Rocky Road (Cape High Series Book 18)

by R. J. Ross

  Max had once accused them of licking one another’s wounds, or something along those lines. Maybe he’s right? She can’t focus enough to know how she feels about it. She’s starting to sink into the ice, again, she realizes as she looks down blearily. It’s trying to claim her. A part of her wants to give in. It seems like it would be peaceful.

  It comes up over her hips, tugging her further and further into the ice. Now it’s up to her stomach, her chest, soon all of her will be under the ice, she thinks with a little smile. Her shoulders sink under, and now her face. No—

  She reaches up, trying to pull herself out again. A hand grabs hers and tugs, lifting her easily out of the claiming cold. She starts to say thank you, but it dies on her lips as she sees who saved her.

  “You shouldn’t have run, little water girl,” Atlanti says. “How can I trust you if you run away?”

  Malina swallows, suddenly feeling a chill that has nothing to do with the ice she’d just been in.

  ***

  Atlanti frowns as she looks at the girl lying on the ice. She can’t leave her there, long, otherwise the girl starts sinking into it. She might have overestimated how much venom would keep the girl in line without finishing her off, she thinks. Especially since right now the snow is dancing around the girl in the form of ballerinas, and she’s smiling drunkenly at them, even as she starts to sink again.

  The sound of people talking catches her ear and she goes still before grabbing the water manipulator and racing away. How did they find her?

  Wait… HAVE they found her?

  It sure doesn’t sound like they have…

  ***

  “I’m freezing,” Alyssa says. She’s riding piggy-back on my back, since she was going too slowly to keep up with us. She’d started out on Skye’s back, but Skye kept forgetting that she was there and going insubstantial. Alyssa would fall to the ground because all of our E.P.B.s are on. After the second fall she had very irritably told me that I was going to be her new best friend, and climbed on. I’m not sure I want her as my new best friend, but I figure I’ll give her a chance. The first thing she said when she touched my skin was, “Holy crap, your skin is gorgeous!” That sort of comment is pretty endearing.

  “Sorry,” I say as I trudge on through the snow. It doesn’t bother me. “I guess healers aren’t that tough, huh?”

  “So sorry I’m not that impressive,” she says, but she sighs, “Of course next to you I wouldn’t be. Hey, after this is over, we should have a sleep over, okay? I bet I could smooth out a lot of these craggy spots with a bit of work. Your hair is amazing, have I mentioned that? Who did it?”

  “You need a buffer to smooth out your skin,” Diamond Dust says. “I’m a fan of DeWALT, myself, but there are a few other alternatives. Who DID do your hair? That’s some beautiful detailing, there…”

  “Ace,” I say, feeling embarrassed. “He did it for my fight with you.”

  “Who is Ace?” Diamond Dust asks.

  “Only the nicest guy in the school,” Alyssa says with a dreamy sigh. “Not that I have a crush, or anything—”

  “You have a crush on Ace?” I ask, surprised.

  “It’s impossible, and I know it,” Alyssa says, sounding irritated. “I mean, one, he’s a flirt, and two, I’ve seen him looking at Morgan. But it’s not nearly as pathetic as Bobby’s crush on Aubrey. I mean, she’s actually DATING Jack. I think healers are just out of luck, regardless.”

  “Healers?” Diamond Dust repeats. “You mean you’ve got more than just you two?”

  “Yeah, we’ve got a small group,” Alyssa says, waving a hand. “And then there are the adult healers that are scattered around the states. Aubrey has us all on a chat line, so we all know each other. Like there’s this Michael Allen that got kicked out of his house because his parents found out he was a healer—he still whines about it, even though he’s SURROUNDED by pretty doctors and nurses and on a fast track to being a big-name doctor. He’s such an idiot, always complaining that Aubrey ruined his nice setup in his parent’s basement.”

  “Did it ruin his gaming time?” I ask.

  “Yes.”

  “Then I can’t blame him,” I decide.

  “You need to re-evaluate your priorities, girl,” Alyssa says after a second of shock.

  “I wouldn’t want to be surrounded by pretty doctors and nurses, either,” I say, trying not to grin as she pokes me.

  “How about the sexy doctors and nurses, huh?” she asks. “I’m sure there are a few of them out there.”

  “They would try to dissect me.”

