Day (Hero Society Book 2)

by Jessica Florence

  Curiosity had won me over for now, but I was still dead-set on not joining their club. As soon as this month of hiding was over, I was going to take Lily Blue out and not come back for a few weeks. Maybe I’ll convince Charles to come with me. He liked being out on the water, but lately he’d been throwing himself into work. Rebuilding gadgets and shit for people. He could do it from a boat, in my opinion.

  The doors opened up to reveal the large training room I was told about.

  “It’s been a week; we need him now more than ever.” Rose was sparring with the immortal man, Draco.

  “Patience,” he told her as he tried to grip his arms around her body, but she got out of it and moved to kick his legs out from under him. She wasn’t strong enough to truly move him like that, but it was a nice effort.

  “We don’t have a lot of time, Draco. Emanuel could come at us again at any time.” She growled in frustration. I’m not sure if it was from her failed attempts to bring him down, or the fact that I hadn’t joined their club yet.

  I stepped into the room, and both sets of eyes turned to me.

  “Sup.” It was all I could manage to say.

  Both of them stopped their training, and Rose looked embarrassed to have been caught talking about me.

  “Cool place.” They had all sorts of gym equipment, weapons that I’d only seen in movies, and a large sparring area.

  “Phillip designed it all. He did a good job,” Rose commented and walked over to where a towel and bottled water sat waiting for her.

  I nodded and walked around, feeling awkward in their silence.

  “Hope the apartments have been okay for you. Draco’s been staying in them too until we get his cabin rebuilt. I like them.” She was rambling, and it was sort of amusing.

  Draco shook his head, seeing the same humor in her behavior as I did.

  “It’s nice.”

  “Great.” She smiled and looked at Draco expectantly. He returned her stare, and there was nothing on his side. Completely unreadable.

  “Swell.” She set her stuff down and walked over to me in a very take-charge way.

  “I know you don’t wanna join us, but really, I don’t think you see how important this all is—what we are trying to do here. And I’ve got a month to convince you that we are exactly what you need.” She stopped about two feet away from me. Slowly Draco walked over to stand behind her, protection should she need it. I wasn’t angry or feeling anything right now, so there wasn’t any need for that.

  “Superheroes, right?” I would let her try to recruit me; at least it would give me some entertainment for the time.

  “Right. Well, heroes. If you’ll let us. We can sit down with you and talk it all out in detail. Starting with where our powers came from, and why we were chosen.” She looked at me with a sad smile.

  Her words struck something inside me. They might have answers to the question I’d been asking myself for so many years: Why me?

  “You know why I have these powers?” I stepped closer to her in eagerness. Draco wrapped a hand around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

  She rolled her eyes at his hold and shrugged out of it.

  “Yes. Please just sit with us, and we can explain everything,” she pleaded and I nodded for her to get started.

  “Great. Draco will tell you the origins up in the chill room while I shower, then I’ll join in after I’m clean.” She smiled, and then walked off, I’m assuming toward the locker rooms.

  “She’s very animated. Right to the point, though.” I watched her as she opened the door to the room, and then my eyes landed on her boyfriend’s.

  “That she is.” He was watching me, trying to figure me out. I was a pretty easy one to crack.

  He led me up one floor to the chill room, which had a sofa, two large chairs, a big screen TV, and all the electronics to compliment it.

  “So you lost your home? Fire? Burglary?” I was out of my element here, so I decided small talk might help. I was shit at it, but I tried.

  “Explosion.” He said it without emotion, just like he had told me the color of his mailbox. His answer was not what I was expecting.

  I stayed quiet and waited for him to get started on his story.

  He watched me, and his stare felt like it was inside my soul, reading all my secrets like they were written on a piece of paper.

  “Got any family members named Louisa?” he asked randomly.

  Thinking back, I tried to remember any family members with that name, but came up short. Once my parents didn’t want me anymore, I stopped caring about the Daniel family history.

  “Not that I know of.” I was getting a little impatient for the origin story, as Rose had called it.

  “Very well,” he said then launched into a fantastical tale of the Greek gods, and how they put all their powers into the world of men so that heroes would be born to protect their fellow humans. It was hard to believe, but then again so was having super-strength and inhuman speed.

  Rose came in shortly after Draco had finished his story and started talking about everything else. It was a large information dump on my brain, but I listened. They were training to be who the gods had wanted them to be, protectors of mankind. Draco had been a general in ancient Greece and was chosen to be the leader of us with powers. Our teacher. A slight tinge of familiar resentment ran through my head as I thought about how his long absence affected people like us, not knowing what was happening to us or why. I could see how the other society had formed, the bad one. Rose said they wanted to reign over man using their gifts.

  The Raven, or Emanuel, as was his given name, sounded like a bad dude, and truthfully I wanted even less to do with either of these societies after I heard their tale. It was deep shit, and I had enough going on. All this information didn’t change anything for me. I was a freak, and despite the well wishes of the gods, I was not superhero material. Heroes didn’t hurt people. I had. I was no hero.

