Chapter Twenty-Nine
Arthur
I’d been doing nothing but art since leaving Gwendolyn’s house after our night together. It was by far the best night of my life. Then things started getting weird. Gwendolyn seemed to have shut down before I left and then had a meltdown. I wished she would have told me it was happening, so I could have been there for her. She just needed to see that things were fine, and that I was sticking around.
At least I hoped that was what she needed. Ultimately, she could decide that this whole being-with-someone thing wasn’t working for her. So, it was my job to keep her happy with me as best as I could possibly accomplish that.
A knock on my door made me perk up and grin, thinking about the woman on the other side.
“Welcome.” I opened the door for them to come in. Gwendolyn looked like she’d been lost in thought, but when she saw me, a beautiful smile graced her pink lips. That smile gave me hope.
Pops gave me a fist bump as they passed me, and Cora hopped down to the ground to investigate, like the curious dragon she was. I’m sure the little asshole and Cora would have fun together.
“You’re gonna have to give me the tour since I haven’t had the pleasure of really seeing your place yet.” She stopped to look around. Thankfully, the little asshole and I had been tidying things up, so she should be okay in here.
“It’s so colorful,” she commented. I walked over, slowly intertwining her fingers in mine. She looked down at the touch then her gaze slowly traveled up my body before landing on my eyes. I lifted her hand up to my lips and kissed it gently. Her skin was cold from the chilly winter weather.
“Thank you for coming over.” Her skin vibrated slightly from my murmur of thanks.
She nodded and then her gaze moved back to the room. With my hand and hers still together, I gave her a tour of my warehouse.
She seemed to enjoy looking at all the paintings I had lying around, and then the statue that I’d made for her when I first laid eyes on her. I told her its story, and she looked stunned that I’d seen her before we met at the diner. Yep, I was a creeper turned lover, I guess. She didn’t seem to mind that I’d seen her before and then reached out to touch the metal, feeling its cool body.
“It’s really well made. You’re very talented.”
The compliment from her made me feel like a peacock, very proud of my beautiful feathers, as it were.
“What is that?” She pointed to a large canvas that was peeking out from behind another. The coloring was white, which in here stood out like a shining star. I bit my lip nervously. I hope she liked it instead of thinking it was too much.
I pulled my hand free so I could uncover the painting and show it to her.
“Yeah. I call this one The Almost Smile.” After meeting her that first time, I went home and painted up the picture in my head from when she almost smiled at me. Not very many colors—just enough so you could see the strands of her hair, her blue eyes, and pink lips tilted up at the corner.
“You painted me?” She sounded breathless, and I took that as a positive sign.
“An artist can’t help but recreate natural beauty in everyday life; it’s in our soul.”
She was my muse, after all, inspiring me to create, and be better than the man I was before.
“How long have you been creating art?” She couldn’t take her eyes away from the painting. Her hand reached out, as if compelled to touch her face, like she’d never seen herself the way I saw her.
“Not long, believe it or not. I used to be a completely different person than I am now.” I figured it was time to let this particularly sad cat out of the bag. Her hand dropped, and those eyes were on me.
“What do you mean?”
I set the painting down and walked over to my black leather couch to sit. This conversation wasn’t going to be easy, but she’d gotten deep with me with her past, and it was time I did the same.
“Before the Hero Society changed time, I was a different person—the man my father wanted me to be. An asshole, really. Money, power, and everything that went with it. When the battle took over Seahill and everyone left, I couldn’t bring myself to run. So, I stayed and gave into my power, to fight with them. To finally do something bigger than myself.”
I reached over to caress her cheek, needing the feel of her soft skin to give me inspiration and courage to continue on.
“I died that night. I had many regrets, things I wished I had done differently. Then it was like I woke up, after they went back in time. I remembered everything that happened, and I was alive, and it was a year earlier. I was blessed with a second chance, and I wasn’t going to spend it doing things I didn’t want to do. Art was something I’d been good at in high school but was forced to forget about. So now I do what makes me happy. Including being with you.”
There it all was. Now she knew everything. It wasn’t something that would scare her off, but if I ever woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, maybe she wouldn’t feel frightened by me.
“I’m so sorry you died.” She may not understand emotions as well as others, but this she got perfectly. Her head turned into my palm, and she pressed her lips gently against my skin.
“I got another chance, so it all worked out.” I shrugged, but of course that was me just blowing off the emotions I didn’t want to chase right now.
“I’m glad they gave you back to me,” she whispered and leaned in for a kiss.
I guess I owed the Hero Society more than a debt for bringing me back to life, although I know it wasn’t their main priority. Because they did, I got a chance to meet and be with Gwendolyn, something I didn’t have before, because my eyes weren’t open, and I wouldn’t have seen her for the beauty she was. She deserved this me, not the asshole me.
“Well, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the fun part.” I stood and held out a hand to help her up. My “date night” plans were fairly simple: we’d eat the enchiladas I’d made then we’d paint. She’d have her canvas, and I’d have mine. The robots in the warehouse were working on their own masterpieces that I’d laid on the floor for them, which was quite comical to watch. Cora would step in paint and then walk all over the house, which drove Teddy mad. But it kept them occupied, so when Gwendolyn and I switched from painting blank canvases to our bodies, they never even noticed what was happening in my bed.
