Nightingale

by Jennifer Estep

  A faint sound rang out through the lobby. Bandit froze. I cocked my head, listening. It came again. That soft sound of a zipper being drawn down. My breath caught in my throat.

  Talon—he was here.

  A second later, a thin, black cable fell into the lobby, and a man in a cobalt-blue leather suit slid down it. I would have known him anywhere. Talon’s head swiveled back and forth as he unbuckled himself from the line.

  In the shadows, Bandit lifted his gun, just as he’d done in the alley. This time, though, I wasn’t going to stay quiet.

  “Talon! Behind you!” I screamed.

  Both men looked up at the sound of my voice. I stood up and chucked the fire extinguisher over the balcony at Bandit. The can clanked against the floor. It didn’t come anywhere close to hitting the ubervillain, but it made him flinch, and his bullet went wild. Talon rolled behind a cluster of chairs.

  “Abby!” Talon said.

  I never got a chance to respond. This time, Bandit raised his gun and fired at me. The glass railing shattered. Jagged, broken pieces cut my arms and hands, and I lost my balance. I bounced down the steps, hitting each and every one, before falling hard onto the lobby floor.

  Pain exploded in my body. My hips. Back. Shoulders. Arms. Head. Every single part of me ached and throbbed. Blood filled my mouth.

  A hand shoved itself into my hair and pulled me up. White stars burst in front of my eyes. For a moment, I couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t breathe. All I could feel was a sharp, stabbing pain in my chest. Somehow, my lungs kept working. I blinked, and the stars faded away, even if the pain didn’t.

  Bandit shoved me in front of him, using me as a shield. His gun made a cold, round impression against my throbbing temple. Talon slowly stood from his position behind the chairs. He had his crossbow gun up and pointed at Bandit.

  “Put the gun down or she dies!” Bandit hissed.

  “She dies, you die!” Talon snarled back.

  “Bandit!” a third voice cut in. “Bandit, what’s your status?”

  It took me a minute to realize Bandit was wearing a transmitter in his ear and that Octavia was squawking at him.

  “I’ve got Abby in the lobby. We have a visitor, too. Get your ass down here.”

  Bandit held me in front of him, his gun against my head. Talon stood about fifteen feet away, gun still out, his arm steady. My supersenses kicked into high gear, and I felt, heard, and saw everything amplified a thousand times. The ashy stench of Bandit’s sweat. The coppery taste of blood in my mouth. The steadiness of Talon’s arm. The cable creaking over our heads. My eyes flicked up.

  The cable.

  About thirty seconds later, the elevator pinged! open. High heels stabbed the floor, and Octavia walked up to Bandit. She also had a gun, but I noticed with no small sense of satisfaction she had to hold it in her left hand. Blood still dripped from the wounds I’d put in her right shoulder. For once, Octavia wasn’t the picture of cool perfection. Her black hair hung around her face, plastered to her neck. Dark circles had appeared under her eyes, and her red lipstick had smeared across her cheeks. I wondered if Octavia’s haggard appearance was from the blood loss or the euphoridon pumping through her body.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t Talon, come to save his damsel in distress.”

  “And if it isn’t the mysterious Tycoon,” Talon replied. “It seems you’re bleeding. What happened to your arm?”

  Octavia’s eyes cut to me. I smiled.

  “I think you need to put your gun down,” Bandit replied. “Or I’m going to put a bullet in Abby’s head. Right. Now.”

  Talon didn’t lower his weapon. Instead, he raised his other hand. Something silver glittered between his fingers. My breath caught in my throat. The flash drive. He must have gotten it from Piper and broken the encryption. That must have been how he knew to come to Oomph headquarters.

  Octavia spotted it too. “Give me that, and I might let you live.”

  “That’s a lie, and we all know it. So, we’ll trade,” Talon said. “Abby for the drive.”

  Octavia looked at Bandit. The ubervillain nodded. They were going to double-cross Talon as soon as they got the flash drive and kill us both. I knew it, and so did he. So, why was he trying to bargain with them? To save me? Or to save Nightingale?

  “All right,” Octavia said. “Bandit, let her go.”

