City Without Heroes (Book 1) Read online

  “Do you celebrate Halloween?” Kyle asked.

  It took Indira a moment to realize he was talking to her. She looked at Penny and Matt, both of whom were fighting to keep a straight face, and then back to Kyle and that concerned expression on his face. In her peripheral vision, she let herself take in the reminder that she looked quite different from much of the current student body.

  Indira bit back a sarcastic remark and hid her expression behind wide eyed bewilderment. “Why wouldn’t I?” she asked.

  Kyle flushed red, looking wildly to Matt and Penny, neither of whom were going to come to his rescue. Honestly, the mild terror in his eyes as he looked back at her was kind of cute. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” He trailed off, looking away and becoming suitably interested in his meal.

  Indira laughed and waved it off. “It’s okay,” she said. “My parents are from the UK. And my family firmly believes in celebrating any commercially popular holiday. I’ll have to see if I can go, though.”

  Kyle was still red as he nodded and he refused to look up from his food. Matt gave him an encouraging pat on the back, laughing at him, and let him wallow for the moment. She knew he had more questions, but Indira let him have his moment as well, soon distracted by the buzzing in her pocket.

  She took out her phone to find a message from her mother. Where is Shiraz? He’s not at school. I’m going to get a call.

  Indira frowned at the message. She knew he’d come to school with her that morning. She was the one driving. It wasn’t like him to skip classes.

  I’ll check, she texted back.

  Indira went back to her lunch, but the conversation had shifted back to Matt and his inability to say no to women who were clearly using him. Luckily for her, she didn’t need to pay much attention and she let part of her attention wander away.

  It was different when she was looking for Shiraz. They were siblings, so used to one another now that it was easy to find his mind when she wanted to talk to him, but harder to place the location of it. The thread to him was easy and she was there in moments, prodding gently at his mind and asking permission to enter.

  What? he asked at last.

  Mom said you’re skipping school, Indira told him. What’s going on? Where are you?

  Shiraz hesitated before he let her see. He wasn’t anywhere near the school at all. He was in some empty construction on the side of a road near empty field and sitting amidst the concrete and metal beams. Near as she could tell, it was somewhere that didn’t have any people around. She wasn’t sure how he’d gotten out there, but it couldn’t be too far away.

  She knew he was shaking his head, but did nothing to make her leave. I just needed to get away for a little while. I just… I don’t know about this place.

  What happened? Indira repeated, taking another bite of lunch and laughing as Matt tried to defend his actions. They were getting up to go somewhere and Indira didn’t want to engage in two conversations right now. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, fiddling with the settings of it and keeping her head down as she let them lead her wherever they were planning on going.

  Do you remember Chris? Shiraz asked. There was hesitation as he asked and a measure of fear.

  … Yeah? Blond kid, obviously a former hero?

  You and I are probably the only ones who do.

  What? She looked out from his eyes and saw he was getting to his feet to wander through the framing of the building and head back to the quiet street. He looked down at his phone, dismissing a text from their mother and switching between several apps, lingering on each for only a moment before moving onto the next.

  He was going to die, Shiraz told her. I saw it coming, and Ronnie was busy, so I decided to hang out with him for a while yesterday. And then he thinks he sees someone who’s in trouble and I can’t get him to stop. He just runs off. I tried to stop him, I really did…

  Indira shook her head. You’re basically Cassandra, remember? Indira said, trying to be comforting. She knew it would do no good to tell him he was wrong. Shiraz knew this better than she did. He knew when it was people’s time better than anyone. No one believes they’re going to die. You did what you could. But you should have said something. You could have just stayed home-

  That’s not the problem, Shiraz insisted. If he’d just died, like, it’s still awful and it sucks, but it would be okay. It’s happened plenty before. The problem is Ronnie doesn’t remember him.

  Indira stopped in the hall as she stared at her phone. She carefully looked around at the people by her and stopped Penny. Penny probably knew him. He’d been at the meeting with her. She seemed to be keeping track of everyone with powers at this school.

  “Hey Penny?” Indira asked. “Do you know a kid named Chris Bevan? Ninth grade? A bit hyperactive and anxious to help out with just about anything that might ever come up?”

  Penny looked at her in confusion, but Indira noticed a red light flash behind her. Beside her, Matt followed Indira’s eyes as it faded back to nothing on the wall, then looked at her.

  “Never mind,” Indira said, going back to her phone and working her way absently through the screens as she walked along behind them. The conversation shifted back to Halloween and what they were going to do. She smiled and nodded, agreeing with whatever was happening around her, while her most of her attention stayed on her brother and his distress.

  Try not to say his name out loud for a little while, Indira warned. At least, not the whole thing. I think the specks are listening for it.

  So you see them too? I swear, I thought I was going crazy. I couldn’t get anyone else to see what was going on with them. Ronnie kept saying not to talk about anything, but he didn’t know why. He didn’t believe the specks were actually watching or anything, just that they had people around listening. And then when Chris was talking, I started seeing them light up.

  You never mentioned it to me, Indira pointed out. I’m starting to think we need to get out of this place, Raz.

