Sherrelle wiggled a finger at Joan and Mark. “I wasn’t sure creating an alliance was a smart move, but they proved me wrong. You’ve got two good ones here. One of them’s even in a committed relationship.”
She gave Otis a pointed gaze that he avoided.
Ward went over to a laptop on the counter. “If this is going to be an official vote, I need the exact wording for what you are proposing, please.”
“That Spark and Ice join us on a probationary basis subject to terms to be decided upon,” Zee said.
“That was good,” Kade loudly whispered.
“I vote yes,” Darlene said. She nodded at Joan. Joan smiled her gorgeous smile and nodded back.
“I vote yes,” Zee said.
“I vote an enthusiastic yes!” Kade pumped his fist.
Everyone looked at Otis. He crossed his arms, very Superhero-y, and addressed Joan. “What changed for you?”
She turned to Sadie, the love in her eyes shining amber and bright. “I have something to fight for.”
Sadie’s heart melted. She was gonna fight just as hard for Joanie—for their relationship and their dreams.
Otis considered her answer for a long moment. “Then I vote yes.”
CHAPTER22
Joan paced around the small meeting room fiddling with the zipper on her Spark suit, quietly freaking the fuck out. They were holding the press conference on the steps of City Hall since there was currently no street in front of Superhero headquarters.
The past few days had been a blur of activity designed to prepare her for a life in the spotlight. A surprising amount of paperwork, and meetings to discuss what the Supers expected of her and Mark, and onboarding about expense receipts and insurance, and information requests for SuperWatch claims, and media training that she proved to be very bad at.
Where was Mark? The rest of the Supers were in the lobby warming up the crowd to the formal announcement of Spark and Ice becoming guardians of Vector City. Mark was supposed to be hiding in here with her so he could be all“Everything’s chill, sis.”
It still felt surreal, but good. No nightmares anymore, but she supposed those had been fueled by being scared for Sadie’s safety. She couldn’tnotworry about her a little, but she trusted Sadie. And new friends were watching over her: Tenia and Morris, Wren, Beth-Ann. And Nyah and Amit, too. In retrospect, it totally made sense that Amit had figured out why Joan was so sketchy with the truth.
She shook her head. Her and Mark’s new best friend Kade, who gave palm-stinging high-fives every single time they crossed paths, would take care of Sadie. Plus, there was Zee. Even Darlene wouldn’t hesitate to do the right thing.
The door opened to a rush of weekday noise and Mark as Ice carrying two champagne flutes.
The second he closed the heavy oak door, Joan said, “Where have you been? I’m freaking out.”
Mark frowned. “My face is breaking out. That’s what happens when we don’t wear our masks for a while.”
“Where did you get those?” She pointed at the glasses.
“There was a little meet-and-greet for some head honchos.”
“I don’t want to do meet-and-greets. Otis said we aren’t doing those yet. And hopefully never.”
“Did I say I was invited?” Mark grinned, still her sneaky younger brother. “Here. Calm yourself.”
Joan grabbed the offered glass and chugged its contents. The bubbles fizzled in her internal heat.
“That nervous, huh?”
She began her path across the room again. It was a beautiful, sunny day outside, but the thick wooden blinds were all closed. They’d replaced most of the windows on the first floor after Squawk blew them out.
The cracks of light around the blinds were strangely comforting. Like the old days at the warehouse when hiding was an option.
This felt just like entering villainy. “I’ve been thinking about the first time Perry took us out as Spark and Ice. Those early outfits.”