  The ubervillain lowered his gun and shoved me toward Talon. I stumbled and would have fallen if the superhero hadn’t caught me. His arm caused me more pain as it wrapped tightly around my waist, but I wouldn’t have traded the feeling of his body against mine for anything in the world.

  “Abby—”

  “There’s no time,” I whispered. “The lips. Shoot your crossbow at the lips. At the cable.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Do you trust me?”

  Talon nodded.

  “You have her. Now, the flash drive,” Octavia said. “Slide it over here.”

  Talon let go of the drive and kicked it away with his boot. It skidded across the floor, and Octavia dropped to her knees, grabbed the drive, and studied it. Bandit kept his guns trained on us.

  “This looks like the right drive.” Octavia looked at me. Our eyes locked, and her mouth hardened. “Kill them!”

  The world went into slow motion. Bandit pulled the trigger on his gun. Talon threw himself to one side, taking me with him. A bullet brushed my cheek, the hot metal stinging my skin. Talon fell to the ground, me on top of him. He raised his arm. The trigger on his crossbow gun clicked, and a bolt shot out. Bandit raised his other revolver, ready to fire again. We were prone on the floor. This time, he wouldn’t miss.

  But Talon’s aim was true too. The bolt zipped through the cable, slicing it in half. Even from my position on the floor, I heard it snap. Air flowed over my skin as it started to fall.

  Bandit also heard the sound. His eyes flicked up, but he realized the danger too late. He dived to one side, trying to get out of the way. Octavia was too intent on raising her own gun to move.

  Bandit might have been a quick draw, but he wasn’t quite quick enough. The neon lips sign crashed down on the ubervillain and Octavia, pinning them. Lights exploded in the glass structure. Sparks hissed everywhere, painting the lobby a brilliant, bloody red. Talon rolled us over, so that he was on top. He shielded my body with his, and I buried my face in his neck. Explosion after explosion rocked the room. Metal zinged through the air. Acrid smoke boiled up from the shattering sign.

  And then—silence.

  Talon rolled off me and up onto his knees. I stayed on the floor. My body ached too much for me to do much more than breathe. Still, I turned my head to look at the damage.

  The lips sign lay flat on the floor. Octavia’s stilettos peeked out from the middle. Movement caught my eye. A hand holding a gun waved at the left corner of the sign. I watched it move once, twice, a third time. Then, it stilled, and the revolver slipped from Bandit’s fingers.

  Talon turned his attention to me. “Abby, are you okay?”

  “I hurt—everywhere.” I coughed, and more blood filled my mouth.

  He cupped my cheek with his hand. “Just lay still. I’ll call an ambulance—”

  He never got to finish his statement. Something, or rather someone, chose that moment to rip the building’s front door off its hinges. Metal screeched. Glass shattered. More alarms blared.

  Talon snapped up his gun, ready to defend me again. I loved him for it, but he didn’t have to—because the Fearless Five strode into the building.

  Fiera was first, her fists blazing as orange-red as her costume. Then came Striker in black leather, his twin swords peeping up over his shoulders. Mr. Sage followed in his flowing green cape. Hermit stepped inside next, his checkerboard goggles catching the light, and finally there was Karma Girl, draped in sparkling, silver spandex.

  There was another person with them, someone I never would have dreamed of. She headed for me, along with Mr. Sage. The other heroes went o
ver to the fallen sign to see if Bandit and Octavia were still alive.

  “Lulu?” I asked, not quite believing my eyes.

  “Hey, Abby.” Lulu dropped to her knees beside me. Her neon-blue hair gleamed in the light. “I finally decrypted those files you gave me. They were pretty interesting, but I guess you know that already.”

  Mr. Sage looked at Talon. “I think you can put that away now. It looks like you’ve done plenty of damage with it already.”

  Talon nodded and holstered his weapon. Mr. Sage turned his attention to me. He set a bag on the floor and pulled out a stethoscope.

  “Hi, Abby. I’m going to take care of you.” Mr. Sage’s voice was calm and soothing, with an Irish accent.

  He put the cold metal against my chest and told me to breath, but I looked up at Lulu.

