Day by Florence, Jessica (1)

 

 

Hero Society

Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jessica Florence

 

 

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events, and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of those terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

Jessica Florence© 2018

Editing by

Proofreading by

Cover by Sarah Hansen, ©

 

 

Prologue

Leon

2005

 

“Tonight you’re going to get the big score,” Romy moaned into my ear as I grabbed my helmet from the bench. From her tone, I knew I was going to get a piece of her at Richie’s after game party tonight. Two big, double D handfuls.  I grinned and left without acknowledging her statement.  I just had to win the game tonight, and then it would be off to celebrate with Romy, and by the look her cheerleader friend is giving me, my night might turn into a ménage.

Football.

The only thing in my life that was stable, besides my grandparents, who were screaming their heads off for me in the stands.

I loved the smell of the freshly painted field, and the gleam of the bright lights as they shone down on us. It was the best heaven I could think of. Football and sex—the two things I couldn’t get enough of.

I stretched my legs out as I made it to the huddle. My body had been aching like I’d been hit by a truck all day, which was weird for a sixteen-year-old. But I did put my body through hell with training for football.

My eyes found each of my teammates, and I gave them the best pregame speech I had. It was simple.

“Kick ass, get some ass, and let’s play ball!” They hooted and then I told them our first play. We had scouts in the crowd tonight watching us, so I wanted to give each of the guys a play that would show off their skills. Tonight we were playing the Benders, our rival team from the south of Seahill. They sucked, though, so we would beat them into the ground easily.

“Good luck,” Charles, my best friend, whispered as he walked by me.  He was the best tight end I’d ever seen. He and I made a pact that we would always be on the same football team—college and the pros.

“Jaybird forty-three. Jaybird forty-three. Hut. Hut!” I called out to the line, reading the blitz the other team was going to try.  Once the ball was tossed back to me, it was game time.  Even though my wrist was killing me, I threw the perfect spiral pass to Charles, who made the first down. 

We moved quickly on down the field, and time flew. The first half of the game was almost over.

My head started pounding, but I pushed through.

We had to win the game. My body taking a dump on me would have to wait.

The ball was in my hands, and the pocket was closing in. I had to try for the win. I gripped the ball tight against my body and took off for a quarterback sneak, running as fast as I could, dodging the other team’s poor tackles.

Charles was about to block the safety, who would have been the one to stop me, when all of a sudden my vision became blurry, and I felt my feet move faster than ever before.

I was out of control, and moved like a bullet—right into Charles and the safety.

A loud crack echoed in my head, and I was scared shitless that I’d hurt someone. With my distorted sight, I watched as people came running out into the field, checking to see if everyone was okay.

When my vision cleared, they were trying to get the guys to stand up. One was fine.

But Charles.

He was trying so hard, but his legs weren’t moving.

Chapter One

Present Day

Leon

 

A hot burger, a shower, and a full night’s rest: the perfect picture of heaven for me.  I’d been on the ship for a month, and all I could think about was having a big, fat burger from that chain fast food restaurant.

I gave the guys on the boat a nod goodbye as I grabbed my bag that held a month’s worth of my life and walked off the big crab boat.  They’d made a show about us once, something about it being the most dangerous job in the world. It was definitely that and then some. 

But it paid what I needed, and most things that would kill a guy on the boat wouldn’t end me.

The marina was mostly quiet, only the little waves hitting the sea wall could be heard around.

Just the way I liked it.

A small smirk graced my lips when my girl came into view.

Lily Blue.

My forty-foot sailboat.

I’d been living there since I turned twenty, ten years ago. She looked like she could use a little elbow grease to clean her up since I’d been gone. Barnacles were growing on her underside. I groaned, thinking about going under to clean her.

“Another day,” I told myself. They could wait. They could always wait. After I showered, my main goal was a burger then I’d take her out into open water. She needed a break from the dock.

I opened the door to see nothing had changed. The marina manager, Tony, kept an eye on her and had a key to air out the inside here and there, making sure nothing was off.

Obviously everything was good in my absence.

Lily Blue was my only girl, and all I needed. She had a small kitchen with all the appliances, a dining area behind it, and a long bench seat with blue cushions to match the booth ones.

I’d set up a small flat screen to the side so I could watch TV from anywhere in the small living quarters.

I walked into the bedroom in the back and set my bag on the bed, the only furniture in the room besides a small table and shelf to the right of it. I grabbed a towel from the closet to the left of the bed and peeled off my clothes, adding a trip to the marina laundromat to my list of things to do after food.

.

My shower was big enough for my six-three frame to move around freely. I’d given up extra closet space to have it that way. I turned on the faucet and waited for the water to warm. Thankfully my heater was still working well. I jumped in and closed the shower door behind me.

The grime that came off my skin from the month-long trip swirled down the drain, and I just stood there, letting the water work its magic on my muscles. I dragged myself reluctantly out of the spray when it started to turn cold, and dressed in a pair of jeans and an old sweater. The weather was starting to chill, and it was always slightly cooler on the water. I looked at myself in the mirror before heading out. My blond hair needed a cut, and my beard a trim. But otherwise I looked like the normal, all-American man. My brown eyes looked tired, and if that wasn’t a clear sign that I needed a break then I didn’t know what was.

I thought about my friend Charles, and decided to give him a call tonight and see if he wanted to go when I took Lily out to sea.

Despite the fact that I paralyzed him from the waist down, he remained my closest friend. No giving up on life, or our friendship. I owed him everything. I worked hard and paid for all his medical expenses. He was all I had. Even my parents abandoned me after they found out what a freak their son was. No more pro-football future, in their eyes, spelled failure. I was nothing more to them than the disappointed promise of a life of luxury.  My grandparents had taken me in for my last year of high school, and now they were retired by the beach in Florida. They deserved it, after everything.

Charles always said I was better off without parents, and over time I’d finally swallowed that pill, accepting that it was their loss.

I opened the window in the kitchen to air Lily Blue out a little more, grabbed my wallet, climbed up the four steps then closed the door to the cabin.  Tony must had taken a power washer to the deck, because she looked pretty clean. I passed the helm, and the small, three-person, cushioned bench and took the step off my boat to the dock.

When I looked up from my boots, my gaze fell upon three people sitting at the picnic table closest to my boat.  Two men and one woman. Odd. The blond man looked at me and held up a white bag with my preferred burger chain restaurant logo on the side. What the hell?

“Care to join us?” he asked, and while the thought was tempting, I would just go get the burger myself. This was bizarre.

“Pass,” I called out.

The woman peered at me and smiled nicely. I felt myself walking toward her, and before I knew it I was standing in front of them. The need to talk to them was strong inside me.

Slowly, I looked her over and found her beautiful.  Her long lashes complemented her hazel eyes, and even that pink birthmark that extended over her right cheek added to her beauty.

“Okay, watch how much you’re putting into him, Rose,” muttered the man who was sitting next to her, who had brown hair and a trimmed beard.

Blush coated Rose’s cheeks, and she broke eye contact with me.

Instantly the urge to talk with her was gone. I shook my head in confusion. What the hell just happened here?

“Have a seat. We’ve got way more than we can eat, and we are here to talk with you.” The blond man sitting on the other side of Rose handed me the bag, and my mouth started to water thinking about that first bite into the juicy meat.

“We just want to talk to you,” said Rose as she lightly touched my arm. I grabbed the bag then sat on the edge of the bench with the blond man.

“I’m Rose; this is Phillip, my brother, and this is Draco. Thank you for sitting with us.” She smiled as she gestured to the two men beside her while introducing them.

“What’s this about?” I opened the bag and grabbed a hold of the double burger I had been craving. Lucky guess.

All heads turned to Phillip, who smiled like he knew all the secrets of the world. I guess I was so hungry that I didn’t feel the need to tell them to fuck off like I normally would have.

“We are like you, Leon. We have special gifts,” Phillip announced.

Gifts? I started eating and listening with my complete attention.

“We have begun to build a society for people like us: the Hero Society. A place for those who have been cast out and have nowhere to go. A place where a special few can learn to protect mankind using their powers. Things are happening, Leon. Things that have been in the works for a long time, and we need you to consider joining us,” he added then looked around at his crew with an affectionate gaze.

I stopped eating and tried to register what he said to me. A hero society? A place for the unwanted? Sounded too good to be true. Plus these powers of mine were not a gift, but a curse. I’d only hurt people. It’s what always happened.

I was curious, though, as to what they could do.

“I can see the future. Rose is an empath, meaning she deals with emotions. Draco is immortal, and AJ, who isn’t here right now, is a normal human but a super genius.” Phillip answered my mental question. I grabbed the rest of my burger and the bag, then stood up.

“I’ll pass. Thanks for the nice emotions and my dinner, though.”  I looked at Rose, and her cheeks blushed again. Yeah, they were better off without me joining their club.  I walked back toward Lily Blue and gave them a fuck-you salute as I climbed down into my cabin.

 

Chapter Two

Leon

 

I sat at the bar of the infamous Club V, thinking over the conversation I’d had with the four strangers this afternoon, as I got off the boat from a month-long trip.

A society of heroes. Sounds like a load of crap.

I ordered another round of good old Jack, and tried to erase any thoughts I’d had of considering their offer.  I listened to the sound of the music while my mind took a turn toward the bitter memories that could help me with my decision.

I’d been the king of high school. Football captain, ladies’ man, and was on a fast track to scoring a spot in the professional football league once I got into college a few years later. All-American man, I was deemed. Until the curse of my powers came. Yeah, it would have been easier to win at football if I could have unleashed my speed and run faster than traveling sound. But I couldn’t control them at the ripe age of sixteen. I’d messed up, and someone got hurt. And not just a bump on the head, but paralyzed.

I wished hard that it would have stopped there, but it seemed I was doomed for more. I was in the hospital visiting Charles after the incident, when he asked me to tilt the TV over more for him to see. I knocked it clear off the wall and it smashed against the floor. I barely even touched it.

Strength and speed—something most would love to have the ability to possess, but I was not one of them. I wanted my normal life back, and that feeling had never gone away. 

Leon Daniels, all-star football player, became the recluse, afraid to be close to anyone, out of fear for their safety, and then became a joke to everyone he once called friends.

And now I had been given a choice to join a group of people like me, to use my powers for good.

All my powers had ever done was cause chaos.

I drank some more and turned my head around to look at all the people moving their bodies with the music on the dance floor.

This club was pretty popular, and being a Friday night, the place was packed even more so than usual.

If I’d stayed the course of normal human, I would have probably been out there with them. Wishful thinking. I wasn’t normal, no matter how hard I wished on a damn shooting star.

I started to turn around when my eye caught the stare of one of the dancers in the hanging bird cage.

Her eyes sparkled with trouble as she looked me over. A bright smile grew on her face, and I found myself staring at her lips.

For a moment, as I watched her, I thought about what it would be like to walk over to her, pull the bars of her cage back with my strength, and let the girl have at what she was letting me know she wanted through her sensual stare.

It would probably scare her.

Once my thoughts started going down that avenue, there was no going back.

Not even the taunting of her swaying hips and curling finger telling me to come to her could break my resolve.

I looked into her eyes one more time before digging into my pocket and fishing out enough to pay the bill.

Once upon a time, darling.

I turned toward the door. Time to go back to my life of solace, and start tomorrow fresh. No thoughts of sexy club dancers, and definitely no “hero society” conversations in my future.

I looked at my phone and knew Charles would be asleep by now, so my only option for the rest of the night was to head back home. 

The streets were buzzing with Seahill’s night life as I walked through the cityscape.

Women were laughing; men were going on about the football game that had just finished.

Everyone was surrounded by fun and happiness.

Except me. I was alone and aimed to stay that way.

I had managed to escape my thoughts from turning to the dark side with the attractive cage dancer, but now there was nothing to distract me as they came hurdling in.

A gift. They called them gifts.

I scoffed at the thought. 

Nothing really made me feel worse than thinking about my friend, who would never walk again because of me. No material items I’ve smashed, even on accident, could compare. I have my whole life to atone for that one night, and I didn’t even think a lifetime would be enough.

I was slightly startled when the phone in my pocket started to vibrate and ring.

It was past midnight, and I didn’t know anyone who would call me.

But then I saw the name on the screen as I held it.

“I’m not asleep, asshole. Get your mopey ass over here,” Charles’s voice was one of jest, and suddenly my solemn mood improved. Was I tired as shit? Yep. But when Charles called, I was there.

His apartment, the end unit in the complex, was fairly close by.

With my hands in my pockets to keep the chill away, I walked in the opposite direction I had been heading, looking forward to seeing my friend.

I could see the sign for his complex coming up when a guy got out of his car and looked at me with curious eyes.

Looking the other way, I crossed the street so I could avoid the weird guy that was still staring at me.

He was tall, and muscular, with dark skin and a shaved head. I sighed, not really wanting to get into a fight or accidentally hurt anyone else.

“You got a problem?” I stopped and asked him, ready to just get it over with if he was going to try and mug me or something.

“Not at all. Just seeing something,” he purred, and then got back in the fancy black Mercedes he had parked then sped off.

“Okay.” I shook my head and walked on, not in the mood to deal with anymore weird people or strange shit. All I wanted was to see Charles, get even more drunk, and hit the sea tomorrow.

Chapter Three

Lilith

 

That look in their eyes is what drives me to sway with every vibration of the music.

The power.

The control.

Every single man that looks at me is caught under my spell.

I own them.

My hands wrapped around the bars of the cage as I leaned my chest into the metal, sliding my body down then back up the bars, as if they were the man that was staring at me like I was his personal goddess.

They all felt that way, and I relished in the feeling of having that power over them.

My smile grew wide as I let out a sinister laugh.

They could never touch me.

Only look.

I danced around my cage the way I wanted, enjoying the music and being a tease. 

My black biker boots kicked the cage, catching the attention of the small group of men that were chatting at the bar. They were not paying enough attention to me, and right now I wanted all the eyes I could get.

One man, however, did not turn toward me. He just drank away his memories from a tall glass. He was large, and fit.

Challenge accepted. I owned every other man in this room, and no longer cared if they were looking right at me. All I wanted was his gaze on me. I wanted to see the man that would choose the bottle over the curves of a beautiful woman he didn’t know he couldn’t have.

I writhed, and my hips pulsed to the sides with the beat. I stared at him and no one else, knowing by the tensing of his back he could feel my gaze on him.

Slowly, he turned around and leveled me with a look of anger.

I laughed at his scowl and continued to dance for him only. It was the same man that was in the club about a week ago. He had looked me over, and wanted me like everyone else. But then he left.

Now, his eyes took in my purple halter top and leather pants with indifference. That just would not do.

I never left my cage for a man.

But this one was trying my patience.

My fingers gripped the handle on the inside of the cage and I was out of my self-imposed prison in seconds. Our gazes were locked onto each other. 

I had no clue what I was going to do when I got to him, but I was more of a fly by the crotch of my pants girl than a plotter.  Every other person in the club was watching me walk toward the man at the bar, like I was a tiger loose from her prison. They wanted to see what I was going to do.

 Pounce, baby. I was going to pounce.

Something in those angry, brown eyes made me want to erase his pain. I’d known anger like what was running through him right now. And I knew just the thing that would make it all better.

He didn’t stop me as I hopped right into his lap and grabbed his drink.

In fact, he was looking at me like I was crazy. What did he think I was going to do? Kiss him?

Laughable.

The glass was cold against my lips, and the burn of the alcohol stung as it ran down my throat. I was not much of a drinker anymore, but occasionally it was nice to lose myself in something strong. Like the sexy man beneath my leather-clad ass.

“What the fuck, lady?” He finally found his words, and what a mouth he had. His voice was strong, just like his body.

“My mouth was parched.  I needed a drink.” I stayed sitting in his lap, and my hand lifted up his glass higher as I finished off the rest of the liquid inside it.

“You’re paying for that,” he snapped, rolling his eyes and glancing around the room. People were staring. But once I turned my head to look at them, they all suddenly became interested in the partners they had brought to the floor instead of me.

“So.”  I turned my attention back to him and purred.

“What deep and dark secrets trouble you tonight?” I asked. He scoffed and ordered himself another drink. Something stronger than the one before.

“Oh, a mysterious dancer that drank all my shit. My little red wagon broke this morning; I’m pretty distraught about it. Now I’m going to sulk in my pain with my friend Jack here.” He held out his new full glass and took a sip. He was feisty. I liked that. I was quite the feisty woman, too.

When a small drop of his drink started falling from his lips as he pulled away from the glass, I leaned over and licked the bead from this chin.

I smiled wide and wiggled on his lap. Despite his inclination to think me crazy, the erection growing in his jeans told me he still liked it.

“Come on, strange and mysteriously sexy man who has now denied me of your attention twice. Spill what troubles you to a total stranger. I’m good at keeping secrets.” I rubbed my hands up his chest then back down. He was all hard muscle and rippling bumps beneath his shirt.

“Well, since you put it that way,” He drank more and then surprised me. Which rarely happened.

He started telling me the truth.

“My best friend, who I paralyzed back in high school, isn’t a candidate for a surgery that could have helped him get feeling back in his legs. So once again, I’m drowning my guilt and anguish away until I have to feel it all over again tomorrow.” 

His words were real and completely raw.

“Well, then. To getting all black and blue then coming back fighting the next day.” I wrapped my hand around his and took a sip of his new drink. He didn’t even stop me. He actually smiled then enjoyed his own sip after mine.

He was good through and through. I could read people, and he was something special. It was hidden beneath the anger and resentment that created the sexy exterior before me.

We shared that glass until there was nothing left, and not once did he ask if I had herpes.

A special man indeed.

Chapter Four

Lilith

 

“It’s so crazy how It’s only ten. I could have sworn it was so much later.” Leon, as I found out his name after a short introduction, was all grins now, and I had yet to leave his side. He was like warm hands rubbing lotion all over my body. He soothed the crazy that echoed in my head, and I felt like nothing else mattered but keeping him from jumping off a bridge. He was important. I never focused on the hows or whys, but some things I just knew. I knew Leon was somebody.

He was funny, hot, smart, and had extraordinary trust.

I’d never been so taken aback by a person’s pure genuine trust in someone they just met. Even if it was because he thought we would never see each other again, or the bottle was throwing away his fucks, he was quickly becoming someone I wanted to lose myself in.

Men had always been dogs in my eyes. I’d never had an experience that proved them different. So I controlled them, and they followed like the little beggars they were, panting and clawing at the chance to have me in their grasp. But it would never happen. I’d had enough of men using me. I was the user now.

That being said, the occasion was rarely needed. Vibrators were better than most dicks, anyway.

But something inside my rattling brain told me Leon was not to be used.

“Let’s go get some food, Star.”  The nickname had come up about an hour after our first meeting, when he told me about how his football career went crashing down. He had gotten to the club shortly after it’d opened.

“Aren’t you going to get in trouble for leaving work?” He stopped and looked concerned for me and my job. I smiled and leaned up to bite his chin. He was tall, which was nice for my five-foot-nine height.

“I do what I want. They know that. The job is for fun. I like to dance.”  I wrapped my arm around his and started pulling him toward food.

We settled at a booth at an Irish pub called The Ray. The live band was singing their little accented hearts out, and the beer was flowing.

Our table was filled with all sorts of food, since I liked to try everything, and Leon didn’t know what he wanted. 

Every time he’d smile, I was completely captivated by his lips. He was not a man who smiled, but it was a forced frown. His face was made to be lit up.

“You’re not what I expected,” he said as he finished his fried fish.

I tilted my head to the side and grinned. I was all sorts of unexpected, but I was curious which part he was focusing on.

“You’re so much more than the wildfire inside you. I can tell you’ve got shit that’s fucked up in your head, and that stuff changes you.  But I see you.” He was looking at me with no other intent but to speak of what he truly saw in me.

“Don’t go all sugar on me now, Star.” I laughed and then shoved a fry in my mouth.

“Thank you.” He was all serious now, and it was making me feel awkward.

“Let’s dance!” I jumped up and pulled his hand, making him stand with me.

He indulged me while I danced to the music right next to the table.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured, and I felt my spirit fall a little. Everyone thought I was beautiful.

“I’ve got a great pair of tits, what can I say?” I shimmied and raised my hands in the air, jumping with the high point of the chorus.

Hands grasped mine and then slid slowly onto my tapered waist.

“Your fucking soul is beautiful. I couldn’t give a shit about your sexy body that you know brings men to their knees. You do it on purpose. But what you don’t do on purpose is keep a stranger from sitting at his pity party alone. That is your soul, darling.” His hips start moving with mine, and I was just staring at him like he’d spoken a foreign language to me. People don’t see my soul. Hell, I wasn’t sure I had one.

I did the only thing that came to mind. I gripped his shirt and yanked his body to the side. He flew back into the booth, and I prowled over him, his eyes wide. He wasn’t scared of me, but he knew I wasn’t one to fuck around with.

“Call me darling, one more time.” I leaned over, inches away from his lips.  Would I bite or would I do something much nicer? His next move would determine that.

His hand reached up and wrapped itself tightly around the bulk of my hair, making it so I couldn’t escape the distance between us.

“Darling,” he whispered, making a small gleeful giggle escape before our lips crashed.

He moaned, and his hand gripped my hair to a gloriously torturous mixture of pain and pleasure.

His dominating kiss was scorching my insides, and for once I had no issue with letting a man be in control for this introduction of tongues.

“Oh fuck, marry me,” he groaned, and I kissed him harder. My body latched onto his in seconds, reveling in the feel of him under me and his hands on my bare back beneath my top. I was getting lost, and I didn’t want to lose this feeling. Leon Daniels was something worth fighting for.  My next words were made with complete confidence.

“Right now,” I demanded. With me wrapped around his waist, he lifted us up, dropped a few large bills on the table then carried me out the door with our lips never parting. Every wall, every streetlight on the way to the small, late-night chapel was part of our exhibition.  My skin craved his hands, my kisses wordless pleas to feel him everywhere all at once.

He nudged the door opened with my back pressed to it, and I groaned, feeling the wood bite into my skin slightly. I liked this roughness.

“Marry us now, friar!” I called out to whoever was in the chapel, grinning.

“No friars here,” a man replied, stepping out from a door to the right.

“Well, I want to fuck my boyfriend here and we are kinda waiting till marriage. So let’s get this show on the road.” I winked and went back to nipping at Leon’s swelling lips.

“Just a moment, do you have any witnesses with you?” the preacher man asked and we shook our head no. He said he would get us some for an extra fee, which was great. I didn’t care one bit who witnessed us sealing our fates together.

Leon set me down, and we walked toward the end of the aisle.

“No regrets?” I asked him as we grabbed hands and waited for the whole I’m-with-you-till-the-end speech started.

“I’d never deserved something so precious as you, Lilith. But I vow that I’m going to sew our broken souls together and protect the good remaining inside us.”

And just like that, we were husband and wife in the eyes of all.

He picked me up and carried me toward the marina. How his arms weren’t tired was beyond me. He was so strong—a trait that was going to come in handy when it came to the bedroom.

“You live on a boat?” I asked, clapping my hands with excitement. It was a beautiful boat.

“We live on a boat,” he corrected, and all I could think about was getting him undressed and on top of me.

“We sure do, Star.” He set me down so he could open the door and then helped me down the few stairs into the cabin.

“It’s super cozy.” I loved adventure, and this was one hell of a ride.

“Speaking of rides,” Leon was already one step ahead of me, pulling me toward the bed in the front of the boat.

He lay down on the mattress and stared at me with a look that I’d seen before. Many times, in fact, but none gave me the feeling that his gaze did.

“You’re mine now, darling,” he told me, and I felt the security of his words lace themselves around my heart. I was his. For better or for worse.

Chapter Five

Leon

 

God, I feel like shit. I groaned and rolled over to shade my eyes from the light coming in through the little window. What the hell did I do last night? My eyelids pulled back, and the sight before me was not what I was expecting.

“Jesus Christ!” I flew off my bed and smacked the side of my cabin, punching a hole right through it.

“Dammit!”

“Good morning, Star.” The beauty lying in my bed, wearing just my shirt, stretched and looked at me with hungry eyes.

“What the fuck are you doing on my boat?” I tried to calm down. Lily Blue didn’t need any more damage.  The black-haired girl sat up and looked at me with her head titled to the side, like she was trying to figure something out.  Suddenly a big grin flashed on her face and she laughed. Hard.

She was off her rocker.

“Oh, boy. You don’t remember shit, do you?” She crawled toward me and I tripped backward to get away from her, fucking up my boat even more.

“Just stay where you are, and tell me what the hell is going on.” I put a hand out, trying to get her to stay away from me. I could have sworn I saw hurt flash in her eyes, but then she gave me a wicked grin and licked from my wrist to my fingers.

“Well, Leon…” She sat up on her knees.

“You and I got hitched last night.

“So, husband, I’m in my new home.” She looked around and smiled at the small cabin.

Oh, shit. My legs gave out from shock.

I was married. That can’t be. I was about to deny it but then she reached over to the little table on the other side and grabbed a piece of paper.

“Here.” She handed it to me, and there you go:  signed by both of us, two witnesses, and the notary that did it. We were legally married.

“I can’t deal with this shit right now,” I groaned, and then not on accident, I turned and punched more holes in my boat, not giving one shit at the moment.

“Now I know how you carried me all over Seahill last night. So strong,” she purred, not looking at me like the freak I was.

“Yeah. Your new husband is a freak of nature. He can crumble a car up like a piece of paper. Oh, and some other little bit of info you probably didn’t know—I’m wicked fast, too. Can run faster than the fastest car there is.”  I was having a breakdown. Last thing I remembered was getting hammered at the club after Charles called to tell me he wasn’t getting that surgery. Then my eyes narrowed at the beauty before me.

“You’re the cage dancer!” I remembered her, and I remembered her sitting in my lap. Talking. But then things start to get fuzzy, fading out until there is nothing but this morning.

“That’s me, baby.” She came closer, and I just couldn’t do this right now.

“I’m sorry about all this. But I don’t wanna be married.”  We had to get this thing annulled, and quick.

She looked at me again then started that same big grinning laugh she had done before. Crazy woman, I’m telling you.

“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, honey. But we got married in Seahill, baby. That means we have to wait a month before we can get this marriage taken care of.”

Fuck.

“Well, I need to go get some of my things and make this place more homey for me.” She stood and took off my shirt, revealing that she had been completely naked underneath. She reached over to grab her outfit from last night off the shelf.

Did we sleep together? I mean, technically we were married, and that was our wedding night…

“The answer to your question is no. We didn’t fuck.  I was about to hop on ya, but you passed out. So I bundled you up like the good wife I am and went to sleep.” She pulled up her tight leather pants and started working on her top.

My eyes got stuck on her body as she wiggled in front of me. She had pierced nipples, with little wings coming out the sides of the barbells.

“Like what you see?” she teased, and I covered my face in my hands.

“I’ll see you later, honey.”  She walked up to me and pressed a kiss to my hands before leaving the boat.

I stayed there, stunned. This could not be happening to me. What the hell was I going to do?

“Obviously you have to stay married for a month, asshole,” I said to myself.             

Dropping my hands, I looked around my cabin, taking in all the damage I’d caused.  Fuck. If it started raining tonight, my cabin was screwed. Seahill was notorious for crazy weather. It would be sunny for one day then rain for three in a row right after. Plus, it was getting cold.  I cursed and got dressed before grabbing my tarp from the storage closet by the helm.  Once the tarp was secured so the weather wouldn’t screw up my boat, I decided I needed to take a walk. Work out everything that happened and try to remember last night in more detail.

It was just my luck that I would get so pissed drunk that I would get married to a cage dancer in a city that wouldn’t let you get divorced right away. I get that the city was trying to discourage quickie weddings and hasty divorces. But that obviously didn’t factor in to my thinking last night.

