by Angel Lawson
“Uh, did Mr. Perfect just swear?”
He blanches. “I curse. Sometimes.”
She rolls her eyes but she also didn’t miss what he said. “So, you think I’m collecting men too?”
“I think we have a bond created many years ago that no one else can understand or break.” He leans against the desk. “I thought Demetria was enough, but meeting you and the others solidified that there’s more to us together than apart.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying Casper will come around because he has to—it’s part of who we are.”
“And you?”
“I’m coming around, too.”
She’s the one that looks him over now, from his handsome face over every inch of his sculpted, perfect body. “So, what do we do next?”
His eyes rake over her like he knows good and well what he wants to do next, and the stutter-kick of his heart only confirms it.
“I don’t like being pushed out of the Swamp,” she confesses. “I get what Jensen is saying and why the Mayor wants a task force but like Demetria, I don’t like letting the city down. “
“What do you want to do about it?” he asks.
“Let’s go figure out what’s happening in the Swamp, there has to be more to the story.”
She nods because he’s right. Both sides of the Harbor Line, the Swamp and the city, are her home. She’s not getting run off that easily.
“I think you may need to come back to the gym with me first,” she says.
“Why’s that?”
“Because it’s time for you to get your suit.”
Chapter Nine
Astrid
She calls Owen on the way back to the gym, asking him to come downstairs.
“If I can make it,” he declares, still whining about the workout.
“Come down,” she says. “And I’ll give you a massage later.”
There’s no hesitation. “Deal.”
At the gym, she has Draco wait outside and catches Quinn before he sees him. “Trust me on this, okay?”
He doesn’t ask what. He probably already knows. To his credit, he nods and kisses her on the lips and says, “Always.”
Owen nods his approval. She may have made the decision, but they’ll do this together.
His confidence makes it easier to bring Draco into the office and then take him below. Actually, Quinn walks him down, giving him his first view of the Lair.
“Bring Casper in on this,” she says. Owen boots him up. He notices the connection and flips them off.
“Casper, you don’t have to talk to me right now but you do have to listen to what I’m about to say, got it?”
There’s no nod, just the tight clench of his jaw.
Draco takes in the Lair, looking over the extensive computer system and connected workshop. It’s clear that Mr. Perfect isn’t surprised, but he’s definitely impressed. “Atticus and Casper did this?”
“Along with my mentor, Holden,” Quinn says.
“Sometimes I forget how big this whole thing was, you know?” He touches a few items on the worktable. “It’s weird that we were just kids and there was a whole project devoted to cultivating our skills.”
“And a group willing to kill us all to stop it,” Owen adds.
Astrid stands in front of the changing room door. She knows Draco has pieces of his suit already, like his shield, given to him by Casper, but there’s something about the finality of bringing him into the fold this way. It’s how it started for her and Quinn and how they welcomed Owen into the group. Now she looks at the three of them, their ridiculously fit bodies filling the space, and she knows this is the right thing to do. The only thing.
“Owen’s right,” she says. “There is something that binds us together that is beyond what any normal person would know. We were orphaned, tested on, brought together, and split apart. Some of us are dead. A few of us damaged.” She glances at the monitor. “Some maybe beyond repair. But the one thing we have is one another. Atticus and Holden knew this. They led Quinn and me to find one another. They gave us the information so we could find each of you as well.”
The men watch her as she takes off her gloves. She walks over and takes Quinn and Owen’s hands. “Before we took the PD-1, I could touch you because I couldn’t feel your echo. It gave me sanctuary, but now I don’t need it. I trust you implicitly. Body, mind, and soul. I trust you in the field, on a rooftop, or in the middle of a fire.” She feels the same coming off their echo, unconditional support. Astrid releases them and walks over to Draco. She can feel his integrity before she touches him, but when she does make contact with his hand she feels something that wasn’t there before. She tilts her head in question but the flicker of emotion vanishes and he’s back to his resolve.
She’s willing to give him time. What she’s saying, no, proposing, is hard to swallow. She speaks to him anyway. “Can you do this? Do you want to?”
“More than anything. I agree that this is what our mentors wanted for us eventually. The city is in pain and someone has to bridge the gap.” He looks down at their hands. “I feel awful for my involvement with Demetria’s plan. It…things really got out of control.”
“Dude, you can’t blame yourself for that. She talked us all into backing her up,” Owen says.
Quinn nods. “I think it’s why much of the neighborhood hates us now. They saw us on that float and think we were involved with destroying the Harbor Line.”
“How do we change their perspective?” Astrid asks. Her fingers are still linked with Draco’s and she feels a rush of energy. She glances up and catches the smile on his lips. “What? Do you have an idea?”
“I think we go out there and show them who we are. The good side. The people that want to help.”
“When the hell are you planning on doing this?” Casper asks. They all look up in surprise at the screen. At least he’s talking.
“Now,” she says, holding the eye of each of them. “Suit up.”
Draco’s face lights up. “Thank god, I thought you’d never say it.”
Chapter Ten
Draco
Astrid walks in to the changing room and Owen jabs him with a sharp elbow. “This is where you see the difference of Astrid in the suit and Astrid out.”
