by Jamie Zakian
“Maybe he’s done with that.”
A low huff flowed from Alexie’s mouth. She placed her hand on Simon’s knee. “I miss them too, but—”
“Good. Then you won’t mind going undercover to feel Lucius and Cyrus out.”
“What?”
“Really, all you have to do is sway Lucius back to our side and Cyrus will follow.”
“You can forget all that.”
Alexie scooted to the sofa’s edge. Any minute, she’d leave the room, perhaps the building.
“Just hear me out.” Simon poured a splash of brandy into two glasses and handed one to Alexie.
A steady beep ripped Shay from a deep slumber. She opened her eyes, sunlight beamed to her brain, and she buried her face in a pillow. The beep ringing out from her nightstand didn’t stop. Either someone had set an alarm, or her cell phone was blowing up.
Without looking, Shay reached for her nightstand. She slapped her palm against its cool metal top until a buzz vibrated her fingers. It had been her cell phone, and it really was blowing up with texts.
Shay lifted her head from the pillows and looked at her phone. There were 115 messages, and rising.
“WTF,” she muttered, scrolling on her screen.
Most of the texts were from Ollie, begging her to get him into some party at the lake. The other messages were invites to a party at the lake.
A knock shook Shay’s bedroom door. “Shay,” Evie said, wiggling the locked knob. “Are you up?”
Just the sound of Evie’s voice twisted Shay’s stomach. She could rip her sister’s hair out right now, hence the locked door. That solid piece of wood between them should keep Shay from freaking out, for something she wasn’t supposed to see, with a man she shouldn’t care so much about.
“Be out in a minute,” Shay yelled, in a bit of a bark.
“Why is the door locked? Open up.”
“I’m getting dressed.” Shay laid back against the pillows, typing a quick message to Ollie. Only after Evie’s feet clumped away did she crawl from bed.
A killer outfit was essential today. Not the usual gaudy kid stuff, just a plain black tank and blue jeans. Sexy yet casual. Now, to brush her teeth and get out the front door without too much Evie.
In record time, Shay freshened up. After a few practice what, I’m laidback faces in the mirror, she walked down the hallway.
“Good morning,” Evie said over a steaming mug of coffee.
“If you say so.”
“What?” Evie’s smile warped into a frown as she reached for a box of pancake batter.
“Nothing.” Shay grabbed her lab coat and headed for the door. “No breakfast for me, I’m going to the lab. Lots to do, probably be busy all day.”
“Oh.” Evie looked lost as she clutched the pancake batter box and stared at the empty griddle. “Okay. I’ll be busy all afternoon too. Why don’t we meet back here around five, have dinner?”
“Whatever,” Shay mumbled to herself. “Sounds great,” she said, rushing out the suite.
A mansion sat in the north-end of Gemini City. Acres of green grass surrounded the massive stone manor. There were fifteen bedrooms, with king-sized beds fitted in the finest cotton, three swimming pools … a hot tub. Lucius and his brother had grown up on that estate. It was their home, and they couldn’t get within a hundred-mile radius of it without Max attacking.
Like most misunderstood men who’d been labeled a villain, Lucius had to construct a secret lair in the only abandoned building inside the city limits—an asylum.
Lucius picked a double-edged knife off a dusty table and hurled it across the room. The blade coasted right in front of Cyrus’s nose before sticking into the door Cyrus was trying to sneak out of.
“Where are you going, little brother?”
Cyrus pulled the knife from the door’s frame, tossing it to the floor. “Lunch, with my girlfriend.”
“That tart.”
“Hey. That tart is the only one who’s ever backed Storm and his sidekicks into a corner.”
Lucius couldn’t deny that. His brother’s not so fake anymore relationship had become quite fruitful to their ventures.
“The tart is useful. I’ll give you that much. Perhaps she could be even more useful, once you’re done with her of course.”
“What’d you mean?”
“Allow me to present.” Lucius held his hand out to the open doorway beside him and another, exact replica of himself walked into the room. “Mimic.”
The dark stare, smooth motions, right down to Lucius’s own signature smirk were spot-on. It was like looking in a mirror, except Lucius knew who really hid behind the illusion.
Cyrus rushed in front of Mimic. His jaw hinged open as he scanned the perfect rendition of Lucius. “What is this?”
“Not what, who,” Mimic said in Lucius’s deep voice.
With one finger, Mimic tapped Cyrus on his bare wrist. Before Cyrus could draw back a fist, Mimic’s form morphed from that of Lucius to the spitting image of Cyrus.
“What the …” Cyrus backed away from the imitation of himself and grabbed Lucius by the arm. “You found someone else with superpowers.”
“No. I gave someone else superpowers, using your invention.”
“How? Who is that?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Mimic said, transforming into a tall blonde woman.
“I had to devour three souls to power the machine myself, since you failed to devise a power source. The machine recreated a nebula burst, just like you hypothesized.”
Lucius stood in front of Mimic, admiring the choice of form. “I had no idea the test subject would develop such a resourceful ability.”
Cyrus crept closer to Mimic, circled it, examined every inch of the body it had chosen to wear. “I think a person’s individual genetic code determines what type of ability they’ll have.”
“How do you mean?” Lucius asked, already working up a selection process in his mind.
“For instance, before the … incident, I used to be really good at getting into people’s minds, persuading them—”
“And now you can actually get into a person’s mind, make them see things, do things.”
“Right. I’ll bet,” Cyrus gestured at Mimic, “this person had a form of echopraxia, where a person can’t help but copy another’s movements.”
