After that he made me run around the state forest, testing my stamina. Go for as long as I could, as fast as I could, and come back when I was tired.
I’d never let myself go like I was now, running through the woods. My powers had been a curse, ones I wanted to forget I had. But now, I felt my blood pumping, echoing in my ears; my muscles were burning but it wasn’t stopping me. There was nothing but the wind touching me, and in the moment, I felt my mind clear. Freedom.
The past couldn’t touch me right now.
I passed raccoons, a bear family, and some hikers. None of them even knew I ran through. I was one with the wind.
I stopped running and started laughing. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. My body couldn’t even remember the last time it had a good laugh. My stomach was cramping from the feeling. Running hadn’t done me in, but laughing did.
All I could think about was Charles being there with me, teasing me about being one with the wind. He’d totally call me Pocahontas, with how I was acting. I missed this feeling—laughing, even if I was alone in the woods with no one making me laugh but the thought of my friend screwing with me.
I tried to call him earlier, but he told me he was busy, and he’d call me back. I’d have to call him again later to tell him about this. He’d wanted me to live life again so much, never giving up on the hope that I would get over everything and move on.
As I looked around, my mind drifted toward visions of smiles, and forgiveness. Maybe that future Charles wished for me wasn’t that far off.
It only took death knocking on my door to make me realize it.
The sun was starting to set, and I knew I wasn’t going to be tired anytime soon; I took off, leaving nothing but a floating cloud of leaves in my wake.
Draco was standing there looking at his phone when I came to a stop just before him.
“Not going to tire soon, but thought we should probably head back.”
“Gotta make a pit stop first.” He started walking toward his old truck, and I followed without hesitation.
“Everything okay?” We hopped in and he quickly got the old rust bucket moving back toward Seahill. His eyes focused on the driveway.
“Yeah. Just gotta go to the store on the way back.” He looked at me and kinda gave me a smile to put my mind at ease. He wasn’t much of a smiler, so the action had a different effect on me.
It wasn’t long before we were walking into the superstore, grabbing the shit we needed, and heading back to the truck.
Just as we were putting the items in the back, an alarm started blaring from the building across the parking lot. The bank.
I looked at Draco, and he looked at the building then back at me.
“Let’s go.” He nodded, then together we got in the car and drove over to the building where cops were pulling in with their lights blinding and sirens piercing ears.
Something was happening here.
Shots rang out, and everyone around dove for cover. Shit.
Draco parked the truck, and we got out. Inching closer to the barricade the cops made, we listened to their conversations and radio communication to discern what was happening.
Eight men, ten hostages.
“This way.” Draco nodded toward the side of the building, and I looked at him like he was nuts.
“Time to do what we’ve been training to do—protect people.” He looked at me expectantly and started walking. I looked around, and no one had noticed us with the chaos happening. Quickly, I caught up with Draco and whispered to him.
“I’ve only been training for a day. And I never said I was part of your team,” I reminded him. One day, and now I was supposed to go be a hero and save the day? What if I broke the building in a bad way, or broke a person? Too many things could go wrong. Hell, I could get shot, for Christ’s sake. Again. I didn’t exactly feel like trading one near-death experience for another.
“You’re being a bitch, Leon. You were made for this. Let’s do it, then get home. Lilith and Rose have been left alone in HQ. I’m more afraid to see what hell they’ve raised than this mess,” he commented. I shook my head, doubtful of his concerns. They were probably having a dance-slash-random-fact party with each other. More shots rang off into the air.
“Fine, what’s the plan?” I couldn’t believe I was giving this hero thing a try.
“Use your speed; open some doors. Strength, too, if you have to. Then we go in together. Honestly, you could take this whole thing by yourself if you had better control of your powers.” I rolled my eyes at his statement. Before I could say anything in retort, he put his hand on my shoulder like a father figure would his son. Which was weird, considering he looked like a man my age, but I knew he had lived a long time.
“You’ll get there. This time I’ve got your back. Next time you do it with your eyes closed.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. Here we go, being all heroic and shit.
Chapter Sixteen
Leon
I rushed past the policemen that were barricading off the side door and pushed it open. It of course flew off the hinges, but instead of getting pissed at my excessive force, I kept moving.
One man, covered in full SWAT gear, came running over with his gun, firing all over the place, expecting a team to be entering the hallway instead of one man.
Holy shit. I could literally move around the bullets like they were in slow motion. A short bubble of laughter came up before I could think to hold it back.
The high I was now riding was unlike anything I’d ever felt. One quick punch to the gut with normal strength to the guy, and he was down. I rushed through the building, opening doors, giving us a way in to the main lobby where everyone was. I’d just gotten to scout out where the bad guys were when Draco’s form came into view.
“Two guys in the vault. Two more guarding them, then the rest are watching the hostages and shooting toward the cops to distract them. No negotiations. I heard one call for a bank truck.”
Draco’s eyes told me he heard everything.
“Now what?” I felt like I could go in there and take them all out on adrenaline alone. But the other, smarter side of me told me I was not ready for that.