“I don’t get what you mean? I’ve experienced both.”
Just then Astrid emerges in the doorway in nothing but a tight athletic bra that reveals an ample view of her cleavage between open sides of her top. He swallows thickly at the sight of the strip of her lean belly teasing between her low-slung leather pants and the bra. There’s something about her—the way her confidence changes--that hits Draco in the gut.
“Have you seen my cuff?” she asks, securing one to her left arm.
Owen retrieves the other from the worktable and tosses it to her. She smiles and vanishes again.
“It’s like a full change, when she zips up all that leather. Lethal. Strong. You won’t hear any of that self-doubt.”
Draco has a million questions, a billion, about Astrid and her relationship with these other guys. But their comfort with one another speaks volumes and it may be the only thing about the situation that terrifies him.
She walks back out, fully dressed, and smiles at him.
“Want to see yours?”
What he really wants is to see whatever is under all that leather, but he nods and follows her into the changing area. She points to a cabinet with his name on it and inside is a sleek suit similar to hers and the others’. Hanging on the back of the door is a new shield and in the middle of the cabinet is a stand holding his mask.
“It’s official,” she says. “You’re one of us.”
The nerves he felt earlier—the ones Astrid no doubt felt—flare back up. He knows there’s more to the bond with these men than just their pasts and fighting crime. A bond that terrifies him.
“What is that?” she asks carefully and quietly. “Something comes over you every once in a whil
e.”
“It’s just new,” he tells her, embarrassed he’s so easy for her to read. “Thank you for including me in this. And Casper. I think you’re right about our destiny together.”
“Come on,” she says, zipping up her jacket and taking away the fantastic view of her chest. “Let’s hit the streets.”
She walks out of the room, her blond hair flying behind her like a halo. He doesn’t miss how her fingers graze Quinn’s hip or the smile she bestows on Owen as their shoulders brush. Their connection leaves a confused, uncomfortable feeling in his chest.
The two men enter and they change quickly, in some kind of test to see who can be the first. Their familiarity is odd to him. He didn’t grow up in isolation like Casper or tucked safely under the protection of guardians like Astrid and Quinn. He wasn’t feral, hustling in the streets like Owen. He grew up quietly with a strong sense of education and a respect for women. Astrid has definitely earned his respect and admiration with her performance on the street and the way her heart beats for the community. She’s a good person, but there’s something else. Something deeper, and it incites something dormant in him that he’s not sure how to handle.
Quinn zips up his jacket and nods at him to follow. Draco grabs his mask and slips it over his eyes and starts his first night as one of the Elite.
Chapter Eleven
Astrid
The night is moonless and damp from an earlier rain. After splitting up from Quinn and Owen five minutes before, Draco and Astrid prowl through the streets trying to get a sense of what’s happening in their city. So far, nothing much is going on, so they take a short cut through the park to reach the waterfront. Draco is quiet and it makes her nervous. “So you’re a big reader?”
He smiles. “You noticed?”
“It was hard not to.”
The walk around the fountain. The park is completely empty this late at night, but sometimes kids like Luby like to tag the bridges. “I didn’t peg you as a Harry Potter fan.”
“No?” he says. “Kids with magical powers all sent to a school and are under attack by greater forces? That doesn’t resonate with you?”
“Huh. I never thought about it that way.”
“Me either until Emma gave me the books before a long flight overseas. These kids aren’t given their powers. They’re born with them—and they get a choice in how to use them, for good or evil.”
“I’ve read Harry Potter, Draco—” she slaps her hand over her mouth. “You’re kidding.”
He shrugs. “He resonates.”
“You resonate with the bad guy?” She shakes her head. “Mr. Perfect, you’re an enigma.”
The lights outside the park lead them to their destination, but she’s got a million questions about the Draco thing and from the sideways glance he gives her, he knows. “Draco had an awful father. A terrible, narcissistic mother and aunt.” He adjusts his mask. “My parents weren’t good people, Astrid. I realize now that had I grown up in their house, with these gifts, they would have been used for evil. There’s always someone that wants to use us for evil.” Demetria’s name is unspoken. “The name reminds me not to take that path.”
“You need reminding?”
“Don’t you?”
The words should be red flag but she understands what he means. It’s a hard balance finding the right place in this world. “Okay,” she says, determined to lighten the mood, “tell me this: Kill, Fuck, Marry; Ron, Hermione, Harry.”
He gives her a crazy look but she nudges him encouragingly and he thinks on it.
“Kill Harry, Fuck Hermione, Marry Ron.”
Well that was a surprise. “Explain.”
“Harry’s annoying. I said it. Way too much baggage. I’d marry Ron because then I’d get to be part of the Weasley family. And I’d fuck Hermione because smart girls are sexy as hell, she’s definitely got an adventurous side and after we made love she’d probably lay in bed with me all day and read.” He stops. The entrance of the park is just ahead.
That is a revealing answer. She takes a moment to digest it.
“What about you?” he asks.
“Me?” she says, but she already knows the answer. “I’d kill Hermione because I’m not really into chicks. But the other two? I have a philosophy when it comes to men I have a connection with and find attractive.”
