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hurt.
    Brook gasped and jumped back, pointing both hands toward the ceiling. “Davenport told me he was dead,” she said.
    I climbed off of the guard and exchanged a look with Guy. Anger was par for the course with Brook, but this was something different. This verged on hysteria. If she thought she could get away with it, I imagined, she would be barreling through the wall and flying for shelter.
    â€œAny idea who has him?” I asked.
    Kiki shook her head. “All we have is the video.”
    Angélica turned to Brook’s guards. “You two wait outside until we’re done. We’ve got one Class B and three Class Cs, we’re more than capable of handling her.”
    They argued, which I felt was foolish—­Detmer guards, traditionally, didn’t have superpowers at all.
    I tuned them out, sitting down so hard that the chair creaked underneath me. So Dr. Mobius was alive. We’d all thought he had been in the Lodi facility I had blown up while escaping from Cooper. The thought of having killed ­people—­I knew I had, since there was no way the building had been completely empty—­had given me more than a ­couple sleepless nights since. Learning that my creator had been among them had been such a mental minefield that I’d been better off suppressing the feelings, and had done so with vigor.
    And now that he was alive and apparently being held for ransom, I really didn’t know how to feel. I looked at where Angélica and Kiki were arguing with the guards. Brook stood behind them, breathing hard, rage plainly written on her face as she stared at the shattered remains of the TV.
    â€œBrook’s not taking this well,” I said to Guy. “Not that I would expect her to. Mobius experimented on her for a long time. Somebody at least should have warned her.”
    â€œIt’s weird to hear you on Brook’s side,” Guy said.
    â€œCellmates for life,” I said, though I wasn’t feeling much humor. Purposely creating new superheroes was illegal. Holding ­people against their will and experimenting on them, as Mobius and Lodi had with Brook, was more than illegal: it was reprehensible. Seeing the last of Lodi hadn’t exactly left me heartbroken.
    But now somebody had Dr. Mobius and knew that somebody at Davenport would be willing to try to save him.
    â€œDid they send this video straight to you?” I asked Kiki.
    Angélica, Brook, and Kiki all turned to look at me in surprise.
    â€œWell?” I asked.
    Kiki shook her head. “No, to Davenport in general. Eddie brought me in on this one because of my family ties.”
    I wrinkled my nose. The CEO of Davenport Industries and I had a few issues with each other. They involved me telling him to go have sex with a goat, and him taking away my rights and sending me to prison. One time I’d puked on his shoes. It had been a highlight.
    â€œEddie also authorized Brook’s temporary release,” Kiki continued. “She doesn’t have to participate—­”
    â€œLet him die,” Brook said. “In fact, find him and I’ll take care of it myself. Hell, I’ll do it for free and then I’ll fly myself back to Detmer for the extended sentence. Happily.”
    â€œWhat is it with that place?” Guy asked under his breath.
    I hadn’t gotten around to telling him that Detmer was more day spa than prison, but now wasn’t the time to get into it.
    Kiki cleared her throat. “Lodi was forcing Mobius—­”
    â€œI don’t give a damn! He let them do this to me!” Brook said.
    â€œAnd when he escaped, he took you with him,” Kiki said.
    â€œThat doesn’t make up for any of it.”
    â€œThey can commute your prison sentence,” Angélica said, her voice neutral. Brook knew I had Mobium—­she’d discovered it when I’d proven immune to her angry stinging-­bee beams—­but she