Empire Rising: City of Legends, #3

By Cheyanne Young

Eighteen years ago, Maci Knight's family was destroyed when Aurora Falcon killed her mother. Now Aurora's partner, Felix, has kidnapped Maci's brother. For five long months, there's been no sign of Max. His Codex is offline and she can't feel even the slightest trace of his power. Maci refuses to give up hope, but when a new threat on King City emerges, Maci is ordered to abandon her search.

 

Somehow Felix has managed to do the unthinkable: repower all the villains that Central has depowered over the years. Now they've banded together to get revenge on the Supers who wronged them. What feels like an arduous mission becomes an opportunity when Maci realizes that if she can stop the villains, she can get them to lead her to Felix—and her brother.

 

In the action-packed conclusion of the City of Legends trilogy, Maci vows to save her city and bring her family back together—no matter the cost.

 

Previously published by Amazon Publishing and Alloy Entertainment, LLC

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quinnova Press
• Release date: Feb 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201122522

Cheyanne Young

Cheyanne Young is a native Texan with a fear of cold weather and a coffee addiction that probably needs an intervention. She loves books, sarcasm, and collecting nail polish. After nearly a decade of working in engineering, Cheyanne now writes books for young adults and is the author of the City of Legends Trilogy. She doesn’t miss a cubicle one bit. Cheyanne lives near the beach with her daughter and husband, one spoiled rotten puppy, and a cat that is most likely plotting to take over the world.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Pink sparkling rhinestones obscure the outline of my Codex. I hold the thing in my hand, in its new human-proof camouflage case. Pretending your Codex is a smartphone is the first step in blending in with humans. Had I walked into this high school with it strapped to my wrist, people might have suspected something.

Central’s new suit designer, Winslow, swears that all the humans cover their phones in these ugly things. That’s why he’s introduced a new line of Codex skins for when Heroes go undercover in the human world. That’s just one of the ways he’s revolutionizing suit design. I know his Aunt Pepper would be proud of his initiative.

But still, does my Codex skin have to say #selfie on the back?

I glance behind me to make sure I’m not being followed and then I focus back on the GPS map on my Codex. The blinking dot signals the mission’s location, but this Hero mission isn’t for me. The mission specialists sent it to Nova and only Nova, the bastards. If Central thinks I am above copying the coordinates from our house mod and then sneaking out after Nova leaves to watch how she handles her mission . . . well that’s their mistake. Wherever my twin sister goes, I am going too.

A set of double doors at the back of the auditorium hold steady when I try to pull them open. A laminated sign taped to them reads: these doors to remain locked. all students and visitors must show i.d. at the front office.

Looks like I’ll be sending Hartford High School a check tomorrow morning. In the waistband of my jeans, I take out what looks like a pocket knife but is actually a specialized multi-tool that my boyfriend, Evan Letta, made from nuclear-grade alloys in the Super Research lab. The tip of the device has a sharp point and I level it over the lock. I tap it once and the lock’s cylinder slides right out of the door, falling to the linoleum floor inside. I slide the tool back into the skinny jeans I wore to blend in.

According to the digital floorplan laid out on the screen of my Codex, I am in a long hallway that stretches between the auditorium and the school’s three gymnasiums. There are no humans in this hallway. Just me, my fake cell phone and the silly outfit I’m wearing to pretend that I am one of them. Skinny jeans are bad enough, but adding rhinestones and big embroidered bird wings to the backside is just terrible fashion sense. I don’t need the Codex to show me that every human in the entire school has gathered in the middle gym. I can hear the commotion they’re making, even through the concrete walls. Since the Hero alarm wasn’t sent to me, I have no idea what the mission is exactly, but I can’t feel a villain presence yet. All the vibes in this building are human. Maybe it’s a covert mission to gather information instead of an actual fight.

If that’s the case, I’ll be pissed that I came out here for nothing.

I find a back entrance into the gym and stop just outside of the door. My coordinates now match up with Nova’s. The mission takes place in this gym and I am strictly prohibited from being here. So, no pressure or anything. I take a deep breath and try to picture what a normal human teenager looks like, then I replicate that on my own face. Fifty percent boredom, fifty percent angst.

Absolutely no one notices when I slip into the gymnasium. The Hero in me flinches. I am used to being recognized, awed and revered. An uneasy nervousness falls over me when a girl with wire-framed glasses and bright red curly hair glances over at me from her seat on the end of a row of bleachers. Her gaze lasts for one second and then she glances back at her phone, uninterested.

