Oh shit, oh shit, don’t go into shock…if Quinn can heal from this, so can you.
He focused and took several shallow breaths, then warmed his torso.
“Hey mister, are you okay?”
Blake panicked and looked over his right shoulder. There, a young boy pulling a sled through the snow stared at him, wide eyed.
“Why are your eyes orange? Are you Blue Spekter?”
“Go away,” Blake hissed, struggling to warm his torso.
“Why aren’t you wearing a coat?”
Freaking nosy kid.
“I said go away!” He coughed and spat up blood. The ice spear melted faster and Blake’s insides felt cold and itchy as they healed.
“Ollie!” a woman in the distance called out. “It’s time to come in.”
“Okay, mom, but I found a man,” the boy called out.
“What?” The mother’s voice sounded alarmed and panicked.
Dammit.
Blake’s super hearing alerted him to her hurried footsteps in the deep snow. He looked down in frustration, but the ice spear still pierced him.
He watched a woman in sweat clothes push through the snowy pine trees between him and her home. She abruptly stopped when she saw a shirtless, bloody teenaged boy lanced with an ice spear with dimly glowing orange eyes. Her face conveyed alarm and recognition, but Blake’s eyes probably tipped her off as to who he was.
“Ollie, come here,” she said, reaching for her son.
“But mom, he needs help,” Ollie replied, slowly trudging to his mother.
“We can call an ambulance for help.”
Blake watched her hands tap at her pockets, but she stopped when she realized her phone wasn’t on her.
“Just go,” he said. He raised his arm and swiped at the ice spear, but when he hit it, the ice did not break. He cried in pain as it vibrated through his body.
“Come on, leave the sled,” the mother said, but her words were lost to the throbbing pain in his head and body,
Blake struck the ice spear again and it snapped in half at his stomach. Grunting and breathing rapidly, Blake rolled forward, yelling in pain as his body rolled off the spear. When it slid out of his back and fell to the ground, he collapsed next to it and his breath caught in his throat at the pain. He was momentarily paralyzed, unable to move or scream. Then, his body felt itchy as it mended itself.
Minutes later, his stomach and the broken bones on his left side healed and he sat up. He looked to his right, where the sled had been abandoned by the boy and his mother who were now long gone. The sound of approaching police sirens told him the mom had called 911. He stood and brushed the snow off his purple tights.
No point sticking around here.
He jumped, ascended into the sky, and turned invisible as he flew over Leary Field and the police station to his condo.
❖
Blake toweled his wet hair after showering then hung the towel over the bar and walked to his bedroom. He pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and a sleeveless muscle shirt. He picked up his torn jeans and pulled his phone out of the front pocket.
Dammit.
The glass was cracked and the top half of the touchscreen didn’t work, though the phone seemed to function otherwise. He sighed and went downstairs to heat up a frozen entree.
I have nothing left.
I have no idea where Victor is, and I can’t go back to the naval prison or Rangeley because nothing’s there. Quinn’s taken everything away from me…it’s time I take something away from him…but what?
No, not what, who…
Keegan.
It’s time he suffers like I have and comes to know what it’s like to be on the wrong end of the gilded spoon.
He laid down on his bed, intending to nap for a few minutes, and closed his eyes.
A knock at his door startled him, and he checked the time. It was five-thirty at night.
What the hell?
He pushed himself up and padded downstairs, barefoot, still wearing only boxers and the sleeveless muscle shirt.
Someone knocked again. “Blake?” a young man’s voice called out. It was familiar, but he wasn’t sure who it belonged to. He approached the door and opened it. A soaked, frozen, shivering man blinked at him. The man’s wet, iced-over hair was plastered to his forehead and a shaking hand brushed it out of his eyes.
“H-hi.” The man’s teeth chattered in his mouth.
Blake looked the man up-and-down and marveled at his wet clothes, given it was mid-December. “What the hell happened to you?”
“I’m f-f-freezing, c-c-can I c-c-c-come in?”
“Who are you?” Blake asked.
