Superhero Effects

13. FOR THE LAST TIME, I CAN'T FLY

It took me a second to process her words, and even then, I used my index finger to shake one of my ears.

While I was in the middle of shaking my ears, confused, Lucinda turned in her computer chair with a dark glare. "Leave," she ground out.

Okay, I definitely heard her right that time.

I lifted my hands in a quick surrendering motion. "Yeah, no. Got it. I'm totally leaving. I just thought maybe, ya know, you cared that the boy who is madly in love with you has been searching nonstop and even went so far as to drop me from the sky in the hopes that I was you even though I told him more than once—"

She stood, and I shut my mouth, taking a small step back.

"Tristan," she said, imploring me with her eyes, "get out."

Seeing as I had never had to entertain thoughts about having a sister, it's completely understandable that it took me a second to pick up on the twin thing, but suddenly, I just knew. I knew that talking here, in her room, was not the smartest thing to do. Lucinda wasn't being heartless, rude, and scary; she was trying to warn me.

I backed away further and nodded. "Fine."

I left and shut the door behind me firmly.

Dennis was waiting there, and when I only shook my head, he dropped his. "At least you tried. Don't worry; she'll come around."

Peggy and I left after Dennis gave me a tight hug, and Gerry hugged me around the legs at the same time. It was colder out when we stepped into the open air than before, but my skin welcomed the temperature because my interaction with Lucinda had my heart racing.

What kind of damage had I done? Man, that was dumb. Her uncle—well, our uncle was the one that had her all that time. Of course, he hadn't let her go without bugging her. What if I had just made things ten times worse for her?

Peggy was silent as we pulled away from the house. She even turned the radio down as she followed her phone for directions on getting out of the suburb. Her cellphone did this weird thing and led us on a different path than before, so we came out on some back roads.

"You're freaked," she said.

I shook my head. "No, Lucinda's freaked. She kicked me right out of her room, but I could tell something was happening with her. You remember the story, right? The uncle is the bad guy, which means a prominent doctor, who I happen to be related to, is the bad guy. I have to figure out a way to talk to her without risking him overhearing us and asking her what the heck is going on."

We were in full-on country-land now. Trees flew past us one after the other, fields with large hay bells. We even passed a cow.

Peggy gripped the steering wheel tighter, and her knuckles whitened. "Well, my investigative reporter skills are about to come in handy. We're going to figure this out, T, but you know it would help if we could work alongside Cooper and the others."

A large black truck came behind us as I said, "Peggy..."

She scoffed. "I know, I know. If they find out, they'll wipe my memory."

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my pocket with difficulty as Peggy turned down a road that looked just like the one before, with trees and the occasional hay bell. The number lighting up my screen was long and unfamiliar.

"Hello?" I answered curiously.

"Tristan!" I knew that voice; how could I not it was the same as my own. It was Lucinda. How the heck did she get my number? "From Dad!" she snapped when I asked this as Peggy lifted a brow, surprised. "Who cares! Where are you right now?"