“Are you sure you’re ready?” Ronnie asked me quietly. “We can take a couple of more minutes. Some more deep breaths, some more water. We can just…talk. Talk about whatever you want. Your friends. What you want to do when all of this is behind you. Maybe even talk to me about anyone special in your life.” She kept rubbing my back in small circles, and hey, look, I hated this as much as anyone else, but the tears had come and left my eyes an angry shade of red, and I couldn’t go and face Ava looking like this. Then she offered me a tissue. “For your nose.”

  I blew, crumpled it, and tilted my head back and looked to the ceiling, shutting my eyes in the process. Alright, Ry. Time to get your act together. You’ve had ten minutes of emotions, and now it’s time to put on a brave face for everyone’s sake. Nobody wants to get saved by a crying superhero. I cleared my throat and rolled my neck. Slowly, I got off the table, put my hands on my hips, and let my nose slowly clear itself. “I’m fine,” I whispered. Then, louder: “I’ll be fine when this is over. I’m not ending the year with Lower Olympus in someone else’s hands.”

  Ronnie smiled as much as she could. “This time last year you were pestering me about a motorbike.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit, then nudged her arm. “You still owe me one.”

  “I owe you a lot,” she said, squeezing my shoulder. “But save the city first.”

  I didn’t know if Ava had been listening in or she had really good intuition, because she opened the front door and walked inside, bringing in tendrils of snow and bitterly cold wind that snuffed out several candles and lanterns. She checked her watch, looked at me, squinted, and whatever she had to say, she bookmarked it for later. We weren’t the best of friends, but if there was one thing I gave her credit for, it was that she at least gave me the space to be me before I put on my game face. But I guess mom was right. This time last year, I would’ve hated that a supervillain—Lucian’s own daughter—knew who I was and was still standing after being anywhere in my vicinity for more than five seconds. Things changed. A lot had changed. The SDU wasn't going to be useful anymore. Cassie had made sure they were turned obsolete. And, I know it was a little unfair, but when I needed them, actually needed them, they’d taken their time getting there. It wasn’t fair. I know it wasn’t fair. But they should have kept up their end of the bargain. They knew people I cared about were gonna get hurt somehow, and fuck! I don’t even have that many people I cared about to watch! When I needed their help, when I needed something, they gave me nothing.

  And I was fine with that, because what else did I expect from the good old government?

  “Rylee,” Ava said, hand on the doorknob. “That’s all the time I can give you.”

  “Practically all we can afford, right?” I asked. She nodded. I sighed and squared my shoulders, then massaged my neck. “I really hate how much you’ve helped me out. Can’t believe I’m in debt to you of all people.”

  Ava grinned. “It’s amazing, I know, how I’m able to keep worming my way back into your life.”

  I shrugged and walked toward her. “Dunno where else I’d be without you, supervillain.”

  “Dead several times over, probably.” Ava looked past me and said, “For your safety, Mrs. Addams, I’m going to have to keep you here for the time being. There’s people watching the house, and if you need them, just call. I don’t have much to offer you, I’ll be honest, but if you can help Frankie make sure Rylee’s cousin and her friends don’t die, then I’ll be more than willing to compensate you. It should only take until daybreak to return.”

  Mom waved her hand and sat with a grunt on a chair. “As long as my little girl comes home, I don’t need anything from you. A packet of cigarettes would do fine, though. It’ll make the silence a lot more bearable.”

  “Got it,” Ava said. “There’s a bit of a shortage right now, so it’ll be tobacco in wrapping paper at best.”

  She shrugged. “I’ve smoked worse.” Before I could leave, she called my name. I turned around, halfway outside of the door, and looked at her. She smiled at me, eyes exhausted, shoulders hunched. “Give ‘em hell, hun.”

  I nodded, then smiled and gave her a thumbs up. “If there’s anybody who can raise hell, it’s me.”

  “Atta girl,” she whispered.

  There were a lot more people standing outside of the house than I expected. Despite the snow, despite the bitter wind, and despite the almost total darkness flooding the street, dozens and dozens of people were gathered together. Ava shut the door behind me as I kept staring at them. The outskirts of the group looked normal. Stragglers wondering what was going on, some of them with bats, others with guns. All looked messy, ragged, with torn clothes and filthy faces. My nose picked up the drugs in some of their systems. Coke and heroine mostly, but one or two of them were panting, their hearts thumping hard—it had to be Ambrosia, a dose cut with something more raw.

