Nightingale by Jennifer Estep Read Free Book Online Page B

thought about moving him out of the snowy alley. But I wasn’t obsessed with superheroes like Piper was. I didn’t particularly care who was who. I just wanted them to steer clear of my events.
    But Talon had reacted violently to the gas spewed from Bandit’s bullet. He’d clawed off the visor and scooped snow on his face as if his eyes were on fire, and he hadn’t been able to see me afterward. I was betting his eyes were red and swollen—maybe worse. They needed to be cleaned and flushed, just like the wound in his shoulder. I’d rather remove Talon’s visor and learn his secret identity than have him be blinded for life because I’d refused to act.
    So, I reached for the visor—and was rewarded with a violent shock the second my fingers touched the smooth lenses.
    BZZT .
    “Ouch!” I yanked my hand back, shaking it. It shocked me! His damn visor had shocked me!
    That was only the beginning. Tiny panels opened up where the lenses met the frames on either side, and two thin metal bars slid out. Awestruck, I watched as the bars wrapped around Talon’s head and snapped together in the back with an audible click . I leaned back and realized that a small circular device had formed around the two bars, almost like a lock anchoring them together. My fingers crept out to touch it—
    And a voice boomed through the bathroom.
    Unauthorized user alert! Unauthorized user alert!  
    I screamed and stumbled back. After a moment, I realized the voice emanated from Talon’s visor—a very mechanized, bossy voice.
    Stop and desist your superhero unmasking immediately! Any further attempts to remove Talon’s visor will result in increasing electrical shocks up to and resulting in death. This is not a joke. Repeat, this is not a joke …
    The voice went on from there, chastising me for trying to remove the visor and encouraging whoever was listening to dial 911 and/or the hot line for the Fearless Five, and ask for the superhero on call. But only if Talon was bleeding copious amounts.
    It took me a minute to realize what had happened—Talon’s visor had some kind of automatic, self-defense mode to keep me from taking it off. I stared at the back of his head where the two bars had locked together. From the smooth texture of the metal, I was pretty sure the bars and lock were made of solidium, the hardest metal around. The stuff was virtually indestructible. You practically had to have a nuclear reactor to melt it down, which meant there was no way for me to get the visor off now. Not even a superstrong superhero like Fiera could have broken those bars. At least, not without a particularly heroic effort.
    A visor with its own built-in defense mechanism to keep an unconscious superhero from being unmasked. Now that was clever.  
    I’d already been shocked to within an inch of my life once before, so I wasn’t eager to repeat the process. I heeded the visor’s warning and left it alone. I’d tried to help the superhero. That was all I could do.
    I got out some clean washcloths and towels, along with some bandages and all the antibiotic ointments, healing creams, and painkillers I had. By the time I finished, a considerable pile littered the floor next to the bathtub.  
    After I’d been jolted into having supersenses, I’d tried every migraine drug on the market, trying to find some way to ease the constant pounding in my head. Even now, after I’d gotten a grip on my powers, a horrible headache manifested in my skull at least once a week.  
    Water filled the tub, and I turned off the faucets. Talon looked much better since I’d brought him in from the cold. The white strain had faded from his face, from what I could see of it, and his breathing was even and steady. I cocked my head to one side, listening— really listening. His heart pumped along with a steady rhythm.
    My eyes went to his left shoulder and the small hole there. Now, it was time to get that disgusting, coppery blood off the superhero, and see what else