CHAPTER TEN

 
 

The black woman in the brown dress brought the champagne to her lips, but didn't drink. It was a pretense, a charade to satisfy curious glances, nothing more. Even if she wasn't here undercover, Sand Cat would have acted the same. This society was not hers, and it still confused her. All the city's most important and most wealthy people, each with their own conceits and vices, secrets and affairs, tax dodges and off-shore accounts, gathered in artificial celebration of a law enforcement service that none of them would dream of relying upon, of trusting. It was ridiculous. Pretending to drink champagne was nothing. Everybody in the whole room was pretending.

  But this was the way of the world. Aurora and Bluebell had taught her that, and she accepted the fact that as an outsider she could never understand, and importantly, never take part. She had an honorbound duty to uphold the law and defend the city, and for her this was more important than her own life. And if, occasionally, she took pause from her mission to observe the city's inhabitants in their natural environment – specimens to be examined, studied – then this was all part of her ongoing education. Aurora would be pleased.

  "I know that look."

  Aurora's arrival at her side surprised her, lost as she was in her own thoughts, but she did not allow herself to show it. With instincts honed to virtually supernatural levels, her body remained entirely still in the casual pose she had copied from another woman in a similar dress on the other side of the ballroom. Sand Cat held her glass to her chin, gazing out across the crowd with a knowing smile. This she had also copied. Inside, she cursed herself for letting her guard down. Aurora was a walking nuclear reactor. To not notice him walking up behind her was unacceptable. She was a warrior like no other.

  She repented her failings to the Goddess, and vowed never to let it happen again. She continued to scan the room in front of her.

  "I too received the alert. What did SMART report?"

  Aurora moved closer, standing by Sand Cat's side and casting a smile across the room. To anyone watching, it was just the city's most famous superhero having a casual chat with just one of the many beautiful women in the room. Although Sand Cat's face was never obscured by a mask, with the dress, hair and make-up, she was unrecognizable to anyone who didn't know her personally.

  He dropped his voice to a whisper.

  "The Angel Vault is offline. We must assume the worst."

  Sand Cat flinched at the news, her previous vow temporarily forgotten. The vaults were hidden, scattered throughout the city. It had been Bluebell's greatest achievement. If someone had been able to not only identify the vaults, but breach them, it… well, it was unthinkable.

  "The Cowl?"

  "There is no one else."

  Sand Cat placed her still-full glass down on the edge of a table behind her.

  "Understood. We need to head back to the Citadel."

  Aurora nodded. "Agreed."

  Sand Cat stalked off, her powerful stride cutting a path directly across the packed ballroom.

 

Aurora watched Sand Cat leave, then clicked a control on his belt again. There was no need to worry about drawing undue attention now. The city needed its protectors, and there was no harm in letting the assembled guests see the call to arms.

  Aurora's halo pulsed and changed from yellow to red. Several nearby guests gasped and stared, in awe of the powerful superhero and his fiery aura.

  Aurora raised a hand in apology. He clicked the communicator on his belt again, and this time spoke with a voice loud and clear, a voice known to everybody in the room from the television news and, for some, from seeing Aurora battling the Cowl out in the streets of the city.

  "Seven Wonders, unite!"