Chapter Thirty
Gwendolyn
My cozy robots were doing great, Arthur was slowly integrating himself into my life, and I had officially gotten another save-the-day badge.
This time it had been a sinkhole that appeared on the outskirts of the city, taking down a building full of people. Of course, they ended up being stuck inside. My job was to keep the building’s metal structure intact while Leon raced around with his lightning-fast speed to save everyone inside.
As soon as the work was done, and everyone was being checked out by paramedics, he gave me a wink and sped off. I got to use my new getaway motorcycle. I tossed the bag toward the ground and used my powers to put it together.
I was off in no time and, not ready to let go of the high from saving those people, I kept riding instead of heading for home. I found myself going over the bridge to get off Seahill Island and heading to the national parks by the big mountain.
The cold wind was nipping at my face, and I made a note to next time make sure I had a helmet. Safety had not been my main priority this time, as it normally was. I just wanted a way to sneak from the crowd quickly, and now I had that.
I wasn’t paying attention to where I was driving, my mind occupied by my thoughts, until I noticed I was nearing the building where Terratrex had been dumping chemicals into the river.
Maybe subconsciously I wanted to do more hero work? I was oddly at ease with that. Bravery was running through me, and I just wanted to roll with it.
But as I drove closer, I realized the place looked different. It looked deserted.
There were no guards at the gate and no lights on
at all. The whole scene before me was strange. Compelled to investigate more, I crushed the lock between the gates and pushed it open. No one came running out at me, so I took that as a good and a bad sign. Good because I wasn’t getting arrested right now, but bad because this place might very well be abandoned and we’d never know what they’d been doing or why.
I parked the bike and turned it back into my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder.
Quietly, I walked around the building and saw nothing out of place. The river even looked to be cleaner than it was before. The whole situation was odd, and I had an uneasy feeling, telling me I should leave, but I was too curious to do that now. I needed to know what was happening here. So, I slipped inside and continued walking around. It was completely empty. Computers were gone, all signs there had been experiments happening had disappeared. Only things left were a few trees that had some fruit sprouting out of their limbs and the dirt.
I grabbed my phone and started recording what I was seeing so I could look back at the footage later with fresh eyes.
Something was wrong here. I could feel it in my bones. Then I felt it—a wave of foreshadowing energy that told me to get out of Dodge.
Without thinking, I dove into the river with a large breath in my lungs. The metal on my back dragged me down to the bottom, but I was grateful. The building above me was exploding before my eyes, and fire caressed the water, warming it even at the five-foot depth where I was.
Debris started dropping into the river, and I knew I had to swim out of here before I got pinned by something and drowned.
Not a way I wanted to die. My head was frantic, and I was trying so hard to push back the panic that threatened to turn into a meltdown.
I took the backpack off—it was keeping me down like an anchor—and took off toward the exit of the river through the building. I bumped into a grate and felt my lungs start to burn. I’d never been the best swimmer, and now I was driven by the fear of death. Not a good combination. Placing my hand against the metal, it began to melt in the water, but the surrounding water was cooling and solidifying the metal faster than I could liquify it. The water was too cold.
Trying something different, I changed the properties inside the structure and then hit it with my hand. I’d made it brittle and soft, like gold, and was able to climb through a hole I’d made by hitting it repeatedly.
Air. I needed air, or this place would be my grave.
I felt the ground shaking around me, so I still ran a risk of getting hit by a part of the building, but it was either risk it or drown.
My head popped out of the water and I took great gulps of air as I looked to the building and saw nothing but ruins and flames. The evidence of what Terratrex had been doing was gone. I prayed it would be enough to stop the toxins in the water from spreading, and nature would filter out the bad. But man had a way of turning something as beautiful as nature into a downward spiral of extinction.
I swam further down the stream and climbed out of the river, freezing, and without my transportation, which now lay with the rubble of the building.
Thankfully my phone was waterproof—thank you, creators of the newest smartphone, for thinking of moments like this. I called Phillip first, to let him know what happened. He told me that help was almost there. How he knew I’d need it, I didn’t know, and right now didn’t care. I’d survived the explosion and avoided drowning. But if that help he told me was coming didn’t, then I was going to be taken by hypothermia.
My teeth were chattering, and my body wouldn’t stop shaking as the gleam of a black SUV drove fast past the gates. It skidded to a stop, dust from the gravel swirling around the tires.
I felt relief in my bones at the sight of that familiar SUV, but I couldn’t move. My body was so cold that I was stuck there sitting on the ground, curled up in a ball for body heat.
“Fuck, Gwendolyn.” Arthur was out of the car and running to me as fast as he could. My hero, coming to save me from becoming a Popsicle.
I tried to say hi, but my mouth wasn’t up for talking. It was too busy clicking my teeth together.
