by Simon Archer
I chuckled at the way he rose from the ground on trembling knees. His glare could melt steel, but I was beyond caring now. I put a hand on my hip and gestured at him with the kitchen knife.
“See, that time I actually warned you, and yet you still fell right into it. You only have yourself to blame, you know.” I shrugged.
“I hate you.”
“Yes, yes, I got that part.” I gestured back towards the door, tsking with a click of my tongue. “Listen, sweetie, that’s two times I let you go. You’re gonna have to start putting in some effort, because any more freebies and my grade will suffer.”
Matt wiped his chin with the back of his wrist and stood a little more steadily on his feet.
“You’re only freeing me from the traps to make yourself look benevolent,” he spat. “That’s what you do. You’re a manipulative fuckhead.”
He’d already completely recovered. If he weren’t such a stubborn pain in the ass, I’d be impressed. It was amazing how quickly he could heal from nearly anything.
“Manipulative, huh?” I glanced up at the building where Adelaide had been dangled before. I had moved her into the building itself, where she’d be more comfortable. I knew Matt would waste a lot of time fighting against me. I gestured at the building and lifted a mocking brow at him. “Aren’t you gonna go save your damsel? You seem to be a little distracted.”
Matt swore as he finally remembered his original purpose and turned from me to run across the street. I held back a smile, happy to know that despite the tension between us and the lengths I had to go to play this role, he really was learning. Assuming he could get over himself and see beyond the surface layers, he’d become a fantastic hero.
But it was a tall order.
I raced in behind him, and despite being unpowered, I was faster than he was. I cut in front of him in the middle of the road and then shoved him back so he fell on his ass. He snarled at me again, and his eyes were an angry golden hue.
He did that when he turned, embracing more and more of the beast within him. I’d yet to see him go completely werewolf, he always maintained some portion of humanity, even when he was furious, but I suspected that at his full potential, he was an absolute monster.
Even now, it seemed to be a struggle for him to keep it under control, and I decided to poke the beast, to test just how strenuous that control really was. If it broke this easily, he was in for a rude awakening when a real villain tested his patience.
“If you’re so brave and righteous, why do you spend your time with a prick like Brad?” I asked. “The dude can’t even understand the concept of saving innocent lives.”
Sure enough, Matt swung at me with one of his claws, and I easily dodged out of the way. He was a very emotional creature, and in a way, much like the wolf that he emulated. Dogs were loyal to their pack, and so was he. Too bad he didn’t think about much else. I dodged his next attack easily enough and then shrugged at him.
“I’ve seen him eyeballing the girls as they leave their dorm,” I went on, and Matt tried to hit me again, but I sidestepped out of the way. He was far too easy to avoid. I kept talking like nothing had happened, and this only pissed him off even more. “He catcalls them, whistles to them, tries to slap their asses like the alpha-male douche that he is. You better keep a watch, or he’ll try it on Kristen soon. And she will actually kill him. I know danger when I see it.”
“You leave my sister out of this,” Matt roared. He dove at me, and this time, instead of dodging I kicked him hard in the gut. As he fell and buckled forward, I stabbed him in the chest with the knife. I missed his heart by an inch, but that was on purpose. I wasn’t sure if it would kill him or not.
When he struggled, I twisted the knife just to fuck with him. He screamed in response and tried to jostle me off, but I pulled the knife out on my own and rolled away from him.
“You don’t want to hear this, but I don’t actually hate you,” I remarked as I examined Matt’s blood on the knife. It was a pretty dark crimson and already coagulating. I bet his blood could do a lot of good in the medical field. “You can do better than Brad. Your sister can, too.”
Matt’s snarl was guttural again. “I said leave my sister—”
“Yes, yes, I know what you said, Matt. Isn’t it pathetic how I can just keep distracting you so easily? You really do need to work on your focus a bit more. It’s been, what, five minutes? Your rescue score is going to be abhorrent.” I tsked and waggled a disapproving finger at him. “Daddy Judgment will be so disappointed.”
