Masked (Superheros Undercover Book 1)

by J. D. Wright

  “I would love to get a degree, don’t get me wrong. But there isn’t exactly a curriculum for catching bad guys.”

  “The S.U.C. has that training program.”

  “Yeah, but it’s so basic, and I heard you can’t even practice with your power there. You just learn the ‘rules.’” She made air quotes around the word. “It’s useless. Mom and Dad said I only need to do the introductory course and that’s like two hours long. I don’t have to do the rest if I don’t want to be added to the Defenders roster. I can stay freelance for a while.”

  Josh stood and dropped the empty popcorn bag into the trash can.

  “So you’re really doing this then? Fighting crime and all? My little sister, who used to cry when someone would kill a spider is going to prowl around the city chasing after hoodlums?”

  “I’ll have you know that I’ve killed lots of spiders since then. I was like…five years old.”

  “Yeah, okay. If you say so.” Josh jumped over the back of the couch and stretched out, taking up the entire thing. “I’m gonna watch TV. You up for it?”

  “No, thanks. I have some work to do before dinner.”

  And she did. Vada went straight to her room and opened the lid of her laptop. The page she had been on the night before lit up the screen. It was the Super Outfitters website, one of the best places to order a supersuit.

  The site had most of the options any super could need and the company was incredibly discreet. They didn’t even ask for a name when ordering and payments were made securely with incognito processing. It was just another safeguard for keeping a super’s normal identity private.

  There was also an online design-a-suit software that she had been using to try to create her own signature suit. She took her mother’s suggestions for what fabric was comfortable, bulletproof, and inflammable, along with her father’s ideas for enhancements. But there were so many different supersuit add-ons that Vada had become overwhelmed and changed her mind a dozen times in just the last week.

  It wasn’t as if she was helpless as a super, but she didn’t have incredible strength like her dad. She couldn’t fly like her mom or Josh, either. Her focus power, meaning her strongest ability, was telekinesis. She could move things with her mind, which was convenient at times but that didn’t help with hand-to-hand combat.

  For that reason, her father had taken it upon himself to train her. Especially in weaponry. Vada preferred a short blade to a gun, though she wasn’t sure that she wanted to carry either. Guns were the typical choice of weapon for normal criminals, but supervillains tended to opt for more sinister weapons like missiles and bombs. The worst attack in history had been one of chemical warfare. Now, those types of attacks really sold some newspapers and made a villain famous.

  Just when Vada was about to give up on her suit and start all over, she heard her mother calling her down for dinner. She left her computer open, intending to have another look at it later, and went downstairs. The smell of pot roast permeated the air and elicited a growl from her stomach, despite the popcorn snack from earlier.

  Everyone was already taking seats around the table when Vada entered the kitchen. She sat beside Josh and across from Garret. Their parents were at the opposite ends of the table. Bill cut the roast while Michelle plated the potatoes and carrots.

  “It smells great,” Vada said, placing her napkin across her lap. “Did you get it from Lucy’s?”

  “Of course,” Michelle replied. “No better place to find pot roast.”

  “Or you could make it yourself,” Bill murmured.

  The table fell silent for a brief moment before every single person burst into laughter. The last time Michelle had tried to cook anything it had ended with a visit from the fire department and a replacing of almost half the kitchen. It was too bad that no one in the family had a power to extinguish flames.

  “Good one, Dad!” Garret exclaimed through his laughter. “Mom can’t cook.”

  “I’ll have you know that I once made a perfectly good meal,” Michelle said. “It might have been heated entirely in the microwave, but that still counts, right?”

  The laughter continued until nearly everyone was in tears. The food quickly disappeared from the plates and was replaced by seconds. Supers could definitely eat a lot of food, and second helpings were almost a tradition in the Lawson household.

  “So,” Bill said, sitting back in his seat. “How is school going, Josh? Ready to give up on college and come work with your old man?”

  Josh met Vada’s eyes for a moment, then he cleared his throat. “Nope. Sorry, Dad.”

  “You could always go to school part time,” Michelle offered. “I know there are several departments at work that have openings.”

  “You do know that this conversation is completely opposite from the ones happening across the street, right?” Josh stabbed at a piece of potato. “Most parents want their children to get an education.”

  “Well, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that we aren’t most families.” Bill straightened up in his seat. “We were gifted these powers, and with that comes the responsibility to use them.”

  “I know that, Dad. I just think my contribution to society lies…elsewhere.”

  “But maybe if you just—”

  “We understand,” Michelle interrupted, hoping to put an end to the argument before it began. “We just want you to know the door is always open, Josh. If you decide to skip a semester or just go to school part time…there are always options. That’s all we will say about it.”

  Josh shrugged and took another bite. “What we really should be talking about is Vada. It’s her special day, isn’t it?”

  Vada knew that Josh was just trying to direct the attention away from himself, and she wasn’t necessarily happy to have everyone looking at her now, instead.

  “And we’re so proud of our little Majestic,” Michelle said, beaming. “I almost forgot to give you this.” She reached behind her and took a small stack of papers from her briefcase on the kitchen island.

