“There,” said Ace. “That will slow them down.”

Nova gulped, thinking of all the Renegades she’d come to know. Could Adrian get past this wall? Could the Sentinel?

What about Max, with his telekinesis and the ability to manipulate metals?

Or Captain Chromium, with his unbreakable weapons?

She gnawed at her lower lip, remembering how many of the Renegades were no longer prodigies. Their powers had been drained from them.

Like they would have done to you, she remembered.

It did not diminish the sour taste in her mouth.

“Still, it will not hold them forever.”

Ace peered around at their group, fierce and hungry. “You have fought valiantly tonight, but we must prepare for the next battle.” He focused on Leroy and Honey. “You were able to use the Agent N substance to great effect. Do we have any left?”

Leroy shook his head. “What we took from the Renegades’ storehouse is almost entirely used up. We have only a few of the gas-release devices Nova designed, and less than half a container of the liquid.”

“Good enough,” said Ace. “With any luck, we will finally be able to determine that age-old mystery … is Captain Chromium truly as invincible as he seems?” Grinning wickedly, he swept an arm around the room. “Fellow Anarchists, find accommodations and rest until further notice. I would like a moment alone with my niece.”

Nova tensed. A few of the villains cast her looks that were gloating and smug. Others seemed nervous on her behalf. Leroy smiled comfortingly and winked, the movement awkwardly drawing up the paralyzed left side of his face.

Nova smiled back.

It was only Ace.

Within a matter of minutes, the bell tower had emptied out, the drum of footsteps on the lower staircase growing more distant by the second.

Only one of the villains lingered behind. To Nova’s surprise, it was Narcissa, her expression full of concern. Though she had taken a leadership role among the Rejects before, she had been loitering at the back of the group since they’d arrived at the cathedral. Her fear in the face of Ace Anarchy was palpable, and the look she was giving Nova suggested a hesitation to leave her alone with him. There was something almost kind in her expression. Something almost protective.

Nova’s spirits lifted, just barely, to think that perhaps the mirror walker no longer hated her.

“Is there something you would like to say, Mirror Walker?” Ace asked.

Narcissa opened her mouth, but hesitated. Her voice trembled when she finally spoke. “I agree with Nightmare,” she said, barely above a whisper. “I think we should leave Gatlon.”

Ace studied her, and Narcissa slowly shrank under the look.

“There is a mirror in the chapter house,” Ace said. “I do not keep prisoners. You are free to go as you please.”

Narcissa gulped.

“But if you stay, I will expect your cooperation in our efforts to destroy our enemies. I will not tolerate betrayal.”

She paled. Her gaze clashed once more with Nova’s, briefly, before she, too, disappeared down the ladder.

The wooden door clapped shut behind her. The air inside the belfry became uncannily still, with no breeze from the outside world able to make it through Ace’s barrier. The tower smelled of old iron and the dirt that had been stirred up after so long.

Nova waited for Ace to speak. Already she missed being able to read his expressions. The wrinkles of his cheeks. The furrow of his brow. He felt more closed off from her now than he had the whole time he’d been hiding in the catacombs, and she was surprised to find that she already missed the man she had come to know—even if that man had been shattered and weak. At least she had never been afraid of him, but now, she couldn’t keep herself from feeling a jolt of apprehension as he fixed his attention on her.

“I cannot fault you for wanting more than the life I’ve been able to give you,” he said. “I cannot even fault you for being drawn to the lies that the Renegades have tried to sell to the world. It is a beautiful story they tell, one of righteousness and courage and justice. But it is only a story.” Ace put his hands on a windowsill, though there was nothing to see now but their own dark cage, rough and pieced together from the unwanted remains of a long-ago war. “Your father had a faith in the Renegades that I could never understand. I offered to protect you and your family. I would have had my companions guarding your apartment day and night. But he didn’t want my help. He insisted that the Renegades would protect you. I thought he was foolish, but it was not my place to interfere. David wanted to make his own choices, to find his own path through those dark times.” His head lowered. “It is my greatest regret to this day. I wish I had been there for you. For David. For your mother and sister.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” whispered Nova.

It was the Roaches and the assassin they hired.

It was the Renegades and their false promises.

She shut her eyes and the memory was there, as painful as it had ever been. Gunshots ricocheting in her skull. Blood splattered on their front door. Evie’s cries, silenced forever.

