“I didn’t know if you guys would still be awake,” she said softly.
James didn’t know what time it was, but it was already dark by the time they returned. Now that she said it, he did feel the exhaustion tugging at his eyes. With the excitement of the day, he’d hardly noticed.
“Hard to sleep after all of that,” Katie said, sitting on the edge of her bed, blocking, James noticed, the spot where the painting was hidden.
“Yes, well...” Auri said. Her eyes were sunken and her face rather pale. They waited for her to finish her sentence, but she said nothing.
“I’m sorry about Mungus,” James said, partly to break the silence. “If there was anything else we could have done—”
“No, no, do not blame yourselves!” Auri said. “You three did amazing—you really did. You shouldn’t have even been asked... Well, I mean... Yes, you did well.”
James glanced at the others. He had never seen Auri like this. She seemed distraught and flustered. He hadn’t known Auri and Mungus to be close, but it still must be painful to lose one of their own. They were Supers, unstoppable and all-powerful. But one of them had died, and suddenly they seemed much less invincible. James thought of Derek, but he had to push that away, as well as the bubbles of panic that came with it.
“Calico seemed really upset,” Katie said. “Maybe we should talk to him?”
“Oh, no, Calico isn’t here right now,” Auri said, her cheeks reddening.
“He left?” Rocky said, sounding as surprised as James felt.
Auri nodded.
“Where’d he go?” James demanded. How could the Super just up and leave without telling them?
“I...” She glanced at James, then back at the floor. “I don’t know. He didn’t tell us.”
That was a lie, James realized with a start. He had known Auri for years, and she’d always been kind and honest. But she had just lied. And she wasn’t very good at it.
“Auri...” James said, throwing caution to the wind. He had to find out the truth. “Did Calico really think the other Supers would be there, in the underground city?”
Auri’s eyes bulged. Her gaze flitted between James and the floor. Her face, which had been pale and lifeless before, was burning red. “I... I should really be going. I just wanted to check to make sure you three were doing okay. Goodnight!”
With that, she turned and scampered from the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
“That was odd,” Rocky said.
James sat on the edge of his bed, gripping the blanket beneath him. Auri’s response was the only answer he needed. It was clear now that the Supers were hiding something from them. Something about his brother and the others, and about the Chintamani Stone.
But why?
THE NEXT DAY, CALICO still hadn’t returned.
James, Rocky, and Katie went to the kitchen to eat breakfast, and they didn’t see any of the other Supers, either. So, unsure of what to do or what was expected of them, they returned to their sleeping quarters and tried to puzzle out the painting again. But Katie had just unrolled the paper when there was a knock on the door and she had to hide it again. James wasn’t sure why, but they seemed to have come to a silent agreement to hide the painting from the Supers. If the Supers were hiding something from them, it felt good to have a secret in return.
This time, it was Afectrus who entered. She walked toward them, as straight-backed and proud as ever, and James noticed Rocky sit up straighter.
“I’m glad to see you three are doing well,” she said in a monotone voice that made it seem like she couldn’t care less how they were doing. “The search for the other Supers, as you know, is far from complete.”
“Do you have any other leads?” Katie said.
“And where’d Calico go?” James said before she could answer.
Afectrus smiled, her lips pressed together. “I know you have many questions, and unfortunately, I can’t answer all of them. But we are hopeful we will find the others very soon.”
James noted that Afectrus’s voice was particularly flat, even for her. In fact, it was almost robotic, like she had rehearsed this speech beforehand.
“But we need your help, if you’re willing,” she continued. “If we’re going to find them, there is much work to be done.”
“Of course,” James said, perking up. They must have some sort of lead, then. Maybe he’d underestimated them. “What do you need us to do?”
Afectrus smiled again. “Follow me, please.”
She led them out of the infirmary, past the rec room and past the locked door, the only door in the base they weren’t allowed to go through. Tonitrus appeared around the corner and nodded to them as he passed. James glanced back and saw him slide a card into a slot next to the door. It unlocked, and James watched with curiosity as Tonitrus slipped inside.
Afectrus led them into a small room James hadn’t noticed before. It was a smaller version of the conference room they’d first talked to Calico in, but this one had no windows. A smaller round table sat in the middle. It was covered in manila folders stuffed thick with papers. At least fifty of the folders were scattered around the table, making it look like it was covered in yellow scales.
“Here we are,” Afectrus said, indicating the table. Katie, Rocky, and James took seats on opposite sides. James grabbed the nearest folder and hefted it. It was heavy, full to the brim with paper.
“These are our mission reports from the past few years,” Afectrus said. “Containing details of the mission, background, and after-action reports, including interviews, financials, and recommended next steps.”
Rocky opened the folder in front of him, his face incredulous. “What do you want us to do with these?”
“We hope these folders contain a clue of the whereabouts of the others. Their disappearance