  “These are your friends? The ones you told me about at the library?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “The Fearless Five, the city’s best superhero team, are your personal friends.”

  Lulu grinned. “Yeah.”

  “Some friends,” I said.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The police arrived a short time later. Striker and Hermit stayed behind to help them, while Fiera, Karma Girl, and Mr. Sage tended to me. The superheroes and Lulu loaded Talon and me into their van and took us to their secret headquarters. Mr. Sage worked on me during the ride, checking my blood pressure, pressing on my chest and stomach, asking me where it hurt.

  Talon—Wesley—held my hand the whole time.

  I faded in and out of consciousness. The van stopped, and someone, probably Fiera, lifted me onto a gurney. The wheels squeaked, adding to my headache. The next thing I felt was someone pressing a cold cloth to my face. After that, the world went black.

  Voices woke me sometime later.

  “She took a nasty fall. She’s got a concussion, cracked ribs, and cuts.” Mr. Sage’s voice sounded like it was far away.

  “But?” Talon asked.

  “But she’s going to be fine.”

  “Thank you,” Talon said.

  A gentle hand cupped my cheek. I tried to reach up to grab it, but I just couldn’t move. I just couldn’t … move …

  I drifted along, not really asleep, but not awake either. A loud, angry voice jerked me out of my dreamlike state.

  “I’m going to kill Piper!” someone hissed.

  Piper? Was Piper here? Was she in trouble?

  I opened my eyes. I was laying in a bed in a hospital-type room. Gauze covered my cut arms, while an IV dripped fluid into me. Medical machines beeped and chirped around the bed like songbirds. The lights were turned low, as if it was nighttime outside.

  “I’m going to kill her!” Fiera hissed again.

  “You can’t kill Piper, and you know it,” Karma Girl countered.

  “Well, I can’t kill Abby. At least not before she finishes planning my wedding.”

  I spotted the two superheroes through the window in front of my bed. They stood outside the room, but I could hear them as if they were right next to me, especially Fiera. Her voice carried.

  “I give Piper a three-thousand-dollar dress and what happens? Her friend ruins it!”

  Karma Girl crossed her arms over her chest. “And what exactly prompted you to give Piper a free dress? Or do I even have to guess? She brought you food, didn’t she?”

  “There might have been French fries involved,” Fiera admitted.

  “Then you have nobody but yourself to blame,” Karma Girl said. “Quit letting people bribe you with burritos. Besides, it was for a good cause. Did you see Abby? She looked amazing. I never knew she could sing like that.”

  Fiera sniffed. “Her voice was great, but a ruined dress is still a ruined dress …”

  The two superheroes moved down the hall, and their voices faded away.

  The way Fiera was raving about the dress, you would have thought she made it, instead of Fiona. It wasn’t like they were the same person or anything—were they? Could Fiona actually be Fiera? That crazy thought was the last thing I remembered before sleep claimed me once again.

  #

  The next time I awoke, I felt more like myself. Most of the medicated fog was gone, along with my headache. I opened my eyes a crack, and the overhead light stabbed into them. So, I squeezed them shut and fumbled around, patting the bed, looking for a call button. I wasn’t going to open my eyes again until that light was turned down.

  “Abby?” Talon whispered. “Are you awake?”

  “Yeah, can you turn the light down low, please?”

  “Why?”

  I sighed. I’d told him everything else. I might as well share my final secret. “Because I have supersenses. Bright lights give me headaches.”

  His leather costume creaked, and a moment later, the light faded to a low glow. I opened my eyes. I was still in the same hospital room, but now, Talon was here. The superhero dropped into a chair beside my bed. I wondered how long he’d been in here with me.

  “Would you like to sit up?” he asked.

  I nodded. Talon put his hand under my shoulder and helped me. It still hurt to move, but not as much as it had at Oomph. I didn’t have to look under the sheets to know my ribs were taped up. I could feel more bandages on my arms and legs, covering the cuts I’d gotten falling down the stairs.

  “How do you feel?” Talon asked.

  “Better. How long have I been in here?”

  “Two days. You have some broken ribs, but Mr. Sage says you’re going to be fine.”