  “So now you know why we need you, and why you need us. You don’t have to be alone anymore with your powers. Draco can work with you, help you learn to control them, so you won’t be afraid anymore.” She obviously had been in my head, reading my emotions as I was feeling them.

  “I’m not your man. Seems like there are tons of people out there with gifts, since they’ve gone unchecked for fifty years.” It was a stab at Draco, and he didn’t even flinch with my words. I stood and thought about my next words carefully, so I wouldn’t piss anyone off more than I might have already.

  “Thanks for telling me all this. Really. But I just want to finish my deal with your brother, then head out to sea on my boat.”

  Her body deflated some, but then she pushed her shoulders back up. Unwilling to give up the fight.

  “Our first recruit died before she could join us. People are being taken, and their powers sucked out of them. Others are dying every day, and we have a chance to save them. You can sit on your boat and watch the world of man burn, but one day you’re going to realize you are part of this, whether you wanted to be or not. We will always rise above and fight the shadows, even after there is no light. So hide on your boat, but sooner or later you’re going to get dragged into this fight, either willingly or by your last fucking breath. Choice is yours.” She stormed out of the room, anger pouring from her like a flooding faucet.

  “Sharp-tongued warrior,” Draco muttered, and I couldn’t have agreed more.

  Chapter Nine

  Leon

  After Rose had left, Draco followed after her with a determined look on his face. If I guessed his attitude, it looked like he was going to screw the frustration out of her.

  Not wanting to run into anymore people and be chastised for my decisions, I walked out of the room, then straight up to my temporary home.

  My body flopped onto the bed, my mind reeling from everything they’d told me.

  Gifts from the gods of old. Well, that special gene did not get this one right. I was no hero.

  Despite
being angry about so many things because of these powers, a small section of that resentment broke apart from the rest. I had been given an answer to the question of why me, something I’d been holding on to since that football game where everything changed.

  But did I really still think I could continue on with my life as it had been going?

  I wished I knew.

  My powers were too much for me, and I never learned to do anything with them. Didn’t want to.

  The impending war coming between the heroes and Raven’s society was also something I didn’t want to care about, but Rose’s words kept echoing in my head.

  Willing or with my last breath, I would be dragged into it. I could outrun it, and maybe that’s what I would still do.

  A groan bubbled up from my chest.

  I wanted to be left alone! No Hero Society and no wife.

  All had been quiet when it came to her. She didn’t have my cell number, or know how to find me. So as soon as the month was over, she and I would be finished.

  “Stay the course,” I told myself.

  Get annulled, and go out on the boat. Nothing should change. I was a danger to those around me, and the more I was around these people, the more I would see the appeal and try to stay. If they ended up hurt by my powers…

  I shuddered, thinking about it. No, I couldn’t handle anyone else’s life being at the mercy of my powers.

  Charles was enough. Losing my parents was enough.

  Closing my eyes, I tried to calm my thoughts so I wouldn’t flip out and destroy the apartment.

  Slowly, after some deep breaths, I was feeling better. I could do this. Wait it out.

  The ringing of my cell startled me, and I reached over to see a number I didn’t recognize.

  After letting it go to voicemail, I hit the play button and listened as Phillip asked if I could come down to B1. No other explanation as to why, but I was wanted.

  I didn’t really owe him anything for doing all this for me—he was holding out that I would join them, but I still felt compelled to do as he asked. He hadn’t done anything but be nice as hell to me, and didn’t deserve shitty treatment. None of them did.

  He met me at the elevators as soon as they opened on B1.

  “Thanks for coming.” He smiled, and then led me down the long hallway that had two doors on each side and a picture of a black-haired girl with glasses at the end, next to a large painting of a helmet with wings.

  “Our emblem. And the girl was the first recruit that passed,” he commented, knowing what I was thinking.

  He walked down and opened the last door on the left. It was like something out of the CIA. Computers everywhere. Very out of my element in here, I just stood against the wall while Phillip re-introduced me to AJ, the resident kid genius.

  “Hey, man, nice to see you.” He nodded at me and got right to business pushing all the buttons.

  “I know Rose and Draco told you everything, and I know you are still not ready to say yes. But we are in a pickle, and I thought you would have some knowledge, given your water expertise.” Phillip looked at me, and it was weird knowing that he knew everything all the time. Should I really even speak? Didn’t he know what I was going to say?

  “I don’t know everything. It’s all in percentages, if you will. Some visions have a higher chance of happening than others, but it’s still not set in stone. I can’t see if that percent of you joining will come true or not. It could go either way. Once you solidify your decision, it’ll go in one direction.” He winked at me, and I felt like lashing out in denial. I was not joining, end of that.

  “I probably can’t help, but what’s the issue?” I tried to change the subject.

  “It has to do with the water.” Phillip started talking but before he could continue, a semi-loud siren went off. Within a minute, Rose and Draco were both running into the room.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, and all eyes were on the computer screens.

  “AJ?” Phillip asked, but his face held no concern, which was odd. He actually looked like he was amused.

  “Oh, hell.” AJ laughed, and then my eyes moved to the screen.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I cursed.

  There she was.

