Masked by Vengeance (Vega City Vigilantes Book 1)

by A. J. Macey

  “Holy shit,” I breathed, watching Acer disappear.

  Things just got interesting…

  Evera

  We decided it would be easier to wander around when only I was visible. It was an odd sensation to feel Acer’s hand holding mine despite not being able to see him. Not saying that using me as bait was a great idea, but it definitely worked because only ten minutes into my… our outing, a man started to vie for my attention.

  “Hey sexy,” he called out, his voice gravelly and rough as it echoed off the brick buildings around us. “Why don’t you bring that sexy ass over here?” I continued to ignore him, half hoping he’d drop it and leave me alone while the other half of me hoped he’d come at me so I could zap him. Under my skin buzzed with unspent electricity from running into Silas, a slight itch that couldn’t be scratched unless I had the chance to blow off some steam… or lightning.

  “Here he comes,” Acer whispered softly. So, option two, it is, I surmised, dipping my head to let him know I heard. “I’ll be right here if you need help.”

  “Look at me when I’m talking to you, bitch,” the man barked, making me roll my eyes. Here we go! As soon as his hand grabbed my arm to make me face him, I spun, knocking his grip loose.

  “Oh, feisty, my favorite kind,” he hissed with a cruel smile.

  I couldn’t hold back a slight cringe when I took in the rest of his appearance. He had a pot belly that strained against his stained t-shirt. His hair was balding, and his ears were too big for his face. Why must they all look the part of a creeper? Easier for me, I guess.

  “How about fried, extra crispy?” I countered with a tiny grin, holding back my laugh at his confused expression.

  “Shut the fuck up and get over here, bitch. I haven’t had some pussy in a while, and you’re looking pretty good even with your weird mask.” He tried to grab me again, but this time I didn’t stop the tiny arc of my power that crackled as his hand neared me. The blue lightning jumped from my shoulder to his waiting palm, the audible crack of the icy arc filling the silence.

  Yanking his hand back, he rubbed his skin with a snarl. I stood still, smiling innocently, knowing it would only piss him off more. Next time he came at me, a fist flew toward my face as he swung. I ducked, countering his clunky forward movement, his rotundness throwing off his center of gravity and making him slow and clumsy.

  “Did you know it’s not very nice to try to hit a lady?” I questioned, walking around behind him. His ears started to turn red with his anger, his eyes spitting fire as he rounded back around. The audible crackle of my power building didn’t deter him, so when he threw a few more punches, I blocked them, allowing the electricity running through my limbs to add an extra pow to my defenses.

  “Phenom,” he hissed, grabbing my shirt in a tight fist. “Even better.” Adrenaline flooded me as he yanked me forward, but before he could do anything else, I laid my hand against his chest to give him one single shock. His body tensed in response before collapsing, finally letting go. Unfortunately, his grip had been tight enough, the thin fabric ripped as he fell to the ground.

  “Holy shit,” Acer reappeared next to me, scanning the man passed out on the ground. “Did you kill him?”

  “No, it was a mild enough shock, just knocked him out. He’ll feel the effects when he gets up, and his skin will be burned, but it should fade in time,” I explained, examining my shirt. Ugh, I loved this shirt! “Guess it was a good thing we went to the thrift shop earlier.”

  “How do you know it didn’t kill him? Are you able to control the amount of voltage and amperage in your lightning?” he asked with awe, looking from my attacker to me with wide eyes.

  “Yeah, it was one of the first things I learned how to control after learning how to not to let the arcs escape whenever they felt like it.”

  “How’d you learn that?” he asked, poking the man lying unconscious on the sidewalk. Warm brown eyes flashed in my mind, causing a jolt to my heart. I hadn’t talked about Rett with anyone in years, outside the scope of his murder. It hurt too much.