My hands were tucked into my pockets to stay warm as I walked through the marina.

Would my new wife truly be coming back with stuff to put in my boat? She seemed like a nut bag. Maybe she would just move on and we could wait out the month timeline separately.

The more the thought stayed in my head, the more I figured it was a good idea. I did not want to be married, and I was asshole enough to avoid her till our time was over. My curse was mine to bear, and I wouldn’t demand anyone take that heavy load onto their shoulders.

She didn’t seem scared when I knocked holes into my boat, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t running like hell now. She was pretty quick to leave this morning.

My head was a mess, and I still felt like shit.

I walked until I found myself at a familiar door and knocked. It took a few minutes before he answered, but once I looked into the eyes of my friend, everything that happened just came flooding out of my mouth.

 

Chapter Six

Leon

“Never thought this day would come. You finally let a woman into that heart of yours. Did you claim her like the caveman you are and put a baby in her belly?”  Charles was laughing at me while I sat on his couch. Scowling.

It didn’t affect him whatsoever, so he just kept laughing. I shot him a sour look.

“Jesus Christ, Leon.  You must have been pretty drunk to get yourself into this mess.” He ran his hand through his medium-brown hair then moved to the wheels of his chair. He rolled toward me with a push, stopping to my right.

“You were beating yourself up over my call, weren’t you?”All laughter was gone, and now he just stared at me with his soul-searing blue eyes that could get anything out of me with just one look.

“It’s stupid they didn’t accept you. You are healthy, and it could help you. I don’t see the problem.” I really didn’t. He deserved to be able to feel again.

“Shows me how much you were listening when I told you. I’m not a candidate because the nerve damage is too extensive. Plus the fact that they would need to build me a new lumbar spine, to boot. I’m not angry, Leon, and you shouldn’t be either.” Charles had always been someone who just accepted what fate dealt him. Never complaining, or looking at things from a darker angle. He was Mr. Positive all the time.

And here I was, letting my guilt eat me up and not accepting my set of life cards. Instead of saying something else that I would probably regret, I moved our conversation back to my newest complication.

“What am I gonna do about my wife?” The word made my mouth tilt into a grimace. But sadly the asshole strikes on my side kept adding up, because I couldn’t even remember her name. I should have looked at the marriage certificate to find out, but I was so freaked that I wasn’t thinking right.  Seemed to be a theme for me in the past twenty-four hours.

Charles shrugged.

“Go be married to a hot-ass dancer, sleep with her daily, and then at the end of the month if you wanna get divorced then do it. If not, stay married to a really hot chick. I don’t see the issue.” 

When he said it like that, it sounded so easy. But this situation was anything but easy.

“Let me stay here?” I threw the question out there just to see if he would let me. High chance his answer was going to be no—he couldn’t handle my rain cloud for too long, and I wished I knew how to turn it off for him. I’d grown into a man who was consumed by resentment and guilt. It was how I lived my life day to day, and by some miracle he hadn’t given up on me yet.

“And bring the crazy to my house? No way.” He chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. She seemed crazy, but that might not be who she really was. Maybe she was a nice, normal chick, and I could explain my situation. We could work it out like adults, right?

“All right, I’m ready to go work out, and you need to go figure your shit out. Maybe learn your wife’s name,” he suggested with a wink, wheeling himself to the door and opening it for me. I was being kicked out.

“Yes, Mother.” I sighed. I stood and looked at my only friend. He still looked so young, like he was in his early twenties. He took better care of himself than I did, though. He worked out a couple times a day, and ate healthy. Only occasional drinking, and I was almost always around for that.

I walked over and stood just outside his door.

“Thanks.” Before everything happened, I was never a man to keep anything inside. I wasn’t afraid of emotions and couldn’t think right until I got everything off my chest. He knew it meant so much to me that I could talk to him, even if he gave me crap for it sometimes.

“Yep. Now go fuck your woman,” he said, and shooed me away.

I shook my head and started my journey back to the boat.

We could talk about this like adults. I’d tell her what was going on with me, and she would understand how it wasn’t going to work between us.

I tried to think of what all I was going to say if she was there when I got home, but she wasn’t.  Maybe she wouldn’t come back, and I could wait it out.

Of course, things with me were never that easy.

A few hours later I was talking with Tony about what all it was going to take to fix Lily Blue when the clicking of high heels echoed around the marina.

“Well, that’s something you don’t see every day,” he commented, and I just knew by the tone of his voice that it was her.

Lilith.

I’d looked at the certificate to remember her name. What a name it was, and it fit her perfectly.

She was walking toward me with a big grin on her face, her black hair flowing behind her in the breeze, and an outfit that was causing heads to turn: cropped top with seashells printed over her breasts, showing off her toned stomach, and a tutu-looking skirt that came to her knees. Pair that with tall black heels, and she was the perfect package of crazy.

“Well if it isn’t my super-amazing husband.” She dropped her large purse and leapt into my arms, wrapping her legs around mine. I didn’t help hold her up like I probably should have; she did all the work herself as she pressed her lips to me. Her tongue pushed past mine, and she kissed me like she truly missed me.

It was maybe only a minute later that she dropped her legs and smiled at Tony.

“Hiya. I’m Lilith, Leon’s wifey,” she explained, smiling.

“Well, uh. Congrats, guys,” he said through his shock, knowing full well this was a weird move for me.

“Thanks. We’re gonna go.” I grabbed her lightly by the arm and started pulling her toward the boat after leaning down to pick up her bag. It was light. Odd.

“Nice to meet ya!” she called out to the gaped-mouth Tony behind us.

I helped her onto the boat, and she walked down to the cabin without hesitation. I’m sure everyone could still hear everything that was about to happen, with the big holes and all, but at least I felt like we had some sense of privacy.

Her bag made a light thump as I set it on the table and looked at her. She was leaning against my small kitchen counter. Were all her belongings in that bag? The protective instinct in me started to filter through my thoughts, but I wasn’t going to let it out. This was all one big misunderstanding, anyway.

“Let’s hear it.” She looked comfy as she hopped up onto the counter.

“If you already know what I’m gonna say then why are you still here?” I retorted, feeling slightly asshole-ish for blurting it out instead of being the calm one.

“Because you obviously still don’t remember, but I didn’t make a mistake marrying you. I chose to do it, because I saw something in you that I wanted to be with. So I will not be going anywhere.” She started playing with her nails like this was a boring topic and that there was something better to focus on.

“I don’t remember shit,” I bit out and dropped onto the bench next to the table.

“Look, you saw I’ve got other stuff going on in my life, and I could hurt you. Even by accident. I’m not meant to be with anyone. You seem like a nice woman. But you are way better without me. So let’s just wait this month out separately, and then get it annulled. You can find someone that can’t break your bones from having a nightmare at night.” It was as truthful as I could get with her.

She looked at me and slowly slid off the counter before she walked over to me. Like a lioness, her eyes were locked on her prey: me.

“You see, Leon? This guy right here, the vulnerable one? That’s the guy that locked me in, and I’m not going anywhere. Nothing is going to change my mind once it’s made up.” She stood in front of me and reached down to lift my hand to examine it.

“I’ve had many broken bones by the hands of men. Despite your extra gift, you would never hurt me. Not even by accident. You might not remember it, but you were the one to ask me to marry you. You saw something in me that you wanted to keep.” She patted my hand then set it back down.

Chapter Seven

Lilith

 

He looked at me, and I knew he heard me loud and clear. But he wasn’t going to accept it. He was still out to protect himself from hurting anyone else. Stubborn man.

But he was my man, and I wasn’t backing down. I’d just have to prove to him that we made the right decision. This was no light matter for me; I’d chosen to marry him after I had decided years ago I wouldn’t marry again unless it was to the man I truly wanted to be with forever.

“I can’t do this.” He stood and started moving toward the door. I probably should have stopped him, but I could tell he needed more time to process this new info of me not going anywhere. He had probably hoped I would call this thing one big mistake and wait out the month without him as he planned.

“See you later, honey,” I called out to him as he left, using the pet name that wasn’t truly his. He would get Star back when the man I married was back.

I looked around, thinking about what to do until he returned. I wasn’t going to stay here; I hadn’t really brought anything to add to his home because I knew he was going to fight this. No sense in packing everything up just to be tossed out. Plus the life of a minimalist did have its appeal. Half of the stuff that cluttered my home was just that, clutter. I didn’t care for most of it; it was just there.

My stomach growled, and I decided to look for some food.

He didn’t have too much, but I found some fruity cereal and made it my bitch.

Once my belly was full, I quickly became bored. I needed to do something as I waited for Leon to either come home or hide somewhere, so I could find him.  I was good at finding people, so he could run, but I would follow. He wasn’t going to get out of this month easily with me. Nope. I was going to fight for him, whether he thought himself worthy or not.

With my purse in tow, I left the boat and went out into Seahill to find some mischief.

Using the special bronze key to the small warehouse I’d rented a year ago, I grinned as I opened the door to see my favorite place to be.

I set my bag on the plush purple love seat that was to my right and slipped off my heels. Turning back around, I locked the door and pushed down my skirt until it lay in a puddle on the floor. Freedom.  I had a love-hate relationship with clothes. I loved them because of how fun they were, but there was nothing like being able to move and being in your own skin.

In nothing but my cropped shirt and lace panties, I walked over on my dancer’s feet toward my silks.

My fingers lightly grazed the soft material, like a lover’s touch. Silks had been my only reprieve from the dangers of my mind for a while. I’d finally gotten control of myself, but there had been a time where the only silence I could get was when I was all tangled up in my silks, hanging from the ceiling.

I walked around it once before gripping tight above my head and began pulling myself up the strong fabric till I was about halfway up. Aerial dance was not for the weak; you had to be strong to hold yourself up and move with grace.

“Play ‘Make It Rain,’” I told my little electronic slave, and the sexy, sultry beats of Ed Sheeran’s version of the bluesy song started to echo around the space. 

The music wrapped itself around my skin, and I let my body move with the flow, dancing with the two long, silk fabrics as my only hold onto the earth.

Twisting, turning, upside down, and all around…My mind was on silent as I moved with the music.

When my muscles ached from the exertion of strength, I tied the silks together into a hammock and cocooned myself inside it, letting my mind slowly open, one section at a time.

With my eyes closed, I started to think of the look in Leon’s eyes when I knew he was mine forever.

It was the look that would drive me to do anything for him. To protect him, to bring him back from his pit of despair.

That look was burned into my brain.

Wanting to see where his head was now, and if he had gone back to the boat, I decided it was time to get dressed and go find out.

I was probably a mile down the street when I spotted the familiar face of the man I was looking for, but he wasn’t alone. Instead of walking right up to him, I stood to the side of the brick building between us and eavesdropped instead.

“Stay at the Society for the rest of the month. You don’t have to participate unless you want to; I’ll give you a key card if you change your mind.  I’ll also fix your boat up, and when the month is over, we part ways with no expectations.” The stranger spoke to him with confidence, as if knowing very well Leon was going to take him up on his offer. It does sound like a good one; Leon can hide from me, and not be a part of what this man is actually up to. Although he obviously wanted Leon very badly to do so much with no guarantee of return.

“Probably don’t even need to answer; you know I’m gonna do it, Phillip.”  Leon shook hands with the blond man, and then he was handed a little card.

“Get your stuff and meet me at Pizza Pazza in say, like an hour? I’ll show you around.” The blond man named Phillip walked off, and Leon stood there, looking at the key card, unsure of the choice he’d made. Interesting. Looks like I’ve got some work ahead of me.

First, I need to find out what is happening here. Who is Phillip? And what is this society that he wants Leon to be a part of?

Without letting my husband catch a glimpse of me, I strutted off toward my friend Mina’s lair.

Mina’s place was at the top of one of the tallest condo-rises in Seahill. She had a weird complex about being ruler of the world, so the need to see all of her pretend domain was her goal. Meh, who was I to judge?

I knocked three times, and then waved at the camera that was in the upper left corner of her door. Security freak, but if there was ever a zombie apocalypse, I knew I would be very safe here.

“Lilith. Came to finish your handiwork, huh? What’s it this time? Rearrange my drawers so I have no ideas where my panties are this time? Switch my sugar with salt?” Her sweet voice echoed over the little intercom speaker that was eyelevel to the left of the door.

“Nope! Just came to witness the magic of the almighty ruler of Seahill.”  I sweetened my voice a little, knowing she loved to be flattered.

“I know you’re just messing with me, but I love hearing it anyway.” She opened up, and I twirled in as she shut the door behind me.  Her condo was really big, but was covered with all sorts of pop culture memorabilia. Mina was a big nerd, and I loved her for it.

“What’s up?” she asked while moving back over to her laptop that was sitting next to a few empty cans of energy drinks. I looked her over and wondered how her little petite heart didn’t give out from all that sugar.

She looked at me with her cute, green eyes that had black liner around her lids, making them pop. Her blonde hair was long but piled high in a very messy bun. All in all, she looked like your average angsty young adult. Family issues. She also lives on a really shitty diet, but must have great metabolism to keep her short, skinny frame so tiny—a small frame that was currently dressed in a Chewbacca onesie.

“I wanna get some info on someone. Up for a challenge?”  I plopped down next to her.  She looked at me with excited eyes. I could have figured out who Phillip was without her, but I liked to give her something to do for me every once in a while.

“Of course. Give me all the deets.” She started typing away on her laptop as I described Phillip.

“Oh hell, I don’t even need to use my laptop for this one.” She looked at me like I was a dumbass for not figuring it out right off the bat.  I stared at her with a waiting grin.

“Phillip Griffin? The hottest and most important man in all of Seahill?”

Obviously I was supposed to know that, but unless he was a criminal, I wouldn’t pay much attention to him.

“Okay, give me more.” I gestured for her to continue on.

“Ah, he owns Griffin Enterprises, leading the world in clean energy and technology. He’s at least a millionaire. Has a nice family, one sister.  As far as I know, he doesn’t have any bad extracurricular activities. What’s going on?” She was very curious.

“He was talking to my husband today, and offered him a safe space to hide from me until he can get our marriage annulled. He also said something about a society, too. Just wanting to figure out what all I may be getting into via the hubs, ya know?” Life of a married woman.

She looked at me, a series of weird expressions crossing her face.

“Chill your face. I feel like you’re either going to fart or have a stroke,” I told her.

“You got married?” she muttered in confusion.

“Yeah, two nights ago, where’ve you been?”

“Uh, I’m confused.” She looked like she just found out her favorite computer program was designed by a baker.

“You’re the all-knowing, remember? You should have notifications on my name so it would have popped up when our marriage was registered. I’m honestly a little sad you didn’t know.” I faked heartbreak, dabbing at pretend tears. She rolled her eyes and was back to normal again.

“I don’t stalk you, you know.”

“Yeah, but apparently you put a little extra attention toward Mr. Griffin.” I waggled my eyebrows and smiled knowingly. Her cheeks blushed.

“Now to figure out my next move.” I contemplated how this was going to go down. Obviously I wouldn’t let Leon hide, so I was going to need into this society too. More digging, it seemed, was next on my next agenda. What is this society?

Chapter Eight

Leon

 

I’d been in this apartment for a week, doing nothing but watching TV and eating food from the restaurant below. I was bored, and feeling the need to get out. After making sure my keycard was in my pocket, I left for the elevator. For a few seconds I just stood there, looking at the buttons:B2,B1,P,AG1, AG2, and T. Phillip had explained what they meant, and before I could stop myself, I hit the button B2. 

Curiosity had won me over for now, but I was still dead-set on not joining their club. As soon as this month of hiding was over, I was going to take Lily Blue out and not come back for a few weeks. Maybe I’ll convince Charles to come with me. He liked being out on the water, but lately he’d been throwing himself into work. Rebuilding gadgets and shit for people. He could do it from a boat, in my opinion.

The doors opened up to reveal the large training room I was told about.

“It’s been a week; we need him now more than ever.” Rose was sparring with the immortal man, Draco.

“Patience,” he told her as he tried to grip his arms around her body, but she got out of it and moved to kick his legs out from under him. She wasn’t strong enough to truly move him like that, but it was a nice effort.

“We don’t have a lot of time, Draco. Emanuel could come at us again at any time.” She growled in frustration. I’m not sure if it was from her failed attempts to bring him down, or the fact that I hadn’t joined their club yet.

I stepped into the room, and both sets of eyes turned to me.

“Sup.” It was all I could manage to say.

Both of them stopped their training, and Rose looked embarrassed to have been caught talking about me.

“Cool place.” They had all sorts of gym equipment, weapons that I’d only seen in movies, and a large sparring area.

“Phillip designed it all. He did a good job,” Rose commented and walked over to where a towel and bottled water sat waiting for her.

I nodded and walked around, feeling awkward in their silence.

“Hope the apartments have been okay for you. Draco’s been staying in them too until we get his cabin rebuilt. I like them.” She was rambling, and it was sort of amusing.

Draco shook his head, seeing the same humor in her behavior as I did.

“It’s nice.” 

“Great.” She smiled and looked at Draco expectantly. He returned her stare, and there was nothing on his side. Completely unreadable.

“Swell.” She set her stuff down and walked over to me in a very take-charge way.

“I know you don’t wanna join us, but really, I don’t think you see how important this all is—what we are trying to do here. And I’ve got a month to convince you that we are exactly what you need.” She stopped about two feet away from me. Slowly Draco walked over to stand behind her, protection should she need it. I wasn’t angry or feeling anything right now, so there wasn’t any need for that.

“Superheroes, right?” I would let her try to recruit me; at least it would give me some entertainment for the time.

“Right. Well, heroes. If you’ll let us. We can sit down with you and talk it all out in detail. Starting with where our powers came from, and why we were chosen.” She looked at me with a sad smile.

Her words struck something inside me. They might have answers to the question I’d been asking myself for so many years: Why me?

“You know why I have these powers?” I stepped closer to her in eagerness. Draco wrapped a hand around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

She rolled her eyes at his hold and shrugged out of it.

“Yes. Please just sit with us, and we can explain everything,” she pleaded and I nodded for her to get started.

“Great. Draco will tell you the origins up in the chill room while I shower, then I’ll join in after I’m clean.” She smiled, and then walked off, I’m assuming toward the locker rooms.

“She’s very animated. Right to the point, though.” I watched her as she opened the door to the room, and then my eyes landed on her boyfriend’s.

“That she is.” He was watching me, trying to figure me out. I was a pretty easy one to crack.

He led me up one floor to the chill room, which had a sofa, two large chairs, a big screen TV, and all the electronics to compliment it. 

“So you lost your home? Fire? Burglary?” I was out of my element here, so I decided small talk might help. I was shit at it, but I tried.

“Explosion.” He said it without emotion, just like he had told me the color of his mailbox. His answer was not what I was expecting.

I stayed quiet and waited for him to get started on his story.

He watched me, and his stare felt like it was inside my soul, reading all my secrets like they were written on a piece of paper.

“Got any family members named Louisa?” he asked randomly.

Thinking back, I tried to remember any family members with that name, but came up short. Once my parents didn’t want me anymore, I stopped caring about the Daniel family history.

“Not that I know of.” I was getting a little impatient for the origin story, as Rose had called it.

“Very well,” he said then launched into a fantastical tale of the Greek gods, and how they put all their powers into the world of men so that heroes would be born to protect their fellow humans.  It was hard to believe, but then again so was having super-strength and inhuman speed. 

Rose came in shortly after Draco had finished his story and started talking about everything else. It was a large information dump on my brain, but I listened.  They were training to be who the gods had wanted them to be, protectors of mankind. Draco had been a general in ancient Greece and was chosen to be the leader of us with powers. Our teacher. A slight tinge of familiar resentment ran through my head as I thought about how his long absence affected people like us, not knowing what was happening to us or why. I could see how the other society had formed, the bad one. Rose said they wanted to reign over man using their gifts.

The Raven, or Emanuel, as was his given name, sounded like a bad dude, and truthfully I wanted even less to do with either of these societies after I heard their tale. It was deep shit, and I had enough going on. All this information didn’t change anything for me. I was a freak, and despite the well wishes of the gods, I was not superhero material. Heroes didn’t hurt people. I had. I was no hero.

“So now you know why we need you, and why you need us. You don’t have to be alone anymore with your powers. Draco can work with you, help you learn to control them, so you won’t be afraid anymore.”  She obviously had been in my head, reading my emotions as I was feeling them.

“I’m not your man. Seems like there are tons of people out there with gifts, since they’ve gone unchecked for fifty years.” It was a stab at Draco, and he didn’t even flinch with my words. I stood and thought about my next words carefully, so I wouldn’t piss anyone off more than I might have already.

“Thanks for telling me all this. Really. But I just want to finish my deal with your brother, then head out to sea on my boat.” 

Her body deflated some, but then she pushed her shoulders back up. Unwilling to give up the fight.

“Our first recruit died before she could join us. People are being taken, and their powers sucked out of them. Others are dying every day, and we have a chance to save them.  You can sit on your boat and watch the world of man burn, but one day you’re going to realize you are part of this, whether you wanted to be or not.  We will always rise above and fight the shadows, even after there is no light. So hide on your boat, but sooner or later you’re going to get dragged into this fight, either willingly or by your last fucking breath. Choice is yours.” She stormed out of the room, anger pouring from her like a flooding faucet.

“Sharp-tongued warrior,” Draco muttered, and I couldn’t have agreed more.

Chapter Nine

Leon

 

After Rose had left, Draco followed after her with a determined look on his face. If I guessed his attitude, it looked like he was going to screw the frustration out of her. 

Not wanting to run into anymore people and be chastised for my decisions, I walked out of the room, then straight up to my temporary home.

My body flopped onto the bed, my mind reeling from everything they’d told me.

Gifts from the gods of old. Well, that special gene did not get this one right. I was no hero.

Despite being angry about so many things because of these powers, a small section of that resentment broke apart from the rest. I had been given an answer to the question of why me, something I’d been holding on to since that football game where everything changed. 

But did I really still think I could continue on with my life as it had been going? 

I wished I knew.

My powers were too much for me, and I never learned to do anything with them. Didn’t want to.

The impending war coming between the heroes and Raven’s society was also something I didn’t want to care about, but Rose’s words kept echoing in my head.

Willing or with my last breath, I would be dragged into it.  I could outrun it, and maybe that’s what I would still do.

A groan bubbled up from my chest.

I wanted to be left alone! No Hero Society and no wife.

All had been quiet when it came to her. She didn’t have my cell number, or know how to find me. So as soon as the month was over, she and I would be finished.

“Stay the course,” I told myself.

Get annulled, and go out on the boat. Nothing should change. I was a danger to those around me, and the more I was around these people, the more I would see the appeal and try to stay. If they ended up hurt by my powers…

I shuddered, thinking about it. No, I couldn’t handle anyone else’s life being at the mercy of my powers.

Charles was enough. Losing my parents was enough. 

Closing my eyes, I tried to calm my thoughts so I wouldn’t flip out and destroy the apartment. 

Slowly, after some deep breaths, I was feeling better. I could do this. Wait it out.

The ringing of my cell startled me, and I reached over to see a number I didn’t recognize.

After letting it go to voicemail, I hit the play button and listened as Phillip asked if I could come down to B1.  No other explanation as to why, but I was wanted.

I didn’t really owe him anything for doing all this for me—he was holding out that I would join them, but I still felt compelled to do as he asked. He hadn’t done anything but be nice as hell to me, and didn’t deserve shitty treatment. None of them did.

He met me at the elevators as soon as they opened on B1.

“Thanks for coming.” He smiled, and then led me down the long hallway that had two doors on each side and a picture of a black-haired girl with glasses at the end, next to a large painting of a helmet with wings.

“Our emblem. And the girl was the first recruit that passed,” he commented, knowing what I was thinking.

He walked down and opened the last door on the left. It was like something out of the CIA. Computers everywhere. Very out of my element in here, I just stood against the wall while Phillip re-introduced me to AJ, the resident kid genius.

“Hey, man, nice to see you.” He nodded at me and got right to business pushing all the buttons.

“I know Rose and Draco told you everything, and I know you are still not ready to say yes. But we are in a pickle, and I thought you would have some knowledge, given your water expertise.” Phillip looked at me, and it was weird knowing that he knew everything all the time. Should I really even speak? Didn’t he know what I was going to say?

“I don’t know everything. It’s all in percentages, if you will. Some visions have a higher chance of happening than others, but it’s still not set in stone. I can’t see if that percent of you joining will come true or not. It could go either way. Once you solidify your decision, it’ll go in one direction.” He winked at me, and I felt like lashing out in denial. I was not joining, end of that.

“I probably can’t help, but what’s the issue?” I tried to change the subject.

“It has to do with the water.” Phillip started talking but before he could continue, a semi-loud siren went off. Within a minute, Rose and Draco were both running into the room.

“What’s going on?” she asked, and all eyes were on the computer screens.

“AJ?” Phillip asked, but his face held no concern, which was odd. He actually looked like he was amused.

“Oh, hell.”  AJ laughed, and then my eyes moved to the screen.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I cursed.

There she was.

In the live feed of the elevator to get into the headquarters, was none other than my wife. Lilith. How the hell did she get in? How did she know to look here for me?

“Who is that?” Draco asked, looking at her like she was the enemy.  She wasn’t an enemy to them, but apparently there was a lot I didn’t know about her. Like how she was a stalker.

“My wife,” I murmured, and felt their eyes fall to me, staring.

“I didn’t invite her in! I’m here to avoid seeing her, so don’t give me the looks.”  What the hell?

“She’s been doing her homework this week. She broke in.” Phillip looked at her with a bit of awe in his eyes.  We all looked back to the screen, and she grinned and waved enthusiastically at the camera. The elevator hadn’t moved, and she was trapped inside, a security problem. AJ flipped a switch and the sound was activated.

“Hi, guys! I was just coming to check on my honey bun.” She grinned and twirled in her torn skinny jeans, oversized sweater, and black high heels.

“You gonna let me in? I promise I won’t bite ya. Well, except you, baby, I know you’d like a little love nibble,” she cooed. I could feel the blush creeping up the back of my neck.

The woman was crazy.

Without thinking, I pressed the button to the intercom so I could talk back to her. At least I hoped it was the right button.

“How the fuck did you find me?” I bit out.

“Aw, I missed you too, baby. It really wasn’t that hard. I’m good at finding people. It’s kinda my thing.” She winked and started to sway with the imaginary elevator music that was going on in her head.

“She’s crazy.” I looked at them, brow creasing as I realized that Draco, Phillip, and AJ were all holding back laughter. Rose was the only one that looked even slightly concerned.

“I’m kinda getting bored in here, so if ya’ll could let me down, that would be great.”  Everyone, minus me, lost it after that. Laughter filled the room, while I was freaking out.

“Seriously. This is not funny! How did she find me?”

“Oh, hey, I forgot to mention. I can help you guys out with a little problem you got. Emanuel?  The guy from the club that the hottie blond and the stoic guy with the man bun were following?”  All laughter died very quickly.

“Let her in,” Draco demanded, and AJ hit the button to make the elevator come down to our level.

“Some heroes you guys are,” I cursed. Couldn’t even save me from my crazy wife.

 

Chapter Ten

Lilith

 

“I’m up for being kinky with you, honey, but I think having all your friends with us for our first time is a little excessive.” I crinkled my nose, looking at all the faces staring at me. My hands were cuffed behind my back as I sat on a chair in a holding room.

Leon stood against the wall and rolled his eyes at me. Obviously he hadn’t changed his mind about me during our week apart.

“What do you know?” Phillip demanded, sitting across from me.

“We couldn’t have sat around a camp fire or something to talk? I’m not a criminal.”  Not anymore, at least.