  “I know. I heard you talking to him.”

  We sat there. Then, Talon reached up and took off his visor.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “You know who I am. I feel silly talking to you with my visor on.”

  “Oh.”

  More silence.

  “So what happened that night after we … talked in the broom closet?”

  Wesley cleared his throat. “Well, I went back to the party, heading to the bar to get good and drunk. But your friend Piper cornered me. She wanted to know where you were and what I’d done to you. She said a guy with missing buttons on his shirt had to be up to something.”

  I smiled. “Piper tends to notice things like that.”

  “Anyway, she told me she knew I was Talon and that you were Nightingale.”

  “So, she gave you the flash drive then?”

  “No,” Wesley shook his head. “We were arguing when Rascal started acting up. He barked and barked and just wouldn’t be quiet. He pulled his leash right out of Piper’s hand and ran out of the auditorium. We followed him. He managed to push through the revolving doors and get out onto the street. That’s when I spotted Bandit putting you into a limo. I tried to catch the car, but it took off. I grabbed Rascal and told Piper what I’d seen. She’d gotten the limo’s license plate. She also told me about the file names you’d seen on the drive. I traced the limo to Octavia. Putting two and two together, I grabbed my gear, suited up as Talon, and came looking for you. You know the rest.”

  I nodded.

  Wesley took my hand. His hard fingers gently stroked my sensitive skin. “I want you to know I came for you, Abby. Not for Bandit or Tycoon. Just you.”

  “Because you save innocents.”

  “No, because I wanted to save you. Because I couldn’t have lived with myself if anything had happened to you.”

  The fervent tone in his voice, the bright light in his eyes, the tightening of his fingers on mine. It almost sounded like he cared about me. About me—Abby.

  “I’m so sorry for everything,” Wesley said. “I’ve just been so confused.”

  “Confused?” I asked. “Why were you confused?”

  “That time in your apartment, when Wren, Nightingale, was taking care of me. We really connected.”

  I nodded.

  “I thought we had something—something special. But then, you drugged me and ran away before I could see who you were. I didn’t understand why, so I decid
ed to look for you, and then, I ended up hiring you for my event. You were wonderful. Smart, funny, witty. I was attracted to you, and I couldn’t figure out why, because I’d already fallen for this other woman.”

  “That’s why you kissed me that day behind the waterfall?” I asked. “Because you were attracted to me?”

  Wesley gave me a strange look. “Why did you think I kissed you?”

  I shook my head. I wasn’t sure what to tell him.

  “Then I find out you’re really Nightingale, that you’ve been under my nose the whole time. I’m a superhero. I’m used to lying to people about my real identity. Call me a hypocrite, but I didn’t like it when somebody did it to me. Especially somebody I cared about.”

  I couldn’t breathe. Somebody he cared about. Dare I hope he still did?

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything,” Wesley said.

  “What did you think Nightingale was like? Who did you think she was?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Somebody like Fiona Fine, I guess.”

  My heart broke. I was about as far away from the tall, blond, gorgeous Fiona as you could get. I’d been right all along. Wesley had been searching for a fairy princess—and that was someone, something I could never, ever be.

  “Do you think we could start over?” he asked, his hand still on mine. “As Abby and Wesley?”

  I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to. But so much had happened. We’d told so many lies, hurt each other so much, without even meaning to. Wesley might claim he’d been attracted to me, but Nightingale was the one he’d been searching for. How could I know for sure which one of us he really wanted—his fantasy or my reality? The doubt would eat away at me.

  Besides, I’d dated rich guys before. It never worked out. In the end, I really was a Wren, and Wesley was destined for somebody like Fiona, a glittering, beautiful Nightingale. He deserved that. Someday, he’d realize it, and leave me. Better to cut my losses now, and walk away with some dignity, even if my heart was in shreds.

  I pulled my fingers away from his. “I’m sorry, Wesley. I don’t think we can. Too much has happened.”

  “But—”

  “No,” I rasped, my throat closing up. “Don’t say anything else. I appreciate you staying here and looking after me, but I’m sure the Fearless Five can take things from here. Please leave.”