It was the sound of silence before the storm. Lightning swirled around us in a vortex, a sphere of serenity in the midst of a rampage. Behind the silver mask covering her face, I could see the anger in her eyes.

The hatred mixed with a furious curiosity.

“It’s me,” I said again. “Please, Savina...”

“Shut up,” she growled. She lifted a single finger into the air and held it to her lips. “Just let me think.” She paused, her platinum hair billowing around her. “I just need to think,” she said more to herself than for my benefit.

Tears welled in my eyes as I watched her struggle to come to terms with the knowledge that I was her arch nemesis.

Her friend.

Her lover.

How could it have only been a day ago that we were wrapped in each other’s arms, kissing until the moon rose high in the sky? How could it have only been a day since she whispered against my skin that she loved me?

“I still love you,” I said, risking her wrath.

A bolt of violet lightning skittered across the sky. It seared the back of my jacket, leaving the stench of charred flesh and burning hair in its wake. Well, that was one way to tell someone you wanted to break up with them.

My skin itched as it knit back together. Once again I was thankful for the advanced healing abilities my father had given me.

“We can work this out,” I said, a cocky smile gracing my lips. She’d never been able to resist my smolder before.

Another lightning bolt struck me. This time sending a current shooting through my body. I groaned in pain, my head lolling forward. I felt like a jello mold that had been flopped onto a late for dessert.

“I said shut up!” she shrieked. Phantom winds carried her forward until she was floating directly in front of me.

I didn’t struggle against the hardened air holding my hands to my sides. She was the love of my life—even now with her anger bubbling over.

Her nails raked across my skin as she ripped the mask away. Her eyes widened, her already pale skin turning even paler.

“Alex,” she whispered my name as if it was the best thing she’d ever said and the worst all at the same time.

“Vortex,” I used her super villain name.

“Why... how?” She struggled to find the right question to ask. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she released a massive sigh before meeting my gave again. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you were the Moon Girl?”

I shrugged, as much as I could with her brackets of air holding me in place. Eventually, I would have to break those, but not before I made it clear what I wanted.

“I am now,” I said. “Isn’t that enough?”

She held my gaze with unblinking eyes for several moments. “I should’ve recognized you,” she said. “The silver flecks in your eyes should have been enough for me to know who you were.”

“Well, it’s not like you went around gazing longingly into my eyes when we were fighting,” I point out.

She rolled her eyes at me, just as I knew she would.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” she said.

I nodded. “So do you.”

That got a laugh. Well, at least we were getting somewhere.

Tentatively, she reached up and removed her mask. A small, thin scar stretched from the corner of her eye back to her ear. She pointed at it, the smile fading from her lips.

“Do you remember how I got this?” she asked.

I shook my head. “You told me you fell off the couch as a kid and...”

“I lied,” she whispered. “Your dad gave that to me.” She took a shuddering breath. “When I was maybe thirteen, I lost control of my abilities and he...” she wrapped her arms around her middle as she spoke as if to keep herself together. “He was the first responder. He couldn’t get me to stop so he created a steel rod end launched it at me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Ignoring me, she pointed to a star shaped scar on her wrist. How had I never noticed it before?

“You gave me this one,” she said. “Do you remember?”

Before I have a chance to respond she points to a scar on her chest. Thick cords of bulbous pink scar tissue stretched across her breasts. She’d told me she’d had surgery as a child for a rare heart condition.

“You gave me this one, too,” she whispered, meeting my gaze.

“I didn’t know it was you.” It was a lame explanation, but it was all I had to give.

She shook her head, her eyes swirling with the tempest raging inside her. “You supers are all the same.”

Her hand snapped up and gripped my chin in her grasp. I forced myself not to react. She needed time to process who I was. To process what I was.

“You do things without ever reaping the consequences. I’ve almost died because of you on so many occasions, I lost count. Did you know I’ve been afraid of your father my entire life? After he killed my dad, I thought he could come find me, too.”

She was rambling the way she always did when she was nervous.

I smiled at her reassuringly, “But now we can put an end to all that,” I said. “I love you, Sav. I want...”

Her lips meet mine, stopping me from continuing. I return her kiss with a passionate one of my own. I want nothing more than to wrap her in my arms and make her feel how much I love her.

The air supporting me dissipated, sending me hurtling to the ground.

“I love you, too, Alex,” she said as she watched me plummet through the air.