  “Are these—”

  Vada snatched the papers without finishing her thought. It was her name registration with a stamp of approval on the top and the S.U.C. seal embossed in the corner. Her superhero name was officially hers. Now, all she needed was the suit and she was ready for action.

  “Now, you just need your suit,” Bill said as if he had read his daughter’s mind.

  “I’m working on it. I’ve got a few ideas I want to try out before I make up my mind.”

  “Fair enough. Now, who’s ready for cake?”

  Hands raised all around the table. A few moments later, slices of chocolate cake with vanilla frosting were handed out. Vada had just taken her third bite when there was a knock at the front door.

  “I’ll get it!” Garret jumped up and ran out of the room before anyone could respond. “It’s the Red Hen!” he called from the foyer.

  “Henley?” Michelle said, turning to her daughter. “I didn’t realize you had made plans to hang out with her tonight.”

  “Well, actually…” Vada felt her cheeks warming. “It’s not exactly hanging out that we were going to do.”

  “That sounds…ominous.”

  “You see, there’s this party Henley wants to go to, and I just thought that, perhaps, if we were done with our family thing before it got too late that…maybe I could go?”

  Michelle exchanged a look with her husband but didn’t reply.

  “Oh, come on,” Josh said, smiling. “I went to parties long before I turned eighteen. Let the girl live a little. She’ll be out patrolling the streets all on her own soon. What harm could come from a little high school party?”

  Bill pursed his lips and nodded. “He’s got a point, dear.”

  “Fine,” Michelle conceded. “But take the tracker and wear it on your person at all times. Not in your purse. On your body.”

  “I know, Mom.” Vada stood and kissed both of her parents on the cheek before heading toward the front doo
r. She stopped for just a moment, looked back at Josh, and mouthed, “Thank you.”

  In the coat closet, Vada stuffed a small tracking beacon into the pocket of her jeans, took a jacket off of the hook, and met Henley on the porch.

  Chapter Three

  Vada was getting anxious when Henley finally parked her car on the street and turned her lights off. The sun had finished setting on the drive over, but the street was well lit with lamp posts that looked better suited for a downtown high-end shopping district rather than a neighborhood. Then again, this wasn’t your typical suburban community. This one was filled with million-dollar multi-story homes, and the one they were walking toward could have easily fit in on Hollywood Boulevard.

  “Are you sure this is the place?” Henley asked, studying the perfectly manicured lawn and curved cobblestone driveway.

  A boy they recognized from the high school soccer team stumbled out of the opened front door and whistled at them just before tumbling into the bushes behind him.

  “This is definitely the place.” Vada gave the boy a sympathetic frown as she passed, following Henley into the house.

  The music was blaring and there were several people lingering in the massive foyer. The floor was dark blue marble that reminded Vada of the nighttime sky. The stairs were also marble, but mostly covered by a white carpet runner.

  “White carpet?” Vada murmured. “Someone is either extremely brave or very stupid.”

  “Really?” Henley leaned closer and lowered her voice. “We’re actually in his house and you want to critique the carpet? Come on!”

  Henley took Vada’s arm and drug her through the living room and right into the open kitchen. To no one’s surprise, there was even more white carpeting. Vada was almost afraid to walk on it. But no one else seemed to care as people were everywhere, sitting or standing. Most of them Vada recognized. However, a few she could have sworn were older, maybe Josh’s age, but definitely not high school students.

  “Here,” Henley shoved a plastic cup into Vada’s hand.

  “I can’t drink,” Vada said, shaking her head. “I get…headaches. You know that.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I know. Just pretend to drink it. Trust me, you don’t want to look like the only one here not drinking.”

  Vada shook her head but took a pretend sip of her beer, which she thought smelled like dog piss anyway. She had actually drunk alcohol a few times before and it always ended in disaster. Once Henley scored a bottle of wine from her house. Vada drank more than she should have and the alcohol muddled her power and jumbled her mind so much that her telekinesis became erratic. In the end, she’d vomited in the fireplace. That had been a tough one to explain to her parents.

  Another time had been champagne at a wedding. She’d accidentally knocked a tower of speakers over, causing quite the embarrassing scene. And she hadn’t even meant to use her telekinesis. After that, she learned that alcohol, as well as certain medicines, were not a friend to her superpower, and she’d tried to limit her consumption.

  Henley, however, had no problem downing her entire cup in one go and needed to refill. Vada started to tell her friend to take it easy, but just then her phone beeped. The ringtone was for the number James used when he wanted to talk about super business. That meant the call was probably important.

  “I have to get this,” Vada said. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Fine,” Henley said quickly, rolling her eyes. “Just hurry.”

  The patio was buzzing with people, so Vada moved further into the yard. Glancing back, she could still see Henley inside the house, talking to a couple of girls Vada recognized from the swim team. It seemed that players from all of Guillotine High’s sports teams were in attendance tonight.

  Sure that she was alone, Vada opened her phone and pressed the button to return the call.

  “Hey!” James chirped. “I’m sending you a text. Look at it and tell me what you think.”

  “A text about what? Did you already select a new target?”

  “Just look at it!”