“It’s me, Alex, from S-s-seavey Island.” He brushed his frozen hair off his forehead once more.
“Oh, right,” Blake responded, finally recognizing the soaked man.
Alex pushed his way into Blake’s condo.
Blake stepped. “Uh, sure, come in.”
Alex wasn’t much older than Blake, and since the receptionist was always responsive to his questions, Blake didn’t stop him. Closing the door behind him, Blake turned around as Alex pulled the wet backpack off of his back and set it on the tile floor next to him.
Then, he started stripping off his wet clothes, starting with his water-logged winter coat.
“You gonna tell me what happened and why you’re in my condo looking like you took a swim in the river in the winter?” Blake asked, slightly uncomfortable at how close they were standing.
Shivering Alex didn’t seem to care, and he nodded, his teeth chattered mercilessly. “That’s b-b-because I did. When the soldiers attacked the island t-t-today, I grabbed-d-d what I needed to secure. It’s in my b-b-bag. We have…protocols in place for a facility assault or c-c-capture, but I couldn’t get out until about an hour ago b-b-because they would’ve seen me in the d-d-daylight-t-t.” He dropped his wet coat onto the tile floor of Blake’s entryway, then kicked off his shoes and stripped out of his pants, pulling off his socks. The skin of his legs was white and blue, and Blake realized he was in danger of hypothermia.
“You’re freezing,” Blake commented. “You need a hot shower.”
Alex nodded, his teeth chattering. “P-p-please,” he said, his eyes ready to burst into tears. “I’ll tell you everything after I’m warmed up.”
Blake pointed toward the first-floor bathroom. “There’s a shower over there.”
“Thank you,” Alex said, his trembling fingers struggling to unbutton his shirt. They were pale and blue, and they seemed stiff and inflexible.
Blake sighed. “Here.” He raised his right hand and heated it up, putting his hand close to Alex’s shaking fingers.
“Thanks, that feels so good.” When he finished, he pulled off his dress shirt and soaked T-shirt. Then, he made his way through the condo to the bathroom, his armed wrapped around his body. Then, Blake watched Alex’s eyes move up and down his body, but it didn’t feel overtly sexual. “I don’t suppose you have any clothes I can borrow, do you? I figure we’re about the same size.”
Blake nodded. “Sure. I’ll get something for you, and I’ll put these clothes in the dryer if you want,”
“Yes please,” Alex turned around, pulled off his wet boxer briefs, hung them on the outer door knob, then shut the door and turned on the shower water.
Blake picked up Alex’s wet clothes and brought them upstairs to the laundry room and stuffed everything in the dryer. He put the man’s drenched dress shoes on top of the heater next to the dryer. At the last second, he checked Alex’s pants pockets, but they were empty. Then, he shut the dryer door and started the automatic cycle.
Hmm, interesting.
Walking to this bedroom, he dressed himself and pulled out fresh underwear, socks, a T-shirt, his maroon Clippers sweatpants and matching hooded sweatshirt, and brought them downstairs. He knocked on the the bathroom door and opened it.
“Yeah?”
“Hey, I’m putting dry clothes on the corner of the si
nk counter for you.”
“Thanks,” Alex called out from behind the fogged shower glass. “I think I finally stopped shivering,” he said.
“Good,” Blake replied.
“I think my fingers and toes will be okay, too.”
“Great, see you when you’re done. Take your time.”
Fifteen minutes later, the shower turned off. Blake stood at the stove, warming a Bertolli frozen pasta dinner in a sauté pan on the stovetop.
Another knock at his front door made him jump.
Now what?
He lowered the heat of the stove and went to the front door and opened it.
Aw, crap. You.
“Hi,” the red-headed girl said, twirling her hair with her left hand as Blake opened the door.
Ugh, not now.
“Can I help you?” Blake asked.
The girl’s eyes tracked to something behind Blake and she frowned.
“Never though I’d wear the gear of my enemy,” Alex quipped, walking into the kitchen and wearing Blake’s clothes. His hair was towel-dried and unruly. He froze when he saw the red-headed girl.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know your boyfriend was over,” the redhead said, perturbed.