  And each and every one of them had spray painted a golden lightning bolt somewhere on their bodies or clothes. Chests. Shoulders. Entire backs for the few who were almost stark naked in the cold and wearing nothing except socks. Those were the superhumans. The ones who felt different. The ones who hovered, who looked like they were dripping as they shifted nervously on their feet. Then came the Kaiju, the half-breeds with human flesh knitted together with scales, fur that melted into gills along their throats and jerking large wings on their backs. It was…weird. The group didn’t fit. They didn’t like each other. Normals were eyeing the Kaiju. The Kaiju were on their best behavior, standing stock still, seemingly trying to vanish from plane sight. I could feel the tension. People were shoving and swearing quietly, muttering threats and warnings to one another, even if they had the same golden face paint smeared all over their heads. They only really stayed calm because of the gunmen flanking the group.

  But it was seeing Emelia standing at the front, sitting on a low concrete stump, that put a grin on my face. She smiled and stood, walked up the stairs and paused before she gave me a hug. Ava had shaken her head and then jerked her chin into the crowd. Right. Being superheroes in a gang full of people very far away from wearing capes meant you had to act a certain way. So we gave each other a smile as she stood beside me, wearing a costume I hadn’t seen in years. I wanted to ask why she was even here in the first place, or how the hell Ava even found her.

  “Been a while,” she said quietly. Her eyes slid over my body. “Can’t believe it still fits you.”

  “I can say the same for you,” I muttered. “Why’re you here?”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  She shrugged one shoulder. “Am I meant to be at home?”

  “I thought you were done being a superhero.”

  “Yeah, maybe. But not done helping you.” She offered me a small smile. “You’re still my best friend, and if you died doing this alone, then I’d never forgive myself. Besides, I’ve been getting an itch I can’t scratch lately.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Dunno yet,” she muttered. “But if I don’t find out tonight, then I’ll find out tomorrow.”

  Ava got between us and said, “You should say something. Not a speech. Just something to get their heads in one place. Most of these people hate Caesar already. Some used to work for him. Most of them worked for rival gangs that got wiped out because of him. All they’ve got left is hatred and anger and one last burning desire to see to it that Caesar doesn’t make it past sunrise. They’re not my desired choice, but they’re just a fraction. More are out there. People are filming you right now. They see you standing up for this city, and they’ll come. All of them will come. Some won’t fight, but they’ll play medic, get the news’ attention—make sure that tonight is all a spectacle.”

  Em’s nose shriveled. “I don’t really like how you’re thinking of them as fodder.”

  “They’re criminals,” Ava said, shrugging. “If they live, they do something good. If they die, they’ve died trying to do something good. At the end of the day, this is the most a lot of them will ever amount to in their lives.”

  “You’re kinda sick,” Em muttered, folding her arms. “I barely know you but you’re already a no-no.”

  “War doesn’t count the individual but instead the sum of a front’s actions. That’s the reality.”

  “They’re humans. People.”

  “Murderers, rapists, drug pushers—scum.” Ava adjusted her suit. “We’ll use their bodies as the foundation of Lower Olympus and make sure that it’s a shift from here on out. The gangsters that don’t fight are waiting to see what we do tonight because they know that if we win, there’s going to be a power vacuum. If we lose, then there’s going to be a gaping hole in the workforce that they can fill with their own people and services.” Ava looked at her. “You might not like me, but I also only brought you here because Rylee trusts you. You’re pedantic and Hollywood dulled your edge. This is Lower Olympus’ reality, and if you hadn’t taken the blank cheque, then you’d know that.”

  Em’s jaw tensed. I looked at Ava and said, “Keep your mouth shut for a while, will you?”

  If this is gonna be long term, it’s gonna be one hell of a headache trying to manage.

  I stepped forward. The throng of people in front of me focused on me and me alone. More people had arrived at some point, the crowd almost getting large enough for me of all people to raise their voice. But some of them weren’t here to fight. A lot of them stuck to the shadows, phones out, recording me. Some of them just stood there in the dark, hands in their pockets, eyes cold and directed at me. I took a deep breath and sighed through my mouth, calming my heartbeat. You’d think after everything I’d been through that public speaking would be easier.