“We actually don’t know anything about you, besides your name is Lilith Sage, and you dance at Club V. So I apologize for the cuffs, but you understand the reason for caution.” He gave me a sympathetic smile, and I shrugged.  He had a point.

“And you are married to Leon,” he added for fun, and I winked at my love. Leon stifled a strangled noise and I laughed out loud.

“So, we should get to the point then, so I can take these bad boys with me for later?” I lifted the now opened cuffs up and set them on the table between us. They were easy to get out of, so I didn’t really get the shocked look in their eyes as I wiggled to get comfy in my seat and started speaking.

“Alrighty then! So I’ll start off by telling you guys a little about me. I’m not special folk like you guys. I’m normal. Well, not one hundred percent normal. But I don’t have any super powers.” I smiled and kept going; they all just kept staring at me like they didn’t know how to react.

“I was groomed to be a spy at the ripe age of eleven, and was used for my skills until about 3 years ago, when I decided I didn’t want anyone using me anymore, so I just killed everyone and got my freedom.” I laughed, thinking about that night. The look on the men’s faces, who thought they had control of me when they met their fatal end, was what gave me peace at night.

“Oh, but don’t worry. I don’t kill people anymore. Nope. I just like to dance, and enjoy being my own liberator. YOLO and all that.” I held up a peace sign to add the extra sign of innocence between us.

“What the fuck? Are you kidding me right now? I married a friggin’ assassin?” Leon ran his hands down his face.

“Ew. Assassin is such a crude word. I preferred spy goddess divine.” I nodded at the correction of my old title.

“Back to Emanuel. What do you know?” Phillip ignored Leon and all the alarmed vibes coming from everyone behind him.

“He’s been scouting all the baddies, looking for people with powers. He’s found a few, but wants more of an army type of number. Not just a basketball team.” There wasn’t any indication if they knew that information or not but I kept on going. I was ready to be done with this conversation and move on to better things on my itinerary—like getting that look of panic off Leon’s face.

“Since you guys blew up his old base, he had to move it. I’ve only had a week to look around while figuring out what you guys were up to, but it seems he has taken to the water for his new secret lair.”

Phillip and the young, punk-looking teenager looked at each other, and the expressions on their face told me something was clicking in their heads, with the information I’d brought. I’d made sense to them. Of course I did; I knew what I was talking about.

“So, we all good here?” I smiled, and Leon looked like he was going to puke. I wanted to hurry up and take care of him.

Phillip looked around the room at everyone else, seeing if there was anything they wanted to ask me.

“Give me your hand?” The blonde with the sexy birthmark walked over and held her hand out to me.

“Lilith Sage. Pleasure to meet ya.” I placed mine in hers for a quick shake, but then she held on for a few beats longer than what felt appropriate. Her eyes stared at me with curiosity, and it made me a little uncomfortable.

“Honey, you know I’m married, right?” I gestured toward Leon, and she seemed to have snapped out of it. The look in her eyes now though was not what I was expecting, and one I didn’t want to see. Ever.

Pity.

“Someone went digging and found some skeletons, didn’t they?” I probed.

“I’m an empath, and can feel emotions,” she said softly, and more than anything I wanted her to stop giving me the sad eyes.

“Well, I bet you can tell how much I want to talk to my honey bun over there, so if that’s all you need from me, I think we are done here.” I rose, and the tall one that had cut off his man bun stepped closer to the empath, ready to interfere should I attack. As if. Retired spy goddess divine, remember?

“I do have something else to ask you.” Phillip stood as well, and looked at me with complete confidence in his eyes. Interesting.

“I want to offer you a spot in the Hero Society. Not to be used, but to help people of your own free will.”  I laughed and looked at him with a big smile on my face. The rest of the crew looked at him in surprise, but none opposed his decision. They trusted him completely.

“Of course, silly, as soon as husband dear comes around, we would love to be a part of your team. Saving the world and all. Sounds like such an adventure.” I clapped my hands together in celebration. I wasn’t expecting this, but it was nice to be in such a nice, warm, family environment. If I was being honest with myself, I had been missing the excitement of work. At least I would be doing this with Leon by my side and for the good of mankind, instead of evil. 

“Problem. I’m not fucking joining, and I don’t wanna fucking be married to you, crazy woman. I don’t want any of this shit,” Leon cursed. Everyone turned toward him now.

“He’s got some issues going on. But don’t worry. My Leon is a very good man. I know he’ll be on board soon.”  Of that I was one hundred percent sure. Eventually his poor-me attitude would drain away from his soul, and he would really help the world. He was meant for this. As soon as I’d found out about the Hero Society, I knew this was where he belonged—with these people, and doing good.  He was special; I’d seen it from the beginning, and I was going to help him see it too.

“Jesus Christ. You’re all mad if you let her in this, let alone think I want any part of it. I’m out of here.” He threw his hands up and jerked the door open so hard it broke free from the jamb.

“Dammit!” He set the door down and stormed off.

I was about to go get him when Phillip stopped me.

“Here.” He handed me a little card.

“Your card to get in without the theatrics.” 

I tilted my head to the side; he knew I was going to join?

“I can see the future. Not all of it is set in stone, but I knew you’d come, and you would be good for us. Plus, my sister would have spoken up by now if you had any intentions to harm us.” He looked at Rose, and she nodded with a half-smile.  I really wished she would have stayed out of my emotions. Too many were always running around in my head, and it wasn’t a nice place to be for my own self most of the time, let alone someone else trespassing.

“Awesome. We are all going to be best friends.” I grinned and went to walk after my man.

“He’s heading toward the bay. Give him about a ten-minute start, then he’s going to need you,” Phillip told me and I nodded. Nice to have a little future insight, could be handy here and there. Like where my phone was when I lost it.  Happens all the time.

Chapter Eleven

Leon

 

Everyone had lost their damn mind.

I thought Phillip had given me a safe place to hide out, but instead he invited the wolf right into the club with him. I didn’t care if my boat was fixed or not; I was taking her out and getting the hell away from everyone.

I shot a text to Charles, letting him know I would be at sea for a bit, and he just replied to hit him up when I got back.

He was lucky he didn’t have to deal with all of this stuff. He was normal. Paralyzed, but still normal.

As I neared Lily Blue, I noticed a figure walking on my boat that shouldn’t be there.

“Hey! Get the fuck off my boat!” I called out, and he turned to look at me calmly. My blood was already burning from everything that happened just before so he picked a bad time to be calm around me.

“Leon,” he said like he knew me, which was not the case. The closer I got, I noticed he looked just like the guy who was staring at me from the parking lot of Charles’s complex. Had I been put on some stalkers’ website? First the Society, then my wife, and now this guy.

“Look, whatever you’re here for, I’m not interested in. Now get off my boat before you take a swim in the cold water.” I hopped on Lily Blue after giving him the easy way out, glaring.

His tall form did not seem intimated by me at all. His brown eyes looked almost amused at my threats.

“Not a people person, are you, Mr. Daniels?” he asked while leaning against the metal rails that prevented him from going over.

“Seriously? I’m not up for a chat. If you don’t get off my boat, I’m going to knock you off it.” I was losing every bit of my patience that was left.

He shook his head and started talking, despite my threat. I looked at him like he was nuts. Dark brown skin, no hair on his head, and a brown, trimmed beard grew on his jaw. He was wearing a proper suit. Not a fighter, or anyone that could face me and have a chance.

“You’ve got a gift, one you should stop trying to hide to the world. Your powers were meant for so much more. I want to help you let the man you were born to be free.”

Great. Someone else wanting me for my powers. I was done with that. No one was getting me on their team.

I walked over to him, my fists clenched.

Without another word, I lifted my arm and cocked it back with inhuman speed before letting it go toward his face.

But he wasn’t there. Nor was he in the water.

“I’d hoped we could talk about this in a pleasant manner. But I guess you need things to be more direct. Join me, or I will take your powers, and you will die. It’s quite simple. I won’t let them have you. So it’s be with me, or it’s the end of you.” He stood just on the bow of the boat, eight feet in front of me. Fuck, he must have powers, too.

I watched him as he waited for my answer. Join him or die.

“You must be Emanuel,” I guessed.  His lip curled at the name, and he shook his head, making the vertebra crack in his neck.

“Time to decide.”He was now the one giving me the ultimatum. I wasn’t worried. I was fast, and strong. While I wasn’t completely in control of my powers, they were mostly instinctual. No true need for thought.

I saw his eyes look behind me, and I turned to see one big man stepping onto my boat. Great.

“You know what. This may be just what I need to work off my frustrations.”  I suddenly didn’t feel annoyed by a fight. I could kick someone’s ass for therapy right now.

“Your answer,” Emanuel demanded.

“Fuck off, you Raven shit. I’m not joining you or them.”  The man descended on me just as I finished giving him my answer.

I was ready for him.

Until he came at me with electricity sparking from his fingers. Electricity and water were a big no-no.

Fuck. To run away fast? Or break them and get a little shock treatment in the process.

I looked back at Emanuel and he was rolling up his sleeves, readying himself for battle. Shit. They weren’t messing around here.

My gaze moved back and forth, waiting for someone to make a move, and it looked like electric boy was going to make his first. Just then something black blurred into my vision, hitting him on the back of his head. A shoe? His eyes narrowed in pure hatred, then he turned around. I followed his eyes and let out a sigh.

Lilith was walking on the dock with a shoe in her hand, and the other was now lying behind bad guy number two.

She didn’t have a look of anger, or malice. She was smiling, which was somehow scarier. Especially knowing part of her history.

“Afternoon, boys!” She hopped onto the boat and strutted over to the man who was ready to zap her. He looked back at Emanuel, who nodded as if to say go for it.

She was maybe about a foot away from him when he reached over to touch her, not expecting her to put up a fight. Boy was he wrong. Even I didn’t expect Lilith to duck away from his hand, spin around, then jam the heel of her shoe into his shoulder like a freaking weapon.

Both Emanuel and I were standing there with our mouths hanging open in shock.

The man let out a guttural scream and fell to the ground, pulling out her spiked heel.

Holy shit.

“No one messes with my Star.” She walked toward me, her eyes on Emanuel, daring him to make a move.

Star. The word was so simple, but it stirred something inside of me that shouldn’t be present in the current situation.

Warmness. I felt warm, in a good way. Like happiness was wrapping itself around me. All from her calling me Star. Weird. She’d used it that first morning when she woke up in my bed, too.

“Well, my dear. You are quite the surprise. I will give you the same offer I gave Mr. Daniels and the same consequence if you choose his answer. We could use a woman of your talents. Join me, or die with your Star.” He stood his ground and watched Lilith with an intense stare. He really wanted her on his side, maybe even enjoying the look of her more than his admiration for her quick reflex to maim.

She wrapped her arms around me, and I stood still.

“I go where my husband goes. So fuck off, Emanuel.”  I smirked at her and to both bad guys that shook their heads. Electric man was bleeding very badly, but it didn’t stop him from coming at us just as Emanuel did too.

“I’m going to take your powers. Not a complete waste,” he growled, and I was just about to push Lilith into the water so she wouldn’t get hurt when Emanuel was on me quicker than I could have reacted. Fine, I’ll fight speed with speed.

I threw a punch, and he dodged it, throwing one back at me and while I was quick enough to move away, it was clear he had training that I did not. 

Lilith was fairing fine with her attacker, and he was getting more pissed by the second to be losing.

“Aw, come on, Sparky. Can’t defeat a sweet little woman like me?” she taunted him, and he roared in rage, amping the internal current he was channeling. The hairs on my arms were starting to rise, and I felt the vibrations of static in the air. Things were going down a bad path.

Emanuel tightly gripped my hair and slammed my face against the railing. Shit, he was fast. I came back swinging, but this was a very unmatched fight. I was no killer. I could fight like any other guy, but this man was trained to defeat his enemy. Blood swam in my mouth, and I realized my arrogance was going to be the literal end of me. Shit.

I caught Lilith’s eyes and saw the shock in her face, then she kicked her man in the chest hard, knocking him back a few feet, just enough to get back over to me.

Emanuel gripped my neck, and I felt the power in the air shake. He was going to take my powers from me.

For a moment I thought good riddance, but then reality sat in, and I knew I would die.

Instead of knocking Emanuel back like I thought she would have, Lilith wrapped her arms around me in a tackle and over the edge of the boat we went.

A searing pain ripped through my arm as we hit the water.

My eyes opened, adjusting to the salty water, Lilith was doing the same and having more difficulty than I was. I looked up and saw bullets being shot into the water.  Shit.  Lilith was trying hard not to go up for air and get shot, but she was starting to thrash around with her arms around me holding her down.

Lacing my fingers around her tightly, I swam us far away in seconds. Both of us gasped for air as soon as I took us above the surf, our lungs burning from the lack of oxygen.

I heard an explosion and even before I looked in the direction of my boat, I knew Lily Blue was gone.

“You okay?” I looked at the woman floating in my arms.  She was oddly calm, despite everything we had been through.

“Yep. You’ve got a bullet in your arm, though. We should probably get that out. Your face looks like shit, but hopefully the salt water will clear that up in no time.” She looked at me, and I realized that in that moment, I didn’t feel the need to run from her. 

“You saved my life.” My hand lifted up to push her long black hair away from her eyes.

“Not letting you get out of our marriage that easy. Just because he said ‘till death do us part’ didn’t mean you get to run right into death’s arms to get away from me.”  She grinned in jest.

I didn’t have anything to say after that. Honestly, I felt like I’d gotten smacked upside the head in a very violent way for being so damn stubborn.

I couldn’t run anymore from the shit going on around me. That was for sure.

Chapter Twelve

Lilith

 

My husband was a trooper.

Soaking wet, we walked together back to the headquarters. It was the only place to go right now that had what we needed: a medical facility that wouldn’t ask questions, and a safe space for Leon to stay. I would offer up my home, but I doubt he would be up for that. I still had to break down his walls he had up against me before sleepovers at my place.

Phillip was waiting for us with a stack of dry clothes. The water had been a bit chilly since it was almost the beginning of winter here, so those bags were super appreciated.

“We’ve got to get the bullet out,” I told Phillip, and he led us to the medical room I knew they had. With all the work they were doing, how could they not? He set the bags in the room and left, closing the door behind him, showing not one bit concerned for Leon.  He probably knew I was very capable of taking care of this.

“Sit.” Leon did as I said, not fighting me one bit.

I grabbed what I needed and looked him in the eyes.

“Sorry, baby, this isn’t going to be anything like sliding into a wet pussy. It’s going to hurt like hell.”  I felt bad he was going to be in pain, but it had to come out. He nodded and clenched his jaw in preparation.

I used the tongs and went into his skin. It was maybe a few seconds before I had what I needed.

The ting of the bullet hitting the metal pan let him know it was over. He didn’t even flinch. The cut on his face from hitting the railing would heal over time, nothing I could do about that.

I went about giving him a few stitches then wrapping it up as best as I could.

His eyes were on my face, and I felt his mind moving a mile a minute in there.

“Thinking mighty hard over there, aren’t you?” I turned and moved to the bag. Dry clothes sounded really good right now.

There was a set of men’s clothing, obviously for him, and a smaller pair of sweatpants and a shirt meant for me. There were also two towels inside as well. Easy enough.

My hands went to my shirt, and I lifted it up and over, dropping it to the floor with a loud plop.

“What made you want to marry me?” he asked on a heavy breath. Either the pain or my body was wrecking his brain a little. I didn’t turn around to answer him; instead I pushed down my skinny jeans and began toweling off.

I finished my task and grabbed his towel before finally shifting in his direction.  His eyes were not on my body but locked onto my face and my eyes.

“Here.” I handed him the towel to dry, and went back to the bag to get dressed. He liked my body, everyone did, and even though he didn’t remember it, he was still more enamored by the actual me than my physical form.

“I saw you.  I saw past the anger and resentment of the cards you were given and chose you from the deck. You are special, Leon, and I knew I wanted to lose myself in you.” I answered him honestly; maybe it would help jog his memories some.

My words resonated somewhere inside him—I could see it. But pure recognition never occurred. Our night together was still lost to him.

I waited to see if he was going to run, or fight against me like he’d been.

Instead, he began undressing before me. My eyes were glued to his body that I’d never gotten a good look at. Good Lord, was he magnificent—his muscles moved and flexed as he peeled off his wet clothes. His body was certainly godlike. My mouth ached to smother his skin with my lips.

It wasn’t until he lost his boxers that my brain short-wired. I’d seen plenty of men in my day, and majority of them didn’t do much for me, but Leon…he made my insides weep for his touch. I needed him like I needed to dance.

“I’m sorry I don’t remember us.” He finished drying off and walked over to the bag to grab his clothes. His body was so close I could feel his heat caressing me.  I wanted so badly to jump on him, like a hungry monkey finding a banana. A very sexy, long, and oh-so-thick banana.

“I’m all for reminding you, any time you want.” I was staring at his cock with hungry eyes, right up to the moment he pulled some sweatpants up his legs, covering himself from my gaze.

“I think a do-over would be good.” His words confused me. A do-over? He must have guessed what I was thinking because he answered my internal questions.

“I can’t promise you anything. I still don’t think I am meant to be with anyone. But it doesn’t look like I will be able to run from anything anymore, including you. So might as well start over.” He looked at me, and that complete sincerity I saw in him when we met was shining through. He was done running. Still didn’t wanna be married to me, as far as he could remember, but he was willing to talk to me, and not hide out until his time was up. This I could work with.

“Hiya, I’m Lilith Sage. Dancer, lover of music, and retired spy goddess divine. I recently got married, but the guy didn’t remember me. So I’m going to keep on trying till he lets me in his sweatpants.” I winked at the end of my little introduction.

It was small, but there was a small smile on Leon’s face. There was my star.

“Leon Daniels. Stubborn ass, fisherman, freak with powers, anger issues, and a shitty memory problem after I drink too much.” He held his hand out and I gripped it. But instead of ending it there, I pulled him in, which he was not expecting, and laid a kiss on his lips.

He didn’t kiss me back, and that was somewhat disappointing. Didn’t the old fairytales say that true love’s kiss cures all? Guess it wasn’t true love on his side, yet.

I pulled back my lips, and my hand then went to the door.

“Nice to meet you, Leon.”

People were most likely wanting to talk to us about what happened, and we needed to see where we went from here on.

Leon followed me out, and Phillip was waiting by a door in the hall. He gestured for us to come in. The room was much like a large family room: big screen TV, comfy chairs, a couch, bookshelves, and everything else you could ask for to occupy your time with. Everyone that had been in the containment room with me earlier was now sitting cozy, waiting for us.

“I didn’t catch everyone’s names earlier. Enlighten me?” I plopped down on the couch next to the punk-looking kid. He waved shyly.

“AJ. Computer geek.” He was cute, and oddly familiar. I couldn’t put a finger on it right now, and other introductions directed my attention elsewhere.

“I’m Rose. Empath. And this is Draco, immortal-slash-leader of heroes.” The blonde smiled at her lover. He rolled his eyes, but kept her curled up in his lap. Very cuddly couple. It was cute. Phillip and Leon both took a seat in single chairs, and I grinned at them, ready to get this party started.

“Sorry I’ve been an ass.” Leon was the first to break the ice, which was nice. He had been a little testy earlier, but I could see how all this was hard on him. He liked the solitary life, excepting his one friend by choice. It wasn’t who he was, though. He used to be a social person, based on everything he told me and that I had found out about him.

Like with me, he made no promises to them. He wasn’t thrilled about joining the Society still, but he knew running was not an option anymore.

Progress, in my book!

 

Chapter Thirteen

Leon

 

Lilith and I ran over everything that had happened after I broke their door, which according to Phillip, would hopefully be fixed tomorrow. I’d felt bad about it, and his reassurance helped some.

“And then I tackled him to the water! For being an old football star, he went down pretty easily,” Lilith teased, but it was her bringing up me playing football that caught me off guard.  Football was a sore subject with me. I couldn’t see myself talking to her about it, but I also married a stranger, and I never thought I’d do that either.

“Boat’s blown to shit,” I added, knowing now I truly needed a place to stay, and not to hide from my wife.

Lilith was still completely unknown to me. A crazy unknown. But I owed her, after she saved my life. I could talk to her, and start new, not be the asshole I’d been acting like to everyone who had been nothing but kind to me.

I tried not to let the feelings of self-pity win as everyone in the room started talking about Raven’s possible next move.

“Sounds like Leon needs some training, too,” Rose was saying to Draco, and he nodded. Training?

“Oh, this is going to be fun!” Lilith clapped her hands together in excitement.

“I missed something,” I muttered, looking around.  AJ shook his head at me. Okay, I wasn’t paying attention in the last three minutes. Sue me.

“You need to learn to control your powers, and fight. From what you and Lilith said, you almost lost your battle against Emanuel today. He’s trained to fight; you are not. I also don’t think you’ve ever truly unleashed your powers. They will be raw. You’ll need to get to know them more.” He spoke so matter-of-factly, and I wanted to argue that I didn’t need help; it was second nature to me to not accept anyone’s assistance. But what he said was true: I almost died today, because I was too blind and tunnel-visioned to listen to anyone around me. I thought I could take him with my rage fueling me, and almost lost that wager.

“Okay.” Maybe it would help.

If going by the looks on their sort of shocked faces, I don’t think they expected me to agree so easily. 

“Turns out almost dying changes your attitude.” I shrugged. Really it had a much deeper effect on me than I was letting on.

Out of all the stares coming my way, I felt Lilith’s the most.  She was doing more than just looking at me on the outside, like everyone else. She was peering into my soul, like she was familiar with it, seeing through my calm change to the man that was freaked out that he almost died today. The man that got shot today. Shot!

She didn’t say anything, but the look in her eyes told me she was not done with me. Verdict was still out on how I felt about that.

“Great. Train Leon, start hero work in the city, and somehow hunt down Emanuel. We’ve got this.” Rose was very optimistic with her assessment of the plan I didn’t realize we had. Must have been talked about in the three minutes I was feeling sorry for breaking their door.

There was a silence, where everyone just sat there.

“Oldies are my favorite for dancing.” Lilith filled the quiet with a random fact about herself.   I simply looked at her like she’d lost her mind, but then again, random was Lilith’s motto it seemed.

A minute passed after her announcement, then Rose joined Lilith in the random fact hour.

“My favorite meal is grilled cheese sandwiches.” 

The moment became one to open up to each other, sharing little tidbits about us without going into deep topics.

“When I was born, I had a sixth finger on my right hand.” AJ waved at everyone and you could see the little scar on the side of his hand.

The thought of going around the circle and saying something about ourselves seemed dumb, but when in headquarters, I guess…What the hell, I’ll join.

“My mom almost named me Cleatus. After a singer from the seventies. Thankfully Grandma intervened.” It was something not many knew. Of course Charles did, and he loved to bring it up on many occasions.  The thought reminded me that I needed to call Charles and tell him about the Lily Blue.

“I still don’t understand the big deal about Twitter,” shared Draco, and Rose giggled.

“Old man,” she teased him, and he bent down to give her a kiss that suggested he still had it, for an immortal.

“Even though I know what’s going to happen, I still don’t care to see my sister and her boyfriend making out,” Phillip added quickly, which made everyone bust out into a fit of laughter. That had to be awkward for him.

It had been a long time since I had hung around a group of people like this, and I felt slightly awkward about it. On the boat with the other crab fishermen, I usually kept to myself. They knew I had super strength, after witnessing an accident on the ship, and gave me a wide berth.

“I think a day like this requires pizza.” Rose sighed and tried to stretch in Draco’s lap.

“Oh, yes! I agree!” Lilith exclaimed.

So pizza was ordered, and Phillip went up to get it. He spoiled his sister like none other.

We chatted about inconsequential subjects while we ate, and then everyone went in their own directions, leaving Lilith and me alone in the room. Many things had been running through my mind when it came to her. I was an over thinker, a trait that had only gotten worse over time. It’d been over ten years, and I still wished for the old days, when I was more carefree. Maybe then I wouldn’t drag everyone down all the time.

“Why’d you become a spy?” I blurted out a question I’d been thinking over, and though that shouldn’t have been the first question out of my mouth to open up conversation with her, it was too late to change it.

She tilted her head and then crawled on the couch, catlike, toward me.

“I didn’t choose to,” she purred, and with those long legs of hers, she stretched out and crept in front of me.  I listened with complete attention on her words, and not her seductive body, as she moved to my lap.

“My parents, however illegal it was, sold me as a child to their wealthy friend so they would be set for life.  He had me trained, and then used me for anything he needed. Mostly doing the dirty work for his own illegal operations.” She rubbed against me and closed her eyes. She was a contradiction I couldn’t put my finger on. She was unhinged, but yet a precise killer. She had been abused, and although I didn’t know how far that abuse went, she had mentioned that first day that she’d had broken bones by the hands of men. Right now she sat here on my lap, emitting pure sexual vibes.

“You were just a child.” Her hips swayed across my own, and then her eyes met mine. I saw it then—the vulnerability that she covered up with sexuality.

My hands went to her hips, not to encourage the rhythm but to stop her movement.

“You didn’t deserve that,” I told her, and she looked at my face with a serious gaze.

“I didn’t, but I’m alive, and I am the queen of my universe. The past doesn’t drag me down, Leon, only the thought of not living every day of my freedom the way I want to.” She placed her hands on mine and went back to moving over me.

“I’ve missed your lips, Leon,” she whispered. Despite being unsure about her, and having run from her since I woke up in the boat, everything had changed. I could give her this moment, an escape from the past that was still locked inside her brain, causing chaos.

I thought back to that moment when I first saw her dancing in the cage at the club. I’d wondered what it would have been like to act upon my feelings to walk over and kiss her.

Those lips were waiting for me now, and I would give in. Just for this moment.

Chapter Fourteen

Lilith

 

Every eye was on me as I danced. 

Dancing was my outlet—my place to just let all the warring emotions and memories out of my head.

Right now I was feeling a bit emotional, both happy and sad.

Leon was going to kiss me; I saw it in his eyes. But I couldn’t do it. Instead I kissed his nose, hopped off his lap and told him I needed to go to work, that I’d see him tomorrow.

He was going through a lot, with almost dying and all. Add in my emotional baggage, and he was willing to lay down his lips on mine so I would forget about my past. But it wasn’t the right time. He didn’t truly want to kiss me, and until then, my lips would be sealed.  Hopefully, if all went according to plan, it wouldn’t be that long.

So to my place I went, to shower and change into proper dancing attire, and then walked to work.

The owner, Benny, let me do whatever I wanted at his club. I’d helped him get evidence on his cheating wife a year ago, so he let me come in and dance whenever, and paid me a healthy wage. I got to dance, and no one could touch me. Perfect scenario. If I stopped coming, he wouldn’t stress about it, since I came and went as I pleased. He hadn’t seen me since that night with Leon, and when I passed him at the bar he didn’t even blink. Cage dancers were not the main attraction of the club; they were the props that kept the vibe of dancing alive and well.

But as I danced, I realized things had changed for me since the last time. I no longer cared if men’s eyes were on me. I used to live for the thrill of owning them with the twists of my hips. Instead of feeling sad about that new attitude, I smiled up at the ceiling and laughed. My hands gripped the top of the cage, and I lifted myself up. All I wanted was to dance. Everyone else in this club could go fuck themselves. I had what I wanted, and it wasn’t their eyes.  I was so caught up in the rhythm that I didn’t realize someone was standing next to my cage, waiting to chat.

When my eyes collided with his, I didn’t even stop moving. Not worth my time.

“Lilith.” His voice was like ink being poured over my insides. I should have killed him when I had the chance.