“What’s that?”
She shrugs. “Why choose?”
*
The roads are being repaired down by the water from where Demetria’s dragon tore up the asphalt. The streets are no longer filled with the litter of the parade, although clumps of flowers in honor of the victims are scattered down the route.
“It’s hard to believe it was all real,” Draco says.
Astrid nods in agreement. “No wonder the mayor is pissed.”
They’re not out here for any particular reason, just trying to get a feel of what’s going on. Luby hasn’t called again and that makes Astrid nervous. Did someone find out he tipped her off? There are too many unknowns right now and she doesn’t like it.
The wind shifts and she catches a hint of perfume in the air. Lilac. She holds her hand up and Draco pauses. Every day they’re more in tune. He watches and waits for her signal. A zipping sound scrapes down the road. She frowns in confusion but hears that the heartbeat coming from down the block is a little elevated—no, make that two heartbeats. She’s not getting a read on adrenaline just—
The girl comes into view holding hands with a boy carrying a skateboard in his other hand. He drops it suddenly, the board and the hand, and zips down the road before turning back to meet her. When he catches up to her he slows, kissing her quick on the lips. Both heartbeats hammer.
Draco and Astrid cling to the shadows and let them pass.
“They probably shouldn’t be out here,” he says once they’re gone.
She shrugs. “We probably shouldn’t be either.”
The kids wander off and they’re alone and she too wonders exactly what she’s doing out here. Killing time mostly, giving Draco a chance to be part of the team. She glances over at him and notices him staring.
“What?” she asks.
“Nothing.”
The dark glint in his eye along with the subtle shift in his scent triggers her curiosity. She peels off her glove and then his.
“What are you doing?” He stares at their hands.
“Just curious about something.” She steadies herself, zeroing in on the information she wants, and presses their palms together. He’s a jumble of emotions but it’s not hard to narrow in on the one that matches his scent. She pushed past the righteousness and dedication, peeling back the layers to the base of his emotions.
Want. Hunger. Need. Teeth biting down on lips. Breasts pushing at leather. Her cheeks, her hair. Her eyes.
The vision shifts.
She’s pressed against a wall in her suit—a brick wall, a smile on her mouth, Draco holding her up, her legs wrapped around him.
“Oh,” she gasps, pulling out of the moment. It certainly wasn’t a memory. More like a fantasy.
“You okay?” he asks, suspicious of what she’d just seen. Her body heats at the thought of what he wants to do to her. She looks behind her and sees the brick wall.
“I’m…” She has a hard time forming words. He’s rattled her. Sex like that…it’s unexpected to know he thinks of her in such a way. He hides his interest well.
“What did you see?” he asks, but she lifts up her hand and quickly tugs her glove back on.
Heavy boots scuff against the pavement and the hair on Astrid’s neck prickles with alert. She shows him two fingers, indicating two people are coming.
“The kids?” he whispers.
She shakes her head and he removes the shield off his back. She tilts her head to go south, to avoid whoever is coming. They don’t need an altercation—not tonight.
Draco follows her order and clings to the shadows of the building. It’s one of the ones Kincade burned. Acrid smoke s
till lingers in the air, dulling her sense of smell. A shift in the wind sets her on edge and she reaches for Draco’s hand to stop him just before he turns the corner.
Too late.
Two men, covered head-to-toe in military black, are just on the other side. The soldiers seem just as surprised as they are, but it doesn’t keep Draco from raising his shield.
No. They can’t fight these men.
“Ah, looks like we have a couple of vigilantes,” one says to the other. Their faces are masked but Astrid doesn’t need to see a face to know who is behind it. Rowe, her former student, blocks their path.
“That’s not what we are and you know it.”
“You work outside the law, you insert yourself in police matters, you cause mayhem and destruction.” Rowe glares at her. “I’d call that vigilantism.”
“What do you call saving a kid from a burning building?”
“Stupid,” he sneers. “Unless you work for the fire department.”
“I’d call it being a hero instead of a warmongering threat like you,” Astrid spats back, not knowing why she’s in this fight.
“Unfortunately, you’ve violated the Safe City Act. You’ll have to come with us.”
Draco laughs. “Unlikely.”
Rowe can’t back away from a challenge and obviously, neither can Draco. She silently wills him to back off and to just get out of there. The other soldier looks equally concerned and watches Rowe and Draco puff out their chests, seconds from blowing up.
“Mr. Perfect,” Casper breaks in. “You’ve got six more incoming. These guys aren’t alone. They’re coming from behind.”
She glances backwards and sees the shadows in the alley a block away. Footsteps echo off the ground. There’s a whirring overhead. She looks up and spots a small black disk. What the hell?
“Diversion in 3…2…1…” A loud explosion followed by smoke consumes both sides of them, behind Rowe and between the ones approaching. Draco shoots his rappelling cord into the air, hooking over the side of the building. Before the smoke clears, Draco has his arms around her and they’re up on the rooftop. Casper cackles in her ear. “Did you see that? Did you fucking see that? Holy shit.”