Archenemies (Renegades #2)(72)

He froze.

It had been a long, long time since he’d heard Hugh yell like that.

Setting down his paintbrush, he made his way hesitantly up the stairs.

He found his dads in their office on the second floor, huddled around a shared tablet on the large mahogany desk.

“You called?”

They both looked up at him, momentarily speechless.

Hugh launched to his feet and jabbed a finger at the tablet. “What were you thinking?”

Adrian took a step back. “Excuse me?”

Simon held up the tablet for Adrian to see. “Would you care to explain this to us?”

Adrian approached them hesitantly, watching the screen. It was security footage of Max’s quarantine, and—

“I … was going to tell you about that.”

“I should hope so,” said Hugh, still on the verge of yelling. He spread his arms wide, a gesture of frustration that Adrian hadn’t seen from him in a long time. “How could you just…? Why would you … What were you thinking?”

“Adrian,” said Simon, with much more patience, “did you…” He trailed off. Squared his shoulders. Started again. “Did you sacrifice your powers … so you could be closer to Max?”

Adrian gaped at him. The way he said it, Adrian could tell that he thought the idea was both ludicrous and also enviable. Like maybe he’d considered doing exactly that more times than he would admit.

“No,” Adrian said. “I didn’t sacrifice my powers.”

“Then what is happening in this video?” said Hugh. “The poor security guard on duty nearly had a heart attack when he saw this.”

Adrian rubbed a hand over his hair. “I’m sorry. I … I was going to talk to you about that—”

“We’re talking about it now,” snapped Hugh.

“Would you stop yelling?” Adrian said.

Hugh glowered, but then deflated, at least a little. “Sorry.”

Adrian sighed. “I … figured out a way to be immune to Max.”

“No one is immune to Max,” said Hugh.

Adrian frowned. “You’re immune to Max.”

His voice rose again. “And I’m the only one. Now, try again. The truth this time.”

“I found this thing in the vaults,” Adrian said, more forcefully now. “It’s called the Vitality Charm. It’s this old medallion that’s said to protect against pretty much anything that weakens a person, like poison or disease. And I thought … well, maybe it would work against Max’s powers too. And it did. It does.”

Hugh and Simon exchanged doubtful looks.

“It’s the truth.” He gestured at the tablet. “I’m wearing the charm in the video. You can see it.”

“What do you mean you found it?” said Simon.

“I was getting that puppet for Winston Pratt, and Snapshot was there, talking about it with that guy, um, Callum. I did some research and learned what it could do, and I just … I figured it would work.” He focused on Simon. “I have the charm downstairs. I was going to give it to you. You can wear it and you’ll be able to see Max, just like I did. You can get close to him and nothing will happen to you.”

“Adrian, that’s … that’s impossible,” said Simon.

“It’s in the video!” He gestured at the tablet. “I wouldn’t lie about this.”

“But how did you know?” started Hugh.

“It was a hunch I had. And it worked.”

Hugh rocked back on his heels and a silence filled the office.

“Immunity,” Simon finally murmured. “From Max?”

Adrian hooked his thumbs on his pockets. “And … other things too.”

“Poisons and diseases,” said Hugh, “and Max.”

Adrian scratched behind his neck. “I don’t know this for sure, but … I think it might also protect from … something like … Agent N.”

Their expressions mirrored each other. Disbelief, but also intrigue.

“How did we not know about this?” said Hugh.

Adrian shrugged. “I figured since we have so many prodigy healers, no one really worries that much about fending off poisons and diseases. The medallion had never been checked out by any Renegade, not since the database was created. It just must not have seemed important.”

“Well, it will now,” said Hugh. “Something like this … I never thought…”

For a moment, Simon looked almost proud. And … hopeful. “That was really brave, Adrian.”

“Thanks,” Adrian muttered, even as his heart swelled.

Hugh leaned against the windowsill. “We need to talk about this. About what it could mean, for Max and for Agent N. For now, don’t tell anyone else about this … Vitality Charm, okay?”

“Yeah, sure, of course,” said Adrian. “Except I already told Nova.”

Hugh rolled his eyes. “Of course you did. Well, tell her not to tell anyone else, all right?”

Adrian nodded, even though there was a tinge of disappointment that came with the words. He’d been excited to tell Oscar and the others. He tucked his hands into his pockets and swayed impatiently. “So, was that all?”