“Uh, have you ever hung out with a bunch of superpowered people trying to out-power each other? It’s really boring. And I’m tired. I was just telling Joanie right before you got here I wanted to go to bed.”And do marvelously sexy things, damn it.
“You can stop.” Greta wandered over to Sadie’s mug of tea. “Word of advice. A lie works best when you don’t overexplain.”
“It’s mostly not a lie,” Sadie admitted.
“Then she is going to see Zee.”
“Well yeah, but…”
“About this Quake situation.”
“Probably.”
Greta pinned her with a steely glare. “She’s still working with the Supers?”
“Notstill. There was a situation the other day. The Supers forced Joan and Mark and Perry to?—”
“Oh, I heard about that. They’re claiming to still be in the game. Absolutely no one believes that.”
“It wasn’t their idea,” Sadie said. “You know the Supers could arrest Joanie at any moment. She has to do what they want, even though she doesn’t want to.”
“She chose her side,” Greta said so quietly, Sadie almost missed it. She straightened and turned on her heel. “On second thought, I don’t feel safe here. If you’ll excuse me…”
“Joanie would never turn you in,” Sadie said.
“But her new friends would.”
“They’re notfriendfriends.”
“Semantics. If they’re watching her, they’re watching everyone around her.”
“I think you’d be safe here.”
Gesturing to herself, Greta said, “I don’t have a secret identity. I’ve never worn a mask, and I own my work. Proudly. If the Supers are anywhere around Joan, then I can’t be.”
Sadie started to ask why that was a problem now—Greta and Joan had been in scrapes with the Supers countless times. But that was before Joan stood beside the good guys. Still…
“Joanie would protect you,” Sadie said. “She’s beyond loyal and can fight fire with fire. Literally.”
“I know she’d try.”
“I hope you’re also protecting her.”
Greta snorted. “You have no idea how much I’ve protected her.”
Fidgeting with her shirttails, Sadie said, “She was really hurt when you disappeared after she saved me.”
“After she made a deal with the Supers to get rid of her own kind, you mean.”
“No, after shesaved me. Everyone keeps focusing on that other part, which yes, was a big deal. But nobody remembers her rescuing me. She became a hero in my eyes that day.” Sadie stared at the floor and murmured, “I wish she was a hero in other people’s eyes.”
Greta walked to the front door, then paused. She glanced over her shoulder. “I like you, Sadie. And I like you for Joan. So I don’t mean this with malice, but you need to stay out of things you can’t possibly understand.”
Sadie crossed her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she said with more confidence than she felt.
“Loyalty is not turning on your found family. Joan got what she wanted at a cost.”
“Yeah, she lost almost everyone from that time in her life. I was hoping that wouldn’t include you, too. You mean a lot to her.”