“Okay, I’m getting you out of here.” He lifted me up and walked me to his SUV, gently setting me in the back seat where he slid in next to me.
The heat was on high, and I already started to feel better.
“We have to get you out of those wet clothes. You’re not going to warm up while all that cold water sits against your skin.” His movements were slow as he reached for my hero mask and started helping me out of my suit, piece by piece. Naked, I had even more of a chill until he pulled my body onto his and wrapped a thick blanket around us.
“Are you okay?” I asked him, with a stutter.
“I’ll be fine when you aren’t freezing to death.” He kissed my cold forehead before pulling me in closer somehow, his warmth seeping into me.
“I was scared to death when Phillip called me and told me to get out here and save you. More scared than when I knew I was going to die.”
My body shuddered, but it wasn’t from the cold—it was from his words. What could I have possibly done on this earth to deserve him?
“I’ve fallen in love with you,” I heard myself whisper against his chest. His hands around my body tightened slightly. I knew he heard me, and I felt myself relax more for having said it.
The adrenaline from the day seemed to have rushed out of me as quickly as it came, and I fell asleep shortly after uttering the most important words I’d ever said to anymore.
Chapter Thirty- One
Arthur
“I’ve fallen for you too.” I laid her in her bed, careful not to jostle her too much. She was warm, and Cora looked her over, deeming her stable despite crashing so hard earlier.
I sat beside her, thinking over all the emotions I’d felt since Phillip called. I was so fucking worried that something had gone wrong, that it was too late to save her. I couldn’t even think about what I would have done if I’d found her dead at that demolished building.
She survived. She was okay, and she loved me.
I kept reminding myself that, over and over. I should be elated—the girl I loved, loved me back. But all I felt was fear. I almost had the most precious thing in the world taken from me. Life was short and fragile, I knew that firsthand. But the world would be okay without me. Gwendolyn, on the other hand…she did too much good in the world to be lost.
“I’ll be back,” I told Pops as I left the apartment and ran to the bay ten blocks over. I needed to expend some of this energy that was buzzing beneath my skin, begging to be unleashed.
I made sure no one was around as I dove into the water from the seawall and swam out as far as I could in the cold water. I felt the sickness hit me from the toxins in the water, but I kept going, using small bits of my power to push me further out to sea, far away from anything that could be considered a casualty of what I was about to do.
When I figured I was a safe distance away from anything, I swallowed down the lightheadedness from the water I just swam through and barreled out a roar. My power pushed from my body in all directions, water blasting away from me like a bomb had detonated in the ocean. I kicked and punched the water, creating giant waves and high-powered fountains shooting toward the clouds.
I’d only let go like this once, and I’d been completely new with my powers. This time I felt the connection to the water inside me like I was a part of the sea itself.
I felt the giant wave I’d created as it rolled and rolled toward the city. Pushing my hand down, the wave dispersed and flattened out instantly.
Floating on my back, staring up at the sky, I let my body move with the gentle rocking of the waves, lulling my mind and fears.
Everything was okay, and we would fix whatever came our way. First things first—I needed to get back to Gwendolyn now that I felt more in control of myself.
Now that I felt connected to the water on another level, it was easier to push myself through it and launch myself onto the shore. I wa
s cold and soaking wet, but with a flick of my hands, like I was shaking off water, all the liquid in my clothes left the fabric and dropped to the ground.
Pops let me into the apartment, then I saw Gwendolyn was sitting up in her bed, she’d changed out of the blanket and into some sweatpants and a sweater. She looked so fragile, but her face lit up when she saw me.
She’s okay.
“How are you feeling?” I sat beside her, my hand reaching for hers, reminding me that she was still warm-blooded and real.
“I feel fine. Warmer and slightly itchy. Pops says that happens when you’ve been out in the cold. Blood is flowing to places it wasn’t, making it itch.”
“I’m glad you’re all right. Now, what were you doing there?” She hadn’t been too keen on investigating it before, so never in my wildest imagination did I think she’d go back, especially not by herself.
“I’d just rescued people and felt…I don’t know…like a high from it. I just took off on my getaway bike and kept riding. I wound up at the building, the high still there, so I wanted to take a look. It was empty, and now I know why. They made the building explode, probably covering up any potential evidence. Assholes.”
The word assholes coming out of her mouth made my frown turn into a grin. Cute as fuck.
“At least I made it out safe and with some video footage of the scene before it was obliterated.” She held out her phone, and together we looked at what she’d seen.
Everything was gone that could be used against them: no computers, no logos, nothing tying them to the scene.
“Wait, go back ten seconds.” I was hoping I didn’t just see what I thought I saw.
She scrolled the video back to where I said, and I hit pause at the right moment.
“Well, that’s not good.” Gwendolyn saw it too.
In the background were test tubes and beakers full of chemicals, with a large barrel of fertilizer sitting against the back wall. They took everything but the parts that truly mattered. The toxins that were poisoning the water and the citizens of the city were now most likely flowing down the Hatcher River then into the bay, where they would eventually make their way to the ocean, and all would be lost.
Winter (Hero Society Book 5) Page 11