“I miss the sway of your body,” he purred, and instantly that made me want to stop moving, but that would only give him the satisfaction of getting to me. Which I wouldn’t let him see. He couldn’t touch me, and I couldn’t touch him.

“What do you want, Ezra?” I turned to look him in the eye while shifting my body from side to side slowly with the beat.

“Word is, you’ve caught the attention of somebody bad. I’ve come to check on you, Lilith. Despite our current situation, I’ve never stopped caring.”

His tall frame leaned against the cage. Age never seemed to faze him like it did others. Those emerald-green eyes, combined with the perfectly gelled salt-and-pepper hair, made Ezra a lethal silver fox.  He was still in incredible shape, and I knew that shape with all its tattoos very well.

Despite our history, there was always a part of me that wanted his comfort. There were moments in all the chaos where that was the only thing I craved. Then I grew up, and saw him for the monster he truly was.

“Meow,” I purred and wiggled like a cat to the song, letting him know I was done talking to him without telling him to fuck off.

“That mouth.” His fingers reached past the bars to touch my lips with his poisonous hands.

“Such pleasure.”

Before his god-awful hand could reach me, I snapped at him with my teeth like a feral animal. I’d rip those fingers off and spit them back in his face, if I could.

“Such spirit. Goodnight, my little bird.” He smiled at me coldly, and then walked away in his expensive suit. 

Night officially ruined. 

God, I hated that man. Ezra Alistair was the devil, and I had been his little demon doll for too long.

I waited until I knew he was gone from the area before leaving my cage, grabbing my purse, and walking home. I needed a shower, and then who knew. But right now the zombies in my head were all clinging to the fence that held them in, threatening to knock it right down and rain hell over my brain.

As soon as I closed the door behind me to my home, I shucked my clothes off on the way to the shower.  With the water as hot as I could handle, I jumped in and scrubbed every part of my skin that his eyes caressed.

The washcloth had done its job, but I still felt gross. Everything was coming back into the forefront of my head, and I couldn’t do anything but shrink to the ground and put my hands to my head, hoping to keep everything inside.

Hands. Blood. Screams. Bird.

I screamed and started thrashing around, as if it were happening all over again. Despite my eyes being open, it was like I wasn’t even in my own home anymore. I ran from the water’s spray and started destroying everything I could touch.  I wouldn’t ever be used again.

“Fight back!” I screamed at my memories as I demolished everything I had.

“Fight back!”  I cursed until I collapsed on the floor and let my lungs settle, allowing the memories to leak out of my head in the form of tears down my cheeks.

After a few minutes, I started murmuring my motto that slowly patched the wall to protect my sanity.

“Firebirds rise, firebirds fly.”

I repeated the words until I felt my mind calm and my body relax against the carpet.

“Firebirds rise, firebirds fly.”  My eyes closed, and I let myself fall to the seduction of sleep.

Tomorrow I would rise, and bask in the daylight. Chapter Fifteen

Leon

 

“Three point two seconds.” Draco hit the button on the timer. I’d run the mile he asked me to do, and I hadn’t even broken a sweat. We’d been testing my powers all morning out in the woods by his still-destroyed home.

“You gonna rebuild it?” I asked, pointing to the ruins.

“Yep,” he answered with one short word.  Draco wasn’t a big talker, but I could imagine living all those years left him without a lot to say now. All been said.

“So you knew someone with my powers?”  I grabbed the metal bars that he’d left here for me to practice bending.

“A woman. Louisa. She was too cocky with her power. Tried to stop a building from falling but lost control and wound up buried beneath it.” He looked me dead in the eyes, and I knew the story was both true and a warning to me. Don’t be cocky. Got it.

I watched as the metal bent slowly as I pulled the two ends together, but then before I knew it the bar snapped.

“Shit.” This was harder than it looked. I could bend the bars with no issue. The problem was controlling myself enough to just give them a horseshoe curve and not snap them apart.

“Your power wants to work with you, not against you. Breathe in and out. A calm mind is key.”  He handed me another bar and I held both ends again in my hands. In and out I breathed, trying to remember to stay calm as I began to bend the metal.

Snap!

Instead of keeping the calm I was trying to maintaining, I chucked the metal piece that was in my right hand, cutting through a tree and causing it to fall on the fence to Draco’s cow pasture. Ah, shit.

My eyes went to his, to see if he was mad or not. He should be.

“Be glad my cows weren’t in there,” he murmured, but then bent down to grasp another bar and hand it over.

“You sure?” I honestly did not have the same belief in myself that he was clearly having.

“You’ve gotten it out of your system. You feel bad, so you won’t do it again. Bend the bar.” He took a step back and watched.

I broke fourteen more bars before I finally got one bent without breaking it. He was right about the outburst. I didn’t want to do something to break his property again, so I didn’t.

After that he made me run around the state forest, testing my stamina. Go for as long as I could, as fast as I could, and come back when I was tired.

I’d never let myself go like I was now, running through the woods.  My powers had been a curse, ones I wanted to forget I had. But now, I felt my blood pumping, echoing in my ears; my muscles were burning but it wasn’t stopping me. There was nothing but the wind touching me, and in the moment, I felt my mind clear. Freedom.

The past couldn’t touch me right now.

I passed raccoons, a bear family, and some hikers. None of them even knew I ran through. I was one with the wind.

I stopped running and started laughing. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. My body couldn’t even remember the last time it had a good laugh. My stomach was cramping from the feeling. Running hadn’t done me in, but laughing did.

All I could think about was Charles being there with me, teasing me about being one with the wind.  He’d totally call me Pocahontas, with how I was acting.  I missed this feeling—laughing, even if I was alone in the woods with no one making me laugh but the thought of my friend screwing with me.

I tried to call him earlier, but he told me he was busy, and he’d call me back.  I’d have to call him again later to tell him about this. He’d wanted me to live life again so much, never giving up on the hope that I would get over everything and move on.

As I looked around, my mind drifted toward visions of smiles, and forgiveness. Maybe that future Charles wished for me wasn’t that far off.

It only took death knocking on my door to make me realize it.

The sun was starting to set, and I knew I wasn’t going to be tired anytime soon; I took off, leaving nothing but a floating cloud of leaves in my wake.

Draco was standing there looking at his phone when I came to a stop just before him.

“Not going to tire soon, but thought we should probably head back.” 

“Gotta make a pit stop first.” He started walking toward his old truck, and I followed without hesitation.

“Everything okay?” We hopped in and he quickly got the old rust bucket moving back toward Seahill. His eyes focused on the driveway.

“Yeah. Just gotta go to the store on the way back.” He looked at me and kinda gave me a smile to put my mind at ease. He wasn’t much of a smiler, so the action had a different effect on me.

It wasn’t long before we were walking into the superstore, grabbing the shit we needed, and heading back to the truck.

Just as we were putting the items in the back, an alarm started blaring from the building across the parking lot. The bank.

I looked at Draco, and he looked at the building then back at me.

“Let’s go.” He nodded, then together we got in the car and drove over to the building where cops were pulling in with their lights blinding and sirens piercing ears.

Something was happening here.

Shots rang out, and everyone around dove for cover. Shit.

Draco parked the truck, and we got out. Inching closer to the barricade the cops made, we listened to their conversations and radio communication to discern what was happening.

Eight men, ten hostages.

“This way.” Draco nodded toward the side of the building, and I looked at him like he was nuts.

“Time to do what we’ve been training to do—protect people.” He looked at me expectantly and started walking. I looked around, and no one had noticed us with the chaos happening. Quickly, I caught up with Draco and whispered to him.

“I’ve only been training for a day. And I never said I was part of your team,” I reminded him. One day, and now I was supposed to go be a hero and save the day?  What if I broke the building in a bad way, or broke a person?  Too many things could go wrong.  Hell, I could get shot, for Christ’s sake. Again. I didn’t exactly feel like trading one near-death experience for another.

“You’re being a bitch, Leon. You were made for this. Let’s do it, then get home. Lilith and Rose have been left alone in HQ. I’m more afraid to see what hell they’ve raised than this mess,” he commented. I shook my head, doubtful of his concerns.  They were probably having a dance-slash-random-fact party with each other. More shots rang off into the air.

“Fine, what’s the plan?” I couldn’t believe I was giving this hero thing a try.

“Use your speed; open some doors. Strength, too, if you have to. Then we go in together. Honestly, you could take this whole thing by yourself if you had better control of your powers.” I rolled my eyes at his statement. Before I could say anything in retort, he put his hand on my shoulder like a father figure would his son. Which was weird, considering he looked like a man my age, but I knew he had lived a long time.

“You’ll get there. This time I’ve got your back. Next time you do it with your eyes closed.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. Here we go, being all heroic and shit.

Chapter Sixteen

Leon

 

I rushed past the policemen that were barricading off the side door and pushed it open. It of course flew off the hinges, but instead of getting pissed at my excessive force, I kept moving.

One man, covered in full SWAT gear, came running over with his gun, firing all over the place, expecting a team to be entering the hallway instead of one man.

Holy shit. I could literally move around the bullets like they were in slow motion. A short bubble of laughter came up before I could think to hold it back.

The high I was now riding was unlike anything I’d ever felt. One quick punch to the gut with normal strength to the guy, and he was down. I rushed through the building, opening doors, giving us a way in to the main lobby where everyone was. I’d just gotten to scout out where the bad guys were when Draco’s form came into view.

“Two guys in the vault. Two more guarding them, then the rest are watching the hostages and shooting toward the cops to distract them. No negotiations. I heard one call for a bank truck.” 

Draco’s eyes told me he heard everything.

“Now what?” I felt like I could go in there and take them all out on adrenaline alone. But the other, smarter side of me told me I was not ready for that.

“Push the guards into the vault, and close the door. I’ll handle the others while you get the hostages out.”  His plan sounded easy. Real life was rarely easy, though. 

“Now!”He clapped his hands together, and then I moved into action. The guards didn’t even know what hit them as I pushed their bodies into the vault. Perhaps I used a little more force than I meant to, but some bruises here and there were a small price to pay for their deeds.

I gripped the vault door and started to shut the four men inside it as bullets started flying toward me. Shit. I pushed harder and the door closed with a loud slam, the concrete walls around it cracking slightly.

I turned around to assess the situation and saw Draco had already taken down two of the men, who both were lying on the ground, unconscious.

“Hostages,” I reminded myself, still feeling all hyped up.

With normal speed, I jogged over to everyone and spoke to them calmly.

“Anybody hurt?” 

They all shook their head, indicating no injuries, and so I helped a few get up.

“Let’s get out of here.” Draco had the two men left under control, fighting them effortlessly. I had only seen him practice with Rose in the training room, and that memory had nothing on him now. He was a pure weapon, with centuries of training—unbeatable. I shook from the thought of just how deadly he was.

“This way,” I said, and motioned for the hostages to follow me.

They’d locked the double glass doors with some chain, but one yank of my hand snapped the chain.

The hostages ran toward the cops, hands raised, screaming, but I stayed in the building, doubtful that I wanted to bring attention to myself and what we just did.

I looked back to Draco, who was retying the laces on his boots.

“We should probably get out of here if we don’t want to be seen.” He stood and agreed. The high was still there, but neither of us was ready for the onslaught of people and questions, especially after what the hostages had seen tonight.

How did we get out, though? Cops were rushing our way, toward all the entrances and exists.

“This way.” I followed as he led us to an office on the far end of the bank, away from the commotion but also a dead end.

“If you please,” he said, and pointed to the wall in front of us. It took a few seconds before I understood what he wanted: I was to make the exit for us.

“If the whole building collapses, I’m blaming you, and you’re paying for the therapy I’m going to need.” 

One swift kick to the wall, and a large hole was made.

“Rose is a therapist. She’ll give you the hero discount.” He walked through first, and then we took off running back to the truck.

The whole ride back, my mind was reeling over what we just did. We saved those people. We stopped the bad guys from hurting anyone and getting away with their crime.

I could tell Draco was just as pumped as I was, just better at concealing it. The feeling was comparable to the ones I used to get back on the football field, when I felt invincible under those lights, with the crowds screaming. There were no bright lights, or fans screaming, but the euphoria was there. It’d been so long.

After parking the truck, and carrying the bags down to the HQ kitchen, we rode the elevator down to the training room, where Rose and Lilith were sparring. Well, Lilith was teaching Rose some new moves, as far as I could see.

As soon as Rose caught sight of us, she looked our bodies over for any injuries, then her gaze slid to Draco’s. Her cheeks grew pink, and I didn’t need to be told what emotions she was reading from him. It was probably the same ones that were coursing through me—the intense energy that was best worked out in one way.

“You guys okay?” she asked, while Lilith was looking back and forth between Draco and Rose with amusement in her eyes.

“Yep. Just stopped a robbery at a bank,” he said calmly, walking her way.

“Seriously?” she squealed and launched herself at Draco, thrilled. He caught her then nailed her with a hard kiss.

The thought of a kiss like that was appealing in my state of mind right now. My eyes found Lilith’s, only to see she was staring at me, her eyes roaming up and down my body, then back up to my face.

“Good job, boys. Next time let us girls have some fun, too.” She fake-pouted her lips, then walked to me. Her body was encased in tight workout gear, and the swagger of her hips as she strutted toward me was doing things to my already wired mind.

Just before she made it to me, she did a twirl, then popped up on her tiptoes.

“Feels great, doesn’t it, Star?” She tilted her head with a big grin on her lips.

Flashes of her smiling, calling me Star, ran through my head. Maybe from the night we met?

She was smiling at me while eating a French fry.

“Don’t go all sugar on me now, Star.”

Her long black hair was framing her face, making those sweet brown eyes pop. She was like no other woman I’d ever met. She was different. She was special, and I ached to kiss those perfect red lips.

“Thank you,” I said to her, wanting to get it through her grins that I meant what I said about her.

She grinned some more, then hopped up to dance, dragging me with her.

It was like I’d been watching the memory on TV. I remember having feelings for her, and wanting to kiss her more than anything.

Chapter Seventeen

Lilith

 

Leon was staring at me, but his eyes had glossed over like he was lost in thought.

When he finally shook his head, clearing his mind, his gaze met mine, and for the first time in what feels like forever, he had recognition in them, seeing my face. Did he remember something? I was about to ask him, but then the elevator opened and Phillip walked out with a confident swagger.

“Great job, guys.” He smiled and stopped next to Leon.

“You’re a hero!”

Yeah, he was. Leon had loved the rush of busting that robbery; it was clear as day on his face. He was jazzed up, ready for more. I’d love to get my hands on him and use that energy he was hyped with in the bedroom. I still had those handcuffs handy.

“I think we need do come up with a way to protect people beyond you messaging me to run to the store that happens to be near a future robbery.” Draco walked over to us with an arm wrapped around Rose.

“It was fun this way.” He shrugged.

“For you,” Draco retorted, and Phillip nodded.

“Fine.”He pretended to be wounded to the heart, and then launched into a discussion on what was to come.

“There are crimes happening all over Seahill like that, constantly. AJ is syncing up special communicators for us, so no matter where we are or what we are doing, we will know what’s happening—a direct link to the police’s network, so we will know as soon as they do. I will try to help see the ones I can before they happen and send one of you over, but I won’t catch them all. I’ve got a lot to juggle.”

I agreed with that statement. He was a very busy dude. Running an empire, keeping this society going, and making everything happen the way he saw would get us to a brighter future. A puppet master of the world of men.  It was a good thing I trusted his judgment on what a brighter future was.

“So we just keep doing what we’ve been doing? Train and head out when we get notified there is a crime?”  Rose asked, and the way she said it sounded silly. But I was curious about the answer now, too.

“Nope. We go about our lives as normal. Train when we can, and help people any chance we get.” He ran fingers through his hair. I couldn’t tell if it was because he was nervous, or it was just a habit of his.

“Draco can get back to building his house, and photography. You could get a job as a psychologist, like you wanted to. AJ will be working on the computers like he’s been doing for years. The Hero Society is our future, but we have to leave the base sometime.”

That was true. There was no way we could just train and wait around for things to go bad in the world. We needed to get out and be with the people, so to speak.

It was obvious though that while he was talking to us, he had left out Leon’s and my name. I watched Leon’s face fall as he realized this too.

“You aren’t alone, Leon. This is what you were born to do.” I reached over and placed my hand against his chest. His eyes collided with mine, and I saw the struggle in him. He wanted this. He enjoyed giving into his powers, and saving those people today, but he was still afraid of hurting those close to him.

He had to be a part of this. He belonged here, and everyone saw it but him.

“I see you, Leon.” I saw the man in him that begged for this chance. I’ve seen him since the beginning, and just like he told me that night we met. He sees me, and I see him.

I saw a light in his eyes flash before he looked at Phillip with a serious face. I mentally crossed my fingers that he realized what his destiny was.

“I’m in.”

I couldn’t contain myself, as I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his big body.

“I see you, Lilith,” he whispered into my hair, and I hugged him tighter, hoping with everything I had that he remembered more of us.

“Great. Now that Leon’s on board finally…” Phillip winked at him and kept on talking about how he and AJ were trying to locate Raven’s new base. There was some talk about it in the dark web, but mostly things had gone quiet on that front. We would use the time we had to keep training, learning to work together as a team, and do what we could to help the people of the present.

An idea struck me as I still clung to Leon like a sloth, unwilling to let go of his warmth.

“I could have my tech girl look into things for us, too. Two computer geeks have a higher chance of finding something than one.” Mina would so love to be in on this, plus I was feeling a bit mischievous and wanted to play matchmaker between her and Mr. Griffin.

+The look he gave me was completely sinful. I had a feeling that I just played directly into his hands. Puppet master strikes again, it seems.  No one else caught his look, so this was just a game between us. I would play, and I couldn’t wait to see the outcome.

“Cool. More people! We need more people!” Rose was nodding, and Draco was looking at her impatiently. Someone was wanting to burn off his own rush of energy.

“Sounds good to me.” Phillip stuck his hands in his pockets, and looked at everyone before uttering his next words.

“All right, everyone carry on. And maybe tonight we all go out on the town? A little family bonding time?”  He waited for everyone to agree, and they did. Rose was more excited about the chance to go out than everyone else. Draco and Leon were more recluses than the others.

“I’m dancing tonight at Club V! Come hang out. Drinks are on the house,” I told them and slowly let go of Leon, coming to my feet next to him and wiggling my hips slightly as an upbeat song started to play in my head.  They looked like they needed a night out.

“All in for a night at Club V?” Phillip asked, and everyone nodded. Cool! Tonight was going to be so much fun! Maybe I would get Leon in my cage. The fit would be snug, but we could make it work.

They all agreed to meet up around 10:00 p.m., and were instructed by Phillip to go see AJ before we all left to get our new communicators. I was very interested in seeing what they looked like, so I leaned up to kiss Leon on the nose before rushing into the elevator behind Phillip.

No one else followed, and I smiled to the crew as the doors closed.

“Is the club going to get shot up tonight or something?” If it was, I had a lovely bulletproof vest I could wear, and nothing else underneath. It would work nicely with my leather pants and boots.

“I don’t see anything happening at the club tonight. Word’s going to get out about the heroes that saved the hostages at the bank, and more criminals will feel it as a challenge. I figured this would be a nice time together before shit hits the proverbial fan.”  He tried to give me a grin, and I understood what he was saying. Idiot criminals would see people saving the day as a challenge, instead of a threat. They would do more just to see what would happen.

“We will just have to kick their asses, so they know the deal.” I patted him on the back and as soon as the door opened, I twirled my way to the room that housed our little punk techie.

AJ was doing what he did best as we opened the door.

“Oh man, I love Tetris!” I giggled and walked over to the seat next to him. He looked a little bashful as I leaned in close.  Aw, poor little kid, he didn’t know what to do when a pretty pair of lips and tits got close. Sweet boy.

“Okay. Enough playing. Give me the goods! I love new toys!” I laughed, interrupting his new fallen shape’s destination. He exited out of the game and reached over to a small box.

“Taking into account your last job and all, I thought you’d like this.” I watched with complete and utter attention as he pulled the lid back and revealed a pretty necklace.

“Ohh—gimme!” I reached for it, and he helped me get it on. The charm was the symbol that was in the hallway, I assumed it was their Hero Society logo, so I felt honored to wear it.

“Give me all the deets,” I demanded, and AJ went about telling me how the necklace worked. The charm was probably about three inches in diameter. There was a screen on the back, and it did everything I would need. I would get alerts when something was happening near me, calls could be made and taken, and it was waterproof! I loved it. He showed me everyone else’s and I couldn’t wait till they checked them out: watches for the boys and another necklace for Rose.

Heroes for the win on gadgets!

I gave both the boys a hug before leaving to get ready for work. I’d see everyone later, and as our maybe last normal night for a while, I was going to make sure they had a blast!

Chapter Eighteen

Leon

 

“Okay, I’ve got a question.” I raised my drink at Phillip, who was sitting on the other side of Draco at the bar where the three of us sat. AJ said he had work to do, so he passed on going out. Meh. To each his own, I guess.

My eyes peered back to Lilith, dancing in her cage with Rose in there with her.

“If you can see the future, how come you haven’t married your soul mate already? I bet you know who she is.” He was already rich, and powerful, but he didn’t have a woman.

Phillip groaned, and his head fell to the bar for a few seconds.

“It’s really hard. This gift is so tedious. I know who she is, but everything has to play out how it’s supposed to and when it’s supposed to. Rushing the order of everything could cause a different outcome.” I guess I got that, but I was far too impatient a man to do that, though.

“Think of it like a giant puzzle piece. I can see the bigger picture, but I have to put the pieces in one by one. There’s no way to know what matches until you get a few to click together and go from there. It’s not like I have the cover of the puzzle box to guide me, either. Just percents and possibilities.”

“That’s depressing,” I muttered, and truthfully it was. I would hate knowing that every single move could change everything. He had to walk a fine line in the hopes of everything working out for the best.

“But she is perfect for me.” He grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

I bet she was. My eyes glanced back to the girls in the cage.

“So. When are you finally going to accept your marriage?” Phillip looked at me and gave me a knowing look.  Lilith said some things earlier that made me remember a bit of our night together. I still didn’t have the whole picture, but I knew enough. I wanted to marry Lilith. She was crazy, beautiful inside and out, and I had to have her that night. She had issues, that’s for damn sure. But I had them too.

I took a deep breath but didn’t answer. Things had changed, and I was finding myself more and more drawn to her since I stopped fighting being around her.

Draco huffed, and for some reason that made me smile.

“Your mortal life is short; live every moment you can, even if in the end it didn’t last long.” He gave me a half-smile before standing up and moving toward the cage. Both Phillip and I watched as he opened the door and slowly helped Rose out of it before starting to dance with her.

“I love seeing her so happy,” Phillip commented as we both watched them.

“They do seem it.” 

“Yeah. They’ve got a long road ahead of them, like all of us.  I’m trying so hard to make sure everything happens so they will have the future they want together.” His voice was harder. Phillip lived to make his sister happy; she was everything to him. Anyone with eyes could see it.

“You’ve got happiness in your future too you know.” He piped up, and my eyes turned to him only to see him staring at Lilith.

I didn’t know what to say to that. For the first time in years, happiness didn’t seem like an unattainable concept anymore. The music changed to a song from the eighties, and Lilith got all excited. She jumped up and down then started swaying to the beat with a big grin on her face. She knew how to enjoy her life, with all the small moments it provided.

“Thanks, man,” I told him before standing. I used to be someone of action, not afraid to take big leaps of faith and enjoy my life. I was a boy then, and now the man had to step up to the plate. My body was moving toward her with one purpose. Devour.

My eyes were on Lilith as she gripped the bars, gaze on me as she moved her body like a snake. Her face pressed against the cage, and her tongue crept out from her lips to lick the metal, giving me all kinds of thoughts of her lips licking something else that was hard as steel.  She watched me with pure excitement in her eyes, knowing I was coming for her. Her siren song had finally captured this sailor.

A smirk graced my face as I did what I had wanted to do weeks ago.

My hands gripped the bars with ease, and slowly pulled them back so I wouldn’t break them in half.  Once they were opened enough for her to fit through, my right hand left the cage and went behind her head to grasp onto her neck, moving her forward to my waiting lips.

Her face lit up, and then I wasn’t the only one rushing for this kiss to happen. Her body surged to mine, and our lips crashed, her grin contagious as our lips danced in a mixture of tongue, teeth, and groans.

 

Her arms wrapped themselves around my neck, and her legs did the same around my hips. She was heaven against my body.

We were both lit on fire in our need for each other’s taste. She pushed, then pulled me back in, like the ocean I loved.

“I know we’re married, and this is going to sound so fucking chick-like. But I wanna date you. I wanna get to know you, in and out,” I said through our lips colliding back and forth.

“Finally letting me into your pants?” she giggled, and I moved from kissing her lips to moving down her neck, licking the glistening sweat she was coated in mixed with some sugary, fruity scent she had on her.

The smell and taste together were purely intoxicating to me.

“I’d fuck you against this cage right now if there wasn’t anyone around.” I ground my cock against her to emphasize my words. 

She moaned, and I felt my whole body shiver.

My hands gripped her ass, pressing her into me.

Then some asshole’s large body collided against mine.

I protected Lilith’s body from banging into the metal cage, but I heard her grunt as we both fell against it.

My head left her neck and turned to look at the person who fell into me, ruining our moment.

Apparently a bar fight had broken out while Lilith and I were making out in our own world.

“Shit,” I cursed and set her down gently. 

Five men were going at it, I looked at Draco and saw he had pulled Rose behind him. Phillip had worked his way through the crowd that was trying to get away from the fray, clearly wanting to make sure Rose was safe.

I wondered briefly if we should stop it or let the bouncers that were trying to break apart the men do their job.

Phillip smiled and looked at me before nodding toward the group.  He whispered in Draco’s ear, and I saw Draco roll his eyes.

Guess we were assisting with the fight.

“Go get ’em, tiger.” Lilith pressed her lips to my chest before turning me and smacking me on the ass. She could probably take these guys better than I could, but I guess today was Draco’s and my day to be the Good Samaritans.

It took us a matter of minutes and one hard punch to the jaw to get everyone separated. Afterward we were rewarded by the owner of the bar with more free drinks and ice for my jaw. If Draco had been hit at all, he had healed already, like it never happened. I’d be sporting a sore jaw for a few days now.

“To getting all black and blue then coming back fighting the next day!”Lilith raised a glass of water to us, and the rest of my crew cheered, but then déjà vu hit me with her words. She took a sip of her glass and looked right at me.

As soon as we left this club, I would be making things right between us—starting with getting to know each other properly, the way a husband and wife should.

Chapter Nineteen

Lilith

 

Phillip had been right about the chaos that ensued after that first bank robbery save. I didn’t expect things to happen that night, though. Right after I made my toast, we heard sirens blaring outside the club.

So instead of screwing Leon seven ways to Sunday, we all left to see what was happening.

An organized robbery of a fancy jewelry shop was happening. Only two cops were there at the moment we arrived. Rose convinced the cops that they wanted us to help, and Phillip gave us the percentages of which attempt would work the best without any casualties.

Draco, Leon, and I went to the roof, and after two kicks from our strong man, the floor beneath us gave way. The two professionals landed with grace. Leon, not so much. He would definitely have a bruise on his back from that one.

It took a few rolls and defensive maneuvers, but we managed to get the three of four men that were getting ready to head out the back and escape.  The fourth man Phillip took down in the alley. He was their lookout, who thought he was in the clear to run away after his friends were captured. Phillip, of course, knew where he was hiding, so that was easy. No one besides those cops knew it was us that helped save the day, but that wouldn’t last for long. Soon, someone was going to out the Society.

