The Supervillain and Me (Morriston Superheroes #1)

Chapter Two

"Dad? Connor? Anyone home?" I called out when I entered my house later that afternoon. My voice bounced off the vaulted ceilings and didn't receive a response. Our house was far too large for three people who barely set foot in it, but it was secluded at the end of a quarter-mile-long private drive in the woods, which was exactly what we needed.

My parents purchased the five acres of land and the mansion that came with it three years ago, after Connor discovered his powers and needed a place to practice. I couldn't forget that day even if I tried. We had just returned home from Connor's sixteenth-birthday dinner. At first, he thought he was only coming down with the flu. His head ached from loud noises, and he felt like he would throw up every time he smelled food. Connor went to bed early that night without opening any of his presents, and when he awoke the next morning, his vision had heightened to the point where he no longer needed glasses and he flipped out because he was hovering four feet in the air above his mattress. My family moved to our new house the following morning.

But now Mom was long gone, which was the reason Connor decided to suit up and save the world and hardly eat a meal in our house, and my dad had been reelected mayor and was working around the clock to make Morriston the safest city in America. The large mansion with its tall windows and expensive electronics was only regularly home to me, but because of the secrets my family kept, I couldn't invite any friends over to enjoy it.

"Abby? You okay?" Connor found me in the kitchen an hour later, staring helplessly at some science homework. I was surprised he was home this early after his abrupt departure at school, but even more surprised that his super suit was dirty and ripped and he looked like he was about to cry.

"I'm fine. Are you okay? What happened to you?"

Connor shrugged, throwing his mask on the kitchen table. I was used to Connor wearing his Red Comet getup around the house, but sometimes it still startled me. For as much as I teased him about his nerdy powers or screaming fans, I often forgot that my charismatic, pretentious brother was capable of feeling normal human emotions like exhaustion or sadness.

"Bank robbery downtown," he finally said. "Hostage situation."

I gulped. Of all the terrible things that happened in Morriston, I always was filled with dread at the mention of a bank robbery. Too many bad memories.

"Is everyone all right? I mean, did anyone—"

"No, it's fine." Connor's blue eyes hardened, and he reached to pull me into our second hug of the day. The tang of sweat and smoke clung to his suit, but I didn't protest when he ran a hand over my hair. "You know I'd never let that happen again."

I knew he wouldn't dare lie about that. Connor lied about a lot of things—his secret identity, his grades in his online college courses, whether or not he spent the night fighting crime or in some girl's bed. But he would never lie about saving hostages. Not when our mother was shot and killed in a similar robbery three years ago. Her death was the catalyst for Connor's transformation into Red Comet. Mom had always been too afraid for Connor's safety to let him become a hero, but Connor had pleaded with our dad, suggesting that using his powers to save others and prevent another death like our mother's would be a good use of his time.

Dad never disagreed.

Finally, Connor pulled away and reached for his mask, stuffing it in a pocket in his suit. His eyes were red-rimmed and I knew mine looked the same. Connor and I were two years apart, but we looked more like twins with identical dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. I knew we looked even more alike when we were crying over our mom. We had done quite a bit of it over the past three years.

I only blamed one person for Mom's death: the man who pulled the trigger. But I would be lying if I said I never wondered why Connor hadn't done something to help her. He wasn't Red Comet at the time, but he still had powers. He could have been right there. Yet every time I got close to asking why, Connor would go off on a tangent on some homework problem he needed my help to solve or a new burger joint he wanted to visit with me, and I chickened out, preferring my relationship with my brother over reopening old wounds. Maybe the truth was best left hidden, just like Red Comet's identity.