Masked (Superheros Undercover Book 1)

by J. D. Wright

She shook her head and pushed the thoughts away. Victor wouldn’t do that to her, and if his father tried to get between them, she’d unleash her fury on him. No one would stand between her and what she wanted ever again, especially not a fucking science geek.

  But Eden’s resolve faded away when the elevator door to the laboratory opened and an older gentleman in a stained lab coat smiled back at her. He had the same long dark hair as Victor, but his was more frazzled on the ends, as if he’d stuck his head in an electrical socket.

  “Do all scientists have to look like a replica of Einstein?” she asked without thinking.

  The man chuckled and looked her over. “Do all seductresses wear green?”

  Eden felt a smile tug at her lips. “Only the best ones.”

  “Come inside, Eden. I think it’s time we have a talk.”

  He gestured for her to enter the elevator, and she hesitated briefly, but eventually took the few steps and found herself being lowered into the ground. The lab was just as she remembered when it came into view. The man stepped off of the elevator and swept to the side, gesturing for her to follow him. She did, walking past the tables of equipment that were still fully active.

  “How did you know who I was?”

  “I’ve had my son followed ever since I gave him the task of rounding up my experiments for disposal.”

  Eden’s heart skipped. “Experiments?”

  The man stopped walking and spun around so quickly that Eden gasped.

  “I don’t believe we’ve had a proper introduction, what with my son trying to keep you from me. I’m Marticus.”

  “Marticus? I thought you were—”

  “Dr. Chem? Of course, but we all have our normal identities, correct? Or have you completely abandoned your old life, Henley Jean Abernathy?”

  Eden pulled back a bit. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this man knowing so much about her. Hadn’t Victor explicitly warned her not to let his father find out about her power? And where was he, anyway?

  “Where is Victor? His message said—”

  “To meet him here?” Marticus began walking again. “I’m afraid he’ll be late to the party. But we can get to know each other some before he returns.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  Marticus pulled out a chair at a table littered with papers, and before Eden could make up her mind to sit, he jerked her down onto the seat. She watched him with wary eyes as he walked over to another table and took a vial filled with liquid that she recognized.

  “By now I’m sure you know what this does,” he said, carrying the drug over and sitting across from her. “I think we’re way past the point of pretending here. Don’t you, Eden?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “I thought so too. So I’d like to be frank with you, my dear. My son knows what this drug has done but he doesn’t understand its intended purpose. You see, I didn’t create the SM47 to make new supers. No, that was just a side effect of Victor’s stupidity. This formula is meant for something much greater.”

  He paused and didn’t continue, leading Eden to grow curious. She watched the liquid shimmering inside of the vial as he held it up and swirled it around in the air.

  “Like what?” she finally asked.

  Marticus looked up and met her eyes. “It was created to make a megasuper. To enhance the supergene to its full potential.”

  “To make someone stronger?”

  “Stronger?” he asked, then sniggered. “Stronger, faster, smarter, taller, better in every way possible. You think your power is something special? Just imagine what it could be like with this.”

  Eden felt a shiver spread straight to her toes. Her power had been getting stronger the more she used it. Most normals were easily overtaken, but there were still some she couldn’t persuade. Especially other supers.

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “I think you know perfectly well why.” He leaned forward in his seat and his gaze locked with hers. “The drug that runs through your veins is incomplete. I may not have intended for you to exist as a super, but now that you do…I can finally complete my experiment.”

  “You want to make me into a megasuper?”

  “I want you to reach your full potential.” His voice got lower and his eyes darker as he spoke, intoxicating her with his promises of what could be. “You can be all-knowing, Eden. All-doing. All-mighty. You can be a walking goddess in the flesh. One of a kind.”

  She knew his words should scare her, but his proposal was tempting her in a way that she found hard to resist. Almost as if he were using his own power of persuasion over her, she found the image of her perfect mountain-top villa coming into view. The idea of being an unstoppable force made her mouth water. But…

  “What’s the catch?” she blurted.

  Marticus snatched his hand and the drug back. “Catch?”

  “You promise something that sounds too good to be true. I might have grown up in a privileged home, Doctor, but I’ve seen my share of greed. What goes around always comes around.” She sat forward and propped her elbow on the table, much to Marticus’ dismay as his face fell into a scowl. “So what’s the downside?”

  The doctor abruptly stood and started away from the table. “I must have been wrong about you. I thought for sure that Victor saw a quality in you that might suggest you could be more than you are. Alas, we both were wrong.”

  “Victor? What does that mean?”

  Marticus continued to toy with his chemistry set. “That maybe you’re too much of a weak little girl to—”

  “I am not weak!” She shoved up from the table. “I will take your drug.”

  A large smile crept across his face as Marticus turned around and lifted a syringe into the air. “I knew you would see reason. Let us not waste any more time.”

  Eden tensed when he started toward her. “Shouldn’t we wait for Victor?”

  “No.”

  “But—”

  “Give me your arm,” he commanded.

  She obliged, though her nerves were going insane with warnings of danger.