“My what?” Blake asked with surprise, glancing behind him at Alex.
She nodded her head over Blake’s shoulder.
“He’s not my boyfriend, Vanessa.”
“Why would you think that?” Blake asked her.
“Well, it’s clear you’re gay because you’ve taken no interest in me when I’ve been more than flirtatious with you, and isn’t he wearing your Clippers clothing? Funny, I had no idea you’d go for someone with such a…past.”
“Um, that’s not how it works.” Then, Blake turned to Alex. “What does she mean, a past? And how do you know her name?”
“We used to date in high school.” Alex said.
“Really?” Blake replied, stunned.
Alex shrugged. “It didn’t work out because I didn’t understand my sexuality at the time.”
“It’s too bad, because…”
Alex cut her off. “Why don’t you tell him why you’re really here?”
Blake looked back at Vanessa and watched her face lose color as her eyes widened with embarrassment.
Oh my gosh, you work for The Order.
“Whatever do you mean, Alex?” she asked, playing coy and nervously twirling her hair again.
Blake folded his arms across his chest. “If you know who I am then you know what I can do. You’ve got one chance to tell me why you’ve been pestering me ever since I moved in here.”
She blinked but said nothing.
Alex scoffed. “For fuck’s sake, it doesn’t matter anymore, Van! We’re all gonna be polishing off our resumes tomorrow. Blake, Victor stationed Vanessa here to keep an eye on you.”
Figures.
Blake glared at her. “So, you’re not a high school student?”
She shook her head. “I’m twenty-three. With a little makeup and the right hair style, I look seventeen.”
She’s right there.
Blake took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I should feel incredibly angry or betrayed, but I’m not surprised. I kinda thought something was up with her strange advances, but…I didn’t realize she was working for Victor all this time.
“Walk away, Vanessa, and don’t ever bother me again.”
She swallowed nervously and nodded. “For what it’s worth, I…” she paused, then looked at the floor. “Never mind.”
She glared at Alex then left. Blake closed the door behind her and silently walked back to the stove. He turned up the burner a little and continued stirring their meal.
Alex leaned against the counter near Blake. Again, he stood unusually close.
“Gosh, I need a drink after that…whatever that was. Sorry about that.”
Blake shrugged. “It is what it is. Thanks for telling me about her.”
“Do you have any booze? That’ll help warm up my veins, too.” Alex asked, looking around the counter space.
Blake looked at him with furled eyebrows. “Seriously? I’m sixteen.”
“Oh, right.”
“Besides, I can’t get drunk.”
“Why not?”
Blake gestured with his free hand and waved it up and down his body. “Whatever causes the superpowers speeds up my metabolism. Several weeks back, I sucked down some of my dad’s vodka when I was pissed off and got a slight buzz that made me feel…dizzy or drunk. It was my first time, so I wasn’t really sure. Long story short, I went for a run and after a brief altercation with the police, the buzz was gone. When I went back home, I polished off the handle and the same thing happened. I got buzzed for a couple of minutes and then…nothing. For my half-handle of vodka, I think the world should have been spinning for me.”
“Um, yeah. That sucks.”
“It is what it is.”
Alex shrugged and looked down at the Clippers sweatshirt he wore and gently tugged at it. “So, um, yeah. I never thought I’d wear the gear of my enemy,”
Right, you said that earlier… “What do you mean?” Blake asked.
“I’m from Dover. I went to Spaulding High.”
“Oh, sorry. That sucks.”
“Ha.”
“I assume you’re hungry?”
Alex looked at the cooking food and nodded. “Hell yes. Thank you. I haven’t eaten since breakfast. And, um, thank you. I know this is weird, but I live in Dover and I couldn’t drive away from the facility or they would arrest me on the spot. I’m still not sure how I’m going to get my car back.”
“And you found me how?” Blake asked, stirring the pasta meal.
“As a librarian, I have access to the employee directory.”
