Page 56 of No Capes

“I have my ways.”

I assume he means Golden Ace.

I want to ask what his event was, but it feels personal, and I’m almost scared that he wouldn’t tell me. I hope he would, given how comfortable I’ve gotten around him, and how it feels like we’ve known each other for longer than the past few weeks.

Instead, I ask, “Do you know what Golden Ace’s was?” Golden Ace has been fighting crime for five years, since I was twelve. I wrack my memory for a tragedy in Capital City then; tragedies were more common before Golden Ace.

“Yes. But he should tell you. He would if you asked.”

Ask me,is the subtext in his stare. Except… as we open up to each other, I consider our shared vulnerabilities—our powers—and I don’t need to ask, because I know.

“Your event,” I start. “You were angry afterward. Now you can attack with white-hot lightning.”

He squeezes my hand. “Now I can make the sky roar.”

The rain pours down fiercely, pattering on each leaf and leaving the air cold and misty.This is why Supers don’t talk about how they got their powers,I realize. If we could give them back, we would. I would give my soul to see Mom again.

I think of Arielle and Mayor Bridges and the ostentatious display of power in the ballroom, and my hands rise. A heaviness falls on my shoulders as the mist dissipates. Quickly, the clouds ascend over the mansion, rain pouring down in full force.

No way.I pushed them there.

It lasts for only a few seconds, until the weight becomes too much and I have to let go. I gasp and, in an instant, the clouds float back over our tree, unleashing the rain on us.

“Very cool, Roberts.” D.S. applauds. “Well done.”

“Is it always exhausting?” My knees shake from the exertion. I reach to loosen my mask, its edges digging into my skin.

“You build it up,” he says. “It just takes practice. Here.” D.S. moves until his face is inches from mine. His arms skim my neck as he undoes the knot holding up the mask. Relief and comfort flood over me when he removes my disguise.

“I don’t get how you can do it all the time,” I say. “Masks are uncomfortable.”

He ignores that and instead draws a slow circle along my cheek. It stings where the fabric had rubbed against it, and apparently it had left lines, because D.S. brushes over all of them. He starts to move his finger away, but I catch his hand with my own and pull it back. My skin tingles with his touch, but itches without it. No way am I letting him stop.

“Don’t be greedy,” he murmurs, his other hand toying with the loose ends of my hair. With his chest so close, I become hyper aware of his every breath. “You’re so beautiful, Madeline.”His compliment hits me like the rain: hard, abrupt and welcome. “You were gorgeous in the ballroom, but now…”

Now that my hair’s tangled and I’m covered in mud.Great.But I’m allowing him to see me with my guard down. He’s doing the same—here without his usual armor, letting our secrets quietly twist together. He’s impossibly close.

“Tell me something about your secret identity,” I demand. “That no one else knows.”

Lighting cracks and I glance at branches overhead. Our cover doesn’t seem like a good idea anymore.

“Don’t worry, we’re safe,” D.S. says softly. “A secret… I get about four hours of sleep every night. Between doing bad guy stuff, secret missions with Golden Ace, homework, and waking up for school, there’s not much time left for rest. It’s a miracle I’m so handsome, Roberts. Since my beauty sleep is basically nonexistent.”

“I knew you were a high schooler.”

Teasing, he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “There’s also this girl I really like, but I think she’s still figuring it out.”

I freeze, heat creeping up my cheeks.

“She’s also blushing,” D.S. adds.

I duck between his arms, but he catches me, gently.

“Oh, no you don’t,” he says.

My heart pounding, I press my forehead to his chin, getting used to being even closer. I hook a finger underneath his mask and lift it slightly. When his expression doesn’t change, I push it up half an inch more, until he sniffs as if to say,don’t even think about it.

“What can I do then?” I whisper. “Since you apparently won’t let me do anything.”