  “That’s a good girl,” he purred, pointing the needle toward a visible vein. “This will all be over with quickly. You’ll barely even feel a thing.” He continued to talk to himself while he inserted the needle into her skin. “You will be my prize, I can feel it. You’re much stronger than the others. You won’t fail me the way they did.”

  “Others?” Eden said, lifting her head. His comment snapped her out of her daze. What others? Did he mean the other supers? The ones that had been found dead? Wait. Is this what happened to them? Did they die because of this drug? She remembered Victor warning that taking more of the drug could kill her. No.

  She quickly pulled her arm back and the needle dislodged with over half of the liquid still inside the syringe. It was then that she noticed the liquid wasn’t yellow like the drug she’d taken from Victor. This was green. Whatever he was attempting to give her, she hadn’t a clue. But it definitely wasn’t the SM47 that he’d shown her earlier.

  Marticus tried to snatch her hand again, but she swiped her dagger from her belt and swung her arm through the air, slicing a cut across his cheek. As she turned to flee, he lunged at her, grabbing onto her hair and giving it such a hard tug that Eden’s neck stung from the jolt.

  “Get back here!” he growled, and slammed the needle into her back, caring little if it hit a vein or not. The drug would work either way, and soon she would be paralyzed and in perfect condition for the next step of his experiment.

  Eden felt like the room was spinning. She slowly lost the ability to stand, then her arms drooped to the side and she collapsed onto the floor in a heap of silver and green. Nothing in her body would move. Her limbs were useless, and even her eyes rolled back and forth of their own volition. Her lungs went into an automatic rhythm of breathing in and out, which was probably the only reason she didn’t pass out.

  Marticus knelt down and wrapped a rope around her arms, then her legs. “Just in case
the venom wears off before we reach our destination. Wouldn’t want you to try to escape, now, would we?”

  Her ears being the only thing left that worked perfectly, she heard his voice and knew he was taking her somewhere against her will. With the last remaining ounce of superpower she had, Eden attempted to break away from him. Instead, her body only gave a slight tremor but it was enough for Marticus to notice. He lowered back down to her, again. Then he swung his fist toward her face. The last thing she saw before everything went black was a pair of glove-covered knuckles flying toward her.

  Velocious paced the edge of the dock once more before looking again at the clock on his wrist. It was nearing one o’clock in the morning and Eden had said she would be there by then. He took out his phone and tapped on it to bring up her message.

  E: Meet me at Greybar Docks. 1 a.m.

  He turned the screen off and repocketed it. The air was beginning to chill, but he barely felt it. The swift bike ride to the docks had heated his core and it still hadn’t cooled. He’d been almost to the bar he thought they were going to meet at, on the other side of the city, when he’d received her message.

  Why Eden had traveled to this area tonight he couldn’t be sure, but he intended to ask her when she arrived. Until then, his irritation was growing and patience wearing thin. She usually just messaged him her location and he would go to her, wherever that may be. She’d be thrilled to see him and never once mention his absence.

  Tonight had been different. But why? Was she growing tired of his disappearing acts? He’d been as vague as possible with her in regards to the work he’d been doing for his father. But keeping her in the dark was the only thing that would protect her. And he was determined to do just that, especially after he learned what his father had been doing with the supers after he’d delivered them.

  Marticus might be in hiding, but the doctor was very much up to no good. He couldn’t be sure exactly why the supers he’d brought his father had been found dead. He certainly wasn’t about to ask questions that might stir his father’s suspicion. Not with Henley being one of his next potential victims. No matter what it took, he would keep her safe.

  Only…where was she?

  A glance at the time told him that he’d been standing there for another five minutes and there was still no sign of Eden. He was instantly hit with the realization that something was wrong. Maybe he hadn’t been careful enough. But the message from Eden had come from her phone. The new one he’d gotten for her after they’d trashed the one her parents paid for. No one else could send a message from her phone. Unless…they were with her.

  “Son of a bitch.”

  Velocious felt his entire world flip upside down when the idea that his father might have gotten to Eden popped into his head. He immediately jumped onto his bike, and using every bit of power he had, jetted down the dock toward the other end of the city.

  Chapter Twenty

  Majestic pointed her finger to the right, and Orion turned at the next intersection. Their first stop was a dud, and Orion had made certain to point out that he’d told her so. The entire shopping mall had been constructed out of a stucco-type finish with no brick in sight. They’d checked out the buildings around the bookstore too, just in case, but the search had turned up empty.

  She’d been designated the navigator and had given directions with hand movements. Talking was difficult to do over the noise of the engine, and they needed to keep the communication line open. Vortex and Gypsy hadn’t had much luck either, and were on their way to their final stop too.

  The next store on the map was just ahead, and Majestic gestured for him to pull over. The bike slowed to a stop, and Orion waited for Majestic to jump off before he dismounted and took her helmet. They looked up at the buildings.

  “They’re all brick,” he said, flashing his brow.

  “Shut up,” she mumbled. “Which one is the—”

  The roar of an engine could be heard in the distance and growing louder. Orion immediately pushed Majestic behind him. Before she could swat his arm away and chastise him for attempting to shield her when she could take care of herself, lights zoomed over them and a black bike drove past. It screeched to a halt as it slid on its side in the alley next to them and the rider bounced off.