  “Well… okay, that might be a good point,” she grudgingly admits. “But it doesn’t matter. You’ll be surrounded by good looking heroes that run around saving the world and like rocky girls!”

  “No such thing,” I say.

  “There are,” Diamond Dust says, making me look over. “What about this Ace boy? He put a lot of effort into that hair. Did you have to pay him, or did he have another motive?” she asks me.

  “We just as good as said he has a thing for Morgan,” I say, unable to ignore her.

  “What’s his super name? Or does he have one?”

  “Ace is Dragon,” Alyssa says.

  “Hmmm,” she says. “Are they dating?”

  “No, Morgan’s sort of… not interested in anyone, as far as I can tell,” Alyssa says. “She’s too busy bossing all the zoo kids around.”

  “Then don’t be too surprised if he flirts with either of you,” Diamond Dust says. “From what I’ve seen of Dragon, he wouldn’t be scared off by much.”

  “How did you meet my father?” I ask, almost surprising myself. I wasn’t planning on asking anything personal. I don’t want to know, right?

  “A super villain convention,” she says, smiling a second before it fades. “It was an underground thing, or played off as one. We signed comic books and did a panel together. They even put us up in the same hotel… you can’t exactly NOT know who he is, even when he’s wearing those ridiculous suits of his.”

  “I’ve always wanted to be a guest at one of those,” Skye says, sounding pouty. At least she’s not glaring at Diamond Dust, now. I’m not used to Skye being quiet like that.

  “I’ll tell them the next time they invite me,” Diamond Dust says. “I’m sure they think they can’t afford you.”

  “They PAY?” Skye says, looking stunned.

  “Yeah, they—wait—” Diamond Dust says, looking around as she holds up a hand. “It’s nearby.”

  I look around, and then close my eyes, trying to focus. After a second I stop and reach up to poke Alyssa. “Can you hand me your jewelry?”

  “What?” she says. “Why?”

  “Because I need to know which are yours and what’s Malina’s,” I say. She squirms around, taking off all of her jewelry and dropping it into my hand. I shove it all into my pocket and close my eyes.

  “You just robbed me, didn’t you?” she says when I don’t hand it back.

  “Quiet, I’m concentrating,” I say, but I can’t help the shaking of my shoulders as I fight the urge to laugh.

  “Girl, you are in so much trouble after all of this,” she tells me.

  “I’ve found her,” Diamond Dust says, starting to run. Skye and I chase after her, turning serious. I can feel the jasper pendant, now. It’s moving away at a rapid pace, which means either Malina is running from us, or someone is carrying her… or worse, my mind whispers, that someone stole the pendant and we have very little means of finding her.

  There’s something flickering in the snow. It’s hard to tell, since everything is white, but I catch sight of it a few times. “This lady, can she change colors?” I ask.

  “What do you mean?” Diamond Dust asks.

  “If she’s like other octopuses, she should be able to,” Alyssa says, holding onto me tightly. I’m about to ask if Atlanti can turn other people different colors when Skye races past us all like we’re standing still. She slams into the flickering object and I fin
ally see what I couldn’t, before.

  There’s a white and gray camouflaged woman, and Malina, who falls to the ground and skids across the ice, not moving. “MALINA!” I bellow, running as fast as I can. I go straight past Skye and Atlanti, stopping in a protective stance over Malina. “Alyssa, do what you can,” I say as she slides off of my back. “Is she—is she—”

  “No,” Alyssa says, dropping down next to Malina and wrapping her arms around the girl. “She’s poisoned, but she’s still alive.”

  “SKYE!” Diamond Dust shouts. “Don’t let her touch you!”

  I want to go in and help with the fight—it’s what I’m built for, right? I watch as Skye flips in the air, kicking out at the octopus lady in a pretty little move that looks good for cameras but can’t possibly do much in real—I stop and stare as the octopus lady is slammed into the ice up to her waist. “What in the heck—how did that WORK?” I say, my jaw dropping.

  It’s followed by a kick across the face that pulls Atlanti out of the ice and sends her flying. “You POISONED MY PARENTS!” Skye bellows before diving down to grab the woman by the throat. “I’m not happy with you.”