“Push the guards into the vault, and close the door. I’ll handle the others while you get the hostages out.” His plan sounded easy. Real life was rarely easy, though.
“Now!”He clapped his hands together, and then I moved into action. The guards didn’t even know what hit them as I pushed their bodies into the vault. Perhaps I used a little more force than I meant to, but some bruises here and there were a small price to pay for their deeds.
I gripped the vault door and started to shut the four men inside it as bullets started flying toward me. Shit. I pushed harder and the door closed with a loud slam, the concrete walls around it cracking slightly.
I turned around to assess the situation and saw Draco had already taken down two of the men, who both were lying on the ground, unconscious.
“Hostages,” I reminded myself, still feeling all hyped up.
With normal speed, I jogged over to everyone and spoke to them calmly.
“Anybody hurt?”
They all shook their head, indicating no injuries, and so I helped a few get up.
“Let’s get out of here.” Draco had the two men left under control, fighting them effortlessly. I had only seen him practice with Rose in the training room, and that memory had nothing on him now. He was a pure weapon, with centuries of training—unbeatable. I shook from the thought of just how deadly he was.
“This way,” I said, and motioned for the hostages to follow me.
They’d locked the double glass doors with some chain, but one yank of my hand snapped the chain.
The hostages ran toward the cops, hands raised, screaming, but I stayed in the building, doubtful that I wanted to bring attention to myself and what we just did.
I looked back to Draco, who was retying the laces on his boots.
“We should probably
get out of here if we don’t want to be seen.” He stood and agreed. The high was still there, but neither of us was ready for the onslaught of people and questions, especially after what the hostages had seen tonight.
How did we get out, though? Cops were rushing our way, toward all the entrances and exists.
“This way.” I followed as he led us to an office on the far end of the bank, away from the commotion but also a dead end.
“If you please,” he said, and pointed to the wall in front of us. It took a few seconds before I understood what he wanted: I was to make the exit for us.
“If the whole building collapses, I’m blaming you, and you’re paying for the therapy I’m going to need.”
One swift kick to the wall, and a large hole was made.
“Rose is a therapist. She’ll give you the hero discount.” He walked through first, and then we took off running back to the truck.
The whole ride back, my mind was reeling over what we just did. We saved those people. We stopped the bad guys from hurting anyone and getting away with their crime.
I could tell Draco was just as pumped as I was, just better at concealing it. The feeling was comparable to the ones I used to get back on the football field, when I felt invincible under those lights, with the crowds screaming. There were no bright lights, or fans screaming, but the euphoria was there. It’d been so long.
After parking the truck, and carrying the bags down to the HQ kitchen, we rode the elevator down to the training room, where Rose and Lilith were sparring. Well, Lilith was teaching Rose some new moves, as far as I could see.
As soon as Rose caught sight of us, she looked our bodies over for any injuries, then her gaze slid to Draco’s. Her cheeks grew pink, and I didn’t need to be told what emotions she was reading from him. It was probably the same ones that were coursing through me—the intense energy that was best worked out in one way.
“You guys okay?” she asked, while Lilith was looking back and forth between Draco and Rose with amusement in her eyes.
“Yep. Just stopped a robbery at a bank,” he said calmly, walking her way.
“Seriously?” she squealed and launched herself at Draco, thrilled. He caught her then nailed her with a hard kiss.
The thought of a kiss like that was appealing in my state of mind right now. My eyes found Lilith’s, only to see she was staring at me, her eyes roaming up and down my body, then back up to my face.
“Good job, boys. Next time let us girls have some fun, too.” She fake-pouted her lips, then walked to me. Her body was encased in tight workout gear, and the swagger of her hips as she strutted toward me was doing things to my already wired mind.
Just before she made it to me, she did a twirl, then popped up on her tiptoes.
“Feels great, doesn’t it, Star?” She tilted her head with a big grin on her lips.
Flashes of her smiling, calling me Star, ran through my head. Maybe from the night we met?
She was smiling at me while eating a French fry.
“Don’t go all sugar on me now, Star.”
Her long black hair was framing her face, making those sweet brown eyes pop. She was like no other woman I’d ever met. She was different. She was special, and I ached to kiss those perfect red lips.
“Thank you,” I said to her, wanting to get it through her grins that I meant what I said about her.
She grinned some more, then hopped up to dance, dragging me with her.
It was like I’d been watching the memory on TV. I remember having feelings for her, and wanting to kiss her more than anything.
Chapter Seventeen
Lilith
Leon was staring at me, but his eyes had glossed over like he was lost in thought.
When he finally shook his head, clearing his mind, his gaze met mine, and for the first time in what feels like forever, he had recognition in them, seeing my face. Did he remember something? I was about to ask him, but then the elevator opened and Phillip walked out with a confident swagger.
“Great job, guys.” He smiled and stopped next to Leon.
“You’re a hero!”
Yeah, he was. Leon had loved the rush of busting that robbery; it was clear as day on his face. He was jazzed up, ready for more. I’d love to get my hands on him and use that energy he was hyped with in the bedroom. I still had those handcuffs handy.
