He nodded. “I understand. There are some parts of my job I can’t talk about either. I hope you’re able to spend the entire night with me, though.” His face turned red. “I mean… Oh, hell with it. You know what I mean, and I’m not going to apologize for hoping. But I will keep my promise not to push you.”
“I know.” Her chest expanded, and she couldn’t help smiling.
Their conversation while they waited for the server turned from small talk to stories about their lives. Childhood accidents. Childhood crushes. Their families. Their dreams. When the waitress returned, Irina was annoyed at the interruption. She’d barely realized time was passing while she and Ben talked.
After the server left again, Irina stood. The last thing she wanted to do was walk away from Ben, but she had to keep her word to Super Guy, no matter how annoying it was. “Excuse me a minute. I’ll be right back.”
Ben looked a little confused, but he simply nodded again. “I’ll be here.”
Irina hurried to the restroom and locked herself in a stall to take her communicator out of her purse, where she’d stashed it so Ben wouldn’t notice it. As he’d said he would, Super Guy had sent a stream of information about the Avocado Alliterator. Irina skimmed it, a bit irked because Super Guy had found it necessary to send so much. She didn’t need to know what the bad guy had eaten for breakfast, for crying out loud. She only needed to know what he looked like so she would know when her powers found him.
With the Avocado’s description in mind, Irina found him easily. A slightly pudgy guy with an olive complexion and black hair, sitting in a basement at a desk with three computers.
Judging from his surroundings, the basement was his bedroom.
An array of comic book covers hung on the walls, and all three computer monitors showed a game where all the characters appeared to be big-bosomed women with scanty “armor.”
“Great,” Irina muttered under her breath. “Mama’s little comic boy. No wonder he wants to be a supervillain.”
Nothing she saw indicated the Avocado Alliterator actually posed any threat to the city. Irina pushed a button on the communicator. “He’s playing video games.”
“Thank you.” Even through the tinny speakers on the communicator, Super Guy’s voice boomed. “How are things going with you?”
“Everything’s fine. I’m not sure when I’ll be finished my, um, plans.” She fidgeted, hoping he wouldn’t ask anything more.
“Check in again in an hour. Out.”
Thankful no one else had been in the bathroom to overhear, Irina slipped the communicator back into her purse and returned to Ben.
His smile when she sat again rivaled the one he’d given her when she arrived. “I was getting worried you might have sneaked out the back. Or should I say snuck?”
“Snuck sounds funny. I’ve never been convinced that’s the past tense of sneak.” Irina spread her napkin over her lap so she’d have something to do with her hands.
“Me either.” He tilted his head. “Is everything okay? You look nervous.”
Irina thought fast. He might figure out her secret, and she’d been foolish enough to hope he wouldn’t pick up on her nerves. Obviously that hadn’t worked out so well.
“I’m in a fancy restaurant with a gorgeous man,” she said, keeping her tone deliberately light. “What is there to be nervous about?”
“Ah, so you’re nervous for the same reason I am. Good.”
Ben held out his hand, and Irina took it. Warmth settled over her. She wanted to bask in it, to stretch out and relax with Ben beside her. Dating wouldn’t be easy as long as she had to keep her secret, but she was willing to make the effort.
This was only their first real date, and she already knew she wanted more.
Outside, someone screamed.
Before she could stop herself, Irina was on her feet, her mind and instincts racing.
Someone was in trouble. This was what she’d been trained for.
“Irina?” Ben looked confused.
“I-I’ll be right back.” Before he could say anything else, Irina grabbed her purse and ran out of the restaurant, hating herself more with every second.
She’d screwed up her chances with Ben. This was why she couldn’t have nice things.
She yanked her communicator out of her purse as she barged through the restaurant’s front door. “Situation at First and Eighteenth.”
“What is it?” Super Guy asked.
Shit. Irina had been so busy kicking herself for leaving Ben that she hadn’t taken the time to determine what was going on.
She ducked around the corner of the building, almost gagging at the dumpster smell. With her eyes closed, she recited what she saw in her mind.
“The department store,” she said. “The one across the street from the bank. There are children in there, and… how did he get there so quickly?”
“Who?” Super Guy demanded impatiently.
“The Avocado Alliterator. He was in his basement five minutes ago!” Irina shook her head. She couldn’t have been wrong about seeing Avocado in front of those computers. Her powers were never wrong.
“The team will be right there,” Super Guy said. “Stay out of sight. Don’t engage unless you have no other choice. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, yes, I hear you.” She opened her eyes and glared at the communicator. There were children in the department store. She couldn’t leave them in there with a madman. Even one who’d probably learned evil-doing from comic books.
“We’ll be right there,” Super Guy said again. “Out.”
Irina dropped her purse and slipped the communicator onto her wrist. As much as she wanted to go save those kids, she couldn’t. Not because of Super Guy’s command, but because she’d left her damn super suit at headquarters.
She never left that thing behind, no matter where she went. But she’d been so excited about her date—her now completely ruined, irreparable date—to think of it. Especially when she’d had to wrangle with Super Guy to be able to leave at all.