The gym is actually a basketball court and there are two sets of bleachers on either side. Students fill nearly every seat. Administrators and teachers are there too, although some of them are standing on the floor, chatting with one another. A dull roar of voices fills the air but besides that, I’m not sure why they’re all here because no one is playing basketball.

Nova isn’t here yet but I’ll know the moment she walks into the room. We are the only living set of Super twins on earth and I can feel her power just as strongly as she can feel mine. We can even tell what the other is feeling just by homing in on our power. If she were here, she’d feel the jealousy that flows through me. Jealousy that she was called to a mission and I wasn’t. We’re a package deal in King City. I thought I’ve made that pretty clear.

I grab onto the handrail and skip up the bleachers, taking the stairs two at a time. Once I’m on the top row, I slide into an empty seat right on the end. Two humans holding hands look over at me and I smile at them.

To stop Nova from picking up on my power once she arrives, I clamp it down, concentrating on pulling all of my energy down deep into the pit of my stomach. As a Super, my body has power flowing through my veins. After months of training, I have nearly mastered the ability to draw it all into myself until my power and strength is barely a whisper emanating from my skin.

My Codex vibrates with a new message from Evan.

We finished running facial recognition on every security camera on the planet. There has been no sighting of Max. I’m sorry, Mace.

I grip the metal bleacher seat until my fingers cut into the aluminum. I’ve had my skull broken into pieces. I’ve had the power ripped from my arm. I’ve watched a friend die right in front of me. Nothing compares to the pain I’ve felt the last five months, not knowing if my brother is still alive. If he’s ever coming home. Felix, the former head of technology and research, kidnapped Max when we raided one of his underground labs and there’s been no trace of him since.

Right now, I would take a thousand shattered skulls over the agony of losing my brother.

The screech of a microphone cuts through the chatter. A portly Hispanic man wearing khakis and a black long-sleeved shirt holds the microphone as he walks toward the center of the basketball court. The lanyard over his neck bounces up and down over his belly as he walks. I can make out the word Principal on his badge. A golden dragon’s head is embroidered on his shirt with the words Hartford High School below it.

Can I get a cheer for the DRAGONS? He draws out the last word, screaming it at the top of his lungs. Everyone in the bleachers erupts with cheers and whoops as twelve teen guys in shiny black and gold shorts and tank tops come jogging into the gymnasium, their arms raised up high.

Dragons, dragons, dragons! the crowd chants.

The principal hands the mic to the tallest guy on the basketball team. Hartford Dragons! the kid yells. Welcome to the first pep rally of the year. Are you guys ready to kick some Bulldog ass?

Everyone cheers again, and the principal taps the guy on the shoulder, telling him something with a stern look on his face. Sorry guys, the kid says into the mic. Butts! I mean butts!

On the other side of the gym, the band springs to life and I find myself clapping to the rhythm of their school’s fight song, if only to blend in. Two dozen girls dressed in black and gold cheerleading uniforms come tumbling into the room, waving their sparkly pompoms in the air and flip-flopping all over the place.

So this is a pep rally.

And then I feel it. Power, leaking from the massive foam Dragon dancing around in the center of the gym. The Dragon’s mascot costume doesn’t have a nerdy teenager inside of it, but a villain.

My heartbeat quickens as a cheerleader runs over to the dragon costume and climbs up its back, walking up the scales along the tail as if she’s done this a million times before. Her arms wrap around the furry neck and she leans in, placing a kiss on the side of the dragon head.

Annabelle! The principal holds the mic up to his face, his eyes giving a glaring warning to the cheerleader. How many times have I told you there will be no making out at a pep rally?

Sorry, she says, rolling her eyes and hopping off the dragon’s back. The dragon’s furry covered hand reaches out and slaps her on the butt. She turns around, mouth open in shock and gives him the fakest looking glare I’ve ever seen. Please. She loves every second of the attention.

The principal turns his attention back to the crowd. Who wants to offer some words of encouragement to the team before their big game?

I do. The muffled words come from the dragon.

The principal waddles the mic over to the dragon, who meets him in the middle of the court. The mascot’s furry hand takes the microphone and brings it to his fake head, hovering it in the air between a set of plastic dragon teeth.

He clears his throat. His voice is raspy and deep. I would like to encourage the basketball team . . . to drop dead.