Paling a bit at that, Matt checked his watch and then cursed. He burst through the large front windows of the building and ended up in an empty lobby. I followed behind. Matt was at least trying to learn, and he ran instead of taking my bait when I wolf-whistled at him.
This time, he ran for the stairs and climbed up them very quickly. He nearly fell for a bear trap, but caught the wire just in time and jumped over it instead. I was never going to tell him, but I was actually very proud of that. Somewhere in that big dumb head of his was a guy with a big heart and a lot of potential.
He found Adelaide’s room quickly enough, when Adelaide responded to his shouts with a Southern, “Help! Oh, help me, brave hero!”
I cracked a smile from behind Matt because she was so ridiculous, and I loved her for it. Matt didn’t try the knob, likely suspecting another trap. Instead, he kicked the door open, and it slammed into the wall with a loud bang.
Adelaide was placed in a comfortable chair by a window that overlooked the street. Likely, she’d witnessed the fight between Matt and me. There was a bomb strapped to her waist, and it beeped slow and steady. A bright red light winked in and out, warning about the impending danger. She didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned about it and instead beamed at Matt with bright, happy eyes.
“Oh, my precious hero! You came!”
I fished the bomb’s trigger from my pocket. Matt looked from me to the bomb then to the trigger with a noise of disgust. “A bomb? You’ve crossed the line, Nick. This is going too far!”
“Have I?”
He gestured angrily. “A bomb!”
I shrugged at him and pretended to look bored. “And what are you going to do about it, hero?”
For a long moment, Matt did nothing. It was clear he wasn’t sure if he should gamble on me pulling the trigger or go for Adelaide and risk blowing her up. I sighed in irritation when I could smell his little brain burning.
“Matt, please, just... just rescue her, it’s not that hard.”
He was a broken record now, and shouted again, “It’s a bomb!”
“Yeah, and?”
“A bomb!”
I rolled my eyes. “For God’s sake.” I threw the detonator away, and his eyes grew wide as golf balls. “It’s not a real bomb, you dumbass. Go on, save her. Time’s ticking.”
Matt didn’t move. “What do you mean, ‘save her?’ You’re supposed to—”
“I’m tired of this.” I sighed. “Ten minutes. You wasted ten minutes, Matt. Just end it.”
Tentatively, Matt crossed the room and pulled at the bomb vest like was a poisonous snake. He looked comical, terrified that he was going to blow up any second. I sighed and crossed my arms.
“I’m not actually evil, you know. That’s in your head.”
He snorted, clearly thinking otherwise.
“And if you’re wondering, you could have used the door to stun me,” I told him, “or you could have noticed her in the window to start with, the bomb was obvious even down at the street. It’s got a big red fucking light on it. And even if you didn’t, you could have wrestled me for it. A bomb that big would have taken the whole building, and I’m a lot of things, but suicidal isn’t one of them. It was a threat. You get your hands on the trigger, she’s safe anyway. The one time you could have fought me, you didn’t, and the many times you shouldn’t have, you did. You’re a mess, Matt. Get your shit together.”
“Fuck you, Nick.”
I rol
led my eyes. “Yes, yes. Fuck me,” I gestured. “Got a fetish or something?”
For once, Matt ignored the bait. He freed Adelaide, and she hugged him tightly. His cheeks burned when she kissed him on the cheek.
“My hero,” she cheered.
When we returned to the gym, City Master cornered us both. He had his arms crossed, a grumpy line etched between his brows. Behind him, Kara and Andie were displayed on a large screen, currently taunting one another in their own match beyond the door. Andie was in the middle of an evil cackle, her laugh wide and obnoxious, like something out of a cartoon. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Horrid display, Barbur.” City Master tsked disapprovingly. “If you ever want to be named a hero, start acting like one. This isn’t about your little vendetta or your familial problems, it’s about the innocent up in that tower. You let your emotions control you out in the field like that, and people will die for it. You let yourself be manipulated far too easily, and if it were a real situation, Adelaide would have died up there. Get over yourself and get out of here.”
