Heroine's Journey by Sarah Kuhn

Author:Sarah Kuhn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2018-07-02T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

“Beatrice Tanaka.” The Maisy Kane who greeted me today was much different than the chattery gossip who’d welcomed Aveda and me into her store a couple days ago. Now she was subdued, her eyes cast downward, and referring to me in an uncharacteristically formal manner rather than trying to be all chummy.

“Hi, Maisy,” I said, cocking an eyebrow as I entered Pussy Queen. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Delightful as always,” she said, but her withdrawn expression seemed to indicate the opposite.

“Bea!” Shruti bustled up to me, beaming. Her long, glorious hair was done up in a complicated braided formation and she was wearing a silky pink sheath with rosettes along the neckline. She tucked her arm through mine and ushered me toward the portal, where I saw Nate and Scott already conferring.

“What’s with her?” I murmured, nodding toward Maisy. She was already shuffling across the room, away from us.

“Ah.” A slight smile played over Shruti’s lips. “I believe she’s trying to avoid interacting with you. Aveda gave her an earful about leaving you out of her, hmm, how did she put it? ‘Scandal-mongering internet trash’? Something along those lines.”

“Another earful? ’Cause she already ranted at Maisy about that—you know, when we were visiting the other day?”

“Yes, there was definitely an additional phone call involved,” Shruti said, squeezing my arm. “Maisy’s been sulking about it ever since, because Aveda told her she could not, under any circumstances, mention you at all. I heard she was quite formidable—she can go a little Darth Vader, no? She doesn’t even need the mask.”

“That’s why we love her,” I agreed. “Though I don’t know that she needed to turn all that Dark Side mojo on Maisy. I guess that’s why Maisy hasn’t written anything about me joining the team?”

“You sound disappointed,” Shruti said. “Do you want to be on Maisy’s blog?” She gave me a sly smile. “Because I think Evie and Aveda would be perfectly happy if that little piece of the internet disappeared forever.”

Hmm. I couldn’t deny the disappointment stabbing at me. Why was I so twitchy and out of sorts about not having my photo and some kind of insulting “problem child” headline plastered all over the blog that had caused my superheroing cohorts so much grief?

Maybe because that kind of attention would mean I was a real superhero, not some irritating pretender? Or because it would get Nemesis Nicole to shut up and stop looking at me with her special brand of complete disdain? Or because I just needed attention, period? (That probably would have been Evie’s guess.)

“Shruti,” I said, “you don’t get as much play on Maisy’s blog, either—I mean, except when you join Team Tanaka/Jupiter on a mission, she pretty much leaves you out of it. Does that ever bother you?”

“No,” she said, giving me her brilliant smile. “I don’t need Maisy’s assessment of my skills in that arena—and anyway, I adore being a part-time superheroine, at least for now. I don’t want to dedicate my whole life to it, like Evie and Aveda do.

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