A hush fills the room and sounds of confusion take up the space where cheers had been just moments before. All around me, human heartbeats quicken as they realize something is not right about this scene.

The dragon lifts a hand and pulls off the fake head, letting it drop to the floor. His hair is as black as the dragon costume, sticking out at all ends. His eyes blaze through the crowd and he sneers, revealing silver capped teeth.

Were you expecting the captain of your team under here? he booms. Power bursts from the villain’s chest and the dragon costume breaks apart at the seams, sagging to the floor. He steps out of it, his muscles flexing under his silver body suit. Well, I believe he’ll be dropping in at any moment.

He points to the ceiling, where a second villain is crouched on a metal rafter. One end of a rope dangles from his hand. At the end is a boy in a basketball uniform, hanging upside down and tied up by the feet. His hands are bound and his mouth is gagged.

Screams fill the room. The flirty cheerleader drops to her knees, covering her mouth with her hands. I sit on the edge of my seat, glancing frantically around the stadium. If this were my mission, the villain would be hooked and hanging out with a Retriever by now.

Where the hell is Nova?

CHAPTER 2

The humans are smart. They don’t run or try to fight back. Everyone stays in their seats. Some are crying. The girl next to me takes out her cell phone and starts typing a text message to 911. My eyes flit to the right to sneak a glimpse of her screen.

We need Heroes at HHS. Hurry!

The villain smiles and paces the length of the basketball court. I grit my teeth and check the door. Anytime now, Nova. You want this to be your job, after all.

I have your basketball star, he says, clasping his hands behind his back as he walks. In a minute, I will kill him. This will be a punishment for him and a lesson to the rest of you. But before he dies, he needs to hear this.

He looks up at the boy hanging from the ceiling. The other villain lowers the rope more. Now the kid is halfway between the ceiling and the floor. Even if Nova were to cut the rope, there’s no way he’d survive the fall.

This boy runs a very famous website called Villain Watch. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Many of you have watched his videos. He thinks of himself as a Hero helper. A villain catcher. The stories he’s reported on his little website have led to the capture and depowering of my friends.

Finally, I feel the low pulse of Nova’s power. I don’t see her yet, but I know she’s entered the building.

The rest of you will cease any activity that promotes the capturing of my people. We are not the villains here. We are the real heroes and we will take back King City.

Nova’s white Hero suit is a blur as she runs straight up the painted concrete wall, scaling all the way to the ceiling in just a few seconds. She grabs a metal beam and swings herself onto the rafters.

Is that another villain? the girl next to me whispers to her friend.

It’s Nova Knight, you idiot. I don’t say it out loud, but I want to.

Something black with white edging is tucked under Nova’s arm. I can see the glint of a blade held between her teeth. While the villain on the court is still delivering his well-rehearsed monologue, Nova drops off the metal beam and hangs onto it with one hand. She kicks her feet back to gain momentum and then drops, holding onto the black thing that’s tied to the rafter. Her body swings across the room like a trapeze artist, leaving a trail of black and white behind her.

It’s a roll of webbing from the volleyball nets that are stored on the side of the court. The netting unrolls perfectly underneath the basketball player as he hangs in the air. Nova swings her knife blade when she swoops past him, slicing the rope and freeing him to fall into the net. She grabs onto a rafter on the other side and ties the end of the netting to it, making an oversized hammock in the air above the basketball court.

The villain on the court sees her and slams his fist into his palm, waves of fury radiating outward. He watches Nova pull herself up onto the rafter, stand and leap to the next one. She crosses three of the beams in the blink of an eye. On the forth one, she dives, her body flying horizontally as she crashes head on into the guy dressed in black. They tumble to the floor.

Nova swings the man’s hands behind his back in a swift motion that pops both of his arms out of socket. I hear the snap from across the gymnasium. In this moment I know what it feels like to be a human child watching Heroes on the news. I am brimming with pride and hope. I am also aching to jump in there and fight with her.

The first villain howls a thundering roar. He strides slowly across the court, giving Nova time to handcuff her victim, scan him with her Codex, and shove him into the corner of the gym. Now that he’s in the system, a Retriever will show up soon and haul him off to be depowered.

Nova rises and turns to face her next victim. Hey there, Dragon, she says with a playful look in her eyes. Hero Brigade. Surrender now.

A wave of relief sweeps through the bleachers.