Matt roughly shoved me with an arm as he stormed by, and I shoved him back.
City Master sighed and rolled his eyes. “Deal with your garbage later,” he said. “You’re both up again soon. Role reversal this time.” I started to walk away when City Master called me back. “And Nick? Good job.”
Kara won her match against Andie, and Eric won his against Kristen. Jack won against Brad, who couldn’t seem to understand that the idea was to rescue Adelaide and not try to brute force his way past a man that was quite literally a walking brick wall.
With that, it was time for my second round with Matt. The idea of being the villain made my gut roil for obvious reasons, even though I did an okay job. Now that I was the hero, I was really looking forward to this exercise. After Matt headed in to set the traps, Andie pulled me into a quiet corner away from the others and smiled. Her hand was warm in mine.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, Nick,” she said firmly, “you interested in a date?”
That was Andie, utterly blunt with no fear and no regrets. I respected the way she went after the things she wanted in life, and I wished I had half as much courage to do the same. I smiled back as my heart fluttering for a moment. I wasn’t feeling very confident, but she inspired me to try.
“You trying to seduce me, Andrea Baker?” I quipped.
She chuckled and closed the distance between us. Her arms settled around my waist, and I laid a hand on the small of her back. Her eyes were heated with a mischievous light. “Is it working?”
When she looked up at me with those bottomless brown eyes, I kissed her nose. “No seduction necessary. Get me alone for two minutes, and you can have your wicked way with me. I promise I won’t even call for help.”
She barked a laugh and then playfully shoved me away again. “Well, that was fast. Maybe you’re too easy, Mr. Gateon. I like a good chase.”
“Well, I won the last race I’d competed in.” I shrugged nonchalantly. “Why not another?”
Andie hummed in approval. “I like a man with confidence. Keep that up, it looks good on you.”
I smiled at that and scratched the back of my head. “What time am I meeting you, then?”
“Who said I was still gonna date you, Nick?” She grinned back and gestured at the door to the rescue test. It was open wide and waiting for me to deal with Matt. “Impress me first.”
With a sharp intake of breath, I felt the power flow through my veins. Limitless untapped potential, a near god-like state that I sorely wished I could maintain for more than ten minutes at a time. Andie whistled as a breeze picked up around me before settling back down again.
I gestured at her watch. “Time it.”
She fiddled with a setting on it and then nodded toward the door. “Go!”
My power swept over me as I burst through the door so quickly that I tore through Matt’s waiting net trap. In fact, I barreled straight through every single trap he set, and I didn’t even bother to pay attention to the new surroundings of our test. All of them would have been lethal to the average person, but I wasn’t average, and they weren’t made to slow me down. So, instead of dealing with them, I just pushed forward, and a moment later, I found myself on a rooftop. Adelaide was dangling on the other side of the street with Matt pacing in front of her, claws and teeth bared.
“Gateon, you’ll—” he began to snarl, but I didn’t even let him speak.
Instead, I flew straight up into the air and then dove toward Adelaide before Matt could catch me. I caught her easily enough, cut the rope with a heated ray from my eyes, and then sat her down safely on the other rooftop in less than three seconds.
She whistled. “That’s the fastest rescue I’ve ever had, I think! Is there someplace you’ve got to be, son?”
“Yeah.” I grinned and then laughed at the way Matt just gawked at me from the other side of the rooftop. His fists were balled at his sides, and I could see all the threats of death he wished my way. “I’ve got a date to catch.”
Chapter 8 - Matt
Before Valcav, Kristen and I would finish each other’s sentences. I spent nearly every waking moment of my life with her, and the two of us could have entire conversations with a glance. Time alone with my sister was time alone with myself.
I’d do anything to get that back.
