Ru convinced Colleen to walk home so they could talk a bit more. Colleen was supposed to go straight to Breckenridge on the bus, but she had bigger things to worry about. “Did you find anything in that book?” Colleen asked.

Ru watched leaves tumble across the road. “I don’t even know how to start reading it,” she said at last. “I’ll ask Fuse for help.”

“What are these ‘Lraenu’ we’re supposed to fight?” Colleen’s trembling voice stumbled heavily on the Accilean word. “I think your brother’s right to be suspicious. Why us?”

“Why not us? There’s a lot of superheroes our age on TV. I can see why they’d pick Randy for sure.” Ru rolled her eyes. “Did you see him at recess?”

Some of Colleen’s anxiety dissolved in a giggle. “He was running around pretending to fly.”