  Vada moved the phone away from her ear and tapped on the screen, opening the message with a photo attachment. What she saw was definitely not a new target. It was a graphic of a supersuit. Her supersuit, or one that resembled it. Only…

  “Umm…” She lifted the phone back up. “If you think I am wearing that, you are absolutely crazy. I’ll look like a total bimbo! My breasts would fall out of that skimpy top and it’s not even remotely functional in a real-life situation. Were those high heels?”

  James just sighed. “It was worth a try.” He paused for a moment. “Okay, check it now.”

  Vada opened the new text and nearly dropped her phone. It was perfect. The concept was mostly the same but much more realistic. Her base bodysuit color was red with gold starbursts randomly scattered along the snug fabric. Her wrist-cuffs, boots, belt, and neckline were deep purple, along with her mask. In the center of the chest there was a matching letter “M” in a sweeping font.

  It was Majestic, in every sense of the word. She nearly squealed in delight.

  “It’s not finalized,” James said quickly. “I still have to add your weapons, if you choose any, and a few tech pieces for communication and—”

  “It’s perfect, James!”

  “About that…if we’re going to be working together in the field, we need to come up with a codename for me. You can’t use my real name when we’re on the job.”

  They began to brainstorm names for a few minutes, which led to a discussion about communication devices and so forth. Soon, the two were lost in conversation and Vada completely forgot about the raging party happening in the distance.

  Henley finished her drink off just as she spotted Nick for the first time all evening. He had entered the kitchen from the backyard, laughing along with several of his friends while they refilled their cups. Not a single one of them looked her way, and she thought it was probably for the best that they didn’t catch her staring.

  She was too far away to hear what they were discussing, but she watched out of the corner of her eye and waited for an opportunity to approach Nick. When his buddies began to disperse, most of them returning to the backyard, Henley saw her chance.

  However, after only two steps in Nick’s direction, she lost her nerve. Instead, she turned and pretended to look at an insanely boring painting on the wall of a table with a bowl of fruit on it.

  “Pathetic.”

  “What?” Henley jerked her head to the side when she heard the voice. A shadow in the hallway behind her moved forward and Victor Cursey emerged.

  He was tall and dressed in black pants, shirt, and jacket. He seemed to blend into the dark hall behind him as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. There was a wickedly sinful smirk on his face that made Henley want to blush. She did her best to suppress the urge.

  “I saw that sad attempt,” he said, nodding toward the kitchen where Nick was still lingering. “You didn’t even make it out of the living room.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Victor’s knowing grin proved otherwise. “If you say so. But he’ll never notice you. You should know that by now. The prince isn’t the type to be drawn to girls like you.” He paused and looked her over from head to toe. “No matter how attractive you are.”

  Henley couldn’t stop the shiver she felt under Victor’s intense gaze. When he swept his eyes over her, he seemed to almost be…absorbing her. Every hair on her body stood at attention. On one hand, she felt violated by his gaze and wanted to slap him for it. On the other hand, she secretly enjoyed the attention.

  “Why do you call him that? Prince?”

  “Well, that should be easy to decipher. Nicholas Grayson is Cyper City royalty, in every way that counts, isn’t he? Son of the city’s white knight and best at everything he does. Sounds like a fairytale Prince Charming to me.”

  “You must read some pretty shitty fairytales, Victor.”

  This drew a
genuine smile from his face. “You know my name?”

  “I know everyone’s name.” Henley was clearly bluffing, but it seemed like a good retort at the time. She wasn’t sure why she was even talking to this boy, but she couldn’t make herself walk away. “And if you hate the prince so much, why come to his party?”

  “Oh, that’s an easy one. I have to work, after all.”

  Henley wanted to ask him what he meant by that but she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and noticed that the prince in question was walking toward her. She froze. But Nick immediately turned down a different hallway, leading away from her. A second later, he was gone from view.

  Victor chuckled beside her, then held his hand up and dangled a vial of bright yellow liquid in front of her face. “Want to talk to the prince? This will give you the nerve to do it.”

  “What in the hell is that?” Henley stepped away from him, studying the vial with the same scrutiny she would give a giant tarantula.

  “Just something to take the edge off. You can call it…courage in a bottle.”

  “That’s a vial, not a bottle.”

  He rolled his eyes but held the container steady. “Last chance, beautiful. You want it or not?”

  “How much?” Henley couldn’t believe those words had just left her lips. She had never once considered using drugs. Sure, she had snuck a drink or two, but this was something that could lead to dire consequences, addiction…even death. Yet, the longer she stared at the sparkling liquid, the faster her worry began to fade. This was just a one-time deal. Surely, she could survive one hit. People did drugs at parties all of the time, right?

  “For you?” Victor lowered the vial and placed it into Henley’s hand. “It’s on the house.” He leaned closer and whispered into her ear, “But when you grow tired of the prince, you should come find me. I’ll show you a much better time and I won’t ever ignore you.”

  Henley closed her eyes as he spoke. His voice was smooth and low, and sent a chill down her spine. She felt herself sway off-balance and her eyes flew open to find the hallway empty. Victor was gone, but the vial of courage was still in her hand. Before she could convince herself otherwise, she pulled the stopper out and gulped the contents down.