  “Uh, Rett taught me. He was patient enough to walk me through all the grounding and calming techniques before we moved onto practicing with different levels of electricity,” I murmured softly. My heart squeezed, the sound of my brother’s laughter and calming words echoing through my mind. I hope he’s proud of me. Acer must have picked up on my mood shift because he stopped prodding the asshole on the cement like a science experiment and stood up, grabbing my hand.

  “Come on, let’s go see if we can find any other assholes prowling around. Let's show them what Arc Angel can do.” He winked before going invisible. I couldn’t stop the tiny curl of my lips at his enthusiasm, despite the waves of grief that ebbed and flowed in my chest.

  This might be a good change after all.

  Carson

  Walking through the empty halls, I made my way to my uncle’s office after being paged again. This time, all I could think about was Evera, hoping she would be waiting there again, but knowing my Baby Blue, that hope was probably wasted. After all, a lot can happen in ten years, and if yesterday was any indication, a lot had happened to her.

  “Uncle,” I greeted as I entered his office. Holding a glass of alcohol, Kane signaled me to take one of two others sitting on the desk. “Silas?” I asked, pointing to the second one. He nodded, taking a sip. “Where is he?”

  “Almost back,” he explained. I kept my face flat, knowing Silas had gone to talk to Evera, but part of me wanted to demand answers even though I knew my uncle wouldn’t tell me anything before he was ready. I get that he does this all the time when it’s business, but this isn’t business. It’s about Baby Blue. Eventually, my patience is going to reach its limit.

  “What’s coming up?” I asked, attempting to keep my attention off Evera, my head dipping toward the paper he was scribbling on.

  “Working on the next raid. The hospital is running low on several of their more in-demand medicines, and they need a new MRI machine. We not only need to hit the medical supply warehouse, where the suppliers decided it’s appropriate to hike up the prices over three times the previous amount, we also have to hit the next bank on the list early to get the MRI machine in a timely manner.” He sighed, rubbing his jaw quickly before continuing to write things down.

  “Think we’ll have any issues?”

  “No,” he shook his head confidently. “Just need to rearrange the timetable a bit and make sure there are no obvious holes in the plan before I give it to Silas and the two teams to look over.”

  I nodded, seemingly running out of questions, so my attention immediately fell back to Evera, making me fidget in my seat. Thankfully, it only took a few minutes for my uncle’s second-in-command to walk through the door, shucking his coat over the back of the other chair in the room as he came in. My heart was racing, and his casual demeanor was starting to piss me off. I needed fucking answers!

  “Is she coming back?” I couldn’t stop the question from tumbling out, my chest squeezing at Silas’s head shake.

  “No, but I think she might be persuaded to come for a different reason.” Pulling out the spare phone he carried, he connected it to the projector, the machine lighting up a bare section of wall. “You know the rumors about the Phenom who goes around at night?” There was a pregnant pause from everyone in the room, my uncle and I surprised by the question.

  “You’re telling me, Evera is the one everyone whispers about? Archangel?” Kane hedged, his tone conveying how skeptical he was.

  “A-R-C Angel, like electricity arc, not the biblical sense,” Silas explained excitedly before hitting play on the video he had pulled up on the screen. The footage was dark, but not so dark we couldn’t make out what was going on—Evera walking around alone in the middle of the night.

  Is she crazy? Didn’t she listen to anything I tried to teach her? My fists tightened when the man put a hand on her, but I couldn’t stop the pride that filled me at watching my girl kick his ass, h
er attitude firmly in place as we heard her taunting him.

  “Wait for it,” Silas hedged as the man collapsed, and a couple seconds later, the hacker appeared out of nowhere.

  “He’s a Phenom?” Kane questioned with narrowed eyes. I saw the gears turning in his head as he stared at Ev and Acer on the screen and felt a sinking feeling in my gut at his calculating gaze.

  “Invisibility,” Silas confirmed.

  “You think she’ll come back to join us,” Kane hedged, his free hand rubbing his jaw.

  “You can’t possibly be considering having her join The Syndicate,” I bit out, angry he would even consider letting Evera anywhere near the hierarchy. It was dangerous, and while we weren’t nearly as bad as everyone thought we were, I didn’t want her being a target.