She peeked around the corner toward the department store half a block up the street.
People were milling around, shrieking and yelling. Sirens sounded in the distance.
Ben was running toward the commotion.
Irina blinked. He had to stay away from there. It wasn’t safe.
“Ben!” she shouted.
If he heard her, he didn’t react. He simply kept running.
Irina only hesitated for a second. If she went to the store, she would be disobeying Super Guy’s direct orders. And she would risk giving away her secret identity, since she didn’t have her damn suit.
If she didn’t go, people would be hurt. Including, probably, Ben. And she couldn’t allow that. She hurried out of the alley.
As she moved up the sidewalk, trying not to attract attention, she tuned into what was happening inside the store. Closing her eyes made her clairvoyant visions clearer, but it wasn’t required. She kept her eyes focused on the sidewalk and the people in front of her as images filled her mind.
The Avocado Avenger stood by the perfume counter just inside the front door of the store. He had a clothes pin on his nose and a gun in one hand, aimed at a young blonde woman who trembled behind the counter.
Beside the counter stood another blonde woman and a little boy, who couldn’t have been more than three or four years old. He was crying.
In front of Irina, Ben reached the store and yanked on the door handle. The door didn’t open.
She wanted to yell at him to get away before he got hurt, but she kept her mouth shut. He was old-fashioned, he’d told her. He probably believed men were supposed to protect women. If he saw her there, he would want to keep her safe, which would distract him from his own safety.
Too many people stood around near the front of the store, milling on the street and sidewalk, yelling and talking and generally being in the way. Irina cleared her throat. Super Guy required all of his team to take voice lessons so they
could speak loudly enough to be heard in exactly this type of situation.
“Move aside!” she ordered.
Absolutely no one even looked at her, let alone obeyed.
Irina raised her voice even more. “Hey! Superhero coming through!”
Several people turned to stare at her. She didn’t blame them. She looked less like a superhero than any of them, but it didn’t matter. Regardless of how she looked, she’d been trained to deal with similar situations. To keep the citizens out of harm’s way while the heroes—both super and civic—did their duties.
Three police cars squealed to a stop in front of the store, and the crowd parted to let the uniformed officers through. Irina hurried to them and took a deep breath. She was about to reveal herself to the general public. Super Guy would not be pleased.
But the rest of the team hadn’t arrived yet, and someone had to do something.
“I’m Eye-Reen,” she said to the officers who turned to glare at her. “From the Super Group. The villain calls himself Avocado Alliterator, and he has a gun.”
Two of the officers did double takes. “You’re Eye-Reen?” one of them, a tall woman with a red-haired bun, demanded. “You’re out of uniform.”
“I was…” Irina paused. Her reasons for being downtown had nothing to do with the current situation, even though her mental vision told her Ben was standing by the door staring slack-jawed at her. Her back was to him, and she planned to keep it that way. She couldn’t face him now.
“I was downtown having dinner when I heard the screams,” she said to the officers. “The rest of the Super Group should be here any moment. But there are hostages, including at least one child, so I came to help.”
The female officer nodded. “What can you do?”
“Talk to the villain,” Irina replied immediately. Since her only power was clairvoyance, Super Guy had trained her in negotiating with bad guys. It gave her a useful skill in case she found herself in the field. “I might be able to persuade him to let the hostages leave. At the very least, I can find out what he wants and stall him until the rest of my team arrives.”
“Go ahead.”
Going ahead meant going to the door where Ben was still standing. Irina gulped. He would have questions she couldn’t answer.
Then again, the only thing that really mattered was helping the people stuck inside the store with the Avocado Alliterator. Hopefully Ben would feel the same and save his questions for another time. If he ever spoke to her again.
Irina pushed past the bystanders to the door. Ben opened his mouth and closed it again.
Irina gave him a pleading look, then stood as near to the door as she could and again raised her voice. “Avocado Alliterator. This is Eye-Reen of the Super Group. Come out quietly and this will be easier for you.”
The Avocado whirled toward the door, his face red and twisted. Irina’s heart skipped a beat, but she took a deep breath and tried again. People’s lives depended on her, at least until the rest of the team arrived.
“We know you have hostages,” she said, focusing her whole attention on the Avocado. Using her powers, she could tell he was afraid and angry, and he wanted to surrender but had no intention of doing so. He was trying to impress someone, she was fairly sure, but she couldn’t tell whom.
Not that it was important. She only needed him to surrender and let the hostages go safely.
“You can’t make me give up!” he shouted. “Not until I have what I need!”
“At least let the children out of the store.” Having to speak loudly made it hard to sound persuasive, but Irina gave it a try anyway. She was all too aware of Ben and the other citizens watching. She’d given away her secret identity and had compromised not only herself but potentially the entire Super Group. When all this was over, she would have to answer to the police, Super Guy, and who knew who else.
First, though, she had to make it be over. She forced her attention back to the matter at hand.
Behind her, a whoosh signaled the arrival of Super Guy and the rest of the team. Irina didn’t dare look at them. She could already tell how furious Super Guy was with her.
