The thick liquid coated Violet’s tongue.
They say that when a person loses one sense, the rest compensate. Although she never did figure out why her sense of taste exploded—figuratively speaking—after a bomb destroyed her hearing, killed Silas, and nearly killed her.
A small vibration tickled her fingers when Felix tapped the table.
Darkness hangs around me in the twelve-by-twelve-foot room like the sour coating of lemon on my tongue.
“Can you tell us who did it?”
Detective Smith motions toward the glass pane, the only source of light flooding the room. A chalky film grits against my teeth.
I lick my lips and assess the five men
I think maybe you’ve had enough, Sergeant Maxwell.” My partner’s eyebrow quirked as I slung back my second shot.
“You’ll wish you’d had two soon enough, rook.” The bitter aftertaste of a good espresso was always the best part of my day. In a world where coffee grants superpowers, it’s important to stay caffeinated.
My radio buzzed. A body had been discovered in the gray sector. Hopefully it would be a quick study since my shift ended in an hour.
“Officer Toki!” An elf, his face partially obscured by dark hair, flagged me down as I reached my squad car. “Wait up!”
“I’ve got a call.”
Harthan thumbed through the herbal encyclopedia and rubbed his fingers together. A familiar soft tingle crawled up his arm. It reminded him of his sister, Lyse, who had taught him to use his abilities, at least until their parents sold her—
“We’ve a job,” Braean said. “Let’s go.”
Harthan snarled at the old alchemist’s back
“You said to come in if there was any more trouble. And we are way past that!”
Paula tapped her pen against her pad, adjusted her glasses, and looked at the man and woman sitting opposite her. She had dealt with many parents in her long career and was accustomed to encountering families in the strangest crises.
Mari watched the descent to Vorin IV through the viewport, stomach churning like the purple clouds frothing in their ship’s wake. Despite being Earthborn, she had quickly learned to love space-cruising. It was the closest to freedom, peace, and a few other unalienable rights she’d ever get again.
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Kae shifted in her seat as the dean of the Academy squinted at her over his spectacles. “Miss Ruve, it is highly irregular for you to request an audience instead of submitting an application form.”
Kae hesitated. “My ability is… unusual.”
“What exactly is your ability?”
“I …” Kae cleared her throat, which felt strangely tight.
Kylie burst through the door so fast that her palm stung from the impact.
The rooftop lounge was empty.
Of course it was. No one ever came up here this time of day—or at least no one was supposed to. But now, not even Tom was sleeping in his favorite Adirondack.
Late again, late again.
Andrew Ashton rushed from his parents’ two story, cookie-cutter home, his Converse sneakers scuffing the sidewalk. He struggled to hoist his backpack on, and the straps slid against the nylon of his bomber jacket. He frowned. Everything was harder since the accident that had taken half his left arm.
The building shakes, but I don’t look up from my touch display. When you live in a city with supers long enough, you stop paying attention. My coworker Ben isn’t from here though, and it shows by the way he jumps up, looking out the window.
“Ben, this customer’s name is Jezzica, spelled with Zs.”
Dex had one thing in common with his sister Fae: they both hated the monthly meetings of the National Individuals of Power Association. In Dex’s opinion, they offered unparalleled opportunities for humiliation.
His one consolation was the free food.
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