  If you can convince Mom and Dad, I’m in, he said. He’s so happy, though. He’s not hearing anything of it. If you bring it up, he just gets mad about Uncle Ness again.

  Indira nodded. Mom too.

  Hey, Indi? Can you still do that thing?

  What thing?

  When we were little, you used to do that thing where you took away the death thing. Can you still do it?

  Indira thought about it. It was another one of those abilities she hadn’t used in ages. She understood why he wanted it, and she was inclined to give him at least a short reprieve if she could. Again, she was finding it very ironic that in a place where she was not supposed to be using her powers, she was using them more than ever before. Maybe. We can check tonight.

  Indira put her phone away and reoriented herself physically. They had stopped by Matt’s locker to let him change his books over for the afternoon and Indira had barely heard a word of the conversation. She looked around again, making note of where all the specks were in the hall and looking around to see if she could pick up anyone else who was mysteriously no longer there.

  “Everything okay?” Kyle asked, looking concerned. If she asked, he might even give her a hug, though Indira restrained herself. Penny was still there and, though she kept her thoughts to herself so far, she still seemed to have a problem with Indira and Kyle getting too close.

  “It’s fine,” Indira said. “My brother’s taken a sick day without mentioning it to anyone. I just needed to check and make sure everything was okay. And it is,” she finished after a moment, much to Kyle’s relief. She knew he was more concerned about her than her brother, which was sweet, but she would prefer it if he wasn’t so sweet when she wasn’t involved with him yet.

  “You want to go get him?” Matt asked. “He really shouldn’t be skipping.”

  “It’s fine,” Indira insisted. “Really. Raz is a big boy. He can handle himself.”

  There was a moment of quiet as Matt closed his locker and they weren’t quite
sure how to proceed. Penny was the one who stepped in and put her arm around Indira. She smiled and tugged her to the front of the group as they continued walking. The bell went off and Penny was very anxious for a word.

  “So, you want to go costume shopping tomorrow?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “Like I said,” Penny told her. “I’ll break you out if I have to, but you’re going to that party this weekend.”

  Indira laughed at the threat, but went along with it. Apparently she’d agreed to quite a few things while she wasn’t paying attention and it should be fun to see what else there was, especially since Penny seemed intent on making her do this.

  In the back of her mind, dread was already starting to settle in. Apparently Indira was going to have to ask her parents about going to a Halloween party. That was not going to be fun.

  Chapter 11

  Costume Shopping

  In hindsight, just telling her parents that she was going costume shopping for the Halloween party before mentioning that there was a party at all was not the best idea. There was no reason to lie to them, she knew. Her mother’s foresight tended to kick in at just the wrong times to show her just the things Indira didn’t want them to see. But part of her hoped maybe mentioning it in passing and implying that they had already said yes would be enough to bypass having to ask for permission in the first place.

  Her parents were usually fine with her going to parties with her classmates, but in Iverson they also had cousins to send along with her to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble. Not that her cousins ever managed to stop her before, much less even tried, but their presence made her father feel a lot better. Now that they had moved away from anyone who might keep an eye on her, they were worried about what she might get up to without supervision.

  At least, her father was.

  “Mom,” Indira said, trying to sound reasonable instead of desperate. “Nothing is going to happen. You know it isn’t.”

  “You sure about that?” she countered.

  “Yes! Nothing happens around here. Nothing’s been wrecked yet. The scariest thing on the news was a break in and the guy was caught by the normal police. What do you think is going to happen that’s so much worse than back home? We moved here because it was safer than that, right?”

  “That’s not what we’re worried about,” her father said. He looked at her like she should know exactly what he was worried about. Sometimes she wondered if he realized that she’d already kissed a boy and had more than a few tastes of alcohol. If he didn’t, she wasn’t about to inform him of it now and risk being disallowed from leaving the house again.

  Indira didn’t get the chance to open her mouth to defend herself when there was a knock on the door. Indira turned to get it, but her father, still wanting to show a little more authority, moved around her to open it himself. He said nothing as he looked down at the person on the other side. Indira hoped that he wasn’t trying to intimidate her friends.

  “Hello,” Penny said, sounding a good level of respectful, polite, and familiar with dealing with overprotective parents. “I’m sorry, I was looking for Indira. Does she live here?”

  He didn’t say anything, instead looking back to Indira and making her come forward on her own. Indira came to the door as he swung it wider and she didn’t dare close it to provide the pair of them privacy under her father’s watchful eye. Penny seemed to understand what was going on as only another person with strict parents could and smiled back at her.

  “Dad, this is my friend Penny from school,” Indira said.

  “Hello, Mr. Mehta,” Penny said. She followed Indira’s beckoning to get her inside the doorway.

  Indira was grateful that she at least appeared to know the motions. Penny smiled politely without being terrified, and maintained that good eye contact that her father. He was already approving of her. On top of that, she easily took his offered hand and shook it well. There was just one thing her father wanted to know and Indira didn’t have a chance to warn her that it was coming.

