James Knight: Teenage Superhuman - B2

Forty-Five

Derek and Grace were sitting nearby, watching as Claire and I exchanged a glance. We shared a small smile just before my dad's voice cut through the room from downstairs. "James Everett Knight, get upstairs right now!"

I froze, confused. I had no idea what I'd done wrong, but my gut told me it wasn't anything good.

I looked at Derek, who just shrugged. "No idea what he wants," he muttered, glancing at his phone that was buzzing on the couch.

"Same here," Grace said with a casual shrug. Derek and I stood up. I planted a quick kiss on Claire's cheek and started up the stairs while Derek slipped out the door.

When I reached the nursery, Dad and Sam were there, standing amid a mountain of baby gifts scattered all over the floor. Both looked completely exasperated.

"You two need to stop letting your fans do this," Dad said, waving toward the mess. "The gifts are sweet, but it's getting out of hand."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "And what exactly do you want me to do about it?"

Sam looked at me, his gaze steady. "You have a social media presence, right?"

I let out a long sigh, knowing exactly where this was going. I hadn't been super active online since things got busy, but I still kept my accounts.

"Yeah," I admitted reluctantly.
"Then use it to reach your fans and tell them to stop sending all these gifts," my father said, his stress obvious.

"I'll talk to Claire about posting something. We're planning to donate most of it anyway. The gifts just keep coming," I replied.

"Good. Also, the principal set up a press conference for you guys next week about Henry and Alexander. He specifically asked you to give a speech. And I don't want any sob stories about losing your powers or letting Noah take over. Mark told me about the interview, and they're ready to talk to all of you."

"Right," I muttered, itching to head back downstairs to Claire and get away from all this. I needed a distraction, and my eyes landed on a photo Claire had snapped of me in my superhero costume, grinning at the camera. It was my first time wearing it—a special moment for Martine, Kyle, his designer friend Santiago, and Claire. Claire had been over the moon, and honestly, I'd been just as thrilled.

"He really wants you to speak," Sam said, "given how many people follow you."

"Noah has a huge following too," I shot back.
"You'll be the one speaking at the conference," my father said, his arms folded like the decision was already made. "Everyone will be there. Samual. Danielle. Dexter. Derek. Me. We have to do this for Henry."

That was when it hit me again—Alexander still had Henry. With everything going on, the baby, losing my powers, the constant turmoil, I'd almost pushed it to the back of my mind. After Maximus put me into a coma, Henry had vanished. So had Max, Mia, and Alexander. There'd been no sign of any of them since. We didn't even know for sure if Henry was alive anymore. All we could do was hope Alexander hadn't gone too far with his experiments. Whatever he was doing to his brother, it couldn't possibly be good.

"Fine," I said with a tired sigh. "I'll do it—but only if everyone else speaks too."

Sam looked at me like he didn't understand. "Why are you hiding from the public like this? I know you hate your powers, but you're one of the strongest leaders we have. You've never backed down from something like this before."

"I said I'll do it," I snapped.

The words surprised even me. I drew in a slow breath, trying to steady myself. I couldn't remember the last time I'd lost my temper like that. The pressure was getting to me—no clever wording intended.