Mr. Stubborn shakes his head, even with my hand still on his mouth and my threat of strength lording over him. Geez, he’s loyal to my dad.
“Yes,” I say.
No, he shakes his head again.
My teeth clench together. “Maybe you don’t understand, Jake. Unlike you, I wasn’t born with black hair.”
I stand and hover over him, eyes locked with his as the power flows through
my veins and onto his mouth. “I earned it.” His jaw muscles tighten, pulled taught with the vibrations of my power. I expect him to shrink back and break my gaze, but he doesn’t.
Warm wetness fills the inside of my hand and I yank it back with a yelp. “You licked me!”
Jake stands, presses his hands onto my shoulders, and pushes me back into my seat. “You tried to threaten me.”
Our staring contest lasts for twenty-six seconds, each moment taking us farther away from the studio and closer to my freaking house, where I have no desire to be. I have to see Pepper. It may be the last interaction with people besides my family for a long time. Plus, Pepper has literally never called my personal MOD. This is important. I won’t let Jake screw it up.
“You’re right,” I say, taking a seat and releasing the surge of my power until the air feels calm again. He relaxes and takes a seat across from me, wearing this smug look of satisfaction as if he thinks he’s won this argument. I tilt my head to the side. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry about what?”
“This.” His eyes go wide for a second right before I punch him so hard in the head that he collapses, unconscious. My fingers blur across the MOD screen as I change the KAPOW’s destination as quickly as possible. Supers don’t stay knocked out for long. When we arrive at Pepper’s a few seconds later, Jake is already starting to come out of it.
“I will kill you,” he groans as he rubs his forehead.
“I’d like to see you try,” I whisper as I reset the pod’s course to take Jake far away from here. I blow a kiss as the pod zooms off and then sprint to Pepper’s ridiculous purple doors.
Pepper yanks me into the studio without warning, causing the laser beam to stop mid-body scan. “I’m glad you could make it,” he says, tightening his grip on my wrist as he pulls me through the foyer and into the circular design room. His appearance is impeccable despite his alarming demeanor—dark-washed blue jeans and a purple silk, button-up shirt with long sleeves and silver P cufflinks. A rhinestone belt holds up his pants and his shoes are so shiny that I can see my face in them.
He stops so quickly that I slam into his back. He spins around to face me. His left shoe shows my reflection as confused and a bit distorted.
“This morning Central ordered me to incinerate the Retriever suit I had made for you. They even sent Lucy down to witness it.” He chuckles and rolls his eyes. “It’s like they don’t trust me. Can you imagine?” His coy smile is contagious.
I smile back, happy to share a moment of bashing Central with him, despite my circumstances being totally the opposite of joy. “Can’t blame them for not trusting you. You’re on my side.” I pause. “The evil side.”
“Don’t you worry your beautiful head, Maci. They’ll realize you aren’t evil and they’ll eat their words. I am sure of it. But when the time comes, I may not be around to make you the Hero suit you deserve.”
“Huh?” I say, or at least—I begin to say—but Pepper’s index finger presses to my lips, silencing me mid hu? The studio lights dim until only his shiny eyes and the purple streak of sparkly eyeliner are visible as he whispers, “So I made it for you now.”
With a flick of his wrist, a beam of light bursts from the ceiling across the room. At first, it looks like a person is standing under the light, but its lack of movement and frozen, hip-cocked, arms-locked pose tells me it’s a mannequin. It’s my size.
And it’s wearing my Hero suit.
“Pepper.” I breathe the word. My suit is black with intricate silver accents as sharp splines woven in the fabric. Two silver lines start at the shoulders and come to a point on top of the wrists. Thicker silver lines spill out of the sides and travel down the side where boning cinches in at the waist. I walk around the mannequin, taking in the fabric that seems to turn silver at one angle and black at the next. A thick Kevlar ribbon laces up the corset back through gunmetal grommets.
The gloves almost look like human dishwashing gloves, only the fingers are catered to fit tightly against every muscle in my hand. Instead of rubber-duck-yellow, they’re black with slots along the back. If I know Pepper, and I do, the slots are a shroud for Retriever hooks. “I’ve never seen gloves like this.”
Pepper’s arms cross in front of his chest. “It’s a Kevlar-carbon composite with steel reinforcements and two sets of hooks. Diamond-tip finger plates to amplify power release and textured to ensure grip strengths of five hundred pounds without slipping.”
“So it’s got everything,” I muse. My finger places the barest touch on the sleeve and chills run down my spine. “Everything but a plunging, sexy neckline like Crimson’s.”
I don’t know why I say it like that. I mean, I don’t want a stupid booby suit like hers, but I guess I’m insulted that Pepper designs them for her, and just about every other female Hero, but when it comes time to design a suit for Maci? Let’s have fabric cover her entire chest and she can be the virgin queen of the Supers, famous for emanating exactly zero sex appeal.
“Oh, get off it girl. Crimson begged for that cleavage.” Pepper shakes his head and holds his hands above the chest of the mannequin, forming a diamond with his fingers and thumbs. “I designed this chest area for a reason. Research developed this new poly-titanium material that would protect your chest better than anything I could ever design. Your chest is the source of your power, after all.”
My chest feels warm as I become aware of the power coursing through it. “I – I don’t know what to say.”
“You’ll say nothing because I didn’t put it in your suit.”