“Yeah,” she said slowly. “You should look into that.” Her expression cleared as she turned to the Council members. “The cleanup crew is here, along with Magpie.” Her tone carried a definite sourness when she mentioned Maggie’s alias. Though Adrian had a lot of sympathy for the kid, he knew Nova had never quite forgiven her for trying to steal her bracelet. He glanced at her wrist, searching for the clasp he’d once redrawn on her skin, but it was hidden beneath the sleeve of her uniform. “She wasn’t sure where you wanted her to get started.”
“I’ll talk to her,” said Tsunami. “Should I have Smokescreen brief the cleanup crew, or”—she inspected Adrian—“is the team leader prepared to do that?”
Grateful for the opportunity to move on from this conversation, Adrian was about to say that he would love nothing more than to point out all the locations in this neighborhood where windows had been broken, walls had been destroyed, and bullets had been fired, but the Dread Warden responded first. “Have them talk to Smokescreen. Adrian needs to head to the medical tent and be checked for injuries.”
“And let the others know you’re okay,” said Nova, “before Ruby assembles her own search party.”
They followed Nova into a connecting side street, and Adrian spotted two ambulances emblazoned with the Renegade R and a handful of transport vehicles. The media was arriving, too, but they were being held back behind a banner of yellow security tape.
Down the street, he saw the cleanup crew awaiting instructions. Adrian was glad to see Magpie among the crew. It would be good for her to apply her powers to something more productive than pickpocketing. The kid had potential, he knew, even if her personality was as prickly as Hawthorn’s extra limbs.
As if she could hear his thoughts, Magpie spotted Adrian across the street and her bored expression turned sour. He waved jovially and she turned his back on him.
A white tent had been erected in front of a small electronics repair store. Oscar, Ruby, and Danna were each on a stretcher, being attended by the healers who had arrived on the scene. One of the healers was pulling encrusted jewels from Ruby’s thigh with a pair of heavy-duty pliers. Ruby flinched each time a new one was pulled, the wound immediately covered with thick gauze to stanch the bleeding and keep new bloodstones from sprouting.
Danna was lying flat on her stomach. The back of her uniform, from her neck to her hips, had been cut open, allowing a healer to access the wounds crisscrossing her flesh. Her back looked like it had been mauled by grizzly bear. Adrian suspected that Hawthorn’s barbs were to blame. At least the healer working on her appeared to be practiced in flesh wounds, and even from a distance Adrian could see the cuts slowly knitting together in the top layers of her skin.
“Adrian!” Ruby shouted, startling the healer who was trying to extract the final bloodstone from her leg. Ruby yelped in pain as the gem dislodged. She scowled at the healer, who scowled back. Ruby grabbed a roll of bandaging and began wrapping the wound herself. “What happened?” she asked, returning her attention to Adrian and Nova. “Where were you?”
Adrian opened his mouth, prepared to give his explanation again and hoping it would become more believable with repetition, when the healer held up his hand, still gripping the pliers. “There will be time for reunions later. We need to get all of you back to headquarters for follow-up treatment.”
“Has Smokescreen been cleared?” asked Tsunami. “We’d like him to debrief the cleanup crew.”
The healer nodded. “Yes, fine. His injuries were negligible.”
“Negligible?” said Oscar, holding up his forearm, which was wrapped in white bandages. “Their getaway driver scratched me when I was getting out the handcuffs. What if the guy had rabies or something? This could be a mortal wound here.”
The healer eyed him warily. “You can’t get rabies from fingernail scratches.”
Oscar huffed. “I said, or something.”
“Have you checked him for an overinflated ego yet?” teased Ruby. “I’d hate for him to float away on us.”
Oscar cut a glare toward her. “You’re just jealous.”
“Yes, I am jealous!” said Ruby. “I helped rescue that girl, too, but she didn’t even notice me. She was just all—Oh, Smokescreen! I’ve been dreaming of your smoldering smokiness all my life!”
Adrian’s cheek twitched. Ruby’s impersonation wasn’t exactly how he remembered the barista from the café, but close enough.
Oscar nodded. “I’ve found that my smoldering smokiness does have that effect on people.”
Ruby snorted, and Adrian sensed that she was trying to annoy Oscar and was frustrated that it didn’t seem to be working.
“What girl?” said Nova. “The hostage?”
“Yep,” said Oscar, idly swinging his cane. “She’s pretty much in love with me.”
“Who isn’t, right?” said Danna, flashing a cheeky grin.
“Exactly. Thank you, Danna.”