It had been four days since that night, and I had yet to get any alone time with Leon outside of helping train him in fighting. Draco was the main teacher, but I assisted when I could or thought my expertise was needed. I also helped take over Rose’s training too. She had gotten pretty good and could hold her own if she got in a tight spot against two people, but that was her limit, for sure.

Phillip was running around like a madman trying to find Raven, keep his business empire flowing flawlessly, and keeping track of some of the crimes that we needed to make a priority.

AJ had been so busy as well. I’d sent a text to Mina that she was invited to help, but all she said was that she would think on it. For the past couple of years she had been trying to find someone, and the chase had been consuming her. I offered my help, but she said she needed to do it alone, so I let it be. She would come to me when she wanted to. AJ was working hard, and for now that was good.

It was almost sunrise, and I was feeling needy. My body was limber from dancing at the club last night, and I needed Leon.

He hadn’t given me a key or anything to his apartment above the restaurant, but I decided to take my chances and break in anyway.

His space was completely quiet, except for the subtle sounds of waves coming from where I figured his bedroom was.  Sounded like he had a sound machine or something on.

I slipped off my shoes by the door and quietly sauntered to his room.

There he was, sprawled out on his back, asleep. His bare chest was slightly covered by the blanket, so I had no idea just how bare he was under there. He’d been doing so much lately, and while I knew he would probably wake up from someone climbing into his bed, it didn’t stop me from doing it.

Still in my clothes, I crawled in the bed and touched his arm.

He startled awake, but I shushed him, and once his eyes focused on mine, he relaxed.

“You okay?” he asked in a sleepy voice that was adorable.

I smiled and laid my head down against his chest.

“Yep. Just missed you.”

Ever since our kiss the other night and his declaration of wanting to date me, I hadn’t been holding back anymore. If I wanted to kiss him, I would.  He’d been okay with everything so far and seemed happy with it, even. I still had a sense of insecurity about our marriage—we had two weeks left before technically he could get the marriage annulled, and I didn’t know if he still wanted to or not. It left me in a weird place. I was trying to help him accept himself and the life he was made for, but I was also trying to show him my place in that life by his side.

I thought he’d drifted back off to sleep, but then his arm wrapped around my shoulder softly.

“Tell me something about you,” he grumbled. I smiled and thought about what all I could tell him. Where to start?

“My favorite food is pizza.”  I closed my eyes and listened to his heart beat amongst the waves of the little machine next to the bed already echoing in the room.

“I love burgers.”

He was opening up to me, and I cherished the moment.

We traded simple, get-to-know-you facts for another fifteen minutes before the harder topics started to arise. But I did learn good stuff about him: he loved back rubs, swimming naked, and a few other delightful pastimes.

“I’ve never let myself get over that night I hurt my friend Charles. Truthfully, I’ve been punishing myself ever since.” I lifted myself up to look into his eyes. He’d told me the story of when he came into his powers and what happened. It still haunted him, even with his new acceptance that he can’t live that way forever.

“Have you talked to him lately?” I asked as I set my chin on my hand on his chest. His eyes had remained closed the whole time we had talked, and they hadn’t opened yet. I wanted to see them. I wanted that insight into his soul.

“I called yesterday. He’s busy doing something. I don’t know. He got a job a few years back with a tech company. He’s a tech geek, but not like AJ. He can build stuff.” He laughed to himself, then those eyelids pulled back, giving me what I wanted from him.

Those beautiful brown eyes stared back at me, and I saw he wasn’t in pain right now, which was a relief.

“He would love our communications gear. Except he would probably take it apart, then rebuild something totally different.” He grinned, and it was sweet the love he had for his relationship with Charles.

“We should go hang out with him soon. Just because you’ve found this new group doesn’t mean you don’t have time for him.” 

He nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. I’ll call him in the morning.”

There was silence between us. I knew he was thinking something, but couldn’t tell what. So I asked.

“Whatcha thinking, Star?”

“I wanna know more of your story. But I don’t wanna open a box that can’t be closed once opened.” He was nervous asking, and out of everyone in the world who asked about my past, my husband should be the one that knew my story. But in light of recent freak-outs, I didn’t want to go into everything. I wasn’t ashamed one bit—I was who I was because of my deck of cards. But I wasn’t sure what Leon would think about the worst of my story. Things between us were new and still very rocky.

“I made my first kill when I was fourteen. No one would suspect a young girl to be a weapon. I wish I could say I had remorse for it, but I hadn’t known anything different. I didn’t develop a conscience until I was twenty-one. It finally came, and then after a few more years of being forced to do things I didn’t want to, I fought back. I earned my freedom, and I’ve been enjoying it ever since.”  I felt the demons in my head caress the wall I put up, trying to seduce me to let them out. But I couldn’t let that happen right now.

He was quiet, likely digesting what I said.

“Are you afraid of me?”

His eyes softened.

“No. You’re still crazy as shit, but I’m starting to understand why I like you.” He was honest, and that was something I liked about him. I valued honesty very much.

“Yeah?” I may have been fishing for more information on where we stood.

He rolled his eyes, obviously seeing through my attempt to get him to go into his statement more.

Chapter Twenty

Leon

 

Her big, brown eyes were watching me, waiting for me to talk about my feelings for her. 

A grin grew on her face as a smirk appeared on mine. I’d been out of practice for a while, but I managed to roll us over smoothly and position myself above her.

“You’re smart, always analyzing your surroundings.” I leaned down to kiss her forehead.

“You’re determined.”

“You mean crazy.” She giggled as I kissed her nose.

That she was, but after everything she had been through, it was bound to change something in her head. That was something I admired about her, though. She was strong enough to keep going and live her life every day. She went after what she wanted, and at first that scared me. Now I found that I rather liked that a lot.

“I’m starting to like your crazy. A lot.” I pressed my hardening cock against her leg to give her an idea just how hot I found her. Her eyes lit up with desire, and I loved that look on her.

“You’re a fantastic dancer.” I kissed her lips quickly then pulled back.

She danced when there was music blaring and when there wasn’t any playing. It took some getting used to, but honestly I’d been starting to think it was cute.  Guessing the song she was thinking of was pointless—I’d tried once and was way off.

She moved her hips up toward me and then around, proving how those dance moves would be useful later.

“Despite our start of me hiding from you, you’ve never given up on me.”  My hand moved down to caress her body over her short top. She wasn’t wearing a bra underneath, I discovered, my fingers finding her barbell on her taut nipple.

“I’ve thought about these a lot lately,” I admitted.

“Think about them with your mouth sucking them.” She smiled, then went about lifting her shirt over her head. There was no time to waste: Lilith gave an order, and I had no problem giving into her.

My mouth swirled over those wings around her sweet, pink nipple.

Her breasts were perfect, and I could seriously touch them all day. Not big, but not small. She was just right. The holy Goldilocks of tits.

“When was the last time you were touched, Lilith?” I didn’t care when, but I was curious.

“I can’t remember. Vibrators are better than men anyways,” she purred, and I stopped sucking on her tit.

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit it had been a while for me. I was too afraid of breaking a woman, so I usually stayed away. I tried it once with the chick on top, which was fine, but then my hands gripped the bed so hard I tore the mattress. The girl freaked, and that was it. But I’ll be damned if she thought that a vibrator was better than me.

I forgot all about the things I liked about her—my mission now was to make her believe in the one dick above all: mine.

She wouldn’t run away if I broke anything, as long as it wasn’t her.

Her eyes looked at me in confusion as to why I stopped. Instead of answering her, my hands and mouth clashed against her body with a strong purpose.

The little moans and whimpers from her lips only spurred me on, to prove her statement wrong.

My hands went to her tight-as-hell jeans; we both worked her out of them in a few seconds and then she was bare before me.

I’d technically seen her naked before, but then I was too freaked to truly appreciate the sight that was now spread before me. The sunrise coming in from the window next to the bed gave a sweet orange glow to her skin. She was perfection.

I moved closer to inspect her soft body with my hands, but stilled when I saw them.

She had little scars all over her body. From fighting?

When my fingers rubbed along her hips and felt raised skin that seemed oddly familiar, I had to examine it. I swore her whole body stiffened as I moved over to look at the scar.

I sucked in a deep breath.

It wasn’t really a scar, but a brand: the letters E.A., with an open-winged bird, were burned into her skin right where her hip would curve over to her rounded ass cheek. Jesus, someone fucking burned her!

“Ezra Alistair. The man who bought me from my family. He did that when I was sixteen.” My gaze flew up to her face that was looking out the window, instead of at me.

“Why did he brand you?” I was shocked that someone could do that to her, because I honestly doubt that she wanted it. She didn’t even have any tattoos or anything marring her skin besides this.

“The night after he took my virginity, he branded me as his property.” Her voice was confident, like she didn’t have any issues with what was done, but I saw the way she stared at that window like she wasn’t even seeing it. She was seeing the memory like she was still living it.

Fuck that.

My fingers caressed the skin lightly then moved over the rest of her body. Feeling her, showing her how sexy she was to me.

She didn’t stop my advance, but her head moved back to a neutral position so she could see me. It was time I helped her forget her painful memories for a change. 

“You know my favorite thing about you, Lilith?” I asked as I put my mouth to her stomach and began kissing downward. The scent of her was driving me wild with need, but I was determined to be patient and make her see and feel nothing but me.

“What?” She wasn’t as turned on as before, but I would change that soon.

“I love your big fucking smile—the way you light up over every damn thing.” 

Her whole body melted after that.

Keeping her legs where they were, I pressed a kiss to her mound and then slowly slid my tongue into her slit.

She tensed, and a small whimper bubbled out of her. Good.

I kept teasing her like that before opening her legs for me to slide between them, giving me the perfect view of her cunt.

Seeing her before me had done something to that control I had. I lunged for her like she was my favorite meal, licking slow, then fast, and faster.

Her back bowed off the bed, pushing those tits toward the ceiling. I love that sight.

One finger joined my tongue in the pursuit to keep her back off the mattress like that so I could stare at her pierced breasts while making her come on my mouth.

It wasn’t long. In fact, I’ve never known a woman could come so fast, but she was like a live wire.  She whimpered and writhed beneath my touch, and I couldn’t do anything but keep lapping at her and watching as her body was wrecked with the pleasure of it. 

She had barely come down from her orgasm when she was reaching for my face.

Then my communicator went off.

Come on, man!

I reached over for it just as a beeping sound sounded inside Lilith’s jeans.

Seahill Elementary was on fire, with kids inside. Everyone was needed.

 

Chapter Twenty-One

Lilith

 

We both rushed to get dressed then Leon shoved his feet in some boots and tied them up. Once my crop top, jeans, and heels were on, we headed out the door.

“Aren’t you cold?”  he asked as we rode the elevator down to the parking garage. Leon didn’t have a car, so Phillip made sure he had one to use if needed. It was a pretty sweet ride, an all-black Jeep.

Rose and Draco were rushing out of the elevator as we loading in the Jeep.

“Riding with us?” Leon called out, and Draco shook his head.

“Phillip said separate cars. It’s going to be a rough one. Park by the playground,” Draco replied, and both of us took off toward the school. It was a few miles away, just on the outskirts of the island Seahill was on. People liked having more trees around the school than the city scenery. Said it was better for the kids. I didn’t remember much of my childhood before Ezra, so maybe they knew what they were talking about.

“Jesus,” Leon cursed as we approached.  There were tons of people standing outside the burning one-story building. Firemen, camera crews, policemen, and the people who had gotten out already.

It was quite the scene.

“I hope someone has a plan,” I murmured, and I saw Leon nodding his head next to me as he drove to the playground where Phillip and AJ were already waiting. Both Draco and we pulled up at the same time, everybody hopping out.

“What’s the dealio, oh wise one?” I asked first.

Phillip was running his hand through his blond hair, looking highly stressed.

“I didn’t see this one. That only means one thing.” He looked at the building, and gestured for us to walk with him as he talked.

“Emanuel is behind it. He’s the only one who knows how to play against my sight. So this one is up in the air. I have no clue which way it’s going to go. But I can say all scenarios where you try to leave out of the gymnasium end badly. So no one go there,” he stressed, and I made a mental note to not go into the gym.

“Firemen are trying to get the fire under control, and three have gone inside to get the one class of first graders that didn’t make it out yet. No one has heard from them. So it looks like we will have to get them and the kids,” he continued, then took a deep breath and looked at his sister.

“Rose, I think you’re going to need to calm everyone down to help them listen.” She nodded with a nervous but determined look on her face.

“Leon, try not to break too many walls—they are unstable with the fire. The whole thing could collapse if you smash too many.”  Phillip looked at Leon, and I knew he understood how serious this was. Anybody with eyes could see it.

“Draco and Lilith are going to assess the way in then AJ will be guiding you through your communicators.  And if anyone attacks, try and deflect and get away. This is no place for a fight.” 

Hmm. I guess we might be expecting some unwanted guests inside. Well, I did just have my first amazing orgasm by a man, and whoever they were screwed up me having more. So I could handle whooping some tail if needed.

“We aren’t fireproof, though. What do we do about that and the smoke?” Rose asked, a valid question. We were almost there, and the main crowd was in front of the building, not paying attention to the side where we were about to enter.

AJ walked over with a tablet.

He pulled up a map of the building, with little blinking red lights going off on the map. I’m guessing that’s where the flames were.

“We are here.” He pointed to the door we were about to go through.

“The kids are over here.” He moved his finger over to about the middle of the building to the right, a space labeled Music Room.

“If we take this route, we should reach the kids in three minutes with minimal view of fire. It’s located just past the main lobby and the opposite side of us now. But that won’t stay for long; the building is brick on the outside but almost everything inside isn’t. I used the camera to look at the hall before it burned, and I could see that a beam fell from the ceiling, blocking their exit door. No windows, so they need us to move quickly before the smoke—or worse, the fire— gets to them.” He talked quickly but we all heard him loud and clear. Time to move.

“I’ll take the lead. Rose, stay behind me, Phillip after her, then Leon, and Lilith. AJ, you keep us updated okay?” Draco took control of the situation, and none of us had any issues with that.

We heard yells from the front about the side of the building collapsing, then Draco kicked the side door in. It flew open, plumes of smoke escaping out into the open air.

Leon looked back to check on me as we started moving in. I winked at him and mentally scrolled through my music list in my head. It may be strange to people, but I always used to work listening to music. It helped keep me calm and surprisingly focused. I was always a better spy with some tunes inspiring me. I was without a player now, so I would have to play the song mentally.

As soon as I stepped into the building I hit my mental play button for “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone. Oldies were my favorite.

The smoke was thick in the air, but the flames weren’t visible yet. My hand started moving along with the beat, then my feet started walking along to the song playing. We walked in a line as one, everyone ready to do their part. Spreading out wasn’t really an option on this one; we needed to work together.

“Okay, about fifteen yards ahead, then you should see it on the right,” AJ echoed through Draco’s communicator.  I smiled, so far so good. 

Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye.  I twirled around with the lyric and felt that little tingle over my skin.

“We’ve got company,” I sang out, and sure enough, as soon as I said something, a man ran out from the open door we just passed. I was about to spin and kick him off but Leon stepped over and punched him right in the face. His body flew back and sunk to the floor. I doubted he was dead; Leon had better control of his powers now, but man was he going to have a shitty headache when he came to.  We’d grab him on the way back and make sure he made it to the police.

“All right, Leon, you’re up,” Draco called, ready for the muscles to do his part in this rescue.

He walked over with haste and went about moving the beam. Of course that’s where everything went to shit.

Two men and a woman surrounded us, and none of them looked like they were here to help in the rescue.

“Leon, keep working on the door. Rose, stay with him, you two are going to get the kids out of here. Phillip, find the firefighters. Lilith and I will make sure our friends stay away from here.” Draco gave everyone their job, and Leon looked at me briefly before trying to move the beam without collapsing the ceiling around it.

Rose stayed close to him, and I decided it was time for a song switch. I needed something with a bit more sass.  As soon as I hit play on my new song with a faster beat, I walked with sway toward the closest man to me. He watched my hips, and I wanted to roll my eyes. Pathetic. My hands lifted into the air sensually, but what he wasn’t paying attention to was my fingers gripping a pipe that had fallen down. I pulled myself up and lifted my legs up to where his head was and latched on. One quick twist and I felt his neck snap before the sound registered to me.

“Lilith.” Draco was about to engage his closest perp when he called over to me.

“Try not to kill them,” he reminded me, and I nodded. Got it. Just put them out for a bit, not kill.

I didn’t really mean to, but these people weren’t here to play chess with us; they wanted us dead. They likely set this whole thing up just to get us in here.

The woman who was closest to me watched what I did to her guy and then rushed me in anger. Oh boy. 

She threw the first punch, and I spun around, avoiding it, but barely. She was like a beast, and she came at me with everything she had.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Leon

 

The beam was harder to get off the door than I thought it would be.  I snuck a glance at everyone behind me to see they were doing okay so far. Phillip was moving around everyone with stealth to find the firemen that had disappeared.

“They are fine; let’s get this door open and get the kids,” Rose commented, and I refocused my energy. I pushed the doors open, and we heard the yelps and cries of little kids. The room wasn’t full of smoke, but it was filling fast.

“My name is Rose. Everything is going to be okay, but I need you guys to stay calm and listen to me.” Rose walked into the room, and you could feel a calm energy coat the air. Her powers were strong, that was for sure.

All of the kids seemed to relax a little, and the teacher that was with them stepped forward, ready to lead her class.

I looked behind us to the fight that was still happening.

“We need a path!”

“Coming up, honey!” Lilith sang to me, and even in the situation that was going to shit fast, she made me smile.  She twirled around then kicked the woman in the chest. She did the same move another two times, moving her fight over so we could get by.

“Okay, everyone hold hands and follow us. We’ve got a super strong man that’s going to lead the way. He ate all his veggies, so he’s got this,” Rose joked, but no one laughed.

“Right. Let’s go.” She waved them over, and the kids came to her easily. There was about ten of them, so not a large group, but still. So many things could go wrong.

We made it past Lilith and Draco, keeping the goons at bay. I could see the door ahead and took a breath I must have been holding that we were almost out. But then with a huge screech and a groan, the roof fell, followed by a cloud of smoke and flames. Shit.

I turned back to look at Rose. She saw it too, and her face was pale. We needed another way out.

 “AJ.” I pressed the button on my watch.

“Front door is the best bet, but you need to be fast. That side is burning up quick,” AJ answered, and I tried to think of how to get all the kids out as fast as possible. 

“I’m going to carry them out, two at a time.” I looked at the kids and nodded to myself. It was the best way. I was fast enough and strong enough that I should be able to get them out, and the flames won’t touch them.

“Do it!” Draco yelled down the hall, and I knew it was our only shot.

Rose told the kids what was going to happen, and the first two kids let me wrap my arms around them.

“Hold on,” I told their semi-scared-looking faces before taking off.

We passed the fight, and I found the lobby. Phillip was there waiting for us with the three firemen.

“Knock it down,” he told me, and I took a breath before kicking the fire-coated door, and going full force through it with the kids.

I set them down in front of the first set of firemen I saw then ran back for the others.

Phillip dragged the one fireman out before someone came to help him get the others.

As quickly as I could, I returned four more times, grabbing a pair of kids and running them out to safety. The teacher and Rose followed me with the last two. The fire was too much for them to run through without getting burned, so once I put the kids down I went back for them.

Once I knew they were okay, I had to see what I could do to help Draco and Lilith, who managed to take down the woman, but there was a new man on the scene fighting her now.

“Got them all out!”I shouted to them.

Lilith grabbed onto the guy’s wrist and twisted him over her body and onto the floor, then quickly wrapped her toned thighs around his neck while holding onto his wrist still. He passed out within a few seconds.

“Okay, I’m good to go now.” She stood up and dusted her jeans off, like she hadn’t just incapacitated a man double her size.

Draco looked like he had a run-in with some fire, but was fine minus the burned shirt he had been wearing. He too pulled a ninja move like Lilith, and his man was out.

“We can’t leave them in here,” he told us, and Lilith giggled while bending down to pick up the man’s hands and pulling him with her back bent, trying to move him away from the growing fire.

“School might burn down before I get him out, but at least I tried!” She smiled, and I rolled my eyes at her theatrics. Fine. I’ll save the bad guys too.

I did as I had with the kids, but instead of dropping them off in front of firemen, I left them with the cops. I even got the one man who had been knocked out shortly after we entered the building.

Draco had his arms wrapped over Lilith’s back in protection as he walked her out the front doors, taking flames to the back. His skin healed almost instantly. No one would know what happened.

“Everyone okay?” Phillip stopped in front of me, and I nodded. The crew looked a bit winded but still in good shape.

“Good, hope you’re ready for this.” He looked at all of us, and then it happened. The crowd descended on us. Parents were crying out their gratitude for saving their kids, and the news people were pointing microphones in our direction, asking us all sorts of questions.

The police had talked to Phillip, and he got them off our backs, for now. The news crew was wild with this story. We were outed.

“We need to get out of here,” Draco murmured, and Phillip spoke to the cop that was nearest to us.

“All right, everyone, we need to give these people some space. I think they’ve earned it,” the cop told the people. Most of them backed up, albeit reluctantly. Some weren’t willing, but it was enough that we could get out of there.

“I’ve got to do some PR work, but you guys all go home and clean up. Nothing else you can do today,” Phillip said then gave us a wink before turning around to walk back to the crowd.

“I don’t envy him,” Draco muttered then wrapped his arms around Rose, leading her toward his truck.

“See you guys later,” Lilith shouted out to them, and they both waved at us.

I turned to look her over, making sure she didn’t have any injuries.

“You’re truly okay?” I walked over to her and lightly lifted her face toward mine with my hands on both sides of her jaw.

She had ash smears on her face, and her clothes could use a good wash. But otherwise, she was fine. That grin grew on her lips.

“Better if you kissed me.”

Who was I to keep her from feeling better? I leaned in the rest of the way, which wasn’t much, and pressed my lips to hers.

The kiss lasted for probably thirty seconds before she pulled back, grabbed my hands, then dragged me toward the Jeep.

Time to get back to the apartment and clean up. Could be fun.

“I’m driving,” she announced, the keys dangling in her fingers. My hand went to my pocket where the key was, to find it gone. She’d swiped it without me even knowing. Retired spy, my ass.

As we hit the road, I kept thinking about the ways I was going to bend her over every surface I could at the apartment.

But then we started heading in a different way than we should have, if we were heading to HQ. Instead of letting the control freak in me have his way, I sat back and waited to see where she was taking us.

 

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lilith

 

“Surprise!” I hopped out of the Jeep with my arms wide.

Leon looked at the building behind me with confusion written all over his face. Silly man.

“Come on!” I was excited to show him this part of my life, my body was practically shaking with anticipation. After today, I really wanted to show him a big part of me.

He slowly made his way out of the Jeep and walked my way. Slowpoke.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the door that I unlocked in no time. One flick of my wrist turned the low lighting on, and I peered back to see Leon take in my aerial warehouse.

“This is where I go to clear my head. I wanted to give you a little piece of me that no one really knows about.” It was my safe space, and now he was a part of that.

He let go of my hand and walked further into the room.  I turned on my music, setting the volume low enough that we could hear each other talk, but loud enough so it filled the air.

“What do you do with these?” He had made it to my silks and was running them through his soot-covered hands. I didn’t care that we were dirty as hell; I had a bathroom with a shower in the back for afterwards. Right now I wanted us covered in our rescue.  We did something magical today, and I wanted to celebrate with him.

I took my heels off, and quickly shuffled over to him. I sifted my fingers feeling the silks softly, feeling their strength.

“Why don’t you pull up a chair, and I’ll show you?” I whispered to him, nodding toward the single purple plastic chair that was by my loveseat near the door. His eyebrow came up, questioning me, but then his body turned, and he retrieved the chair with ease. Once he was close enough, I told him to place it just before the silks. His legs would be beneath them but the rest of him wouldn’t, perfect for what I had in mind.

Once he was comfy, I stood in front of him with my hands wrapped around the long pieces of material.

I listened to the music that was traveling around the room and started to feel the beat within me. It was slow and sensual, which was what I wanted right now.

My eyes looked down at him; he was watching me with complete focus, still as a statue. Good. Using my arm strength, I lifted myself up just enough that I could open my legs around his and then lowered myself back down onto his lap. Keeping the silks in my hands, I moved over his body with my hips, side to side, then back and forth. Teasing him, but also letting him know that what I was doing was for a purpose. When I felt him harden underneath me, and his hands went to my hips, I pulled myself up then wrapped my feet around the material. I climbed up higher so his head was tilted up at me.  Feeling the movements I needed to make, I twisted my leg around the silk and drifted my hand out like one would in dance. 

In one smooth move, I maneuvered myself with the help of serious core strength to have my arms free, sitting in the tangled-up silk. I rolled my hips back and forth then moved my hands up my torso, over my breasts, and then slowly pulled my shirt over my head.

Yep, I was giving my man an aerial striptease.

I spun around, doing a couple moves that my jeans allowed me to do, but I was limited.

Sliding my body down to his while hanging upside down, my breasts were at the perfect spot for his mouth to reach out and touch them. He couldn’t resist, and nuzzled a nipple, as we both wanted.

“Now, unbutton my jeans, Leon.” I groaned, feeling his tongue swirl around my barbell.

His hands moved swiftly then I turned my back to him before winding myself back up the silk.

It took some control, but I managed to slip my jeans off one leg at a time.

I watched him as he watched me do a split, and twist around in the material, teasing him with my body while being just out of reach. I closed my eyes briefly, enjoying being watched by him. When I looked back down at him, he was no longer just watching me, but his jeans had been unzipped, and his hand was wrapped around his cock.

Impatience flared inside me. I no longer wanted to dance above him like some sexy fairy in the wind, but down on his level, kissing him, touching him, and feeling him all around me. Inside me.  His eyes followed my descent. I was upside down again, wrapped up so I was stable, as I reached over and caressed his cock with my fingers.

“What were you thinking about?” I was in awe of him. I’d seen many cocks in my day, but something about this one made me anxious to play.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, and I’m going to enjoy using this with you.” His hands lightly touched my waist, pulling me over so his breath was hot on my sex. Oh, I liked where this was going. He pressed his lips to me over my panties, and I couldn’t help but groan from the little tingles that shot up my spine, making my whole body break out in goosebumps.

While he was working me over with his mouth, it was only fair that I do the same with him. The position we were in was much like sixty-nine, but instead of lying on top of each other, we were vertical.  My tongue flicked the head of him, making his abs flex beneath his shirt.

“Fuck, yes,” he growled, and pulled my panties to the side, diving in with a passion.

I cried out against him, but then met his passion with passion, sucking and licking him like the sweetest of candies. The rush of his silky cock rubbing against my throat was exhilarating. Having never felt this way before, I made the decision that I never wanted to stop being like this with him. I wanted him touching me, and me touching him always.

“Bring your feet to the floor, Lilith,” he grumbled and released my pussy from his wanton mouth. I wasn’t ready to leave him yet, but I’d do as he said to. I unwound myself and then was standing in front of him.

He stood and looked me over.

I felt a slight pinch on my hips as he ripped my panties right off of me. His strength was in no way frightful.

Oh no, his strength was one of the biggest turn-ons I’d ever felt.

So strong.

But he’d never hurt me, and that only made me want to push him to use his strength more.

“Put your arms up,” he commanded, and I smiled wide at him, but obeyed. This was oddly erotic, letting him tell me what to do. I didn’t like being directed, but this was working for me.

He wrapped the silks around each arm, then told me to grip it in my hands.

“Do I want to see this fantastic ass as I slide into your sweet heat or watch your eyes light up when you descend on my cock?” His hands gripped my ass, and I giggled.

“I vote option number two.” I may have wiggled a bit in excitement.