  In the live feed of the elevator to get into the headquarters, was none other than my wife. Lilith. How the hell did she get in? How did she know to look here for me?

  “Who is that?” Draco asked, looking at her like she was the enemy. She wasn’t an enemy to them, but apparently there was a lot I didn’t know about her. Like how she was a stalker.

  “My wife,” I murmured, and felt their eyes fall to me, staring.

  “I didn’t invite her in! I’m here to avoid seeing her, so don’t give me the looks.” What the hell?

  “She’s been doing her homework this week. She broke in.” Phillip looked at her with a bit of awe in his eyes. We all looked back to the screen, and she grinned and waved enthusiastically at the camera. The elevator hadn’t moved, and she was trapped inside, a security problem. AJ flipped a switch and the sound was activated.

  “Hi, guys! I was just coming to check on my honey bun.” She grinned and twirled in her torn skinny jeans, oversized sweater, and black high heels.

  “You gonna let me in? I promise I won’t bite ya. Well, except you, baby, I know you’d like a little love nibble,” she cooed. I could feel the blush creeping up the back of my neck.

  The woman was crazy.

  Without thinking, I pressed the button to the intercom so I could talk back to her. At least I hoped it was the right button.

  “How the fuck did you find me?” I bit out.

  “Aw, I missed you too, baby. It really wasn’t that hard. I’m good at finding people. It’s kinda my thing.” She winked and started to sway with the imaginary elevator music that was going on in her head.

  “She’s crazy.” I looked at them, brow creasing as I realized that Draco, Phillip, and AJ were all holding back laughter. Rose was the only one that looked even slightly concerned.

  “I’m kinda getting bored in here, so if ya’ll could let me down, that would be great.” Everyone, minus me, lost it after that. Laughter filled the room, while I was freaking out.

  “Seriously. This is not funny! How did she find me?”

  “Oh, hey, I forgot to mention. I can help you guys out with a little problem you got. Emanuel? The guy from the club that the hottie blond and the stoic guy with the man bun were following?” All laughter died very quickly.

  “Let her in,” Draco demanded, and AJ hit the button to make the elevator come down to our level.

  “Some heroes you guys are,” I cursed. Couldn’t even save me from my crazy wife.

  Chapter Ten

  Lilith

  “I’m up for being kinky with you, honey, but I think having all your friends with us for our first time is a little excessive.” I crinkled my nose, looking at all the faces staring at me. My hands were cuffed behind my back as I sat on a chair in a holding room.

  Leon stood against the wall and rolled his eyes at me. Obviously he hadn’t changed his mind about me during our week apart.

  “What do you know?” Phillip demanded, sitting across from me.

  “We couldn’t have sat around a camp fire or something to talk? I’m not a criminal.” Not anymore, at least.

  “We actually don’t know anything about you, besides your name is Lilith Sage, and you dance at Club V. So I apologize for the cuffs, but you understand the reason for caution.” He gave me a sympathetic smile, and I shrugged. He had a point.

  “And you are married to Leon,” he added for fun, and I winked at my love. Leon stifled a strangled noise and I laughed out loud.

  “So, we should get to the point then, so I can take these bad boys with me for later?” I lifted the now opened cuffs up and set them on the table between us. They were easy to get out of, so I didn’t really get the shocked look in their eyes as I wiggled to get comfy in my seat and started speaking.


  “Alrighty then! So I’ll start off by telling you guys a little about me. I’m not special folk like you guys. I’m normal. Well, not one hundred percent normal. But I don’t have any super powers.” I smiled and kept going; they all just kept staring at me like they didn’t know how to react.

  “I was groomed to be a spy at the ripe age of eleven, and was used for my skills until about 3 years ago, when I decided I didn’t want anyone using me anymore, so I just killed everyone and got my freedom.” I laughed, thinking about that night. The look on the men’s faces, who thought they had control of me when they met their fatal end, was what gave me peace at night.

  “Oh, but don’t worry. I don’t kill people anymore. Nope. I just like to dance, and enjoy being my own liberator. YOLO and all that.” I held up a peace sign to add the extra sign of innocence between us.

  “What the fuck? Are you kidding me right now? I married a friggin’ assassin?” Leon ran his hands down his face.

  “Ew. Assassin is such a crude word. I preferred spy goddess divine.” I nodded at the correction of my old title.

  “Back to Emanuel. What do you know?” Phillip ignored Leon and all the alarmed vibes coming from everyone behind him.

  “He’s been scouting all the baddies, looking for people with powers. He’s found a few, but wants more of an army type of number. Not just a basketball team.” There wasn’t any indication if they knew that information or not but I kept on going. I was ready to be done with this conversation and move on to better things on my itinerary—like getting that look of panic off Leon’s face.

  “Since you guys blew up his old base, he had to move it. I’ve only had a week to look around while figuring out what you guys were up to, but it seems he has taken to the water for his new secret lair.”

  Phillip and the young, punk-looking teenager looked at each other, and the expressions on their face told me something was clicking in their heads, with the information I’d brought. I’d made sense to them. Of course I did; I knew what I was talking about.