Page 201 of Villainous Rise

I pushed myself off the couch, my legs unsteady. “Unusual how? What does that mean?” My thoughts raced ahead of me, spiraling into worst-case scenarios. “Did I trigger something? Did I hurt him? What if he’s⁠—“

“Annie.” Cipher caught me by the shoulders and pulled me against him. “Breathe.”

I tried, but my lungs felt too small, my chest too tight. “We have to find him,” I croaked out.

“I’ll find him, Annie,” Cipher said, his silver eyes locked on mine.

That stopped my spiral momentarily. “You will? Why would you do that?”

Something complicated passed over his face. “It’s my fault your cuff malfunctioned. My EMP took it out.” His thumb brushed against my wrist where the cuff was. “I want to help put your mind at ease.”

Cipher cocked his head as he received a message. “My aircraft is inbound. I plan to station myself there,” Cipher said. “I can access all the Labyrinth’s systems from onboard, and it keeps me mobile. The second I get a hit on his location, I’ll already be in the air.”

“I’m coming with you,” I said immediately.

Cipher nodded, not arguing. “We’ll find him, Annie.”

“Keep me updated. I’ll keep searching for him on my end. And Annie?” Havoc’s blue eyes softened slightly. “This isn’t on you. Remember that.”

But it felt like it was. The weight of it pressed down on my shoulders as Cipher and I hurried through the Tower.

“What if something terrible happened to him?” I asked, my voice small.

Cipher gave my hand a squeeze. “Then we’ll deal with it.”

As we stepped into the night air, I tried not to think about Helios’s face when I’d used my power. Tried not to remember the flash of fear in his eyes.

On Cipher’s aircraft, henchmen darted between workstations, their faces illuminated by blue-tinted screens. Numbers called out to each other in technical jargon that might as well have been a foreign language.

I paced behind Cipher, whose fingers were flying across several screens.

“What exactly are you doing?” I asked, peering over his shoulder at lines of code scrolling past.

“Hacking into Helios’ personal terminal at the Tower.”

I nearly choked. “You’re what?”

“Accessing his private system.” Cipher didn’t even look up, his focus absolute. “If he’s left any clues about where he might go, they’ll be there.”

“That’s illegal!” I sputtered. “There are procedures, proper channels⁠—”

“Sparks.” He finally turned to look at me, silver eyes reflecting the screen’s glow. “I’m already breaking about fifteen different laws trying to track Helios. What’s one more?”

My mouth opened, then closed.

“Actually, it’s several more,” he amended, turning back to his work. “But the point stands.”

I resumed pacing, my anxiety building with each step. “What if we don’t find anything? What if he’s hurt? What if⁠—“

I made it exactly one pass before Cipher caught me and pulled me back against his chest, his arm locking around my waist.

“We’ll find him,” Cipher murmured. He buried his face in the curve of my neck and inhaled deeply. “People leave digital footprints everywhere they go. Even Supers.”

“Especially Supers,” I muttered. I let my head fall back against his shoulder. Most Heroes were terrible with technology. They relied on their powers instead of passwords.

Cipher went rigid behind me. “Son of a bitch.”

I twisted in his hold to look at the display in front of us. It showed a complex technical schematic. I recognized the basic shape immediately. “That’s a personal shield generator.”