Page 84 of Secret Spark

Angry tears coated Sadie’s eyes. “Tell me,” she whispered.

“I’m Spark.”

“You’re Spark.” Her stomach sank like a jagged rock. “You’reSpark? Are you kidding me? A Supervillain?”

“Yes.”

“You’re aSupervillain? You made me think you’re a Hero, but you’re a…” A snort shot through her nose, and she flailed her arms wildly. “You’re the Villain who shoots fire! You made me think you got into a fight with…with…you! You told me you were Catch!”

“I never actually said I was Catch,” Joan said quietly.

“You never said youweren’t. You led me on. Oh my god.” She grabbed both sides of her head. “Oh my god!I almost had sex with a Supervillain!”

“I’m so sorry,” Joan said. “I never meant for it to go on this long.”

“Prove it.” Every shred of sanity had unraveled. “Make some fire.”

“Sadie—”

“Do it. I need to see it.”

Joan hung her head, then brought her hands together. A smoldering ball of fire appeared between them, licking and shimmering before she waved her hands and it extinguished.

Holy shit. Joan really was Spark.

Sadie’s gut clenched. Hurt, confusion, anger, a little fear, twisted inside her like a devious snake.

“Spark has long dark hair,” she said.

“It’s a wig.”

A sneaky disguise. A lie. Joan had been lying to her. Lying the entire time they’d known each other. About the gym. About her abilities. Abouteverything.

Sadie hugged herself as she shivered from too much adrenaline. “Who are all these people you keep talking about? Perry, Uncle Mel? And Mark and Greta? Are they Villains, too? Is Mark even your brother?”

“Yes, he is. Mark is Ice. He also has a wig attached to his facemask.”

Sadie snorted and tossed her hair. “Another lie.”

That explained Mark’s startlingly blue eyes. She’d known there was something about them.

“So Greta must be Volt.”

“No.” Joan shook her head. “Greta’s not a… She’s a damn good thief.”

“Oh, great. She was at my workplace.”

“I wanted to tell you,” she said. “I really did. Perry is Breeze. He took in me and Mark when our parents kicked us out. He loves meetings and agendas. He’s not a bad guy. The three of us aren’t really that bad.”

Sadie wound up to retort, but Joan continued, “That thing I said about needing to survive was why I had to turn to villainy. Mark and I were kids. Everyone in the city was terrified of us. We couldn’t survive on our own.”

“You melt things when you get emotional,” Sadie spat.

“Yeah.” Joan took a half step toward her. “I’m telling you because I really do want to be honest with you. I’m risking my safety, and the safety of those I care about, by revealing our true identities. But I want you to know.”

She looked shamefaced. Utterly sorry and guilty.

Good. She should.