Secret Super (Book 1)

14. Reckless

"So," Kian said, "What can you two do?"

They were sitting around an abandoned office room. As soon as they crowds had emptied the train, they dispersed to different rooms, and Kian had led them here. This base was less exciting than the last one, but at least Zadia wasn't worried about rocks crumbling and falling on her.

Along with them was a broad-shoulder giant, with biceps the width of Zadia's entire body, who Kian introduced as Ezra. He kept disappearing into the wall. Literally. Every time Zadia looked over at him, he was flickering in and out of sight, and sometimes she blinked and he wasn't there. For someone twice as wide as her and at least two heads taller, he was incredibly easy to overlook.

What can you two do? Zadia bit the inside of her cheek. Unlike Kara, she wasn't a superhero trainee; she couldn't lob force-fields at opponents and protect from attacks; she didn't jump into danger to fight attackers.

She was passionate about the environment, and loved the idea of making a change, and was pretty good at not using her superpowers, but other than that . . . Her resume for factory-destroying was slim to non-existent.

Kara didn't have the same hesitation. "Force-fields," she said, flipping her braid over her shoulder. "I'm a good fighter." Then she pointed at Zadia. "She's a--"

"Civilian," Zadia blurted. "Not a super. I just work for the EPA and want to reduce pollution," she added, looking down.

Kian narrowed her eyes, her expression inscrutable as she looked at Zadia. Zadia's heart skipped a beat nervously, but then Kian looked away.

"Don't slow me down," was all she said. "Sabotaging a factory is simple. Get in, destroy some shit, get out, don't get caught. You two can stand guard. After this, you're on your own."

"Standing guard? That's all we're doing?" Kara crossed her arms, the sleeve of her jacket still encrusted in a thin layer of ice. Stray hairs stuck up from her head and frizzy braid.

"No," Zadia said loudly.

Everyone looked at her. Even Ezra, the giant in the corner.

She felt her cheeks turning red, realizing suddenly how loud that had come out. Everyone's eyes focused on her, she tried to explain herself, stumbling over her words. "I mean, no, I'm not standing guard. I'd be the first to get caught-- and I can't be. Xavier told me this wouldn't be dangerous." She sounded cowardly even to herself, but she didn't care. She wasn't about to risk it all for an organization she'd just learned about.

"It's not," Kian said shortly. She leaned back against the wall, giving Zadia an appraising look. "Ezra goes in first, invisible, shuts down all the surveillance. I get the job done. You two will be disguised as janitors. Anything goes wrong, you alert me and leave unnoticed. Shit, you get scared of your own shadow, you can leave. I got Ezra here on watch. You're just there to watch and learn."

"Okay . . ." Zadia drew in a breath. She looked over at Ezra, silently hulking in the corner, with his muscles bulging through his shirt. It definitely made her feel better to have him watching over her, despite the fact that he kept drifting in and out of sight. And Kian seemed to know her way around.

"We could do this ourselves. I've done way harder missions," Kara said.

Zadia glared at her, willing the other girl to hear her thoughts: Please stop talking. Leave it to the superhero to try to get them killed.

"Take it up with X," Kian snapped. "I didn't ask to be your babysitter, hon. Anyway, I think we're done here. Let's go, Ez." She motioned to the corner, and Ezra flickered back into sight