  “SKYE!” Diamond Dust shouts, seeing what Skye doesn’t—Atlanti’s body is shifting in Skye’s hold. “This isn’t the time for—” she curses and jumps forward, pulling the now shifted octopus away from Skye before it can wrap its legs around the smaller villain.

  “WHAT WAS THAT FOR?” Skye shouts. “I was winning!”

  “She almost got you,” Diamond Dust growls, trying to hold onto the octopus. “She has no bones in this form, idiot! She can go through any hole that her beak will fit through! How else do you think she took down such big names? You can’t—” She grunts, throwing the octopus away and looking at her arm. “This liquid, is it venom or poison?” she asks Alyssa.

  “It seems to work as both,” Alyssa says. “That’s not that big of a deal—if people can create solid matter out of their imagination, a substance that can be both poison and venom is REALLY—”

  “Alyssa!” I say, “You’re rambling!”

  “I know that! I’m just sort of freaking out because this is the second time I’ve dealt with it, and I’m starting to see some really freaky hallucinations right now,” she says.

  “How do you know they’re hallucinations?” I ask, still watching Diamond Dust wrestle with an octopus.

  “Because I keep sinking into the ice, and the snow is starting to look a lot like Justin,” Alyssa says, and I look down, shocked. We’re ALL sinking into the ice, I realize. I’m up to my knees in it. “That’s got to be a hallucination, right? Because I’m pretty sure I don’t know how to swim in ice.”

  “Not a hallucination. Definitely not a hallucination,” I say, trying and failing to jump out. There’s nothing to push against, and the more I move the more I sink. “Wake Malina up!”

  “The Justin face isn’t a hallucination, either?” Alyssa asks. “Because I saw some REALLY freaky stuff when I helped Santa—there were can-can dancing reindeer and—”

  “Wake her up!” I say. “MALINA! WAKE UP!” I yell as I go even deeper. It’s up to my waist, now. “I’m pretty sure I can’t burrow through liquid!” I’m starting to panic right now, and I have every right. Do you know what a rock does when it falls into water? It’s definitely not the backstroke.

  I see ice blue eyes flutter open and turn to look at me with confusion. “Sandra?” she says. “Is Justin singing to you, too? It’s okay, we’re safe. We’re—we’re not in the zoo anymore—”

  “Yeah, we’re not,” I say, grabbing the ice beside me only to have my fingers sink in. “But we ARE sinking in ice!”

  “It’s peaceful,” Malina says dreamily. “It’s so… comfortable…”

  “Not if you drown!” I yelp. “I’m definitely the drowning type!”

  “Drowning…” She stops, and I can practically see her mind start working again. “Sandra! Atlanti will be looking for you! I told her that I needed help to refill the ice, so I could try and run, but she caught—where is she?”

  She looks around wildly and I swear we all drop another foot into the ice. “Malina, the ice?” Alyssa says, her teeth chattering. Malina looks at her and snaps out of it.

  “Oh! I’m so sorry!” she says, grabbing Alyssa and throwing her out of the ice.

  “I could use some help, too,” I say, now up to my chest and going down quickly. The ice under my feet firms and I shove off of it, jumping away. “I thought for sure I’d drown,” I mutter before turning to see how the fight is going. The sight of Skye lying to the side makes me do a double take. She’s waving an arm in the air, singing a strange little song off-key. “I think she must have got her. Crap,” I say. “Alyssa, can you help her?”

  “Yeah, I think I can,” Alyssa says, swaying slightly as she gets to her feet. Suddenly I’m as worried for her as I am for Skye. And I haven’t even looked to see how—wait. Diamond Dust and Atlanti aren’t there, anymore.

  “Where did they go?” I ask, looking over at Malina.

  “That’s what I was trying to tell you,” she says. “She’s after an earth manipulator to take the minerals out of the sea water. She wants to refill all of the ice holes that the supers made.”

  “Refill?” I repeat, confused.

  “She thinks she killed them,” she says, tears starting to fall, “because they were ruining the ice.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  *Earlier*

  What does she know about Cosmic? The question is haunting Jeanie as she flies towards where the man lives. He’d shown up in the seventies, full grown and more powerful than he’d revealed to the norms. He’d retired rather quickly, so he’d been more of a blip in the super world than the outstanding presence that he should have been. It’s really a wonder why he’d come into the light, at all.