  “Indira says there is a party coming,” he said. “Will you and Indira be looking for the sexy costumes for it today?”

  Though Indira had long since grown out of being embarrassed by her parents and their ways of getting information out of her friends, she did feel bad for how flustered it made Penny. She did well by maintaining a calm exterior, though, and feigning ignorance.

  “I don’t think my brother or my dad would like that very much,” she said. “They say I’m not allowed to date until after I’m married, you see. I’m a little worried they already have someone picked out for me that they’re keeping a secret.”

  Her father smiled and he seemed to be very satisfied with that answer. He stepped away from Penny, glancing back at her mother to silently confer. Better, Indira could feel a spark of something from her mother as she nodded back at him.

  “Oh, let them go,” she said finally, looking at Indira and meeting her eyes. “One night won’t hurt.”

  Indira nodded and smiled before she turned back to Penny. “Just let me grab my purse,” she said.

  ***

  They made it to the costume store with Matt in the driver’s seat. Indira wondered if her father would have let her go if he knew that Penny’s brother was with them, but it wasn’t something that she had to worry about right now. He seemed to like her and the idea that she had a protective brother who would keep her out of trouble. With him unable to send Shiraz out to follow her in the wake of a friend’s death, she was unsupervised otherwise for the moment.

  The Spirit Halloween loomed over them, a temporary presence in a location that would turn into a Christmas store as soon as November came around. On a Tuesday night, the place was mercifully quiet, with only the sound of the decorations randomly screaming from other parts of the store. Though Penny and Matt led the way, they seemed less interested in browsing and more interested in finding something specific. She could tell amidst the carefully worded conversation in the car that they were going to ask her something while they had her, though she had done nothing to invite the questioning.

  “Do these things stock the same things everywhere?” Indira asked instead, pausing at the first rack of shelves for women costumes. Upon it were the slutty versions of just about everything she could possibly think of, from fairies, to Disney characters, to animals that she never quite understood. Why anyone wanted to be a sexy unicorn was beyond her, and yet the costume showed up every single year.

  “You haven’t even made it to the superhero section,” Matt said with a laugh. “Whitten loves dressing up as heroes, so you’re going to be seeing a lot of those on Saturday.”

  It was closer to what they wanted to talk about, that much Indira was sure, but she wasn’t going to take the bait. She moved further down the shelves to see the plunging necklines and sparkling spandex of costumes that were supposed to reflect the popular heroes of the nation. The pictures showed girls with their hair left loose in high stiletto heels and with far too much skin showing as they made a skirt version of female heroes who did not wear skirts. Indira frowned at every single one of them.

  “These would never work,” Indira muttered.

  An elbow fell on Indira’s shoulder and she turned to to see a colourful menagerie of hair in front of her, and Esther’s face peeking out of it to look at the costume in her hands. “They’re all completely impractical. But it’s not meant to be used for more than a night and not meant to be used at all practically. Not that most rookie costumes are all that practical either, eh?”

  She winked and pulled herself away, grinning at the rest of the party and offering a wave. “I was wondering when I’d see you guys in. I hear Laura and Brittany are looking to play with Matt again.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “It’s exactly like that,” Penny told him.

  “They just wanted a little help setting up!”

  “Yeah,” Esther said, nodding as she rolled her eyes. “Setting
up.”

  “It’s really nothing like that,” he insisted. “They just asked for some hel – Don’t you start!” he snapped at Esther, who was starting to speak again. Instead, she laughed and weaved her way back around to Indira again, picking up a costume from the shelf and holding it up in front of her, considering it.

  “So, have they asked you yet?” she asked, looking between Indira and the costume, then back, before she put it back and brought up another one to do the same thing again.

  “Not yet,” Indira said, looking pointedly at the pair of them as she spoke to Esther. “They’ve been wanting to, though. Keep waiting for the right moment, but I haven’t given them the chance.”

  Penny’s irritation was palatable, but Matt laughed. Esther took the moment to pull a costume from one of the racks, holding it up to Penny and smiling at her with her head tilted sideways. “You’re looking about angry enough to pull off the queen of hell look,” she said. “I have a headband that would go great with this one, too.”

  “What are you even doing here, anyway?” Penny demanded. From her tone, Indira suspected there was a different questions she wanted to ask.

  “I work here,” she said. “Dad doesn’t exactly pay for maintenance on the knives or the trips out of town to get new ones, so I gotta make a little side cash for myself somehow. And don’t you even think about starting. I know how much you like my little habit. I make it damn worth your while to indulge me.”

  Indira stayed quiet and decided to allow herself a little extra help to read the situation. Apparently Esther’s knife habit was very helpful, if somewhat distasteful. Both Penny and Matt looked like they would rather not rely on her as much as they did, but it led Indira to wonder just what she did. Nothing about her was screaming superpowers and she had yet to see that glimmer of anything supernatural about her. Usually she could pick up something, but Esther was a blank slate. She was, as far as Indira could tell, perfectly normal and powerless. Probably like her mother had been. Not that Indira should let on that she knew anything about her mother.