Secret Super (Book 1)

40. Unlikely Allies

Zadia didn't know how much time passed in the cell, but at some point, the door slid open with a mechanical whir and a girl slipped through. The lock clicked behind her.

It was the quiet girl with bright blue, piercing eyes, and thin brown hair, who'd collected the chemicals she stole from the superhero lab. And who Zadia was convinced had tried to subtly warn her about Xavier. If Zadia looked at her for too long, she appeared to flicker in and out of sight.

"Tali?" Zadia said, pushing herself up.

Tali nodded, her eyes wide and frightened. She wore a white lab coat a few sizes too large, the sleeves rolled up past her elbows and the coat hanging around her thin frame. She took out a syringe filled with amber liquid from the pocket of her lab coat.

"Wait! What is that? What are you doing?"

"It's the injection," Tali said, as if that explained everything. Her voice was so soft Zadia had to strain to hear her.

"You mean, to take my superpowers away?"

Tali nodded.

"No, please don't do that!" Zadia stood up with some difficulty, backing up against the wall. "Listen, I really have to leave this cell, I—"

Tali shrugged, moving forward with the syringe.

"Don't do that!" Zadia held her hands up threateningly. Tali backed away with a flinch.

"Why are you doing this?" Zadia said. In desperation, she added, "Xavier is manipulating you, you know! His superpower is mental manipulation, and he just lies to everyone to control them, and—"

"I know."

"You know? Well, what about that he has multiple organizations, and he really just wants to eradicate superheroes—"

Tali nodded, her blue eyes burning. Then she grabbed Zadia's arm. Tali's wiry arms were surprisingly strong, and she held firm when Zadia tried to push her off. Before Zadia could do anything else, she plunged the needle into Zadia's forearm, and the liquid drained into her skin. Then she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Zadia cried out. "Listen, I really need to get out— superheroes are gonna attack this place! I need to go warn Xavier." It hadn't worked with Mira, but maybe it'd work with Tali.

Tali turned around as her breath hitched. "What?"

"Yes! And we need to evacuate, right away."

Tali chewed on her lip. "You lie," she said finally, and turned away again.

"No, I'm not lying!" Tears of frustration welled to Zadia's eyes and she blinked them back furiously. She needed to get out of this cell, and now. "Xavier is lying, about everything!"

Tali seemed unfazed by this.

"Can you just tell me," Zadia said, "why you tried to warn me to lie about the chemicals? Who are you? Whose side are you on?"

"I'm on Xavier's side," the girl said, in a quiet but fierce voice.

"Why?"

Tali didn't answer.

Zadia's eyes drifted to her lab coat. A nametag was stitched to the front: Natalia K.

K, like Knightley. On a whim, Zadia blurted, "Are you related to him?"

Tali blanched and stumbled towards the door.

But Zadia wasn't about to let her only possibility of escape leave. If she didn't have her superpowers . . . Time to test out her acting skills.