  “Hey!” Majestic shouted, recognizing the figure from his dark hood and matching suit. From behind, the pair of short swords hanging across his back gave him away. “Stop!”

  Velocious jerked his head back to look at them, but didn’t even wait long enough to hear her command. He flew toward a dark wall at the end of the alley, and when he was a few feet away, the wall opened and he jumped inside.

  Orion and Majestic dashed after him but arrived too late. The wall had closed up.

  “Where did he go?” She felt along the wall and tried to find a way to open it, then huffed in frustration because she couldn’t see a way in.

  Orion looked back at the bike Velocious had abandoned. “I have an idea.”

  He ran back to the bike, pulled it up, and cranked the engine. Then he drove it toward the wall. Just as he’d predicted, the door somehow recognized the bike and the wall opened up to them.

  “How did you know that would work?” Majestic asked, following him inside.

  “My lair has the same thing for my bike. You never know when you’ll need to make a quick disappearance. It’s set up to open just in time for me to enter and close right behind me.”

  Majestic shook her head but her eyes widened. “You just got your powers and you have a lair? How the hell did that happen?”

  Orion shrugged. He might have told the secret of how he came to possess his power, but he couldn’t give up his normal identity.

  “I take it this is the place,” Whiskey said into Majestic’s ear. “I’ll alert the others and go silent, so as not to distract you.”

  “Got it,” she replied.

  “I have your new coordinates,” Jewel chimed in to Orion. “I’ll be here if you need me, but otherwise quiet.”

  “Okay,” Orion said.

  The elevator halted as it hit the ground. Majestic and Orion braced themselves to face off against Velocious and whoever else might be there, but what they found was unlike anything they expected.

  “Fuck!” Velocious shouted. He flipped a table over and glass beakers, vials, and the like crashed to the floor, shattering in every direction. He’d found Eden’s dagger lying on the floor, so there was no doubt in his mind that she’d been there. But she wasn’t any longer. “She’s gone! He took her!”

  “Who?” Majestic asked, stepping forward. “Who took Eden?”

  Velocious spun around with fury in his eyes. For the first time, Majestic realized that he wore a thin black mask above his nose. It had always been hidden by his hood, but in this light, it was more obvious. Yet even the mask couldn’t hide the rage that boiled underneath. He was livid and Majestic knew that if Gypsy’s vision was right, he had reason to be.

  “Why do you care? Get out of here!”

  Majestic didn’t flinch, and she certainly wasn’t leaving. Instead, she crept further into the lab, careful not to step on the glass or liquid pooling on the floor. She did her best to question Velocious about Eden’s whereabouts and who might have taken her, but the super was tight-lipped and too angry to answer her. He just continued to smash things and curse himself for being the reason she was taken.

  Unable to sway him to talk, Majestic turned to Orion, and pointed to her head.

  “What?” Orion mouthed. He eyed the angry Velocious carefully then turned back to Majestic who continued to tap on her forehead. “I don’t understand what—”

  Then he did. Of course. His power. He’d gotten so used to switching it off that at times he forgot about the ability. There was a chance that he couldn’t get into Velocious’ head, but he had to try. Turns out, it was much easier than he thought it would be. Probably due to the villain’s emotional state, he wasn’t doing a very good job of blocking his thoughts. Ori
on could hear everything Velocious was thinking.

  …All my fault. How did he find her? I thought we were careful…

  So far, nothing Velocious was thinking was helpful. It was mostly full of questions that no one in the room had an answer for.

  …If he kills her, I swear that nothing will stop me from ripping his fucking head off…

  Majestic stomped her foot and gave Orion an exasperated look. Orion quickly shook his head and opened his hands in frustration. What did she expect of him? He couldn’t force Velocious to think of something that would aid them.

  Just then, the villain in question stopped mid-swing with a chair in his hands. He dropped the piece of furniture and marched over to a table covered with papers. He began to rifle through them, pausing to read over one, then another. Finally, he slammed his fist down on the table.

  …Goddamn megavillain project…should have known…his plan all along…

  “What is the megavillain project?” Orion asked.

  “Get out of my head!” Velocious roared, but he didn’t turn around. He continued to study the papers in front of him. Then he looked toward the corner and froze.

  …It’s missing…that machine he was working on. Where did he take it? Fucking thing was huge…wouldn’t fit inside the van. How long had he planned to take her?

  Orion was starting to get annoyed. He wished there was some way to patch Majestic in on the conversation, albeit it was one-sided. But at least she might know what to make of this information. Tired of trying to remember everything the villain was thinking, Orion stalked over to Velocious and gave him a shove.

  “Start thinking out loud, asshole,” Orion barked. “We’re trying to help you!”

  Velocious pulled his fist back to swing it, but stopped and glanced over at Majestic. “Why are you here? How did you even find this place?”

  “Gypsy,” Majestic said quickly. She hurried forward. “The super that you met at the high school. The one who saw a prediction.”

  “She predicted a super would die!” Velocious staggered back when he realized the prediction might have been about Eden. And it seemed to be coming true.