He smirked and then his mouth was on mine, tongue exploring my mouth. His hands were everywhere—grabbing my ass, kneading my breasts, running through the wetness between my thighs.  I was so ready for him when he plunged his fingers in, crying out from the fullness.

He pumped them into me a few times before withdrawing and wrapping his hands on my backside again.

“Hold onto the material,” he said, and I did so as he lifted me up and positioned me above his cock. 

I nodded, telling him I wanted it very badly without any words needed.

He pulled back, his eyes latching onto mine, watching me like he said as he slowly lowered me onto him.

“Oh, yes!” I gripped the material to help hold me as he used his hands to lift me up and bring me back down on him.

This was already better than my favorite vibrator. He was like an animal as he fucked me, and I loved every second of it.

“I love watching your tits bounce while you bounce on my cock.” His voice was confident, and I know this was taking very little effort on his part, which made it all so much better, knowing he wouldn’t tire from a cramp in his arms from lifting me.

I felt that pleasure start to ball in my lower belly, making my toes curl.

So close. I’d never once come on a man’s cock, but my pussy knew who it belonged to and bowed down to him in minutes.

My release hit me like a freight train, and my grip on the material loosened, and my hands went to his shoulders, holding onto him as he made me ride it out on his length.

“I’m not done yet,” he laughed, and I felt my own laugh coming up from my chest. What a match we were.

 

Chapter Twenty-Four

Leon

 

Lilith was made for me.

When I pushed, she pushed back.  As soon as she came down from her orgasm, I lifted her off of me, then she went about situating the material around her chest and arms, then presenting her peach of an ass to me.

Don’t mind if I do.

She was being supported by the wrapped material as I slid back into her heat and went about proving just how much better my cock was over a vibrator.

The second time I felt her sex clench tight, preparing for release, was when I lost it. Groaning her name into the air, I chased my own release with hers.

Shivers coursed up my spine, making me shake for a second from the sensitivity.

“Verdict?” I asked in jest, but then she gave me what I wanted.

“Way better than my vibrator.” Her voice was winded and so sexy.

I pulled out of her slowly, and went to find something to clean us both off.

“Bathroom is over there,” she mumbled, and I rolled my eyes but then saw a door to the right by the back wall.

Inside, I located some washcloths and ran them under the warm faucet water.

She was already standing, untangling herself as I approached, so I handed her the washcloth.

“Such a gentleman.” She smiled, and I winked at her.

When she reached down to wipe her leg where my cum had streamed down, I felt like I got punched in the gut. She saw me stiffen up, then connected the dots.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got the little birth control that goes in your arm. Covered for a while. And no diseases here.  I was always checked thoroughly.”   She continued cleaning herself up, then went to slip back into her jeans.

My brain processed the first part of her statement and felt ease about the birth control. But the last part had a feeling that came with it that I didn’t like.

“What do you mean, checked thoroughly?”  It sounded very clinical, and that concerned me. She reached down to grab her shirt and after getting it on she walked over to the love seat.

“I don’t want to spoil this with my story,” she protested, and it made me want to know even more.

“Tell me.” I sat down next to her.

She looked at me with a little worry in her eyes. Did she think I was going to judge her for whatever happened in her past? I already knew from what she’d told me so far that it was fucked up, and I had a feeling that was just a tiny bit of the iceberg when it came to her.

“Ezra claimed me as his property, but he had no issues sharing me around with his men. They used me as they saw fit. Even at the age of sixteen. But after each of them touched me, he always made sure I was thoroughly cleaned for him.” She watched my face for any sign of disgust, but she wouldn’t see anything like that. I felt anger.

She must have seen that I wasn’t running away or thinking of her differently, because her hand reached over to cup my jaw.

“I knew you were special the moment we started talking. For you to accept something so sordid about me proves my theory right.” I leaned in to kiss her, showing her with my lips that I didn’t care what had been done to her. And I really didn’t. She didn’t hold my asshole ways against me. She just laughed to my face and ignored them.

Something was stirring inside of me when I touched her; she was working her way inside my head, and somewhere else that hadn’t been used in a while.

I heard my phone ringing, but ignored it to keep kissing Lilith.

After it started ringing again, I finally grabbed it out of my pocket and growled into the phone.

“Don’t growl at me. Are you serious right now? Your face is all over the news!”  Charles was part laughing, part freaking out through the phone speaker.

“Yeah. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about everything. I’ve just been so busy.”  It made me feel a little shitty for not seeing him as much as I normally would.

“All good, but holy shit! This is amazing! I saw you smile, dude! On camera! They are talking about how you and your people saved those kids from the burning school, and got the guys who started the fire.” He was losing it over there—it kinda made me want to join him.  I looked at Lilith, and she winked then nodded for me to go, as if she read my mind.

“I’ll see you later.” I kissed her one more time before standing up.

“Is that your wife? Did you guys make up already?” Charles launched into fifty questions, and I just told him that I was coming over then walked out of Lilith’s door. I decided to leave her with the Jeep and walk to Charles’s place. It wasn’t far from here, maybe another mile or so.

While walking, I thought about Lilith and her troubled past.

I was maybe halfway there, passing the business area of town, when I started noticing people pointing at me and staring. My gaze looked down at my clothes. Oops. I hadn’t changed since the fire earlier. Maybe I should have stopped by the apartment to put some cleaner clothes on.

“Great job today,” someone said to me as I walked by them. I kept walking and tried not to make eye contact with anyone who was blatantly staring at me.

Then as I passed a café where people were having their lunches, everyone started clapping. The feeling was odd, and a little uncomfortable. It had been a long time since I’d been in any limelight, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

I guess I really didn’t think being outed today would be a big deal, but for people to notice me walking through the city and actually clap or try to talk to me, clearly it was. 

It felt too real, trying to be a hero that everyone thought I was born to be. Now, according to everyone I passed on the street, I was the biggest hero ever for saving those kids. It was too much. Not caring if anyone saw me, I took off running to Charles’s place, at a pace no one else could match.

My hand went to open his door, not caring if it was locked or not. I just didn’t want anyone to catch me going inside.

Thankfully it was unlocked, and Charles was just watching TV as I walked in.

“Hey, there’s the hero!” He smiled big, knowing how that probably was eating me. Charles was the only one who knew me inside and out.

“Christ. I couldn’t walk here at normal speed. Everyone was…” I plopped on his couch and rubbed my hands over my face.

“Proud of you?” he guessed, then pointed to the TV. It was a video from someone’s phone, of me walking down the street. I shook my head. It was all so fast. Shit. Now the world knew there were people with powers, if some didn’t know already or at least suspect it.

“It’s weird,” I added, and he let out a little laugh.

“Yeah, I could see where you would be freaked out. But this is a good thing. Now you can do your hero stuff, and no one will get in your way. Plus, bad guys see that there are tougher people than them out there, doing good in the world.” He rolled his chair back a few inches then moved it forward again, a move he did when he was antsy.

“It’s all just happening so quickly. Two weeks ago, everything was normal.” 

He interrupted me quickly.

“Your normal was a shitty existence, dude. I know you see it now.” 

His words were true; I did see it now. But how was it all going to change now that people knew about us? About me?

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lilith

 

A week had flown by since the burning school, and shit has been nuts ever since.  Most people were happy and thanked us for helping the kids that day, but there were some whispers about people who were afraid of us. I tried not to pay attention to it. Charles had been right; I had been living a shitty life before, and I was embracing the one I stumbled upon as best as I could.

I only got to hang out with him for about an hour before I had to run and stop a car chase that was coming toward his apartment complex. It was nice to be around someone so familiar, but I kept getting a weird feeling coming off of him, like he wanted to talk to me about something. Every moment he would attempt it, he ended up messing with me about Lilith or something else.  My mind kept worrying over the worst, that something was wrong with his health. He hadn’t said anything to me about any new surgeries, or issues he might have been having, so I made sure to text him every day to make sure he was doing okay.

So far, he’d been good.

Everyone had been good.

Draco tried not to leave headquarters often, and when he did he went out to his property surrounded by all the trees.  He was definitely not a crowd person, so I could tell he was not a fan of the new situation with us. Rose was doing all right; most of them were still in secret about their powers, so the public wasn’t as into them as they were me. Phillip was doing what Phillip did—somehow managing everything like it was no sweat to him. He had let the people of the world know about what we were trying to do, and that was it, not going into details about anything else.

Lilith wasn’t bothered in the least bit by any of it. She danced, did her thing, and that was that.

Every night she slept in my bed, and every night we found a new way to explore each other.

I was hopeful that everything would calm down soon.

In the meantime, crime had almost stopped in the city. Maybe the bad guys were scared that someone was bigger and tougher than they were, or it was the calm before the storm.

So I trained hard.

I worked with Draco on fighting techniques, and controlling my powers more, trying to be prepared for whatever came our way.

Phillip strolled out of the elevator as I was hitting the punching bag while Draco helped Rose on defeating a person with a knife. She was doing okay so far, but really Draco wouldn’t hurt her, so she had that going against her.

“We’ve got a new member I want to introduce to you guys.” His eyes flicked to me with something I swore looked like remorse, but then his gaze turned back to the others. Okay then.

I swiped my sweat rag and water before cleaning myself off a bit and heading toward Phillip.

Rose and Draco were right behind me as the elevator opened again, and I felt my knees give out.

“Charles?” 

Why was he here? I didn’t understand.

My lungs felt like they were shriveling up, that breathing was an impossible task right now.

“Charles designed your communicators, and will be officially working with us to create all sorts of gadgets we will need.” Phillip looked at Charles, who wheeled over to him, then at the two standing next to me, completely avoiding my eyes.

“Leon, are you okay?” Rose put her hand on my shoulder. She wasn’t pushing any power in me to influence my emotions, she was just there as a friend.

“Let’s go upstairs and let them talk,” Draco suggested, and Rose nodded.  Draco usually knew what was best, and this time he was right. I had a lot I wanted to say to my friend right now. Phillip nodded at Charles and left with the others. I waited till the door to the elevator closed before letting out a string of curses.

“Dude, what the fuck? Why are you here?”

“I’m joining the team.”  I looked at him like he was joking.

“I’ve been doing some work for the military for a few years, and Phillip had hired me to do your communicators. Since then he’s been asking me to join.  I’m sorry I’ve kept this side of my life away from you, but with your constant pity party going on, I just couldn’t even figure out when to tell you.” He was giving me a serious look and I wanted to roll my eyes.

“I get it, I was a fucking shithead, but seriously? I told you everything about me.”

“And I’ve been there for you through all of it. But you couldn’t see out of your own anger and guilt to see what was right in front of you. You have a good fucking life and every opportunity imaginable! But you wasted away on that crab boat, running from everything. At least now you’ve gotten your balls back and you’re living life for once.” He wasn’t angry but there had been some pent-up issues that were coming out now apparently. I scoffed even though he was right.

“I lost my chance at football—hell, I lost my chance at doing lots of stuff in life. But I moved on. I found my silver lining. I’m a fucking genius when it comes to this shit, and I’ve been living my life the best I can. This is the best I can, doing something I’m good at. Something I believe in. Something I can do with my best friend.” 

His last words slayed me. I was being a selfish prick. Again.

I knew words wouldn’t be enough, but it was like he just sucker-punched me in the gut. My legs were swift as I walked over to him and held my hand out for a manly shake. He smiled and quickly slapped my hand.

“Welcome to the team,” I told him, and truly I wished I had said that when I first saw him, instead of acting like a dick to my best friend.

“I’ve got so much shit planned for you guys.” He laughed in an evil genius kind of way, and I patting him on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry I’m a shithead, Charles.” It had to be said. I was trying to not be that guy that ran away from everything; it was hard at times, since I’d been doing it for so long.

“Someone’s gotta keep you off the ledge,” he laughed and started rolling toward the elevator.

“Let’s get something to eat, and I’ll tell you all about it.” I walked behind him and pressed the button for the restaurant.

Time to talk things out with my friend—apparently there was a lot I didn’t know, and I was ready to get to know the real Charles that he’d been keeping from me.

This time when his face lit up about the devices he’d developed for the military that had saved lives, I smiled at him and told him I was proud of him. He hadn’t given up on living when he lost movement in his legs; he kept going and found what he was good at.  This time when the feelings of being a shitty friend arose, I pushed them out of my head. They didn’t belong in my head anymore. Now I was aiming to be a better friend to the man who had stood by me while I tried to drag him down.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Lilith

 

“Okay, let’s go over this again,” Leon asked as we all sat in the chill room discussing the news that AJ had found about the Raven.

“First of all, let’s just call him Emanuel, please. I get messed up when we call him both Emanuel and the Raven. Emanuel pisses him off more so let’s keep it,” AJ said, rubbing his temples, and I felt bad for the kid. He’d been working so much, and not really taking any days off. He was like a machine, running on coffee and pizza. Hopefully I could still talk Mina into helping out, to give the poor boy some relief soon. They could share their unhealthy food habits and the workload.

“Good idea,” Draco agreed, and then went back to stroking Rose’s back lovingly. Those two were adorable, really.

They were sitting on the reading chair together, all snuggled up, Phillip in the chair across from them, then AJ, Leon, and I were sitting on the couch. Charles was absent for this meeting, working on something secret for the military tonight, but he would be up to date by the morning.

That had been a pleasant surprise, to find out Charles joined our little club. He did a great job with the communicators, so I couldn’t wait to see what else he was going to do. Leon was happy he was around, and that was a nice change.

“Back to what we’ve found. AJ and I had some suspicions that Emanuel had taken his new base to water. Lilith also confirmed what we were thinking. It’s taken some time, but we think we’ve found where it is.”  Phillip leaned forward and the table that I thought was just a normal shiny table came to life as a screen. Handy. Maybe it had a cool fire pit screensaver. I really like those.

He pulled up a map of the bay by the mainland, to the east of Seahill.

“Lion Island.” He pointed to a map where a tiny island was. Interesting, I didn’t know any of the islands were habitable.

“There was an old fort there back when Seahill natives and the English tried to take it over. He’s camped up there. As far as we know, his end game is still the same: create a society to rule over everyone, recruit for his army and steal the powers of those who don’t sign up for his leadership. I haven’t seen anything with him using whoever he has to attack us or anyone yet, but things can always change.”  Phillip pulled up a blueprint of a boat. Leon leaned in a little closer, interested in anything having to deal with boats and water.

“This is his main transportation back and forth.”

Rose said what we were all thinking.

“It looks like a tour boat.”

It really did. Very stealthy, I guess, and you could move people without anyone asking questions except where do I sign up. Yikes. Boat trip from hell.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked and looked around. Weren’t we going to storm the fort and get rid of them?

“It’s not easy. He can see any attack coming from the island. He’s taken lots of precautions this time. There is a fence underwater to prevent any entrance from there; he’s got guards, and a fully-functioning security system that lets him know if someone steps one foot on the beach. Laser grids, you name it. He’s taking no chances this time.” Phillip looked at the map of the island he brought back up so he could show us where all this booby trap stuff was. 

I looked it over, studied it for a good five minutes while the rest of them talked about what they could do.

“We can do this.” I nodded, my plan solidifying as I lifted my head to look at everyone. Did they not see what I did?

“Retired Spy Goddess Divine, please enlighten us.” Phillip smiled, and I grinned right back at his use of my fun name. I was a spy, and this was nothing compared to some of the situations I’d been in.

“Leon and I sail out there a few times this week to get used to the area, and they get used to the boat. They won’t think anything of it as the week goes on. Climbing over the fence is no biggie; we just have to get there unseen. Leon can swim very fast.” I turned to wink at him then went back to my plan.

“He gets me there with a cool gadget that will disrupt the signal from the lasers to the security system for just a few seconds, long enough for me to slip in and let you guys in. His fence will have a door somewhere, obviously, so he can get his boat in. We will come in that way. As far as once we are inside, kinda seems like we should be as stealthy as possible, but I’m also open to loud bangs and explosions. Quick and easy way to go.”   I clapped my hands together, ready to get this plan into motion, but they were all just looking at me with a stumped look on their faces.

“It’s all sound; trust me. I’ve done this kind of stuff before.”  I nodded like it was going to help them believe me.

“It’s the only plan we’ve got, and it really doesn’t sound too bad.” Phillip sat back in his chair, thinking over all his future knowledge.

“I think her plan has the best shot of succeeding,” he announced after deliberating a few moments.

“Okay, so once we are in, it’s pretty much just an as-we-go type of deal?” Rose looked a little uncomfortable with the plan, but she trusted her brother.

“I can pull up a layout of the fort, and if Lilith can get me tapped into their system, I can do more.” AJ held out his hand for a high five, and I gave him an epic one.  He was so cute, with his little skater-boy outfit. I probably would have been into him back in the days of old.

“We can try to iron out more while they go sailing.” Sweet, I had Draco’s approval. My plan was a go!

Leon hadn’t really said anything, and I took that as he didn’t have issues. He would have opened up about them if he did.

“I’ll have Charles look into what could disable their signal. I’m sure he knows of something.” Phillip looked confident, and that made everyone feel more at ease.

“Great job, guys. We’ve got this whole hero thing down,” I exclaimed as I relaxed back against the couch, hoping maybe we could watch a movie or something together like a happy family.

We only had maybe thirty minutes together of peace before Phillip told Draco and Rose that they needed to get to the hospital, where a man was going to hold one of the nurses at gunpoint. Drugs were bad, and he had too many. Draco couldn’t die if he got shot, and Rose would be able to talk him down.

So it was just me and the boys left. We watched a movie about three hundred Spartans fighting a large army, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Movies were something I rarely got to enjoy as a youngin. But I caught up on most of the big ones, obviously somehow I missed this hot abs movie.

“I think I was a Spartan woman in a past life.” They were complete badasses.

“Interesting,” AJ commented while silently mouthing off all the words that the king was saying.

“What, you don’t think so?” I shot back, and he lifted his fist in the air like the men in the movie.

“I think you would have been like her, the queen of the Spartans. She’s pretty badass.” He complimented me in his statement. Sweet kid, maybe we could find him a girlfriend or something to make his life a little happier.

Thinking about what girls were like at his age only made me change my mind. Maybe I would keep him away from girls for a while.

My eyes watched him as he went all movie nerd with the action scenes, and I nodded to myself. Yep, AJ was now under my protection against teenage girls that would cause trouble for him.

“You’re looking mischievous,” Leon whispered into my hair. Chills rose against my skin, and I pressed my head against his lips lightly, wanting a kiss. He knew it too, and gave me a soft peck against my hair. He was really good at the being-a-couple thing.

“Are you accusing me of mischief?”  Maybe it was all the testosterone happening on the TV, but I was suddenly wanting my own warrior to rough me up against the sheets.

He shook his head, not even answering my question. Instead his hands gingerly lifted my head and turned it toward his lips. Oh, yeah, baby.

“Seriously…It’s like we can’t escape people making out in here,” AJ groaned, but since he was now my new baby to take care of, I let it slide.

“Don’t worry, they are about to leave.” Well, Phillip was right about that. Leon lifted me off the couch with him and walked us out of the room.

“I need a girlfriend,” I heard AJ comment, making me pull back from Leon’s lips to shout back at the room.

“Not until you’re thirty, mister!”

There was laughter echoing down the hall as Leon stepped us into the elevator, and we ascended to his apartment to play in the sheets like I wanted.

Leon told me how much of a star he was at football, but maybe I was part psychic calling him Star, because he was quite stellar in bed.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Leon

 

“Take the helm,” I called over to a sweater-and-leggings-with-boots-clad Lilith.

“That’s the steering wheel, right?” She wobbled over to the wheel. She was not much of a boat girl, but maybe she’d get the hang of it soon.

“Yep. Now keep her steady.” I went below to grab us something to drink, trusting she wouldn’t do something stupid and kill us.

We’d been out on the bay for an hour now in a boat that Phillip had borrowed for us. Slowly creeping toward the island, we would veer off soon so they wouldn’t think we were coming for them. Scout and get them used to our craft was the plan.

She looked confident at the wheel with her cute captain’s hat on.  Her sweater said I love Seamen on it, and all I could do was shake my head. She was something else.

“Thank you.” She smiled as I handed her a bottle of Orange Crush, her favorite. She wasn’t much of a drinker if she could help it, so orange soda was her little guilty pleasure. I took a sip of my own, wanting to stay as sober as I could, and sat back on the cushions so she could keep driving.

“I can see why you like the water. It’s so peaceful.” Her big sunglasses covered her eyes completely, but I knew she was just taking everything in. The scenery was beautiful.   Especially with her in it.

There wasn’t even a wiggle of her hips while she steered; I’m guessing that meant she was just calm. The water did that to me, too.

“How are you feeling about us, Star?” she asked randomly.  Meanwhile my eyes were on my boots instead of looking at her like I had been.

“I’m enjoying us.”

I was; Lilith was great, and we were getting to know each other better. But I still didn’t know if I wanted to be married.

“Only a week left,” she commented, and I’d thought about that too. Come Friday, we could get our marriage annulled, and I didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know what I wanted.

There wasn’t any more I could say on the subject right now. We were having fun. I liked it and wanted it to keep going, but marriage was a different ballgame.

She didn’t push me further on the topic and never gave me any inclination that it bothered her, but she was still a woman, despite being a badass, and she had feelings somewhere in there.

We looked around the island as best as we could without looking like we were scouting. Lilith saw the fence in the water. Every once in a while, when the little waves would roll over, you would get a little glimmer of the metal reflecting. Two towers were stationed on each end of the island, and there was at least one guard in each.  But for the most part, it was completely covered in rocks and trees. If I didn’t know differently, I wouldn’t have thought there was anything on it.

After sailing around the area for another hour and a half, I pulled us back up to the dock, and got the boat all tied up.

“Ready to go?” I asked Lilith while jumping off and turning to see if she needed help to step onto the dock. She didn’t.

“Yep. Kinda hungry though.” She smiled, and then started walking toward the Jeep. Guess we were getting food. 

The next few days went on in about the same way. We chatted here and there while sailing in the bay. Yesterday we didn’t even really talk. We were just enjoying the wind and the water, even in the chilly air.

But despite neither of us acknowledging it, there was a new rift between us. She had been all over me, but now she was working every night at the club, barely taking the time to see me. I knew it was because of her question about us and how I felt. I wished I could tell her what she wanted to hear, but I couldn’t right now. I don’t know what I needed, or what would make me feel that absolute need to stay married to her like I did when we said our vows that night. I still couldn’t remember everything, just a few bits here and there. I wanted to feel what I did that night, but instead I was just happy to date her until then.

I guess we could stay married and date until either I knew I wanted to stay married or not, then get divorced if I didn’t, but that didn’t seem fair to her.

“We got some action,” Lilith called out from the bow of the boat, and I realized I had just been staring at her and not the island.

Emanuel’s boat was leaving. Now we could see where the gate was in the underwater fence.

I turned the boat slightly so it looked like we were catching the wind more for speed and not heading straight toward them.

Lilith’s body relaxed more on the railing, making things look casual as we passed the boat’s path.

No one was on the boat except the driver, but we couldn’t make out who it was. It didn’t look like Emanuel, but I wasn’t completely confident to cross him off the list.

“Wanna head back in?” I asked her, and she nodded her head no. Maybe she wanted more sail time. I was all right with that.  She smiled in the sun while the wind whipped her long hair around behind her head. When she saw that I was staring at her, she uncurled her body from the railing and walked over to me with her sea legs moving strong.

She sat on the bench that was L-shaped and came close to my left side, sitting as close to me as she could.

“I’m not giving up that you will want to stay married to me. I hope you know that.” She broke the ice with that. Lilith didn’t really keep things in, so I wasn’t shocked by her brazen words.

“I know.” I gave her a soft smile.

“Let’s not worry about it right now, okay? We’ve still got a few days, and who knows what could happen in that time. So much has happened in just under a month for me—I’m not writing off anything.” I was trying to be positive for her, unlike my grumpy self raining on her hope. It was the truth, though. I really didn’t know what was going to go down between now and Friday.

Phillip said that tomorrow morning was going to be foggier than normal, so it would be the perfect setting to add some camouflage to our advance on the island.

“Ezra used to call me his bird. Soft, fragile, and caged. I did his bidding, and always went back to him, my keeper. It was all I’d known.” She was looking off to the water, giving me more of the memories that I was beginning to truly cherish from her.

“Three years ago, I was lying in a room, covered in blood. Some of it was mine, but most of it was others’.  A rival group to Ezra’s operation attacked us, and we defended our house. Ezra was locked away, and that was the main mission, to keep him safe. The men that fought by my side turned on me once it was over. Adrenaline and the pure victory of their kills running through them made them needy. So they ganged up on me. Five of them surrounded me and took their turns at every part of me they could get.  I’d grown accustomed to their touch, so I just shut my mind off and they had their way with my body.”

She didn’t cry, but her face looked stony right now. I wanted to wrap my arms around her, so I found a spot that looked good and pushed all the right buttons on this fancy boat to get her stationary. Once the anchor was down, I sat, keeping quiet but letting her know I was there for her.

“When it was over, they left me there naked on the floor, in a mess.” Her voice was not unaffected; she was cracking, and I couldn’t have that. Lifting her body up from the seat and settling it into my lap, now she could face me while she got the rest of her story out.

“See me, not the memory. See me,” I told her, and she nodded, focusing on my eyes.

“I went to my quarters and sat on the chair by the fireplace, where I had been reading a good book about a wizarding world.  I picked it up and kept going, needing something to keep my mind numb until I could handle cleaning my body up without wanting to take a flamethrower to my skin.”

God, my everything hurt for her.

“I got to a part where they were talking about the Phoenix. You know—the bird made out of fire, that when they die, they burn up into a pile of ash, but are reborn into a stronger firebird.” She willed me to know what she was talking about, and I nodded. I remember the movie form of the book she was talking about.

“I was a bird to them. That night something in me died. But I was determined to rise from the ashes and fly away in a burning blaze.” Her lips tilted up at the corners. Focusing on me was helping her.

“After scrubbing myself raw in the shower, I put on my gear, grabbed a bag to put a few items I cared about in it, and put my ear buds in with a song that was about rising. I hunted each of the men down in the mansion, killing them all without remorse, and then I set the mansion on fire and flew away.”  Her forehead touched mine, and I felt her take a deep breath, exhaling the bad, and inhaling in the good.

“You’re so fucking brave,” I told her, and there wasn’t one part of me that didn’t mean it. She was brave for what she went through, what she did, and for telling me about it now.

“Your soul is so beautiful,” I said, and her head lifted up so fast to look into my eyes that I thought she would get whiplash.  Her gaze was searching for something inside me, and I wished I could give her what she wanted.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lilith

 

More than anything I wanted Leon to choose me like he had that first night.  When he said my soul was beautiful, after I spilled my guts to him about my past, I thought maybe he remembered everything now. But he didn’t. I saw it in his eyes that he wanted to, but he just didn’t.

I rested my head on his shoulder after that and just let him hold me.

The sun was starting to set on us, along with the chill that was giving me a shiver even in my thick sweater; we needed to get back to headquarters.

Infiltrating the island was going down in the morning, so we needed to chat with the crew one more time before getting some sleep before heading out.

Leon got us back to the dock without a hitch, and after going over the plan one more time, Charles showed us the little round object that would short the signal of the lasers on the beach. All I had to do was push the blue button on the top and throw it toward a laser head.  It would give me twenty seconds to get to the fort and insert the USB drive AJ gave me into the computer system so he could get in. He’d open the gate after that, and everyone would just ride the power boat past the gates. After that, AJ would try his best to help navigate us, and we would take down Emanuel and his whole entourage.

After everyone split their separate ways, Leon and I went up to his apartment. Both of us stripped down and put on warm clothes before hopping into bed.