“I think we need do come up with a way to protect people beyond you messaging me to run to the store that happens to be near a future robbery.” Draco walked over to us with an arm wrapped around Rose.
“It was fun this way.” He shrugged.
“For you,” Draco retorted, and Phillip nodded.
“Fine.”He pretended to be wounded to the heart, and then launched into a discussion on what was to come.
“There are crimes happening all over Seahill like that, constantly. AJ is syncing up special communicators for us, so no matter where we are or what we are doing, we will know what’s happening—a direct link to the police’s network, so we will know as soon as they do. I will try to help see the ones I can before they happen and send one of you over, but I won’t catch them all. I’ve got a lot to juggle.”
I agreed with that statement. He was a very busy dude. Running an empire, keeping this society going, and making everything happen the way he saw would get us to a brighter future. A puppet master of the world of men. It was a good thing I trusted his judgment on what a brighter future was.
“So we just keep doing what we’ve been doing? Train and head out when we get notified there is a crime?” Rose asked, and the way she said it sounded silly. But I was curious about the answer now, too.
“Nope. We go about our lives as normal. Train when we can, and help people any chance we get.” He ran fingers through his hair. I couldn’t tell if it was because he was nervous, or it was just a habit of his.
“Draco can get back to building his house, and photography. You could get a job as a psychologist, like you wanted to. AJ will be working on the computers like he’s been doing for years. The Hero Society is our future, but we have to leave the base sometime.”
That was true. There was no way we could just train and wait around for things to go bad in the world. We needed to get out and be with the people, so to speak.
It was obvious though that while he was talking to us, he had left out Leon’s and my name. I watched Leon’s face fall as he realized this too.
“You aren’t alone, Leon. This is what you were born to do.” I reached over and placed my hand against his chest. His eyes collided with mine, and I saw the struggle in him. He wanted this. He enjoyed giving into his powers, and saving those people today, but he was still afraid of hurting those close to him.
He had to be a part of this. He belonged here, and everyone saw it but him.
“I see you, Leon.” I saw the man in him that begged for this chance. I’ve seen him since the beginning, and just like he told me that night we met. He sees me, and I see him.
I saw a light in his eyes flash before he looked at Phillip with a serious face. I mentally crossed my fingers that he realized what his destiny was.
“I’m in.”
I couldn’t contain myself, as I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his big body.
“I see you, Lilith,” he whispered into my hair, and I hugged him tighter, hoping with everything I had that he remembered more of us.
“Great. Now that Leon’s on board finally…” Phillip winked at him and kept on talking about how he and AJ were trying to locate Raven’s new base. There was some talk about it in the dark web, but mostly things had gone quiet on that front. We would use the time we had to keep training, learning to work together as a team, and do what we could to help the people of the present.
An idea struck me as I still clung to Leon like a sloth, unwilling to let go of his warmth.
“I could have my tech girl look into things for us, too. Two computer geeks have a higher chance of finding something than one.” Mina woul
d so love to be in on this, plus I was feeling a bit mischievous and wanted to play matchmaker between her and Mr. Griffin.
+The look he gave me was completely sinful. I had a feeling that I just played directly into his hands. Puppet master strikes again, it seems. No one else caught his look, so this was just a game between us. I would play, and I couldn’t wait to see the outcome.
“Cool. More people! We need more people!” Rose was nodding, and Draco was looking at her impatiently. Someone was wanting to burn off his own rush of energy.
“Sounds good to me.” Phillip stuck his hands in his pockets, and looked at everyone before uttering his next words.
“All right, everyone carry on. And maybe tonight we all go out on the town? A little family bonding time?” He waited for everyone to agree, and they did. Rose was more excited about the chance to go out than everyone else. Draco and Leon were more recluses than the others.
“I’m dancing tonight at Club V! Come hang out. Drinks are on the house,” I told them and slowly let go of Leon, coming to my feet next to him and wiggling my hips slightly as an upbeat song started to play in my head. They looked like they needed a night out.
“All in for a night at Club V?” Phillip asked, and everyone nodded. Cool! Tonight was going to be so much fun! Maybe I would get Leon in my cage. The fit would be snug, but we could make it work.
They all agreed to meet up around 10:00 p.m., and were instructed by Phillip to go see AJ before we all left to get our new communicators. I was very interested in seeing what they looked like, so I leaned up to kiss Leon on the nose before rushing into the elevator behind Phillip.
No one else followed, and I smiled to the crew as the doors closed.
“Is the club going to get shot up tonight or something?” If it was, I had a lovely bulletproof vest I could wear, and nothing else underneath. It would work nicely with my leather pants and boots.
“I don’t see anything happening at the club tonight. Word’s going to get out about the heroes that saved the hostages at the bank, and more criminals will feel it as a challenge. I figured this would be a nice time together before shit hits the proverbial fan.” He tried to give me a grin, and I understood what he was saying. Idiot criminals would see people saving the day as a challenge, instead of a threat. They would do more just to see what would happen.
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