These days, I felt like we spoke two different languages, and I think she agreed because she couldn’t seem to stand my presence for more than a few hours at a time. She always found an excuse to hide in her notebook or wander off back to the girl’s dorm where it was safe. She was... uncomfortable around me. I hated that. I’d never wanted anything other than to keep her safe, and this ongoing feud with Nick was part of that. The fact that she couldn’t see this drove me nuts.
“Forget her,” Brad grumbled. He glared upward like the heavens had dealt him a personal insult. Maybe it had once. “She’s a girl. Girls are stupid by default.”
We were on the roof nursing root beers and looking up at the night sky. Jack and Kristen had retired to bed, and it was just him and me for the last few hours. We’d been playing chess, and Brad was currently winning. Apparently, he was really good at it.
He was... different. Not my usual company by any stretch, but I’d grown to like his presence. Relatively useless on the power front, but smart. Smarter than Jack, anyway. Plus, he agreed with me about Nick, and I needed more allies in my life. I liked it when people agreed with me.
The only real downside was that Brad was a douchebag who hated women. We all had our faults, though. I did my best to ignore it for the most part... assuming of course that he didn’t extend it to Kristen.
“That’s my sister you’re talking about,” I reminded him with a glare. “She’s off limits, remember?”
“Right.” Brad shrugged.
He sipped his root beer and decided not to look at me for a few moments. I could feel the passive aggressive buzz around him and grimaced. Instead of making a move on the chessboard, I glanced up at the sky and tried to trace the constellations in my mind. After Dad left, Kristen and I would find a lot of comfort in stargazing. I got her a telescope for her birthday once. It was the happiest I’d seen her in a long time.
She didn’t smile much anymore.
“It’s not her fault,” I tried, even though I knew Brad would disagree with me. “She’s just a lot more forgiving than I am. I think she’s... tired, you know? We’ve been fighting this war a lot longer than just here at Valcav.”
“Sure,” Brad said. It was clear he wasn’t even remotely interested. He gestured down at the chessboard between us. “You going to play at some point or what?”
“I guess.”
Brad loved chess from what I could tell because he was really freaking good at it. I liked it too, but it also reminded me of my father. He was the one to train me, and to be honest, the fewer reminders of him the better. It was bad enough that I thought about him every time Nick and I
crossed paths. I doubted my father would be happy about that or really anything to do with me lately. Maybe Kristen was right. Or... maybe they were both unprepared to do what had to be done.
I glanced down at the board only long enough to make a rash decision and moved my pawn right into the path of his knight. Brad tsked as he took it away.
“It’s like you’re not even trying,” he muttered.
I wasn’t. “Maybe I should have gone after her—”
“Christ, Matt. You’ve got to sew your dick back on, this is ridiculous.”
Was it? I’d never had these problems with Kristen before, and it didn’t seem right to have them now. Not when a Gateon was within our grasp, and we’d finally manage to get some revenge on behalf of our family. This was too important. Couldn’t she see that?
“God, it’s so fucking frustrating.” I sighed. “I just... I just want to make things right.”
Brad hummed noncommittally.
For Kristen, I was almost ready to let it go at that moment, but then I got angry again. “It’s not fair,” I hissed. “I’ve been doing everything I possibly can. Nick’s just... he’s won the fucking lottery for powers, how am I supposed to compete with that? It’s not my fault! He can freaking fly! I want to fly!” I tossed my hands angrily. “How come I can’t fly?!”
“Uh huh,” Brad said, sounding distracted.
“He’s got that and the fucking energy beams and those stupid laser eyes, and he’s super strong, and...” With an angry huff, I settled back on my palms and glanced up at the stars again. “Whatever.”
But then Brad’s queen was suddenly open, and he crossed the board in a bold swoop, calling for check. No, not check. Mate. I blinked down at my hands after he did so because I couldn’t actually remember making a move to free his queen. I must have, though.
“I think I’m tired,” I muttered as I opened and closed my fist in my lap. It felt dissonant like it wasn’t even a part of me anymore. “I should head to bed.”