  “Not join The Syndicate, join us,” he countered with a stony expression and a clenched jaw. “She’s not safe, and while she can clearly handle herself, the Legion Council have the video footage from the bank robbery. Acer only corrupted the portion when they reached Evera, but it still showed she was there, and they’re going to be wondering why the feed went out at that exact moment.”

  “How do you want to go about this?” Silas asked. “She wasn’t exactly open to even considering talking to any of us. She’s angry, incredibly so.”

  “Can we go get her now?” I waved a hand at the screen where it had been paused at her smirking at the hacker. “Turning invisible would be helpful, but what kind of power is that when Evera’s safety could be on the line?” My patience had reached its limit with them both. What did it matter how we went about it if she was dead before we did anything? We had spent the last ten years looking for her, and now that he knew where she was, my uncle was hesitating.

  “What do you suggest? Going and playing bodyguard at her apartment?” Silas challenged with an incredible amount of snark.

  I narrowed my eyes at him, the bubble of force building within my chest as I felt my anger growing.

  “Car, if you expand that force field in my office and destroy it, you’ll be fucking cleaning it for the next year,” Kane stated. I threw my hands up.

  “I’m fucking twenty-six, not six! You can’t boss me around. Besides, I wouldn’t let the concussive wave expand that far, that fast.”

  “No, you’re not a child anymore, but you are still a member of The Syndicate where I am, in fact, the boss, so keep a lid on it. I don’t want my shit destroyed again because you got too upset.”

  I rolled my eyes but didn’t argue because he was right. Growing up, I had destroyed a lot of things in the building when I grew too hot-headed, and my field expanded too quickly to stop, demolishing anything in its path.

  “As I was saying,” Silas took over seamlessly. “I think she’ll join us, as in us,”—he said, circling his finger to the three of us—“to take down the Legionaries and the Council. Especially if she finds out about her brother’s murderer.”

  A wave of crippling heartache flooded me at the memory of my best friend. Even after all these years, it hadn’t gotten easier. They say time heals all things, but I call total bullshit.

  “It’s a tenuous situation. Let’s give her a day or two to adjust to the fact we’re around, then reapproach her,” Kane directed, seemingly unfazed by the mention of Rett, but I could see the tightness around his eyes as he talked. He’d loved Rett the way he loved me. I lost a brother that day, and it was like Kane lost a nephew. We both agreed to my uncle’s plan before leaving his office, but before I got too far down the hall, I heard the video playing once more.

  Looks like I’m not the only one who misses Ev.

  Declan

  Inspecting myself in the mirror, I secured the black fabric guard around my face and adjusted the beanie on my head, so only a sliver of my face and my eyes were visible. I headed out, making sure to lock the door behind me even though no one would be up here. Never hurts to add a little extra security. I’ve got too much valuable shit to just leave everything unlocked. Each step down the drive was accompanied by the crunch of the newly fallen leaves, reminding me I was almost overdue for the landscapers to come and tidy up the yard.

  It only took five minutes to reach the overhang that looked down over the slope of the mountain, and when I reached it, I crouched, my wings erupting from my back in a wave of burning tingles until they were fully expanded. The inky black feathers shifted in the wind, the moonlight reflecting softly off the curve of my wings as I moved. During the day, the faint charcoal gray striations through the feathers were visible, but only in the proper light. At night, the darkness of my wingspan seemed to absorb the light around them. This was my favorite part of the day when I could be who I was meant to be without remorse. Ah, feels good, I hummed, shifting my back slightly. Stretching them quickly after being cramped within the power that kept them hidden against my back, I determined the wind speed and direction before taking off.

  The flight into Vega City wasn’t long, especially by flight, but it took a bit longer to get to the south side. I’d found myself staying on the south side of the city because an electric woman—no pun intended—with glacial eyes and sassy attitude had caught my attention. It was odd to see another Phenom, especially one who fell easily into the ‘protector’ role. Most of them just used their powers to take from the vulnerable and give to the assholes who run this city or keep it for themselves.

