“Screw you!” Draven lunges at Nitro.
I seize the opportunity and jump to my feet. But the villains weren’t as distracted as I thought. Before I can make a dash for my phone, Dante intercepts me, wrapping a hand around my wrist in an iron grip.
He raises his other hand in the air, like someone who’s refereed a lot of arguments between these two. “Can we just do something with her so we can keep looking?”
Pulling me behind him, Dante drags me toward the vault. But once he gets there, he freezes, and for a long moment, I can’t figure out what’s come over him. But then I see it—a shiny titanium watch with a bright red face lying on the floor. He drops my wrist and bends to pick up the watch. Then he squeezes it tight in his hand.
“Deacon was here.” His voice breaks as he shows the watch to his friends. “We need to find him before it’s too late.”
The bickering stops instantly. Rage vibrates in the air.
“What if it’s already too late?” Nitro snarls. “What if—”
“It’s not. It can’t be.” But Draven sounds more angry than comforting as he voices the reassurances.
“So where do we start looking for a secret level?” Dante demands. “This place is huge.”
“Why don’t we ask her?” Nitro nods at me with narrowed eyes, like he wouldn’t mind trying to set me on fire this time. “She seems to know her way around pretty well. Tell us how to get to the secret level, little bird.”
“Are you insane? We don’t need a secret level,” I retort. “We’re not villains.”
Besides, like I would help them find it if it did exist.
“Didn’t expect her to tell the truth, did you?” Dante glares at me. “She’s a hero-worshipper.”
Now, it’s my turn to glare. “Hero-worshipper” is really vile, really insulting slang in the super world, so bad that few people even say it. As an ordinary living among superheroes, I hear it more than most, and the fact that this obnoxious, fauxhawk-sporting villain is the one lobbing it at me pisses me off more than I can say.
My heel connects with his instep before I can think better of it.
While Dante howls in pain, I back away. There are too many villains between me and the exit, but even a little distance makes me feel safer.
“I’ll make her talk,” Nitro says, and this time the energy ball he’s building between his hands glows an icy blue. I don’t know why, but it looks a million times scarier than the red-hot one he lobbed at me earlier. And when he pulls his hand back as if to throw it at me, I duck behind the nearest lab table.
Sometimes discretion really is the better part of valor.
Still, I’m not backing down. Not this time. Not to these guys.
I glance around frantically for something I can use as a weapon. I’m in a bioengineering lab, for God’s sake. Just about everything in here can maim, poison, or kill. Surely, I can find something within reach that will take these jerks down. Or at least incapacitate them long enough for me to call for help.
“Stop, Nitro.” Draven’s voice is low and urgent, with an unmistakable note of command. “Torturing her won’t do any good.”
He moves deliberately, self-assured as he places himself between his buddies and me.
“It’s what heroes do to us,” Nitro argues. “Torture us, experiment on us. Kill us. They have Deacon. Why the hell should we care what happens to one little hero-worshipper?”
Is he serious? Heroes aren’t the ones with a history of torture and murder. He should take a closer look in the mirror.
“Let me talk to her, see what she knows,” Draven says. “You guys look for clues about the secret level before the cavalry arrives.”
Nitro’s sneer turns cocky. “Thanks to you, the cavalry’s not coming. You made the guards believe they’re on vacation.”
“Someone’s going to hear the alarms eventually,” Dante says. “This place is wired into the SHPD precinct. Once they figure out there’s a problem, they’ll be here in less than ten minutes.”
How does he know that? How does he know any of that?
How did they even get in here? And, for that matter, how did they even know this place existed?
The Elite Superhero Lab is a top secret facility. Our existence isn’t known to most heroes, let alone villains. And our police protocols aren’t exactly common knowledge. So how can these guys have so much inside information?
This is much bigger than just a simple breakin.
As the three of them argue about the best course of action, I inch toward the nearest lab table. They’re so absorbed in their discussion that they don’t even notice me scooting that way.
Finally. A weapon. I grab the fire extinguisher with both hands, pull the pin, and leap into the aisle, brandishing it in front of me. Dante yells in alarm, but it’s too late. I depress the lever and watch as it shoots white goo all over Nitro and his energy ball.