Supernova (Renegades, #3)

by Marissa Meyer

“My brothers,” she whispered, “are going to be so disappointed.”

“We were friends, weren’t we?” He coughed. A bit of blood sprayed across his bottom lip. “I know I wasn’t always … a good friend … but I … I liked having you around, back then. When you were little. It was nice to be … a kid … again.”

“I wanted to tell you…” He coughed. The ice in his chest jostled with each movement. “I’m no longer sure … I was meant to be … a villain.” His gaze softened affectionately as he squeezed her hand. She wasn’t sure when he’d started holding it. “I’m not sure you are, either. Maybe … none of us…”

Snarling, Nova catapulted into the next row. Callum was not a formidable opponent.

The boy didn’t seem to notice Phobia towering over him.

Magpie didn’t raise her head, though she no doubt knew that Nova was there. That Nightmare was there. She had her knees pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her face was coated in dust and streaked with tears. Nova didn’t know what to do. Magpie was a Renegade, an enemy. She’d never even liked the girl to begin with. But still, something inside Nova refused to let her just walk away. “He annoyed the hell out of me,” Magpie said with a hiccup. Nova was surprised that she was speaking at all, and at that, not making sassy commentary for once. She sniffed. “But still … I thought, if he had the helmet, we might be able to win. He was obnoxious as hell, but he was always … more heroic than any of us. He didn’t deserve…” Magpie grimaced.

Nova could still stop this. Everything had spun out of control so quickly. This had not been what she’d planned, what she’d wanted.

“What is anarchy but our right to have our own thoughts, and to speak them? To have our own desires, and to use our own resources to obtain them? To not have to live in fear that everything we have worked so hard to procure will be taken from us against our will? And yet…”

“Oscar, stop!” she said, laughing outright now. “I get it. Thank you.” He paused and cleared his throat. “Right. Yeah. Sorry. Just saying.” He hesitated, his focus landing on their entwined hands. He gulped. “Just … one more thing?” Ruby faked an exasperated eye roll. “Oh, if you insist.” Oscar lifted his head. “You’re the girl of my dreams.” Ruby’s head swiveled toward him, the nonchalant smile evaporating. “With or without superpowers,” Oscar added, holding her gaze. Color bloomed in Ruby’s cheeks. Fresh tears started to gather in her eyes until, without much warning, she grabbed the front of Oscar’s uniform and kissed him.

It had been a long time since Adrian had seen the comics. He vaguely remembered the skeletal hands, the dark shadowy cloak. He vaguely remembered how this phantom creature was intended to get stronger over the course of the series and become one of Rebel Z’s most feared enemies. He vaguely remembered what the creature became—a villain crafted from fear and death, who had no face, no soul, and a mean-looking scythe that Adrian had thought would be fun to use in future epic fight scenes.

“I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I don’t know what’s right or wrong or—”

“Leroy’s been like a second father to me.” She hesitated, before adding, “Him and Ace both.” Adrian stared at her. “I don’t want to sound mean, but I think we need to get you new role models.” She scowled. “Your dads aren’t perfect, either.” “I know they aren’t, but come on.” He gestured at Leroy’s slumped body. Nova adjusted her balance so she didn’t feel quite so precarious, her ankles locked around the sides of the bell. “I know it may not seem like it right now, but he’s actually a good guy…” She trailed off, wondering how she’d never once, in all the time she’d felt herself falling for Adrian, considered what it would be like if he ever met Leroy or the rest of her “family.” It had never been worth considering, because she’d known it would never happen. “Well then,” said Adrian with a dry chuckle, “I hope we’ll have a chance to get to know each other.”

“I suppose I should be grateful,” Phobia rasped. “It’s a rare gift indeed to meet one’s maker.” Adrian shrank back, colliding with the wall. Another game, he told himself. Phobia was toying with him. “It’s impossible,” he said. “You would have died years ago. Faded away to nothing, like all the rest!” “Is that so?” Phobia’s hood had reached the vaulted ceiling, so that the blackness enguled the room. Nothing but shadow in every direction. It felt like death itself closing in on them, sucking the warmth from the air, suffocating them, slowly, agonizingly.… “I suppose I should be dead,” said Phobia, “but you were so clever in your fearful youth, to imbue me with an endless source of strength. A bottomless well of power. Your … own … fears.” Adrian shuddered. “What are you talking about?” “I used to worry that they would fade as you got older, but I needn’t have bothered. Fears might change, but they never go away. You once feared losing your mother above all else, but once that nightmare came to pass … there was another lurking to take its place. Fear that you would lose your new family. Fear that the Renegades would collapse. Fear that Ace Anarchy would win. Fear that you would always be in your fathers’ shadows. Fear that you would lose more loved ones. Fear that you would be weak and helpless when it mattered the most.” He cackled, almost delightedly. “There is no end to your fears, Master Everhart, and there is no end to the life they give me.”

He killed and he destroyed and he left the world in shambles.

“What would you think if … if a villain happened to fall in love with your son?”