“Send out the children,” she urged the Avocado Alliterator again. “They might go easier on you if you let the hostages go.”
“Fine.” He grabbed the little boy and shoved him toward the door. The child stumbled, but recovered quickly and ran to fumble with the lock. A few other children peeked out from behind counters and displays.
The first child finally managed to open the door, and all of the children ran out. The boy’s mother tried to follow, but Avocado grabbed her. “Not the adults,” he snarled.
Someone tapped Irina on the shoulder. She turned to look up at Super Guy’s grave expression. “We’ll take it from here,” he said in the quietest voice Irina had ever heard him use.
“Go back to headquarters.”
Irina merely nodded and stepped out of his way. She would be in a hell of a lot of trouble when this situation was over.
That meant she didn’t have anything to lose by once again ignoring Super Guy’s orders. She glanced around and spotted Ben standing near the police cars. After a quick check to be sure the rest of the Super Group had the store situation under control, Irina walked to the man who had been her date until everything had gone to shit.
“Hi,” she said, feeling even more awkward than when she’d first met Ben.
“Hi.” Ben studied her. “Eye-Reen, huh? No wonder you wouldn’t tell me more about your job.”
“We’re supposed to keep our superhero identities secret.” She sighed. “I wanted to tell you. I haven’t known you long enough to be sure I can trust you, but I guess you know it all now anyway. I’m sorry I couldn’t be honest with you.”
“I understand.” He turned away then motioned for her to follow him.
Hoping she wouldn’t regret it, Irina trailed Ben to the nearest corner, just out of the crowd. “I’m sorry,” she said again.
“You don’t need to be.” He looked down at her with a gorgeous smile that warmed her heart and various other parts of her body. “Superheroine. Even without your costume.”
She shrugged. “I forgot to bring it. Why did you go to the store? You might have been hurt.”
“I heard the kids.” He hesitated and touched his ears. “I’m no hero, but my hearing… I guess it’s super. Hyper, anyway. It’s hard for me to filter things out sometimes, and I hear things over longer distances than most people are able to. I heard the kids crying, and I had to try to help. Even though I had no clue what to do when I got there.”
“Super hearing, huh? Super Guy would be all over such a skill.” Irina grinned. “Sure you’re not a superhero?”
“I’d really rather not be.” He took her hands. “I wouldn’t mind dating one, though. I promise to keep your secret.”
“I think it’s a little too late.” She glanced over her shoulder. Super Guy was leading the Avocado Alliterator out of the department store to the cheers of the crowd. “I’m going to be in deep trouble once he’s finished schmoozing the media.”
“I’ve got your back.” Ben paused. “Assuming you need someone to have your back.”
“Even superheroes need backup.” She stretched up onto her tiptoes. “Will you have my front, too?”
Ben chuckled and touched his lips to hers.
The kiss was intense and tender, and it shook Irina to her core. She wrapped her arms around Ben, and he pulled her tightly against him. A sense of total rightness surrounded Irina, and she couldn’t hold back a soft moan that was lost against Ben’s mouth.
After far too short a time, he let go of her. The raw need in his eyes made Irina’s legs tremble.
“I’ll have whatever you’re willing to give me,” Ben said hoarsely. “I sure as hell hope this is only the beginning of something amazing.”
Irina’s heart swelled, and she looked into his eyes. Maybe her mother had been right after all.
“It’s definitely the begi
nning,” she said and kissed him again just to make sure.
About the Author
Kara Costegan believes in magic, soul mates, and love at first sight. In her imagination, anything and anyone is possible. As a child, the worlds and characters Kara created became her friends, and as an adult, enjoys sharing them with others who are seeking encouragement and belief, escape, or simply hot love stories including paranormal beings.
In Kara’s world, love is love, regardless of the gender or number of people involved. As long as the participants are equally invested in making a relationship work, she sees no reason why love should be limited to two. Likewise, in Kara’s worlds love transcends gender, and everyone deserves to have a happy ending regardless of sexuality or gender identity.
Crimes of Passion
Alice Hare
Adam was crouched atop of an apartment building; keen eyes watched the jewellery store across the street. This was Gaunt City, and Adam was Crimson Alpha, leader of The Pack, a crime fighting organisation once started by his family. Across the skyline, he could see the rest of The Pack get into position, surrounding the seemingly innocent building. What wasn’t so innocent, Adam mused, was the master thief known as Vulpis, who was casually filling his backpack with gems and other rare items he found.
From his vantage point, Adam cupped his hands around his mouth and let out a long, loud, chilling howl, watching Vulpis for his reaction. While The Pack tensed and began to slink forward, Vulpis stopped, head snapping round to the source of the noise, letting a wide, sly grin stretch across his half-masked face.
When the rest of The Pack were in position, Adam leapt off the edge of the building, swooping down to the entrance of the store, where Vulpis was waiting for him, arms crossed and smiling with glee. They were a similar height, though where Adam was bulky and muscled, Vulpis was lean, with a slim waist and broad shoulders. He wore a distractingly skin-tight terracotta suit, black gloves, a fitted orange mask with small pointed ears and chunky black boots; it was often in one word, distracting.
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