Superhero Effects

10. AND MY WORLD ENDS WITH FIRE

His meaty hand grabbed a fist-full of my hair and, with a cry, I rose as he pulled. Then, without warning, I flew backward. The unmistakable and horrible sound of a large chunk of my hair ripping filled my ears as I screamed. I slammed back first on the floor, landing beside Cooper.

I lifted my arms and covered my head as the tears started to flow, my fingers kneading the sore spot on my scalp. I peeked under my arms to see the red man smelling the handful of hair in his grip; his eyes closed peacefully.

It was official. He was a freak.

His eyes opened slowly, showing his eyes rolling with pleasure—like I had seen my brother do when he ate cheese pizza, even though he knew he would pay for it later because he was lactose intolerant. A malicious grin spread across his face as I dropped my arms and climbed to my feet.
He charged toward me, and with a whimper, I backed away. I forgot about Cooper, who was behind me unconscious again, and I tripped on him. I went backward, landing back down with my legs draped over him.

A breeze stirred the air, and the next second the grinning Color slammed back into the wall.
I struggled to right myself, and by the time I did, pulling my legs from over Cooper, I saw Leilani before the red guy, sucking him into one of those glass things as Archer hurried around and hooked his arms under my shoulders. He lifted me without effort, without giving my legs time to find the energy to stand, so for a moment, I hung there panting with relief.

"You okay?" he asked when I straightened, tugging away from him.

I nodded, going back to massaging the top of my head as Archer moved from me and dropped down beside Cooper.

Leilani flinched and turned to him, refusing to look at me. "There's a rock in here. I feel it."

I motioned with my hand. "I tossed it in that corner."

Her eyes snapped to me, narrowing with disbelief. "You touched it?"

Well, Archer hadn't kept that secret for long as I had kindly asked. I shrugged. "Yeah."

"It doesn't affect her at all," Cooper was awake again. He shot me a smile. "Thank you, Tristan. For at least trying to save me. As soon as I leave this room, I'll head to Base. You three get back out there. They can't see you with me. My cover's blown. There are Colors in the school." He held out his hand, hunched over with his other hand gripping a knee. "Toss that over." Leilani complied with her lips pressed together in a thin line. "Now go and be discrete."

"But," I started to object, but he only shook his head, straightening.

"I'll be fine. Go, and act normal. They could be anyone."

"But," I started again, trying to explain that I knew exactly who they were, and they knew I was Lucy's twin and that they thought Aaron Fletcher's new book would help them catch all the Supers.

Archer grabbed my hand without questioning whether Cooper was even recovered enough to get out on his own and pulled me to follow Leilani.

"Cooper," I protested, looking back at him, "if you'll just listen—!"

"Later," he assured me.

Archer kept pulling me, and, with a sigh of exasperation, I stopped resisting.

Leilani went out the door first after staring at it with concentration, and then Archer released my hand and stepped in front of it, staring it down like he could see through it.

I paused with a blink.

Wait, he probably could see through it.

"Can you—" I started to whisper, but he shook his head, silencing me.