Dreams of the Golden Age (Golden Age 2)

Celia didn’t believe that. “What would happen if you told them who you were?”

“I don’t think they’d believe me. I can’t even prove it anymore. You think I should tell them?”

“I think if you did, they might open up to you.” And she should probably take her own damn advice, shouldn’t she?

“No, I think they’re having too much fun playing secret superhero. And I’m just their mother. What about Anna and Bethy? They tell you anything?”

“Not a word. Not that I can blame them.”

Analise grinned. “They probably know you’re keeping plenty of secrets up your own sleeve, Celia West.”

Celia’s smile was thin.

FOURTEEN

ANNA spent way too much time on Rooftop Watch searching through shadowy cell phone pictures of purported superhuman sightings looking for news of Espionage—and the competition. Scattered among the usual posts were dozens of claims from people who’d seen the ghost of Captain Olympus pulling a small child from the street before said child got creamed by a car. Or alternatively that the ghost of Captain Olympus had been guiding the hand of the normal person who really grabbed the kid from the street. A whole miniature cult of people believed that her grandfather had been transformed into some divinely anointed guardian angel. She showed one of the articles to her mother once. Celia had smirked at it and observed that yes, she had seen the stories. When Anna asked her what she thought of it, Celia wouldn’t answer directly. “Doesn’t matter what I think. Never did,” she’d said.

Anna wished she could have known him. She’d read so much about him. Her grandmother only ever said that she missed him, Dad said he was complicated, and Mom never said anything at all. None of them said anything about what Warren West had actually been like. Even the published biographies—all of them unauthorized—talked about Warren West like he was the disguise and Captain Olympus had been the real person.

She ended up skipping over the ghost of Captain Olympus–as-guardian-angel stories because they all sounded the same and had the air of folklore. Once you cut through the fluff, Rooftop Watch really was the best place to get the most recent news on what the city’s superheroes were doing.

The Trinity got written up in the blog four times this week. Espionage, only once. This made Anna furious, because it didn’t seem fair. They weren’t any stronger than her and Teddy, they were just flashier. They froze car thieves in ice, blasted vandals with lasers, and Lew saved a window washer who’d fallen from a building by launching a gust of wind under him until he landed safely. Even Anna had to be impressed at that one. Espionage mostly seemed to be good at voyeurism and running away.

* * *

She and Teddy went out on another patrol, like they’d planned.

Teddy was already there when she arrived. He’d been there awhile—early. In the end, he’d go out on his own if she refused to go with him. She was glad she could be here to watch his back, even if that amounted to little more than calling 9-1-1 if he got in over his head.

“Hey,” he said, when she turned the corner and jogged toward him. He was carrying the paintball gun again. “Ready for this?”

For a moment, she didn’t know how to answer that. “Yeah,” she said with a sigh.

He’d made adjustments to his outfit, which was looking more sleek, more official—he’d made himself a form-fitted skin-suit mask, black with a smoke-gray stripe across the eyes, and a smoky black shirt and gloves to go with his jeans. Ghostlike. She was still in a rough jacket and ski mask. When she thought about trying to put together something sleeker, her mind went blank. What would she use as a trademark? A skin suit covered in pink roses? Because that would strike fear into absolutely no one.

She craned her neck, searching the rooftops even though she knew Eliot wasn’t around. He was back on campus. She’d have invited him along, but he still hadn’t e-mailed her, so she didn’t have a way to get in touch with him except to go find him. Never mind.

“What is it?” Teddy said.

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

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His lips tightened as he caught her gazing roofward. “You’re looking for the Human Pogo Stick—is he around, is that it?”

“No—” Eliot wasn’t, but another familiar presence was. She tilted her head, tried to focus. Three familiar figures were moving this way, exactly where she didn’t expect or want to see them. Anna hissed a curse under her breath. “It’s the Trinity. Lady Snow and the others—they’re here.”

“What? This isn’t their territory, they always go to the harbor.”

“I know.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Ignore them,” Anna said, but she knew that wouldn’t be so simple. The trio wasn’t wandering but rather moving on a purposeful trajectory as if chasing someone. They’d found prey and were on the hunt.

The trio emerged from a cross street ahead, confident shadows on a street where most of the lights were knocked out. Sam was in the lead, Teia and Lew behind, looking over their shoulders, keeping watch. The temperature dropped, a breeze picked up—Lew carrying a microstrorm with him. They’d gotten pretty good, she had to admit.

Anna stepped forward into their line of sight and crossed her arms. She was pleased when Teddy fell into place next to her, also arms crossed.