  But I guess it was hard to do knowing that most of these guys, on any other day, would be running from me. Scared of me. If they hadn't tried to kill me, they’d be trying to off themselves before I put them through hell.

  And somehow, they chose me over Caesar, so I guess there’s my answer to the question: Is this right?

  Before a wound could heal, it needed to bleed a little first. This was just bloodshed.

  Human bloodshed, Ry. Lucas would have taught you to think that way.

  Quietly, over my shoulder, I told Ava, “Nobody is dying tonight.”

  Ava blinked. “That’s impossible. Even you know that.”

  I turned back around and loudly said, “Look.” Suddenly, everything went silent—the street, the fliers hovering in the air, everything and everyone. “A lot of you fundamentally don’t like me and what I also stand for, but if there’s one thing we both hate, it’s that Lower Olympus isn’t anything like she used to be. The streets smell like trash. The sewers are overflowing. How many of you have kids and wives and husbands who haven’t even died because of Supers or turf wars, but died because you couldn’t afford to help them, because everything was just so rotten that nothing could even be done to help them out?” Several people put up their hands, a lot of them nodded and cheered and threw their fists into the air. “And nobody has done anything about it. But tonight changes that. I want our city to thrive, to be better. I don’t know how many of you actually care about what I’m saying right now, but the fact is that we need to make sure Lower Olympus actually changes. Nobody is coming to save us. So we’re going to make fucking sure that the world watches as we save our own city.” I raised my fist into the air and sent a burst of golden electricity around my knuckles, shoving away the shadows. People flinched, almost stepped back like they were terrified I was going to pulverise them. But I let the silence linger. I let the crackling hum of it fill the quiet until they got used to the light that was slowly illuminating the entire street. Faces appeared in the windows. Figures crouched on rooftops just outside the corona of my light. “Zeus is dead. He’s been dead for ten years to the day. There’s no parade this year, there’s no party—at least, not for us. And mark my words: by the time the sun comes up in just a few hours, this city is going to be ours, and we’re going to make damned sure it shines brighter than the Upper West has ever shone. So fucking bright that it’ll make Zeus’ statue look dull in contrast. This is our city and this is our heritage and I’ll be damned if that thug of a maniac working for Cassie Blackwood keeps tearing apart everything we’ve got!” Now they were listening. Now they were chanting, throwing their fists higher. My light was making the golden paint on them glow, even if, for some of them, that was all I could see in the dark.

  “Tonight,” I said, panting, heart fast and breath shallow. “We kill Caesar. Tonight, we don’t celebrate Zeus when the sun comes up. Tonight, we’re going to start from zero—and I’ll hang that thug’s body from the bridge.”

  I could barely hear myself think when they started roaring, stomping, and chanting my name. It was a frenzy. The ground itself was shaking under their feet. I couldn’t help but smile some more as I swallowed. Ava put her hand on my shoulder and leaned in close, her voice barely audible. “You’re a natural. People need a symbol, and you’ve given them one. Caesar knows your coming. Don’t waste any time. We’ll hit his structures around the city. Damage Control are masquerading as late night patrols, and I’ll make sure none of them die—just hostages.”

  “You’re going to try and negotiate with Cassie?” I asked. “She’s a power-hungry lunatic.”

  “But a logical one,” she said. “You publicly accused her of working with a crime lord. People might not fully trust you after tonight, especially in the Upper West—they’ll call you a criminal, they’ll call you a disgrace to your father’s spotless legacy for working with thugs like this, and they’ll disregard you. But not everyone. Some people are going to start asking questions.” She smiled at me, almost like someone had carved it into her face. “The heart of Lower Olympus is beating because of you, and it’s about time you made sure it never stops beating, too.”

  “At the rate you’re going,” Em muttered, “you’re going to start a cult.”

  “If it means people keep fighting for this place and for each other…” I shrugged.

  Then that’s one step closer to filling the sky with capes again, isn't it, Dennie?

  “You should go,” Ava said, a glimmer in her eye. “Strike whilst the iron is hot.”

  “Your…cousin and her friends are already waiting,” Em told me. “All that’s left is you now, Ry.”

  Deep breath. Deep breath. Roll my shoulders and swallow bitter saliva.

  Go time.

  “Dismantle what this monster stole from us!” I yelled. “And I’ll bring back his head.”

  And I’ll make sure everyone in this city sees how bright my light can be.