“Interesting. This is almost ready. Why don’t you tell me what happened, because when I went back, I wasn’t able to recapture the facility.”
Alex looked at him with surprise. “Really? You?”
“Yeah. They have some kind of electrical stun gun that hurts like a motherfucker. I don’t know how to defend against it.”
“Weird. So, all morning we saw some weird activity on the baseball field. Hundreds of marines and navy soldiers flooded our side of the island, and our people had to pull in to avoid detection. They built a structure that turned out to be a news stand, and it looked like they were going to do some kind of special report. Then Blue Spekter arrived and started talking with the reporter.”
Blake frowned at the mention Quinn’s superhero name.
“The next thing we knew, all of the added security surrounded all three buildings. Then, the buildings disarmed themselves and the doors unlocked all by themselves. The video feeds still worked, and I watched Blue Spekter lead marines through the facility. They took it over room by room until all of our people were outside on buses, waiting to go who knows where.”
“How come they didn’t get you?” Blake asked, narrowing his eyes with his suspicion.
“I am one of the last lines of defense for the facility’s data.”
Blake pulled his head back in confusion. “But you’re a receptionist…” Alex smiled and shook his head. “No, I’m the facility’s librarian. I’m responsible for the data.”
“Ah.” He pointed to the cabinet behind Alex. “Two plates, please.”
Alex turned and grabbed the plates. “When I realized the facility was going to be compromised, I manually wiped all the local backups and data from the server room. What I wasn’t able to do is cut the three hard lines that connect the facility to the rest of the private network.
“I don’t understand.”
“Uh, it’s like our own version of the Internet, but The Order doesn’t use the public Internet. It has its own version. The three buildings on Seavey Island are still connected to the private network, which means if the military’s techies hack into the computer systems, they’ll have access to almost anything they want. I um…I kinda need you to go cut the hard-lines
. I’ll tell you where they are.”
Blake served two equal portions onto the plates, then pointed toward the kitchen island where they sat down to eat. “I don’t know if you heard what I just said, but I can’t get in there. They have stun guns, remember?”
“If you can’t cut those hard-lines, they get all the data and they will learn everything about us. That cannot happen. If you cut the hard-lines, then they can’t get to the private network and the system automatically purges any remaining on-site data. Once the facility is back under our control, we can reconnect it to the private network and all the data can be restored from the off-site backups, but you need to sever the connection tonight.”
“All right, fine, I’ll figure something out, but first we eat.”
Alex nodded and shoved several heaping forks of Chicken Broccoli Fettucine Alfredo into his mouth and spoke with a mouthful. “This is so good. Thanks again.”
Blake watched him inhale his meal with amusement. “You need to slow down or you’ll choke and need CPR or something.”
Alex paused and stared at him. Then, he shrugged and bounced his eyebrows at Blake. “I’m always down a for a good time.”
Blake paused and looked at him funny. So, Vanessa wasn’t being a prick when she thought I was his boyfriend. “I’m not gay.”
“What? Oh, um…sorry. The way you didn’t respond to Vanessa…I guess I got my signals mixed up, then. That rarely happens. Oh well.”
“Yeah. So…uh…how did you hide from the marines and Blue Spekter when they stormed the prison? How did you get off the island if you couldn’t drive out? I’m guessing you didn’t walk off?”
Alex swallowed a mouthful of food and took a deep breath. “After I manually instructed the local data center to purge, I ran into the locker room and jumped into one of the laundry bins. I hid under all the dirty uniforms until the coast was clear.”
“How did you know that?”
“I watched the internal cameras from the app on my phone.”
“Your phone wasn’t in your pocket. I checked your pants pockets before putting everything in the dryer. Wasn’t trying to be nosy.”
“Oh, thanks. It’s in my bag. I should probably empty it after we eat so the stuff can dry out. Anyway, they were confident the place was empty, so all I had to do was sneak around and then sneak out the northwest side of the building. That’s where you should sneak in, by the way. It’s really close to the water which means there won’t be too many marines with stun guns to stop you.”
Ultimate Sacrifice Page 15