She gave him a thumbs-up from the table.
“Oscar is always telling us that these uniforms are a love beacon,” said Adrian. “I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often. Although … no girl has ever swooned over me like that. And now I’m jealous too. Thanks, Ruby.”
“It’s not just the uniform,” said Oscar. “I mean, I did save her life.”
“We saved her—” Ruby started, but it fizzled into an angry growl.
“Maybe I should have asked for her number,” Oscar mused.
Ruby gaped at him, cheeks flushing, and Adrian felt a little bad for her. But then, she had been the one to try to tease Oscar in the first place, so maybe she deserved it.
Slamming her mouth shut, Ruby turned her head away. “Maybe you should have. I’m sure she would love to date a real Renegade.”
“Who said anything about dating?” said Oscar. “I just thought she might want to be the president of my fan club. Good help is hard to find.”
Ruby guffawed, but as she looked back at Oscar, her expression softened with suspicion. “Are you saying you wouldn’t go on a date with her?”
“I hadn’t thought of it.” A short silence hung between them, and there was a hint of uncertainty as Oscar ventured, “Do you really think I should have asked?”
Ruby gaped at him again, speechless, trapped by her own taunting. After a long silence, she cleared her throat and shrugged. “You can do whatever you want.”
Adrian bit his tongue, trying to hide his smile at the nonanswer.
Ruby turned her focus back to her wounds, studying them with renewed interest as her cheeks turned scarlet.
Oscar, though, was still watching her, flummoxed, and maybe a little hopeful. “Well … maybe I will ask a girl on a date,” he said. “Someday.”
“Maybe you should,” said Ruby, without looking up.
“Maybe I will.”
“You already said that.”
“Right. Well.” Oscar climbed down from the table, and Adrian could see that Ruby was no longer the only one blushing. “If you’ll excuse me, I have important debriefing responsibility things to take care of. So I’ll, uh … see you guys back at headquarters. Good job today, team.”
Straightening his uniform, he headed toward the cleanup crew. Tsunami followed, with an almost-unnoticeable sigh.
Danna whistled under her breath. “You two are impossible,” she muttered. “In fact, all four of you are driving me nuts.”
CHAPTER FOUR
THE DREAD WARDEN SIGHED, making Adrian jump. He’d forgotten his dad was there. “I don’t miss this age,” he said, and one of the healers gave him a knowing look. “Dr. Grant, could you also examine Sketch when you have a minute?”
“I’m fine,” Adrian said. “Don’t waste your time on me. Focus on Ruby and Danna.”
“Adrian—” the Dread Warden started.
“Honestly, Pops, I just got splashed with some river water. It’s not like I almost drowned or anything. Don’t worry about it.” He added a grin for effect. He’d gotten lucky lately, not having experienced any dire wounds since he’d started giving himself the tattoos that imbued him with the Sentinel’s powers. The last thing he wanted was for a healer to notice the curious designs inked into his skin and start to make inquiries, especially to his dads.
“Fine,” said the Dread Warden. “Let’s get everyone back to headquarters, and”—he turned toward the gathered journalists and their flashing cameras—“start figuring out what to tell them.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” yelled Danna as two assistants wheeled her gurney toward one of the ambulances. She propped herself up on her elbows. “I’m not going anywhere until someone tells us what happened. Adrian disappears and no one can get ahold of him, the Sentinel shows up, Hawthorn gets away, and now they’re saying the Sentinel might be dead? And what is this about Adrian getting splashed with river water?” She spread her fingers toward Adrian, like she would grab him and shake him if he were within reach. “What were you doing?”
“I was chasing the Sentinel, and after Hawthorn threw him in the water, I was waiting to see if he would surface.” He shrugged, relieved that, in fact, it did sound more believable this time.
“You’ll all be filled in after the healers have released you from the med wing,” said the Dread Warden. He snapped his fingers and Danna and Ruby were loaded up into the ambulance, grumbling to themselves.
“Nova?” said the Dread Warden. “I’d like to have a private word with Adrian. You’re welcome to assist Oscar and Tsunami with the briefing.”
Nova glanced at the group and noticed Magpie among them. Her own lips wrinkled in distaste. “Actually, I think I’d better head home before the news stories get too convoluted. I like to give my uncle the story from my point of view before he hears it all thirdhand.” Her gaze swooped over Adrian’s wet clothes one more time and he found himself standing straighter. “I’m … glad you’re okay,” she said, sounding almost uncomfortable to be admitting it. “You did scare us for a minute.”