  Most Phenoms chose to stick to small groups or stay alone to avoid the stigma that tended to stick with being known as different. That we were dangerous, abnormal. Technically, we weren’t normal, but for the most part, most of us weren’t dangerous. The major exceptions being any Phenom who’d gotten caught up with the Legionaries or The Syndicate.

  Turning my attention back to my flight, I focused on landing on the outskirts of the area where I had seen Sparky and started wandering until I caught sight of a business that looked interesting enough to break into. As if she knew where I was, she appeared right as I finished picking the lock, her light blue eyes zeroing in on me with a spark of recognition—pun intended.

  “Seriously?” she huffed, waving her arms out. “Do I even have to ask ‘watcha doin’ this time?”

  “I mean, if you want to, I find it rather adorable, Sparky,” I teased with a shrug. Her pink lips pursed, her jaw clenching at my prodding. I took in her mask, noting it looked to be made of leather, handmade based on the unpolished edges, and it did what it needed to, covering the top half of her face. I could see the tiniest hint of platinum blonde or silver hair poking out from under her hood, but other than her eyes and the crackling blue sparks that danced around her fingers, I didn’t know anything else about her.

  “But for real, did you think I was joking last time?” She crossed her arms, her hip jutting out as she settled her weight onto one of her legs. Standing, my muscles loosened from having been crouched down for a while.

  “Maybe I just missed you, Sparky,” I teased some more, turning the knob on the door to the building. “I mean, you are the best part about the south side.” She rolled her eyes and sighed.

  “Leave, or you’ll find out exactly what it feels like to be on the other end of my spark,” she drawled out. Wanting to see just how far she’d go, I took a step inside. Before I could go any further, she kept her word. The shock was mild, I’m sure, but I couldn’t stop the yelp that left me as I rubbed my shoulder. Glancing over at her, she stood in the same spot, looking bored and uninterested, but her eyes nearly glowed in the darkness.

  “Alright, damn. Didn’t know you were into the kinky shit, Sparky,” I huffed, walking back out of the building to avoid getting zapped again. “Not that I’m complaining.” I winked when I faced her. Her lip curled slightly at my words, making my body buzz with desire. That mask is pretty sexy on her. Maybe she’d come home with me for a night.

  Unfortunately, she wasn’t smiling because she wanted that. She was smiling because she’d pointed her gloved forefinger at me, blue lightning shooting out toward my stomach before I co
uld react. My muscles seized briefly, tensing uncontrollably for a split section before relaxing, leaving behind the sensation I’d done a thousand sit-ups.

  “Leave, Wings, before I decide to zap you again.” She emphasized her point by letting her lightning jump around her fingers and hands in a wave of icy blue, the cresting waves flowing like a calm, yet deadly ocean.

  It was always the sweet ones who had the most spark. Holding my hands up in surrender, I bowed my head.

  “As the pretty lady wants.” Smirking behind my mask, I blew her a kiss. Gotta leave some kind of impression. My wings erupted, flapping once before I took off. “See you next time, Sparky,” I called out as she grew smaller and smaller. When I reached the proper height in the sky for maximum invisibility, I headed toward another part of the city, happy I had gotten to see her again.

  One of these times, though, I want to see her without the mask.

  5

  October 12th

  Saturday Early Afternoon

  Evera

  The morning and lunch rush was in full swing, only slightly beginning to ease as it neared one in the afternoon. One of the upsides to it being so busy was I wasn’t able to focus on how tired I was. The tips don’t hurt either, I noted as I took the ten from one of the emptying booths, pocketing the money.

  “You’ve got two on table 5,” Sandy, one of the weekend full-timers, stated as she walked to one of her tables with a tray full of food. Weaving my way through the crowded space, I eyed the waiting customers. The two men sat at one of the tables off to the side, something about their suits and styled hair immediately setting me on edge.