“I’m gonna buy a new boat soon.” Leon kissed my head as he told me his news. I snuggled into his chest some more before telling him I thought that was cool.  He didn’t say he was leaving the Hero Society, so I guess that just meant he would travel from the bay to HQ via running or a car, if he got one of those too.

“You’ll have to come out with me sometime. Maybe a weekend trip, if we can get away.” He yawned, and I knew he was going to pass out soon.

“Maybe I’ll be living on it with you, and we can go anytime,” I said softly as I felt his breaths start to slow, then even out. Leon could fall asleep within five minutes. Truly, it was a gift.  I rubbed his chest once before closing my eyes, chasing after my own dreamland.

“Sounds good, darling,” he mumbled, and I couldn’t hold back the emotions that escaped my brain.

 My nickname from him. Somewhere inside his subconscious, he remembered that he was meant for me. That he chose me. Hopefully that side of him wouldn’t let us walk away from being together.

I fell asleep with a smile on my lips, and dreams of sailing with Leon on our boat together.

Morning came fast, and I woke amped up for the job ahead of us.

We would dress in wetsuits at first, while he swam me to the fence, then once they were in, I’d change into my epic fighting outfit that I picked just for this occasion.

Everyone was waiting at the restaurant, drinking coffee or whatever they liked in the morning, when we walked in.

“Ready to come out of retirement?” Phillip smiled, looking cute with his blond hair and hazel eyes beaming at me.  The whole long-sleeved black shirt, black pants, and bulletproof vests everyone was wearing looked badass. Leon was going to look so hot in that same getup once he got out of his wetsuit. Which I loved—it hid absolutely nothing on him! I was tempted to drag him back to bed and have my dirty way with him and the cuffs again.

“Nah, I’m just having some fun.” I winked at him as we walked toward the large SUV waiting for us. Going back to being a spy would never be an option, but I can use the skills I acquired being one, if I needed to. Like for our mission this morning.

The drive to the dock was filled with silence. Everyone was preparing for this whole thing in their own way. Me? I was creating a “takeover the base” playlist on my small music player. I had about twenty-five songs on there in shuffle mode so I would be good for a while.

“I hope we get him this time.” Rose walked beside me toward the sleek, black power boat the boys were loading up our bags onto.

“We will.” I smiled, and she tried to smile back. She was nervous; I didn’t even need her power to know that.

“Last time something made out of light saved Emanuel. I haven’t been able to get that out of my head. There’s so much we don’t know, even a month and change later. I just hope we aren’t walking into something too far above our head, you know?” She didn’t look at me as she voiced her thoughts, but I found myself reaching over and pulling her in for a hug.  Her arms were tight around me, and it was nice to have this camaraderie with another woman. Rose was sweet, and I liked her. We’d gotten to know each other over the past few weeks, and she was just a good person. Even offered to listen if I wanted to talk about the emotions she’d felt stirring in my brain.  I probably wouldn’t take her up on it, but it was nice of her to offer, all the same. 

“You guys ready?” Draco asked everyone, and I looked around to see them all nod.

“Okay, stick to the plan. If at any point you don’t feel comfortable and can’t push through, you get to the boat. There is always another day to fight.” Draco made his statement loud and clear, which was nice. I doubted any of us would turn back from a fight, but it always made a big difference to know you were supported, no matter what.

His fingers turned the key, starting the boat with a very quiet rumble of the engine.

The wind was cold as we got up to speed, my hair whipping around, and I wished I would have brought a jacket for the ride out.

Not even thirty seconds after I thought about it, Phillip handed me a warm-looking jacket.  He was so handy.

Leon chuckled at the look on my face; I’m guessing it was a little stunned. Having someone know the future, even an unstable one, was hard to get used to when he used it like that.

“He does it to me, too. Always has tea made for me when I come over, and usually a brownie or some pastry.  He spoils us,” Rose told me, and Draco laughed at her comment.

“He just does it to make me look bad,” Draco added as he drove the boat, which made Phillip laugh before joking back with him.

“It’s easy; Just always make sure she has tea hot and ready.”

They continued to bicker like family about how Phillip spoils his sister too much, and she just let them battle it out. The heavy tension that surrounded the boat when we first got on was gone. When we arrived to our drop-off point, everyone seemed more relaxed about the plan, which was good. The calmer they were, the better everything would be. I made sure my wetsuit was all zipped up, and my little waterproof bag with my music player, plus Charles’s and AJ’s gadgets, was secured around my waist. I kinda liked the suit and fanny pack look I had going on.

I looked over my shoulder to Leon and grinned big.

“Let’s get wet, Star.” I laughed as I ran to the end of the boat and cannonballed into the cold water.

He was there with me a few seconds later, wrapping his strong arms around me.

“See you guys soon.” I waved at the crew still on the boat and looked at the man’s face in front of me.

He was so handsome, even soaked.  His brown eyes were staring into mine, and I wished I knew what he was thinking. Leaning in, I pressed a gentle kiss to his lips before taking a deep breath as he submerged us underwater, and we took off.

My head went to his shoulder, because let’s be honest, it hurt to try and watch where we were going.  Being shot through the water like a torpedo was not all it was cracked up to be, but I would manage.

Leon stopped, and I knew we were at the fence.

Showtime. We came up for air but stayed as close to the surface as possible.

“Okay, without splashing, help me over.” I looked in the direction of the island and didn’t see anyone that would see me crossing sides.

His fingers wrapped around my waist, and he lifted me up with ease.  I was able to get over the fence with no splashing and no wetsuit snags.

“Be careful, Lilith.” He looked at me with eyes that spoke volumes.  He cared a lot and didn’t want anything to happen to me.

“I love you, Star,” I whispered with a grin before turning to dive under the water, not wanting to see his face or hear him say anything else.

 

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lilith

 

I stayed underwater as much as I could, but I had to see where I was going, so I brought my head up enough that only my eyes were out of the water. I needed a spot where I could be out of the water to get out gadget number one out of the bag.

My head turned to both sides, looking for a rock or something.

Bingo.

An old tree up to my left was big and had one branch that was low enough for me to grab and pull myself up.  I could do what I needed from the branch before hitting the sand.

I was a little heavier than normal, with the water soaking me, but I made it up on to the branch. Quickly, I looked around to make sure my little pull-up hadn’t been noticed by anyone.

So far, so good.

After grabbing the signal disrupter, I stood on the branch, ready to make my run to the fort.  It looked to be about thirty yards away from my current spot, but that wouldn’t be an issue. It takes ten seconds to run from one end of the football field to the other; I didn’t even have half that distance to run. Once I got there, I would figure out my next move to get to a computer in the system.

“Go time,” I whispered to the wind and threw the little round piece of technology to a small black post that was sticking out of the sand. I figured it was where one of the laser sets were coming from, so it was the perfect spot.

I jumped down, and sped away as fast as my feet would push me. My hands gripped another low branch to swing my body over a big stump that was lying on the ground in my way. The block wall of the fort was getting closer, and I looked around to see if anyone was standing near it before making my best point of entry.

Obviously the front door was out of the question.

Then I spotted it. By the west side of the fort, the lookout tower was right next to a tall pine tree. Seriously, they needed a bad guy manual that stated to not have a bunch of trees around your base for people to climb and use to their advantage to attack.

A smile fell on my lips as I crept to the big-ass tree.

The pine was harder to climb than the one by the water, but I did it without falling down the long way to the ground.

“This is boring.” One of the guards who held onto his shiny black gun spoke to the other, who was looking in the opposite direction than the one who spoke.

“Shouldn’t have pissed the boss off by saying what you did. You wouldn’t have gotten sentry duty.” The taller guard looked at the one who complained and rolled his eyes.

Interesting men.

“Yeah, well, I still think the plan to get that hero society out into the limelight with that school fire was stupid, it only gave them more power. People love them,” the complainer grumbled, but what he said made my head tilt to the side in confusion.

“That right there is why you are up here. Don’t question the boss. He knows shit we don’t.”

The two men were silent, but then started talking about football. I tucked away the new information I heard for later and crashed their party.

“Shit!” one said as he saw me, but he didn’t even have time to raise his gun before I had my foot to his temple. His head hit the wall then crumpled to the floor. The other man had his gun up, but he too wasn’t fast enough, and after a few well-placed chops to the neck, he joined his friend.  I was going to try not to kill too many people. They might see the error of their ways, like I did after their boss was gone.

Two men down, for now.

Slowly, I descended the stairs from the tower and looked around for my next move. Beyond the wall that housed the lookout towers, there was a two-story building inside. Not overly large, but I could see some mad scientist stuff going on in it. The whole place was over a couple hundred years old, and had that creepy vibe to it.

A few men were scattered in the grass doing various morning routines. Some were working out, and some were just talking. I counted about fifteen of them. They would need to be gone if we were going to get inside the buildings.

One man was walking along the wall in my direction, so I went down to my hands and the balls of my feet, moving like a crouching tiger across the stone floor to the other side. I probably only had one more minute left if that guy walked up to check on the other men.

I needed to be quick with my next decision.

Guess it was time to shake things up. As long as I did my job to get connected to the system, their focus on me would only help the others get inside.

Figuring now was the best time, I walked down the stairs to ground level and then strutted straight into the grassy area. No one had noticed me yet, and I was curious if they even would.

I made it about twenty feet from the building when someone finally paid attention.

“Stop right there.”  A man who was built like a body builder, with blond hair, was holding a gun in my direction.  The whole courtyard went silent.

Here we go.

My grin grew wide, and I gave them the most innocent look I had in my repertoire.

“This isn’t the bathroom!” I laughed as two men approached me, both ready to take me down and zip tie my hands.

“My panties got all wet under this suit, and I just needed to take them off, think anyone could help me undo my suit?” I turned around slowly and pulled at the string that kept everything tight. Feeling the men closing in to restrain me, and guessing the others were slightly distracted as I untied the knot, my body moved back into a flip then turned as I landed to kick the gun out of the man’s hands.

“Oopsies.” I made a face that said sorry-not-sorry, enjoying his shocked expression as I jumped back into another somersault, kicking his face as I twirled over my head.

The men were scrambling to get to me or their weapons when I made it to the door.

“Ahh.” A smaller man was running at me with his arms ready to tackle me when the door opened. I moved out of the way slightly and the running man tackled the guy who opened the door instead. Well done.

Then the bullets came. I went inside and closed the door. It didn’t have a lock on it, but a large wooden piece to hang across the back to keep it from opening.

I don’t think they really thought this location through. Sure, it was hidden, but it had nothing else going for it.  The room was filled with the banging on the door then a lightning bolt shot through a window.

Shit.

Moving my feet as swiftly as I could, I started my search for their computer room.

Chapter Thirty

Leon

 

“I’m in!” AJ shouted and went to work on his laptop. I watched him work for a few seconds before turning my eyes toward the gate. We needed it open now. We’d heard gunfire for the past three minutes, and I had to make sure Lilith was okay.

She loved me.

Her whisper was like a shout in my head. I didn’t know what to think about it, honestly, but what I did know is that I wanted to kiss the crazy out of her.

“AJ, what’s going on?” Draco asked calmly.

I felt anything but calm right now.

“She’s locked herself in a jail cell,” he said, staring at his computer with a weird look on his face. Jail cell?

“Okay, the gate is opening,” he alerted us and then Draco gunned the speed on the boat. Thank God we were ready for it, otherwise someone could have flown out the back.

“Outside defenses are down for now, but the ones on the second floor of the building I can’t crack right now. I need some more time. Lilith is in the last cell in the fourth room of the first floor. Medical lab is the whole second floor. Still lots of bad guys around, some with powers and some without, as far as I can see from the live video feed,” AJ instructed.

Draco was driving us up to the beach instead of the dock next to Emanuel’s boat.

“Is he there?” Phillip asked, and AJ nodded.

“Second floor. But it looks like they are packing up stuff to abandon ship again. So you need to hurry,” he added as we closed in on the island.

“Plan?” I looked at all of them, feeling anxious to go get Lilith out of the jail cell she locked herself in.

“Take down Emanuel; try not to kill people if it can be avoided?” Rose broke the silence with a question, but Draco answered both of us.

“Leon, run fast, take down as many as you can, and get Lilith out of the cell so she can help fight. Rose, making another person help us would be good. Phillip, you do what you do that makes this turn out for the best, AJ, you are our eyes and ears. Communicate and let us know what you think we need to know. I’m heading for Emanuel. I’m the only one equipped to handle him. Gotta atone for the past.”The last bit he said more for himself than for us, but his directions were solid.

“You’re not alone anymore, Draco.” Rose put her hand on his shoulder, and he nodded.

I grabbed Lilith’s bag, so she could change. I had already gotten into my gear as soon as I was out of the water.

The hull made a soft rubbing sound as the bow glided into the sand.

Go time.

“Let’s go, team.” AJ raised his fist to the air, with his eyes glued to his laptop.

I jumped off the boat and ran to the fort wall. The main gate wasn’t open so I gave it a kick and it fell down with a loud thud. Hopefully we had a Hero Society fund to fix the things we break.  Gunfire and what looked like lightning came flying toward me. The guy that Lilith attacked on my boat must still be around, if the electricity is being thrown at us.  My body was on the move instantly, dodging the bullets, and bursting through the door to the building. There were a few men yelling in the back. That must be where Lilith was holed up.  I was there in seconds. Four men were trying to open what looked like a giant safe beside old jail cells. Maybe that was where they held people with powers.

“I’m going to need you guys to move out of my way,” I told them, and they all came at me. None of them had powers, as far as I could tell. Until one of the men disappeared. Clothes and all. Well, shit.

Using the training I had learned, I was able to use my speed to deflect the three men I could see.  Pain shot up into my temples as the invisible man landed a punch to my head. I started swinging in the direction I thought he was, but then he got me with a big blow to my right side.

“Honey bun! I can help if you let me out.” Lilith was looking at us from a little window in the metal door.

She waved at me, and I shook my head at her calmness in the situation. Dropping down, I spun my leg around to kick the others off their feet, then moved over to Lilith. Gripping the handle, I pulled it with enough strength to get it off the hinges, but not lose control and knock out the wall behind me.

“Thanks, Star.” Lilith kissed my cheek as she slid out from the cell and immediately blocked a knife that was inches from my face.

“That’s not very nice,” she tsked to the invisible man with the knife.

“Man, screw this.” One of the men that stood behind the others went for his gun and held it up. They weren’t fucking around at all.  I was done with this.  Before they could even blink, I dropped the door and had put each one in a chokehold to knock them out. Lilith patted air by her knee close to the wall.

“Sleep tight, buddy.” She looked down, and I realized she must have been talking to the invisible man.

There was fighting, and gunfire popping from outside the walls of the building. We needed to get out there to help the others.

“I’ll get dressed; you go,” Lilith told me and then started stripping.

“Can you do that in there?” I asked her while nodding toward the cell. That way no one would see her body.  That was for my eyes only.

“Aw, my Star is all protective of my virtue. There is hope for us yet!” She grinned big and took her bag into the cell to change. 

I waited until I heard the zipper of her pants zip up before racing out to see Draco walking down the hall to the stairs in the back.

“I’m coming with you,” I told him, and he just nodded. Lilith walked out of the room a few seconds later wearing black pants, her combat boots, and nothing but her bulletproof vest covering her chest. 

“You’re going to freeze to death. Jesus.” I rubbed my hands down my face and turned around to follow Draco, ignoring her bright fucking smile at me stressing over her.  She was a grown woman; she knew what she was doing. I guess.

At least that was what I kept telling myself as Draco and I ascended the stairs to the second floor.

There wasn’t a door at the top, but one man that stood in the way of the chaos that was happening in the large room before us.

Emanuel looked at Draco, then me, and gave us a polite nod.

“I do hope you won’t find me rude for cutting out of here and not sitting to chat. But we are running out of time.” He nodded toward the table on the right by a window.

There was a small box with numbers lit up. They were counting down.

“Yes. It’s a bomb. But like I said, I have to run, busy schedule and all.  Julian will see to it that you are kept entertained.” Emanuel’s politeness was very dickish to me, and I knew all about that.  There was nothing in the room right now except for computers and some metal tables with wires. It looked like they had been doing the experiments, like Rose had told me about. But there wasn’t anyone here right now. Just Emanuel, this big dude in front of us, and an empty medical room.

“Leon.” Draco looked at me, and I read what he wanted in his eyes.  Big dude was mine. I looked the man over, from his boot-covered toes, up his bodybuilder-like chest, to his black hair and mean face.

“Roger,” I told him, and faster than he could have seen, pulled my hand back and fired a punch right to his face. But it connected with nothing but air. What the fuck?

Chapter Thirty-One

Leon

 

The dude in front of me was there, but it was like his body had taken on a lightness to it that made him like air.

Shit.

Draco didn’t waste time, moving past the guy while his mean eyes were on me.

“There’s still time to change your mind, Emanuel. We can be in this together, right the wrongs of our past.” Draco stopped a few feet away from him.

“Time to die, punk,” big dude whispered in a deep voice to me. Then I felt like I was being squeezed by intense air pressure. I grunted from the tightness around my chest.

I pulled my arms out and tried to grasp his arms, hoping I could toss his form down the stairs, but my fingers felt nothing but air. How was I supposed to fight essentially a ghost?

Draco and Emanuel were staring at each other with serious looks, and neither had moved toward the other to fight. It was a standoff.

“We both know I won’t be dying tonight, so let’s just get on with this. I’ve still got three minutes to get out of here.” Emanuel shrugged off his suit jacket and rolled up his crisp, white sleeves.

Just as they clashed in a fight of fists, I was thrown back into the wall behind me. Shit, I had forgotten about the man of air.

“You can’t beat me.” His voice was turning into more of a hiss, and his body was fading more, almost unrecognizable as human.

“I’ll figure it out.” I jumped out of the wall that I’d been stuck in and ran fast at him, but instead of trying to grab him, I decided to see if maybe I could disperse him like air being spun in a fan. 

“How’s that beautiful flower of yours? She looked like she was having a blast the other night at the club. I do love her spirit.” Emanuel was screwing with Draco, and I prayed he was staying a lot calmer than I was feeling. Rose was sweet and part of a family I never had. I didn’t like him talking about her.

I felt the man of air slowly start to dissipate, and hoped it was working how it was in my head.

Draco’s body crashed into mine, making us both fly back to the ground in a heap of heavy bodies.

“Shit!” I cursed, looking back to see if the man of air was gone, and he was. But that’s because he was standing next to Emanuel, who also had turned into a man of air.

“Double shit.” I looked at Draco to see if he had a quick plan.

“Get the others out of here; we’ve only got a minute left.” Draco pushed me toward the stairs.  I didn’t want to leave him, but he was right. We were running out of time. I raced down the stairs and saw that all the bad guys were gone, and so was my team. 

Running to the boat, I saw that everyone was getting inside.

“Phillip warned everyone, and they must have known the plan, because they all left in the tour boat. Come on!” Rose waved me over to join them.

“Draco’s still inside. We can’t leave him.” I shook my head. I know he was immortal, but still, I don’t think he wanted to be inside an explosion.

“He survives no matter what, Leon. There are chances that you won’t make it out if you go back.” Phillip gave me a warning look along with his words.  I looked to Lilith, and saw her give me a grin. She knew I was going to go, and she wasn’t mad at me, or try to make me choose between my life and what was the right thing to do. 

“I’ll get him back; get away from the island,” I told them and turned back toward the fort.  Probably only had about thirty seconds now.

Draco was holding his own against the two men, even though it wasn’t a fair fight. When he saw me he shook his head.

The men took advantage of his distraction and tossed him right into me.

“Fire is the only thing that will kill them in this state. It’ll burn all the oxygen out of their system. They won’t survive it. We have to hold them into the explosion and get out at the last minute.”  I understood his words, and with ten seconds left on the ticking bomb, there was no way I could second-guess it. I just crossed my fingers in my head that this was going to work, and I didn’t die.

“Last chance to turn over a new leaf,” Draco stood and told the men, who both laughed, a very hissy sound.

They started heading toward the window to escape. That wasn’t going to happen.  Running as fast as I could, I started running around them to keep the air inside my little speed tornado.

Five seconds.

A large form jumped away from me and fell on the floor with a loud thud.

Three seconds.

“But I wasn’t supposed to die,” Emanuel said softly, and then the whole room felt charged.

Time’s up.

Shit. The whole building shuddered, and then the explosion started to burst through the room.  I left the man of air, knowing he was as good as gone and lifted Draco up and carried him out of the room as fast as I could, not knowing if I could out-run an explosion, but I would try to get us out if I could.

I felt fire caressing me, but didn’t stop until we hit the water.

The salt burned like hell against my back, letting me know I’d been burned, but we had survived.

I let go of Draco, and we both swam up to get some air.

Both of us stared at the blazing island before us.

“Wow.” It was all I could say. I literally ran faster than an explosion. Now that was something that would have never crossed my mind to think.

“I wouldn’t have died. But being in fire, no matter how many times, still sucks,” Draco commented and then turned to find the boat.

Right, the boat.  I couldn’t help but look askance at Draco and wonder how many explosions he must have been through, how many situations that mortal people would have died in?

“Over here!” Rose’s voice called out, and then they were coming in through the gate toward us.  I felt my whole body relax seeing them. I may have burned my back to some degree, but everyone was fine, and we stopped the bad guy.

“I saw you try with Emanuel,”  I said to him before the boat reached us. He kept his eyes on Rose, but commented so only I could hear.

“Sometimes even the darkest of souls can see the light. If they are willing.” 

 

Chapter Thirty-Two

Lilith

 

Everyone was tired and hurting when we left that island.

But it was done.

My arms were wrapped around Leon, careful not to hurt his back, while his hand was holding onto my arm, keeping it there.

“You are a star,” I whispered into his ear, and he chuckled.

Without Leon, this whole operation wouldn’t have been possible. We all played our parts, sure, but wouldn’t have been a success if he had turned down being a part of something great.

“We always used to get pizza after soccer games when I was younger. Anyone up for pizza after hero victories?” AJ suggested, and it made everyone laugh. My little adopted teenager was so cute it was funny.

“I vote shower, clean clothes, pizza, and chill for the rest of the day,” Rose sighed, and I nodded. That sounded good to me.

Everyone split up to do their thing. I went back to my place after a quick kiss to Leon’s cheek, and he went to his temporary apartment.

The shower was nice after taking a dip in the bay. I didn’t stay in the spray long, eager to get back to the restaurant and celebrate with my people.

After putting on a creamy-colored sweater, a short, high-waisted black skirt, black stockings, and some boots, I looked around my home and really didn’t feel like I belonged there anymore. I smiled, thinking about Leon holding my arm on the boat. He wanted to be with me. I could feel it, even if he hadn’t said anything.  But I would bring it up tonight. My phone beeped on the counter.

Leon- I’m going to go pick up Charles then I’ll meet you at the restaurant.

My sweet man. Having his best friend in the Society with him was the best thing that could have ever happened. 

I walked over to the Society in the brisk breeze without any interruptions.

Rose, Draco, Phillip, and AJ had just ordered their drinks when I walked in.

Rose smiled at me, and I went to sit next to her, opposite side of Draco.

“Leon’s getting Charles,” I announced and looked over the menu, even though I knew what I wanted on my pizza already.

“That’ll be nice; we can tell him how awesome his tech worked.” Rose smiled and accepted her drink from the waiter’s hand. 

Putting the menu down, I looked at our little group. They did great today, and no one was hurt.

Phillip kept looking toward the door with a nervous look on his face.

“Everything okay?” I asked, and he nodded. It was unusual for him to be so quiet, especially after our victory today.  I was about to push the topic, but then the door slammed open, and a small form in a black hoodie walked into the open room.  I felt Rose stiffen beside me, and saw Phillip freeze. This little person in the hoodie, black jeans, and Converse was a threat.

“What the fuck, girl? You blow up an island, and don’t come by to tell me about it afterwards?” 

The voice confused me for a minute, but then the hoodie was pulled off by pale, petite hands.

“Mina!” I grinned and got up to fist bump my girl.  Her blonde hair was up in a messy bun, and her black eye makeup was on point.

“The whole web is buzzing about the fort exploding.  I tapped into the satellite and saw your dumb ass on the beach. Figured you’d come tell me the story, but you didn’t show, so I came down to eat and listen to you tell me.” She looked over at my tablemates with a cute grin, and I realized I hadn’t seen her in a while.

“You ready to come meet the Society?” I asked and grabbed a hold of her hand, pulling her over to the crew.

“This is—”I opened my mouth to tell them who she was, and who they were, when she gripped my hand tightly, like she was having labor pains.

I looked at her face, taking in the shocked expression and wide eyes.

“Aaron?” she whispered, and I followed her gaze to AJ, who was looking at her with complete bafflement.

“Oh, God.” She let go of my hand and brought her fingers up to her mouth.

“Mina?”  AJ muttered in a stunned tone. Okay, I was officially confused here.

If it was possible, both of them moved at the same time, arms open wide. They collapsed on the ground in a big embrace.

“You guys know each other?” Rose asked, just as confused as I was.

Phillip however, was grinning, watching them hug, like he had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and it was finally here.

“You sneaky son of a—” I laughed. Phillip’s eyes moved from the two on the floor to me with a wink.

“He’s my brother.” Mina was crying, while holding onto AJ like she couldn’t believe he was there.

Brother? Mina, say what?

“Okay, I think we are going to need to hear this story.” Rose read my mind as she spoke. I was so intrigued to hear about what was happening here.

Mina and AJ pulled back to face each other, and she continued to touch his face, his hair, and shoulders, making sure he really was in front of her.

We made some room so they could sit next to each other. The waitress took our order for pizzas, and then they launched into their story.  Mina and AJ, or Aaron Jax, were brother and sister. Two years separated the two.

Their parents were shitty, and didn’t like them playing with computers so much. They forced AJ to play sports, and Mina to take dance. They fought the kids tooth and nail to make them into something they preferred. 

The pizza arrived, and everyone took their slices as the sibling story continued.

AJ’s cheeks blushed pink when the conversation moved into the topic of him being bisexual, but we all just smiled at him in return. No judging here.

Their parents couldn’t handle having a kid that liked men too. So they tried to get the gay out of him, and his sister couldn’t stop any of it.

He ran away a few years ago, becoming a hacker. Phillip found him and gave him a job. AJ had wiped everything about Aaron Jax, and became just AJ.

Mina had been looking for him since he left. She left them shortly after he did, and started her empire.  Two computer geniuses in the family, and their parents hated them for it. What a waste.

“Now you guys have each other again.” Rose had a small tear trickling down her cheek.  I can’t remember the last time I had cried.

“Yep. Now you guys are never getting rid of me, as long as my little brother is around.” Mina grinned, wiping her running makeup away with a napkin.

Everyone sat back, feeling full from the food.

“You knew all of this, didn’t you,” I accused Phillip in a light manner.

“Yes,” he answered honestly, and I heard Mina suck in a gasp.

“How could you not unite us sooner? You made me wait three years before I saw my brother again?” She was angry.

“Everything has to happen when it’s supposed to in order for the best outcome to happen.” He looked off toward the city behind us, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

“All the dots had to connect to get them together,” I added, merely just trying to understand him and maybe help the others, too. He nodded.

Phillip found AJ, kept him safe and taken care of. Started the Society.  I had to find Leon, and with Leon came the Society. So through me he would get Mina. But why focus on these two kids?

They must play a bigger part that no one knows but him. Reuniting them was just the beginning. It was my only thought.

I looked around, and then it was like I got smacked in the head.  Leon and Charles still weren’t here. With the excitement of Mina and AJ, we had forgotten that they were supposed to be on their way.  I pulled out my phone and shot him a text, checking in. Leon probably got caught up in conversation like we had.

Lilith- You guys on your way?