  That worries her. She knows almost nothing about his abilities, or what his temperament is. Considering all of her connections, she really should know SOMETHING, right?

  She pulls to a stop as she sees him floating above the ice, small black spheres of energy pulsating as they circle his body. It almost looks as if he’s the sun of a small solar system. “Mr. Cosmic?” she says, “I’ve come to see how you’re doing. Are you feeling all right?”

  He looks at her, and his arms slowly stretch out. In perfect contrast with his slow movement, three of the black energy spheres race forward, exploding where Jeanie had been standing a second earlier. She pulls to a stop a mile to the left, trying once again to talk sense. Her hair is a mess, but she ignores it. “Cosmic! My name is Star Spangled—I’m a friend of Superior’s. You know Superior! He’s a good friend of yours—”

  She flies to the right as more of the black energy spheres race towards her, exploding. “You need to calm down, sir! You’ve been affected by—” another explosion hits and she automatically moves to dodge it, but he had anticipated it, this time.

  She hits the space portal just as it opens up behind her, and is dragged into its gravity, pulled across space to another planet.

  “JEANIE!” she hears Nico shout. The portal slams shut.

  ***

  Nico curses, letting the teen he’d been carrying drop to the snow below. “Try not to get noticed, Jonas, he doesn’t seem to be in his right mind.” He looks at the older super, his expression cold and calculating. “Bring Jeanie back, Cosmic.”

  “Superior,” Cosmic says, lifting a hand towards him and sending the last black energy spheres racing. Nico races forward, the explosive sphere mere inches away from hitting him. He doesn’t even look back as it explodes in the air behind him, launching him forward, he just uses the propulsion and punches Cosmic as hard as he can. The other cape goes flying back almost a mile. Cosmic catches himself, and spreads out his hands again. All around them portals start to open, giving a glimpse into the various planets that they lead to.

  “BRING BACK STAR SPANGLED!” Nico bellows, speeding straight for Cosmic again.

  ***

&nbs
p; The air feels wrong, Jeanie thinks as she staggers slightly. The gravity is wrong—it’s a bit heavier than what she’s used to. The ground below is barren, and the only beings she sees are dressed in ragged clothing. She drops down, approaching one of the small beings, a female. “Hello—”

  The small female looks up at her in terror, her eyes widening before she stumbles over nothing, trying to get away. It isn’t the response that Jeanie is used to. She looks around, seeing all the other beings watching her with obvious fear.

  “I don’t suppose anyone speaks English, here?” she asks, only glancing up into the sky. Being the natural born super hero that she is, the desire to go home becomes a secondary matter. Right now she sees people that need help.

  ***

  “Nico!” Jonas shouts as his principal is thrown through a black hole, which closes abruptly. The exact same thing had happened to Star Spangled. He has no hope of surviving this fight. “Why are you doing this, mister?” he yells at the large man floating overhead. “ATTACK ME!”

  Cosmic turns, his eyes glowing unnaturally, dark spheres floating around him. He can only assume that the reaction is a direct result of how much venom the octopus lady had pumped into his system. Even Santa had gone into a defensive attack, right? But why is a no-name cape like Technico going up against them? He’s just a technopath, right?

  “ATTACK ME!” he bellows, all five feet nine inches of skinny albino teen, waving spindly arms in the air at a man that can create multiple portals all around him. He knows how stupid it is, he just doesn’t care. He needs to get close enough to the man to pull out the venom, and hopefully then Cosmic will bring Nico—

  A flash comes beside him and he looks over in shock as Nico appears, his hand on his watch. Nico lets out a curse as his watch catches on fire, and smacks it out. “You made me burn out my teleportation watch, Cosmic!” he yells. “Do you know how expensive the parts are for those?”

  Cosmic holds out a hand and a massive black sphere appears right in front of his palm. “Ni—Nico, we can’t—” Jonas says, freaking out. “You’re no match for this guy!” he says as Nico lets out a curse and turns to him. The dark sphere pulsates before taking off, racing straight towards them. Jonas doesn’t even have time to respond before all of the air is ripped from his lungs and he’s dropped to the snow by Technico, half a mile away from where the energy attack hits the ice and explodes. Nico covers Jonas’s body, taking the brunt of the attack.