Page 68 of No Capes

“What!? No.”

“I hear talking,” yells the police officer. “THEY’RE BACK THERE.”

“I’ll buy them a new kitchen, whoever lives here now,” says Arielle, who’s already moving to the rear of the outhouse, as if that can save her from an explosion. “We need a diversion big enough to knock out the police. Then we’ll run around the front to Fox and get out of here.”

“How do we know there aren’t twenty cops waiting outside? How do we know Fox is still here?”

“We don’t.”

“STAND BACK,” yells the police officer.BOOM.

Everything goes silent as the sound of the bullet leaving its shell generates so much force that my ears ring and my heart rate skyrockets.

“0.002 seconds to reach the other side,” yells the police officer. “Definitely hollow in there.”

“Madeline,” Arielle says. “Do it now.”

“Arielle, I can’t blow things up.”

She holds up one of the gallon-sized jugs of water. “Can you boil this?”

“I—I think so.”

“Then supercharge it. Boil the water, then trap the steam that comes from it. If you can heatthat,it explodes the container it’s inside. You can explode this jug of water, or the pipes of water in the kitchen sink and take the kitchen with it.”

Sothat’swhat happened underneath Capital City Hall. I was so angry and disoriented that I boiled Mr. Wilson’s extra water bottles, then supercharged the steam to detonate the entire basement.

“Arielle, the last time I blew something up, someone died.”

“This time you know what you’re doing.”

“That’s not true—” Arielle had said I got my powers because I’m getting stronger and I believe in myself. It sounds like the punchline to a family movie, but maybe believing in myself is all I need to do right now.

“Fine,” I say, “but you owe them a new kitchen.”

As the police officer tries to figure out how to break down the wall, I gulp more water and imagine the kitchen sink and its rusty pipes in the plumbing and the water well they draw from. I spin on my toes until the water is in my ears and I can’t tell where I am. I spin until my fingertips sizzle.

“WE SHOULD TEST IT OUT AGAIN,” the police officer yells. “READY, AIM…”

“Fire,” I say it with them.

It happens just like it had before: energy bursts from deep within my bones and knocks me off balance. I skid against the floorboards, bracing for danger, but this time it’s a little more controlled. I can picture where I want the blast to land, and instead of it happening at all angles all around me, the explosion is contained to the kitchen. Well, as contained as an explosion can be.

“LET’S GO!” Arielle pulls me up. The floor in front of us burst into flames, and the refrigerator has already disintegrated. My legs shake uncontrollably. I can’t make it out without her.Fire fuels on oxygen and consumes the water vapor from the air, driving away everything I have to work with.

Arielle drags me across the burning kitchen and through the flaming walls, all the way around the house to Fox’s SUV, which Fox stands in front of with his mouth wide open.

“Seeing how many flies you can fit in there, Levine?” Arielle shouts.

“Yes.” Fox snaps into action. “For the record, I’ve caught five.”

“Charming,” she says. “Drive.Now.”

“Yes, coming.” Fox opens the back and Arielle helps me into his SUV. She runs to the passenger seat and buckles in before Fox has even closed his door.

Twenty Four

As we drive away from the flaming house and the mess I created, I’m conscious that it’s my fault those people no longer have a place to live. It’s my fault if any of the police officers died, and it’s my fault that our old home, and everything we wanted to hold on to, is destroyed with it. Arielle tosses me the water bottle I’d left in the front seat. It hits my lap harder than it needs to.