The villain’s fists clench at his sides. He is only a few inches taller than my sister, and nearly as slim, but I’m betting this guy hasn’t trained the way Nova has.

Nova smiles. Well get on over here, if you insist.

Why?

Nova’s lips form a sarcastic frown, her head tilting to the right. So you can receive your ass kicking and I can go on with my day.

Who are you? he growls. You’re not any Hero I know.

I’m Hero Nova Knight. No need to remember my name, Dragon. This will be the last time you deal with me.

The villain releases a wave of power that sends Nova’s blonde hair flying backward. She steadies herself, fists up and prepared to fight. But Dragon isn’t looking for a boxing match. In a flash, he slams both fists to the ground. The glossy hardwood flooring ripples outward, sending splintering shards of wood in every direction.

Nova shields her face from the debris with one hand and her lips twist as if she’s confused or annoyed, or maybe both. But I see it before she does. Dragon wasn’t trying to attack her.

He was trying to distract her.

He runs up the wall, grabs the electronic scoreboard. In another blink, he rips it from its hinges and charges toward her, holding it above his head. My body tingles with energy, desperate to move, to jump in and help her. But this isn’t my mission and it would ruin more than this villain’s life if I acted on my impulses.

Nova squats when the villain nears her, ducks under the sign, and grabs him around the waist. She pulls downward and he drops to his knees, the sign falling with him. It slams into the ground and shatters. Wires and bits of broken plastic jut out from the scoreboard at weird angles. The crowd gasps, and some guy on the bench below me actually complains about how much that scoreboard cost the school’s athletics budget last year.

Nova lets the villain go and jumps back to her feet, standing over his fallen form. She kicks him hard in the face and reaches for the pair of Retriever hooks in the side pocket of her suit, probably hoping to slam them into the villain, paralyze him and be done with this.

Nova grips one of the hooks in her hand. Her eyes focus on the villain’s side, the thinnest part of his suit. Her elbow pulls backward, preparing to swing, when the villain rises to meet her, a long electrical wire in his hands. Nova’s hook jams his side at the very moment he throws his arms around her neck. He lurches in pain from the hook, but he doesn’t freeze the way he should; Nova’s hook didn’t go through his suit. I can feel Nova’s panic and a piece of the aluminum bleacher seat caves in under my grip.

She tries again, this time aiming for his stomach. The villain leaps backward, tumbling over the fallen sign. Nova shrieks and falls.

The wire is wrapped around her neck.

The villain is on his feet, holding both ends of the wire high into the air, jerking Nova like she is a marionette. Blood drips from the line around Nova’s throat, rolling down her skin and disappearing into the neckline of her Hero suit. The white fabric stains red. Nova’s eyes roll to the back of her head.

My own power starts to suffocate me until I am gasping for air. She is my twin sister. I feel her power, and her pain.

If I interfere, Nova will fail this mission. If I don’t, she will lose her life.

Her breathing becomes ragged as she struggles to draw in each breath against the crushing weight of the wire. As the villain pulls tighter, her power fights to heal her skin but he is too quick. Her sharp gasps of air grow slower and then stop completely. The villain lets out a satisfied grunt.

I watch with horror as Nova’s body sags to the floor, the villain’s silver teeth gleaming in the bright gymnasium lights. He releases the wire around her neck, throws his bloody fists into the air.

And then I smile. He thinks she’s won but Nova is not dead. I can feel her power, subdued but there.

Her eyes open into thin slits. She watches the villain celebrate, completely unaware that his prey isn’t dead. He throws his head backwards and lets out a hearty, victorious laugh. And that’s when my sister grabs her Retriever hooks, leaps onto her feet, and slams the hooks into his windpipe.

My chest fills with pride as the arena bursts into applause. The ceiling opens up just a few feet away from where the human-like android rests in Nova’s crudely fashioned hammock. The fishbowl descends.

Congratulations on your successful completion of Hero Examination Level One, says Lucy, one of the elders who judges Hero hopefuls for Central.

My grin is as wide as Nova’s. She will make an excellent addition to the Hero Brigade.

Not that I ever doubted it.

CHAPTER 3

Ishrink down in my bleacher seat, hoping the Examiners won’t see me. It is imperative that I remain still because now all of the android high school students around me have been turned off. I am the only breathing being in the bleachers.

Well done, Nova. Hero Hugo Belmont, Lead Examiner and my dad’s second in command, begins to clap. The smile on