Capes

Chapter Sixteen

| QUESTIONABLE SAVIOURS AND ROOFTOP SESSIONS |

MOIRA flew backwards into the far wall. Nox had kicked her. All of the Kendricks' were in the office with us, each dressed in their superhero costume. My jaw all but dropped when I saw them. They were the last people, Illusion aside, that I had expected to see.

Shocked didn't do my- or Moira's and the chief's- reaction justice. I couldn't believe they were here; I never thought I would see them again. What with Nox telling me they didn't do mundane super things like clean up streets that were clogged up with bad guys.

I had guessed what I knew about them would go back to what it had been before- non-existent. That didn't look to be the case now with the way the Kendricks' were fighting to help me. Nox and Maddox had gotten Moira and the chief of police restrained while Milana was working some strange persuasion magic on them. Her pale green eyes turned an electric purple and Moira's eyes got glassy so I assumed her persuasion was working.

Once Moira and her chief were slumped on the brown carpeted floor, lost in their own minds for however long the effects of Milana's persuasion would last, the Kendricks' turned to me and I to them. We stared at each other before I got sound and words to leave my lips.

"Wh-what are you all doing here?"

Here in the police station like they dealt with things like these. Hadn't Nox said-

"I told you, princess, this is below our pay grade." Nox handed the words back to me again.

"Then why are you here? Why did you choose to come and help me?"

And how had anyone even known I was here? Surely Moira hadn't advertised it before her chief had been able to see Shade and unmask her. So how had news travelled so fast to Milana and her siblings? How had it gotten to Illusion?

"Because," Milana twisted a wild caramel curl around her finger. Her pale green eyes shone. "You're one of us now."

I blinked. Once and then again to ensure I wasn't dreaming. That all of this craziness really had happened. It was still hard to believe they considered me to be in their entourage, considering how judgemental they had been about me and my hero status before.

"I'm... Right, yeah, okay. Um... How did any of you know I was here? I'm sure it was kept really hush hush so-"

"Illusion."

Nox took over Milana's shorter than short explanation. "He was patrolling around the city, much like you do apparently, and he saw her," he jutted his chin in Moira's direction, "shoot you with her Taser gun. Realizing he couldn't help you then because he was outnumbered and would suffer the same fate, thus not being able to help you at all, he came to us."

"How did he know where to find you?" I was astounded at the fact Illusion had known where to find them. It wasn't like he knew their identities.

"Turns out he's been watching you when you meet us. He was in the forest the night of the finale. He saw where the tunnel lead and he knew to go through there to find us. Luckily we had our masks on."

Illusion had been paying attention from the sidelines this entire time? It both kind of creeped me out and warmed my heart. With perfect timing, Illusion strolled into the room, taking a brief look at Moira and her superior lying on the floor, dazed, before he looked at me.