. Trickier still to bring up or raise.

☽

There was a low, deep rumble as her power did its work. She had to run to get away from the cloud of dust that exploded out in every direction.

She was already moving to the next point. She lashed out with a sweep of her warped darkness, targeting one corner of a building. Her arm raked out, trying to cover as much area as possible, to destroy as much brick and beam, insulation and strut. A blast of her power provided the kick to get her clear of the area as the wall came down.

She did the same to the other corner of the building. Where bricks were stacked atop one another, they started cascading down in sheets, crashing to the ground. Other things fell down, and the sound of the impacts and cracks had a beautiful sound to them, with the water magnifying some of the acoustics.

J’s car was a lawn and a sidewalk away from her, moving at a slow but steady clip as he tried to stay close to her and keep away from the rolling cloud of debris.

This was the distraction. They were near the water, not that far from where the bridge and the cape with the Celtic-knot wooden armor had been. Her power was taking down segments of old buildings with no lights on. A glance inside had verified they were empty.

Now—she felt the strain in her legs as she ran, catching up with the car. She didn’t hop in, but hopped on, standing at the edge and bracing her forearm against the door and the top of the car. Her power flickered but touched only the air.

On impulse, as they passed a large tree, she blasted it. It toppled behind her, and it made a hell of a lot of noise.

J stepped on the gas. The car peeled out.

This would help draw capes away from the center of operations. Others were out there—only some of Bar’s group, the ones that had been most curious about what they were doing, and Angel was out there, keeping watch.