“But, Ace,” she whispered, feeling like her heart was being ripped into pieces, “is this really the way to avenge them? All these years, it’s all I’ve wanted, to see the Renegades brought to their knees after they failed us. But … this hatred, it’s destroying us, too. It’s destroying me. Is this what my parents would have wanted?”

Ace’s features filled with remorse. “It isn’t about vengeance, little Nightmare. We cannot bring them back, but we can honor their deaths by preventing the same tragedy from happening to other families. We can keep the Renegades from spreading their falsehoods any longer. We can show the world who they really are. Not heroes, but false idols. Impostors. Liars.”

Nova moved closer to Ace. “They’re not all bad,” she insisted. “They’re not all good, either, but … I believe now that most of them want to help the people of this world, even if they’re confused on how to do it. They’re not just the power-hungry bullies we’ve thought. They’re not all liars.”

“Like Adrian Everhart?”

She froze.

To her surprise, Ace reached for his helmet and lifted it from his head. Setting it on the sill, he turned toward Nova. He did not seem angry. If anything, there was compassion scrawled across his features. “He lied to you, too. I think you know that now.”

A shiver ripped through her. The Sentinel.

“He was the one who found me inside the catacombs—he and those friends of his.” His eyes crinkled sympathetically at the corners. “They know his identity, too. But they didn’t tell you, did they?”

Pulling her hand away, Nova paced along the wall of the tower. Ruby and Oscar knew the truth? And Danna, too? For how long?

They were a team. She’d thought they trusted one another. She’d thought Adrian felt things for her that went beyond camaraderie, beyond even friendship. She knew it was hypocritical for her to be angry at his keeping this secret when she kept so many of her own, but it still stung, to think that her entire unit had known and not told her.

“You cannot trust them, Nova. You are not one of them, much as you might wish otherwise.”

She kept her back to him, hoping he couldn’t tell how this information hurt her.

“You are one of us. You are a part of this family.” A hand settled on her shoulder. “If you want to leave, I will open a path for you. I will not keep you here if you do not wish to be a part of our revolution anymore. You have already done so much for our cause, and for that, you will always have my gratitude and respect. But, Nova…” His voice dropped. “You know what the Renegades will try to do to us when they make it past these barriers, including Adrian Everhart. I hope you will choose to stay and fight. I hope you have not been so taken with their promises that you can no longer see what’s been driving us forward all these years. Stand beside your family, Nova. Stand with us, and fight for our future, not theirs.”

He patted her shoulder once, gently, then let his hand fall away. She heard him picking up the helmet and moving toward the trapdoor.

And she heard the gunshots.

And she heard Evie crying.

And she heard Captain Chromium’s steady voice: We did what we had to do to stop the villain gangs, to bring order and peace. We would do it again if we had to.

“Ace?”

The bell tower fell silent, but she knew he was still there. Her hand was trembling as she wrapped it around her bracelet and turned to face him. He watched her. Always patient. Always waiting.

The star pulsed against her skin.

“I found something,” she said. “Something my father made before he died.”

His chin lifted, interest piqued.

“I think … I think he might have created it as a weapon to destroy Captain Chromium.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

THE LAST TIME Adrian had stood in front of the creepy poster inside these creepy subway tunnels, Nova had been at his side. Until now, she was the only person he’d told about the tunnel that connected the subway to the catacombs, and he would have given just about anything to have her there at his side again.

He would have preferred to be kissing her again, rather than getting ready to risk his life to ensure the defeat of Ace Anarchy, but he would have been content just to have her there. She was a fierce ally, a strong fighter, and her skills would have put his mind at ease as they prepared to sneak into the cathedral.

That, and he wouldn’t have been devoting a corner of his brain to worrying about her.

He hadn’t heard from Nova since before the attack on the arena, despite numerous attempts to contact her via their wristbands. Surely she had heard the news—everyone in Gatlon City knew about what had happened by now. But she had never shown up at the arena, and as far as he knew, no one had heard from her at headquarters, either.

He would have gone to her in person and told her about their plan to sneak into the cathedral while Captain Chromium led the Renegades in a diversionary assault up above, hoping that she would join them. Except … he didn’t know where she was. The house on Wallowridge was gone, and he had no idea where this apartment was that she and her uncle were staying at.