Secret Super (Book 1)

39. Powerless

Kara woke up with a bad taste in her mouth and a haze in the back of her head.

Her back ached, something cold and hard pressing against her spine. She groaned, her eyes fluttering open. Bright light nearly blinded her.

Her thoughts felt cloudy, like her head was filled with cotton. She crawled upright. Her throat burned.

She stood up, a cold tight dread in her chest, and looked around. White windowless walls surrounded her. In front of her was a metal cell door.

"No!" she shouted, the panic building up in her chest. She ran to the door and hammered on it with her fists. No one came.

She grabbed at her hip, but her weapons were gone.

"Xavier," she spat, anger blurring her vision. He was going to pay.

Quick, think, there has to be something. She rolled her shoulders and splayed her hands, facing the door. Closing her eyes, she tried to pull on the energy inside of her.

Nothing. Her eyes snapped open. There was no familiar tingling on her skin. No purple energy swirling in her hands, no glittering particles floating to the floor.

Oh no. No no no no . . .

She curled and uncurled her fingers. She was just disoriented. She'd just woken up. The superpowers would come. Ignoring the edge of panic, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath through her belly. She waited a few seconds, summoning her energy.

She reached inside but there was nothing there. She opened her eyes and her hands stayed frustratingly normal.

She kept trying to summon her powers; they had to be somewhere, they had to be . . . Each time, nothing happened.

Kara stared. This had to be a bad dream.

She rammed her shoulder into the door with all her strength. It didn't budge. She pulled back and ran into it, her body crashing into the metal. She slid down against the door, a haze settling again in the back of her mind. Black dots blurred her vision.

She screamed. Everything slid into blackness.

* * * * *

Kara awoke to a bright green flash of light.

She scrambled to her feet to see Kian standing in front of her. Without thinking, she lunged.

Kian ducked from her grasp and whipped out a gun, pressing the cold barrel against Kara's forehead. Kara stopped, her breath coming in gasps.

"Kian! Were you in on this too?"

"Can it, kid," Kian hissed, stepping back and waving the gun with bony arms. "Where's Ezra?"

"How the skies would I know?"

Kian sighed. "Damn, I thought he'd come here to talk to you. Big softie, that oaf."

"While you're here," Kara said, "I need to get out!"

"Sorry, kid, I don't take on anyone with a bounty on their head— or anyone who's on Xavier's bad side." Kian lowered the gun, her other hand raking through once-vivid green hair that was fading to a dull puke-colored shade.

Kara glared. "Whose side are you on? And why aren't you in the superhero archives?"

Kian laughed. "I'm on my own side, hon. And you wanna know how me and Ezra stay out of the Archives? We avoid exactly the kind of situation you're in. The superheroes don't know we exist, and that's the way I like it."

"Did you take my powers?" Kara curled her hands into fists. "Who took them?"

Kian scoffed. "No one took them, Kara. It's a drug, specially designed to keep supers from accessing their powers. Your powers are still there. You just can't reach them." She leaned against the wall. "Listen, I never wanted for any of this to happen. I liked you and Zadia."