A minute later he replied. I smiled seeing his name, until I read the message.

Leon- Step up, little bird, fly fast, fly alone. Come back to the place of your caged home.

Lilith- I swear I will kill you if you hurt him.

Leon- Then you better hurry.

I looked up into the staring eyes of Phillip. He had keys in his hand, ready for me to take.  He knew what was happening and knew I had to do it alone. I grabbed the keys and my purse and left for the door. I vaguely heard Phillip making an excuse for me as I walked into the cold air. I pushed the button on the key remote and a sleek black SUV’s lights flashed.

The car was quiet as I drove out of the city, to the one place I never wanted to see again.

The lights were on, and it looked just like it had when I left. Any damage from the fire I’d set off was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately it looked like the mansion everyone loved and feared.

An immaculate prison. Coveted by the rich and paid for by the blood of others.

It was large, but knowing Ezra and his cruel mind, I knew where they would be. This was between me and him, and Leon was now in the crossfire. I pulled out my music player from my purse and put the little buds in my ears.

It was the time for this firebird to fly home and burn it to the ground.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Leon

 

“I swear I will pull your body apart as slowly as possible once I’m free,” I cursed at the man standing in front of me.

Ezra. Lilith’s old husband, apparently.

“These chains were made for you; you can’t break them. Only this key will set you free.” He dangled a key that was attached to a small silver chain around his neck.

I looked to my right at my best friend, bloody, his head hanging down. They’d beaten us both to broken, bruised, and bleeding men.  Charles passed out a few minutes ago while Ezra’s man Yonny tortured him. I was glad he was out; at least he wasn’t feeling the pain right now.

“You are not something I expected would happen with her.” Ezra grabbed the knife that he’d dug into my thigh a moment before and wiped it against a red cloth to clean it.

“Well, I bet she didn’t expect her parents to sell her to a piece of shit like you.”  I spat my bloody saliva to the floor.  He laughed and set the knife down, leaning his body against the dresser.

We were in Lilith’s old room. I felt rage just being in here, let alone hearing him talk about her like she was his precious toy.

“We all do things we must in order to secure what we want. Normally I would not stoop so low to taking you and your friend. It’s child’s play. But someone wants you on their team, and I get Lilith in return. A win-win for me. You get out of the picture, and I rise to a new level with my bird by my side.” His evil eyes left mine and smiled at what he saw behind me.

“Perfect timing, little bird.” Shivers moved down my spine when he called Lilith that. The man was sick.  Ezra spun me around so I could look at a large TV screen that had been on the whole time.

Lilith’s form came into the view of the security camera as she opened the door. Shit. I knew he had the whole building ready for her. He wanted her, but he also wouldn’t let her stop him from getting rid of me. I prayed she made it to us in time. Charles was losing so much blood, and I wasn’t too far behind him.

“Watch your wife slaughter all my men. There’s nothing like seeing her dance around, doing what comes naturally to her soul. We always had the best nights after she came back from killing,” Ezra whispered into my ear, and I lashed around in the chains, trying to get loose so I could break him in half.

“Showtime,” he announced, and then all eyes went to the screen. Lilith was standing in the foyer, facing five men with guns pointing at her head.

“I’m getting hard already,” Yonny muttered and I closed my eyes then took deep breaths.

I heard the gunfire echo through the house as well as from the screen. My eyelids flew open to see Lilith doing some sort of choreographed dance that made her dodge every bullet that was fired at her. She reached over and grabbed a gun from one of the men that fell from a comrade’s fire. She moved with fluid grace as she shot one bullet per man, taking them all down.

She was beautiful as she danced across the floor, listening to her music and grabbing weapons as she hopped over the bodies before her.

No matter what they said, trying to goad me, it wouldn’t work the way they wanted. I didn’t hate her or change my mind about being with her. They, however, just kept adding to their list of how long I was going to take to break them.

“Enchanting, is it not?” Ezra purred as they watched her climb the stairs, dancing like she was in her bird cage at work. It was something, but I wouldn’t call her shooting a bullet that killed a man for every step she took enchanting. Her body swaying, her eyes closed as she moved in the moment, was something I could never get over.

“She’s getting closer,” Yonny warned, and Ezra waved him off, walking closer to the screen, completely mesmerized by her.

She moved like the spy goddess she was, dancing, shooting, and then sliding to the ground in her skirt.

I felt my vision start to blur as I watched her move closer to where we were.

Mere seconds away from passing out, I took in her face one more time in case it was my last, before my eyes closed, and my head slumped forward.

I don’t know how long I was out, but I heard Lilith’s maniacal laugh echo in my ears. My eyes fluttered open as best as they could with the swelling.

“I always loved that mouth of yours, Lilith, but even I have my limits with your new spirit.” Ezra’s voice was tense as he looked down at a bloody-mouthed Lilith.  I cursed and tried once again to move free of the chains.

“That’s right; I love him, you sick fuck.” Her wide grin was completely covered in blood as she taunted the beast who roared then struck her beautiful face with the back of his hand. She spit the blood that pooled in her mouth at him, and he looked down at his red-splattered shirt in disgust.

“He will be gone soon, and then you are mine—all part of the deal, bird. It looks like you need your wings clipped.” He rolled up his sleeves and rolled his neck.

“Emanuel is dead; we killed him this morning, and no one is coming.” She kicked her boots at him but he was out of her reach.

His laugh was sinister as he leveled her with a cool look.

“Emanuel was nothing but a pawn in a much bigger board. You are fighting a game you won’t win against him. So I’m removing you from the losing side.” He sneered in my direction, and Lilith’s eyes met with mine. Her crazy smile turned into a sweet one.

“Hi, honey.” She tried to wave but couldn’t, since her hands were tied to the chair’s arms.  Ezra scoffed and turned to throw a cheap punch to my gut.

“I bet right now you wish you hadn’t married this batshit crazy woman.” I looked at him with as much hate as I could.

“No regrets?” he asked with an asshole smirk on his face. Maybe it was the pain that was radiating in my temples or his words, but a flash of Lilith asking me the same question with love shining in her eyes ran through my head.

“I’d never deserved something so precious as you, Lilith. But I vow that I’m going to sew our broken souls together and protect the good remaining inside us,” I whispered, looking into her eyes instead of his. I said that the night we got married. I remembered that little scene before we kissed as husband and wife.  Now I understood why she fought for us so much.  I loved her, even then. I might not have been able to admit it, but now I got it all. Why I married her, why she married me. She saw the broken man in me and was willing to give me her heart to mend mine. As I would do the same for her. Two broken halves of a soul, made whole together.

“How sweet,” Yonny laughed, and I heard Charles start to stir. Which was both a blessing and a curse.  We needed to find a way out of here soon, or he was going to die.

“Ezra, we both know I will kill you as soon as I get loose. You have nothing to hold over me this time.” She looked at the man with a glint in her eyes that promised death. Then she looked at me.

“I was going to kill him when I left, but he signed the papers to give me my freedom, AKA divorce, if I spared his life, and I wouldn’t have to see him again. Liar.” She winked, and then went back to staring at him. Good to know she wasn’t married to him and me at the same time.

“Enough!” Ezra shouted then turned toward his man.

“Where is he?” He was getting impatient for the man who wanted me kidnapped to collect his prize.

“I got nothing, boss.” Yonny shrugged, and that only made Ezra’s muscles tense more.

“Leon.” Charles’s voice was faint as he looked at me. Shit. Blood was running out from the corners of his nose. I looked back at Lilith with wide eyes on my face. She had a calculated look on her face, but then smiled.

“Well, too bad for you guys that the others are arriving now. So this little game is over.” She was bluffing. If the others were here, they would have saved us by now, and Ezra warned her to come alone. She wouldn’t have endangered them in this fight after this morning. Would she?

“Then Yonny will take care of them.” He swatted the air like the thought of defeat was a bug to him.

“Yeah, right, they are the strongest people in the world.” Her words only made him laugh.

“Pretty sure you all have no idea who you are truly up against. The man would demolish anyone with a simple flick of his hand.” Ezra shook from the thought. Fear?

Despite if she was bluffing or not, I was shocked as hell when Draco and Phillip did burst through the door.

“Fine. If I can’t have you, then he won’t either.” Ezra knew he was done for as he grabbed the knife and drove is straight into my gut. The pain was unimaginable. Even when he tortured me with the knife to other body parts, this was nothing like that.

Lilith was somehow free, and managed to get the knife from his hand with ease.

“My bird.”He said her pet name to her one more time, looking into the eyes that would end him.

“I’m a fucking firebird, and now you’re ash.” She uppercut the knife straight up his chin and into his head.

His body fell over in a heap. Yonny was no better at Draco’s hands.

“We’ve got to get him to the hospital. Both of them.” Phillip grabbed the key that was around Ezra’s bloody neck.

My whole body was losing strength, and I didn’t know how much more time I had.

“I love you, darling,” I told Lilith as she watched me with pain in her eyes. I hated seeing that look on her. She deserved to smile all the time.  Tears broke from her eyes, and I wished I could have leaned in to kiss them away.

“Call me darling one more time…” She shook with emotion, shaking her head.  My vision was once again going, and I doubted I was going to come to after this blackout.

“Darling,” I whispered then everything went black.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lilith

 

I sat there beside his bed for four days at the hospital, not willing to move from the room until he woke up.

The doctors did the best they could and it had been a miracle he didn’t die. The people who worked here were nothing but pure angels.

“How’s he doing?” Rose came in, bringing coffee. Everyone had come in to check on him and Charles, who was laying in the bed next to him.  They’d talk to him and keep me company. Neither had woken as of yet, but I would be here when they did.

“Good. The nurse should be in soon to give them their next dose of meds.”

They weren’t completely healed, but everything major had healed, and they were fine besides some bruising.  It was nothing short of amazing.

“That’s great. They are going to be all right.” She smiled and then walked out the door, mumbling something about going down to the gift shop.

“Knock knock,” a male voice said as he opened the door.

“Dr.Dorian, is everything okay? We were expecting Esme.” I looked at his tall frame. His brown hair was well kept, and his hazel eyes were warm as he looked at me then to the boys.

“Esme will be in shortly. Mr. Griffin wants me to personally look them over again. Both seem fine as far as I can see. Their wounds have healed miraculously. Whatever is still keeping them under should dissipate soon.” He walked over to the machines they were hooked up to and jotted down some notes. The doctor was nice, but very short with words. He did his job and moved on.

He gave me a goodbye nod then left. 

Esme, the sweet nurse, came walking in shortly after he left.

She had reddish-brown hair, with hazel-green eyes.  Freckles completely covered her face, giving her an elfish look. A very kind and quiet nurse. She smiled at me and went about checking their vitals like the doctor had before.

I made sure to thank her for all the help she’d given us.

“You’re welcome. Do you need anything? You haven’t left the room at all,” she said and clipped her pen to the top of her little clipboard.  I shook my head no. I just needed them to wake up.

“I have a feeling today is the day.” She was trying to be positive, and I appreciated that. 

“Fingers crossed.” I crossed my fingers to show her, and then she left. 

Wanting to be close to my sleeping Leon, I got up and sat next to him.

“I know you like your beauty rest, but I’m getting a little impatient here, Star. I’m ready to talk about that boat you’re going to buy, and all the things you want to do once you wake up. I wanna take you to go get a juicy burger, and sip a milkshake even though I swear I saw some snow outside the window today.” I touched his cheek, where his normally trimmed beard had grown fuller. I kinda like it. Made him look all rugged.

“Plus, it’s been forever since you’ve played with my tits, and they are feeling very neglected,” I fake whined as I kept touching him.

I swore I saw a twitch of his lips, but his eyes didn’t open. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but maybe they weren’t.

“I know another part of me that’s feeling pretty neglected. Could use a good pounding, if you know what I mean.”  I watched him for another twitch but got nothing. Feeling a little down, but still with hope, I started to stand but then felt something caress my arm. Instantly my head whipped around to see if he was awake.

Glad that I was still over the bed, my body fell back before launching myself at a waking Leon.

“You came back to me,” I whispered while hugging him, not caring if it hurt him or not. Pain equaled alive right now.

“I came back to my wife.” He kissed my head, and I pulled back to look into his eyes. 

“Don’t go all sugar on me now, Star.” I smiled and leaned in to kiss his lips.

“Sugar would be telling you that I love you back.” His fingers delved into my hair, keeping me against his lips, like I had anywhere else I wanted to go. He loved me and wanted to stay married. We survived a lot this month, and we would keep surviving the rest of our lives as long as we were together.

“Jesus, you guys are too much.” A groan came from the other bed, and we both laughed at hearing Charles’s voice. He was okay too. All was good in the world right now.

“Oh, good, they are awake. See, I told you today was the day. It’s my birthday, so it’s a special day.” Esme came walking into the room. She had both the men sit up to check them over, making sure everything looked good so we might be able to get them out that night.  She did Leon first, then moved over to Charles.

“Okay, now let me get a look at your leg, Charles.” She lifted the cover he had and moved over the catheter bag so she could move his legs where there had been slices from a knife. Both wounds had healed up and looked good as far as I could tell.

“Wait. Did you see that?” Charles said quickly, and everyone in the room stopped.

“What’s the matter?” I jumped up and moved to his bed.

His eyes were staring at his toes. Which moved.

“No fucking way,” he cursed, and then tried the other foot, on which all five toes moved.

“I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” Esme whispered, and helped Charles move around so he was sitting on the side of the bed. She inspected him and checked his reflexes. Both legs kicked when she hit below his knee.  I could tell Charles was about to cry and freak the fuck out but was holding it in just in case it wasn’t real.

Leon was sitting up in his bed, watching everything with complete focus.

“I wanna stand,” Charles announced, and both Esme and I grabbed hold of his arms, ready to catch him should he fall. With uneasy legs, he did the impossible. He stood, and truly without our assistance.

Those tears that were so close to falling broke free in rivers down his face.

He tried to take a step, and he could, but his legs were very wobbly.

“Okay, let’s take it easy. You still have atrophied muscles and will need to do lots of physical therapy to learn to walk again,” Esme told him, and I helped her sit him back down.

Glancing over at Leon, I saw his face glistening with tears for his friend.

I don’t know how it happened or why, but it was a debt we could never repay.

“Hey, you have a card,” Esme said to Charles, pointing at a little card that was beside his bed that I hadn’t noticed.

Through his tears he grabbed a hold of the card and looked it over. More tears burst from him in an emotional outpour as he read it then handed it to me.

Thanks for saving my life; this was the least I could do. Thanks, Hero Society.

No signed name, and the message was printed so I couldn’t tell if it was male or female.

“Has anyone been in while I was sleeping?” I asked Esme, and she shook her head no. But they were a busy hospital, it could have happened.

“Let me see,” Leon demanded, and I handed him the card.

“I’ll take it. Charles, buddy, you can fucking walk again.” Leon gave the card back to me, and I set it on the bedside table.

“For fucking reals,” Charles laughed and kept touching his legs, making sure he could feel the movements.

“Well, Leon, I don’t see why you can’t go home tonight, but, Charles, with this new revelation I think you should stay one more night. We can get you set up with a physical therapist to get you moving again.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Lilith

 

Leon’s mood couldn’t be any better as we sat in the chill room with the others of the Society, minus Charles, who had to stay at the hospital for another night but was so elated that he didn’t even care.   Even Mina was here, sitting near her brother, sipping a soda, looking peachy to be here. We just got back to the apartment when Phillip asked if we could come down to chat briefly about everything that happened in the past week. Leon agreed and wrapped my hand in his as we rode in the elevator together.

“Thank you, guys, for being a part of this. For giving the Society a chance, despite it being threatened with death all the time.” He tried to make his ice breaker to this speech a little funny, but no one really laughed.

“Let’s just get to the point then.” He clapped his hands, and then we went over all the new information we’d learned.

“Well, I heard the men at the fort tower talking about how we were set up to be outed to the world with that burning school.” Their faces now were as confused as mine when I heard it.

“Strange. I wonder why they would want us being out there like that?” Rose asked, and we all agreed. As of now, there wasn’t an answer to that.

“I think the bigger question is, who is the actual bad guy we thought Emanuel was, instead of being a pawn?” Draco asked, and that was indeed the question of the week. No one knew that answer either.

“Another waiting game until the bad guy reveals himself. I hate waiting games,” AJ groaned, and his sister rolled her eyes at his theatrics. He was probably learning them from me.

“It seems we don’t have another choice.” Draco’s words were the truth. We didn’t have jack right now. 

“Do you see anyone else in the future? A foe?” I asked Phillip, and he shook his head.

“I see a figure. I’ve always seen a figure but I can’t make anything out about it. I don’t know if it’s a male or female. It’s like it’s been blocked to me since I could see things. That’s why I thought Emanuel was it.” Phillip was frustrated, and I think we could all see why. That was tough. Seeing the foe and what they do, but not being able to see who they are.

“We’ll get whoever it is. We will stop them because that’s what we do.” Rose sipped her tea and smiled at us.

“We’ve been through this before. We keep moving, keep training, and keep searching for more like us. Hopefully with word getting out about us, others will join. We are out in the light of day, and now we can fight back the shadows as they come.”  Rose did have a way with words, and I felt calm about them. She was right—there wasn’t anything that could be done except keep moving forward.   Bad guys can’t stay hidden for long; the need to cause chaos would overcome them sooner or later.

“Keep going,” Draco murmured and relaxed back into the chair he was in with Rose.

Phillip agreed, and we all fell silent.

“I thought we’d have more to talk about than that.  But I guess that’s really all we can do. Wait and see, and fight when it comes.” Phillip ran his fingers through his hair.

“Yep, now do we have any new leads on our next recruit?”  Leon asked with a grin on his face.

“I’ve seen a few, so we can check them all out. But I think this Saturday will be the best to go see one. I’ve seen something crazy, and I want to look at it for myself. We don’t need everyone going though, that might be scary.  Leon didn’t like it when we all came at him in the beginning,” Phillip chuckled and looked at my love with a grin.

“I vote Rose and you go. I’m still shit with people.” Draco put in his two cents, and then we took a vote on who our emissaries were when it came to recruiting people. Rose and Phillip won by unanimous vote. They were perfect. Everyone else would probably scare them away with first impressions.

We talked for a little bit longer before Leon stood and pulled me up with him.

“I’m ready to clean the hospital off me, so unless you guys need anything else, we’re leaving,” he announced to the room, and everyone shook their heads. Sweet.

We walked to the elevator, and his hands moved to my chest once the doors closed.

“I recall you saying something about these feeling neglected,” he purred, and my head fell back against the elevator wall. 

“They missed you so much,” I moaned, and his fingers drifted down to my yoga pants.

My eyes widened with mischief as I lifted my head back to see his gaze on me.

“Wife?”He was asking permission to keep touching me with a big grin on his face, and a giggle burst from my lips.

“Oh, yes, please.” I kissed him as his fingers ripped my pants and panties for easy access as we became the first couple to christen the elevators in the ways of love between a husband and his wife.

 

 

The End

 

Sneak peek of Dusk, book three in the Hero Society Series.

 

I was grateful, don’t get me wrong. But I was annoyed that I still hadn’t been able to change back into a human for two weeks. So I may have been acting out a little bit as of late, which I didn’t feel the least bit upset about at all.

The man who took me in was nice, as far as I could tell. He found me sick and practically dying on the sidewalk. He brought me to his home and nursed me back to health. I was too weak to do anything other than nap beside him and accept all the help he offered. I was one hundred percent fine now, but I was still stuck as an animal.

“Snow White.” He called out the name he gave me, which was stupid, in my opinion. But I sauntered over to see what he wanted nonetheless.

I jumped up on the coffee table where his glass of water sat.  He looked at me with sweet eyes, and if I could roll mine, I would.

“Come sit with me.” He patted the seat next to him, and I turned, giving him my backside as an answer. He wanted a companion in me, and I was not a companion at all. In fact, when I was a human, I was the best damn detective there was in Seahill. I didn’t need anyone, and I didn’t want anyone. Especially with the big case I landed before I was kidnapped by those people and experimented on.

“Snow.” He clicked his tongue, trying to get me to come over. It only made me feel bitchy, which had been my go-to lately when it came to him. Asher was his name, and I was currently stuck in his home until I could change back into my normal form.

I walked over to the glass of water and touched it lightly. I miss sipping from cups instead of using my tongue.

“Don’t knock that off the table,” he warned lightly and my head turned toward his. Did he just challenge me? I mentally scoffed at him while pushing the glass closer to the edge of the table.

“Snow.” His voice was deeper, and as attractive as that was with him, I didn’t care. I pushed the glass right to the edge and looked him right in the eye before knocking it completely over.

“Dammit. You’re such a bitch.” He got up to grab a towel to clean up the mess when a knock on the door stopped him. He opened it, and there stood two people who were obviously siblings, looking at him with smiles on their faces.

“Hi, my name is Phillip Griffin, this is my sister Rose. We would like to talk to you about your cat,” the man said and then looked to me. I could tell he wanted to laugh, but kept it in at the sight of me. Strange. I didn’t know these people.

“Uh, sure?” Asher let them in, and then asked what this was about.

“Well, I’m ninety-nine percent sure your cat is actually a woman who can shift into creatures, but for some reason is stuck in this form.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Books by Jessica Florence

 

The Final KO

I fight bitches for a living. 

Which makes finding a decent guy hard when you're a female MMA fighter. None of them have been my equal. I yearn for a man who can push me to reach new heights and challenge me. A man who will treat me like a lady then lift me up by my ass and impale me against the wall.

But when Arson Kade, MMA's top fighter and notorious manwhore, declares he's that man for me I have my doubts. Any sane woman would.

There seems to be more to Arson than the rumors that surround him, but will it make me fall hard or run for the hills? 
I know I've got no choice but to hold on for the ride.

It's the main event and my heart's on the line.
But will it be the Final KO?

 

 

The Final Chase

I never thought a wallaby, Henley shirts, and a horse’s rectal exam would have anything in common.
Turns out they did.
Jake Wild. Owner of Wild Rescue for exotic animals.
He’s everything I’m not, my polar opposite.
I’m heels and my salon,
he’s dirt and his creatures.
But much like the animals he cares for, he’s got that carnal edge.
He’s the type of man you crawl on your hands and knees for with your ass up in the air. 
He bites, he's on the hunt, and now I’m his prey.
A chance meeting and a bet started the undeniable attraction between us. 
But I’m not giving my heart and soul away that easy, he’s going to have to catch me first.
It's the ultimate game of cat and mouse.
But will it be the Final Chase?

 

Long Drive

There is a long road in everyone’s journey in life. 
For some people, it’s a way to get from one place to another.
For others, it’s a search for one’s purpose in existence.
For me, the road was where I could find peace. 
When everything in my life had shattered, I turned to the road. 
And that’s where I met him.
Killian Lemarque. 
A beautiful truck driver, and my salvation.
One month on the road together is the deal, and when it’s over, I will have hopefully figured out what I’m going to do about my torn reality.
But sometimes the road can change everything.
One Month. One Truck. One Long Drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How You Get The Girl

As Hollywood’s hottest actor, getting a woman in my bed is never a challenge.
Then I spotted her at a bar—she wanted a man for the night, and I jumped at the chance to fill the role. I gave her Joel Kline’s best, and she smacked my pretty face.
But don’t worry, that’s not the end of our story. Her brand of crazy inspired me, and I had to see her again, no matter the cost.
Now, Alessandra Rose is my lead makeup artist for the next four months.
Literally, her job is to touch me every day for the duration of filming. Sounds like a win, right?
Nope, she stops me at every hint of a flirt. I’m in uncharted waters for once.
Joel Kline’s famous techniques to get the girl are failing me. It’s no longer about those sexy Brazilian lips, or her fiery spirit that gives me a hard-on.
It’s about making her banana pancakes after she spends the night in my home.
It’s about knocking down those walls around her, claiming her as mine.
She’s going to fight me, of course, unwilling to accept that it’s not all an act.
But I’m not going anywhere; that’s how you get the girl.

 

Guiding Lights

He sings of suffering. His eyes hold the pain of living in sorrow.
The moment our gaze meets recognition flares within. 
We are tortured souls drifting in a sea of darkness.
He knows I have secrets that I'll never tell.
I am numb.
I am broken.
I am dirty.
I can never be the guiding light through the darkness he thinks I am.
I have forsaken my past, I rely on keeping myself shut off.
But he has secrets too, secrets that would destroy everything I have left.
I wish things were different, that maybe we could be each other's lifeline.
But destiny drags us down like an anchor.
The broken can only drift in the sea barely staying afloat.

 

Blinding Lights

She dances with a passion I'll never know.
Seeing her again tears me at the seams.
She was never mine.
My soul is stained with the darkness of death.
I have killed.
I have tortured.
I have lost.
Her soul is too bright for the shadows within,
and her determination to be the flame in my heart could kill us both.
Still, I want her, I crave her.
But not even her blinding lights can fight away the darkness threatening us both.
Eventually, everything gets snuffed out.

 

Weighing of the Heart

What happens when the myths of old become reality?

Thalia Alexander has lived her life in peace until her twenty-fifth birthday when she has a strange dream about a man.

A tall, dark, and sexy man that shows up at her work the next morning.

Tristan Jacks is trouble with a capital T, but for some strange reason she is drawn to him like nothing she has ever experienced before. He has this possessiveness and adoration for her that she can’t explain. It’s like they have known each other forever.

Thalia’s strange dreams continue to stalk her as her relationship with Tristan builds to be a love that will last the ages.

And when those dreams and reality start to clash, will Thalia be able to handle the truth?

Could the world of ancient myths truly exist in modern times?

 

Evergreen

It was supposed to be an easy stakeout. 
Until a bunch of bachelorettes mobbed me, changing my life forever. 

I couldn't get Andi Slaton, with her red hair, blue eyes, and cotton candy-flavored lip gloss, out of my head. 

But when she offers herself to aid the FBI to help me take down the biggest criminal family in Tampa, Florida, my very sanity is put to the test watching her spend time with my arch enemy. 

She's everything I want, I will be everything to her. 
We will be Evergreen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playlist

Sucker For Pain- Lil Wayne, Ft.Wiz Khalifa, Imagine Dragons, Logic

Paint it Black- Ciara

You Don’t Own Me- Grace Ft. G-Easy

Everybody Wants to Rule the World- Lorde

Make it Rain- Ed Sheeran Cover

Issues- Julia Michaels

More Than a Feeling- Boston

Thunder- Imagine Dragons

Come and Get Your Love- Redbone

Gangsta- Kehlani

Never Let Me Go- Florence +The Machine

Brandy- Looking Glass

…Ready for It- Taylor Swift

Havana- Camila Cabello

Whatever It Takes- Imagine Dragons

Cake by the Ocean- DNCE

Eyes Open- Taylor Swift

 

Acknowledgements

It’s always so hard to write to everyone I’m thankful for because I am always so thankful for everyone.

To those who love me, those who hate me, and those who don’t even know me yet.

I am inspired to keep going and do what I love by all of you.

My loving readers, both old and new. I can never thank you enough for giving my stories a chance. Hopefully continuing to write many more books is a start.<3

I am forever grateful for all my friends and family that support me. You guys listen to me try to figure out what power can fight another, bitch about life, and everything else. 

I could go into names but honestly that list is growing so big I think I’d have to write a separate book to share how much you all mean to me.

I love you all.

Hubs and child. I love you guys the most though. ;)

 

 

About the Author

Jessica Florence, 
Writer of Alpha Males & Fairy Tales
Author <3 PotterHead<3 Movie Geek Extraordinaire.

When she's not writing her next invigorating story. You can find her running her own business, and spending time with her husband and daughter in southwest Florida.
Jessica loves to interact with her readers, find her on 



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