“Interesting.” Lucius turned away from Mimic, looking at Cyrus. “What do you think your girlfriend will be, when I upgrade her?”
A hint of rage flashed across Cyrus’s face. “Lucius—”
“Antiserum!”
Cyrus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Brother. You got lucky this time, really lucky. Ninety-percent of the people you put in that machine will die.”
“It’s a good thing your relationship isn’t real then, huh?” Lucius waved his hand toward the door, and it swung open. “Go. Enjoy your lunch, and meet me at the lake afterward. We’re going to a party.”
Shay lounged against a soft leather seat in the back of a corporate sedan. The perks of rolling with a billionaire were awesome. She had private cars on demand, equipped with drivers who didn’t ask questions. It was pretty scary how easily she could adapt to this type of lavish treatment.
As the car slowed, parking in front of her apartment building, she rolled down her window. Like a breath of fresh air, Ollie’s smile rushed in. Shay hadn’t realized how much she’d missed Ollie until glimpsing him strut toward her in a hot pink jumpsuit with matching boa.
“Car service.” Ollie stopped on the sidewalk to eye the shiny black sedan. “Well, well. Don’t mind if I do.”
The moment Ollie slid into the backseat, Shay threw her arms around his neck and hugged tight.
“Whoa!” Ollie hugged back then wiggled out from her embrace. “I missed you too, girl. It’s been wild. I’ve become somewhat of a celebrity, as your bestie and most trusted advisor of course.”
“Of
course.” Shay ran her hand through the strand of Ollie’s pink feathers. “You look great.”
“Right.” Ollie flung aside his boa, modeling his skintight jumpsuit quite well in the cramped car. “Pink is a fabulous color on me. It brings out my cool brown tones.”
He stopped admiring himself long enough to take in Shay and his head tilted to one side. “You look …” His finger tapped his chin as he studied her from head to toe. “Different. Like some kinda sexy, confident scientist.”
“That’s ‘cause I am a sexy, confident scientist,” Shay said, rocking an attitude that matched her media-driven charade.
“Dang.” Ollie leaned back against his door. “Did you have sex?”
“No.” Shay snorted, but only a little. Snorts didn’t match her outfit. “But I did die.”
“What?” Ollie stripped off his boa then dug into his purse, pulling out handfuls of makeup. “Hold up. I wanna put some sparkle on your face while you tell me everything that’s been going down.”
Max stood on the seventy-sixth floor of Ling Enterprises, staring at a closed door. He would knock if he wasn’t afraid of who’d answer. It was Shay that drove him to this door, but he owed Evie some kind of explanation for what went down the night before.
“What are you doing?”
Max turned from the door to find Alexie leaning against the wall.
“Nothing,” he said, straining to keep a cool face. “I was just … looking for Shay.”
“For Shay or Evie?” Alexie folded her arms in front of her chest, smirking.
“You and Simon need to get a life.” Max walked past Alexie, bumping his shoulder against her arm as he strolled by. “Instead of spying on mine.”
“You are my life. In case you’ve forgotten, we’re supposed to be a team. The three of us.”
That took the stomp right out of Max’s steps. He looked back at Alexie, and she grabbed onto his hand.
“Max, talk to me. What are you thinking?”
Every muscle in Max’s body wilted under Alexie’s gentle stare. Alexie and Simon were more than teammates, bigger than family. It’d be stupid to push them away now, when he needed them most.
“I’m scared, Lexie. I know I can bring Jenna out, but the cost. There’s a gleam in Shay’s eyes. In the moments when Jenna spoke to me, that gleam disappeared. Two souls can’t share one body.”
Max slouched against the window, staring out at the bustling city below. He yearned to be one of those people, traipsing along the sidewalks. How great it would be to have average concerns, ones that only seemed like life and death.
“I’ve wanted to find Jenna’s soul and set it free for so long, but now I can get Jenna back. I’m scared I’ll do it, that I’ll destroy Shay to have Jenna by my side once again. I’m scared I’ll turn into Lucius, sacrifice the innocent for my own happiness.”
“Don’t you see? That’s exactly what Lucius wants, to turn you to his side. Why else would he put Jenna’s soul inside a child? He knows if you traded the life of an innocent for Jenna’s, you’d never be the same. Never be able to look at yourself again, like him.”
Max leaned toward Alexie, letting his weight fall against her shoulder.
“Besides,” she said, glancing at Max. “You don’t want to go around wearing an iron mask and demanding people call you Firestorm, do you?”
A chuckle flowed from Max’s mouth, taking about five-pounds of stress with it. “Don’t worry, that’ll never happen.”
“We’ll do whatever it takes to get Jenna’s soul out of Shay’s body, safely.” Alexie took Max’s hand and held tight. “If we have to go along with somebody’s far-fetched idea, so be it. We’re heroes, it’s what we do.”
People swarmed Shay the second she climbed from her car. Their voices, and constant barrage of questions, barely registered over the beat of speakers just beyond the grassy hill beside Shay. A full-fledged party raged at the lake below the gentle slope, but she couldn’t get to it. What seemed to be the entire populace of Gemini City High crowded around her, stopping her short halfway down the hill.
Ollie was pulled from her grasp. She couldn’t see a hint of his bright pink boa beyond the sea of faces. The people around her looked familiar, but she didn’t know anyone’s name. It was like being at school, except everyone was dancing and shoving test tubes of pink and blue liquid in her hands.
“Shay Sinclair?”
Shay downed two drinks, one of each color, as a small group of varsity-jacket-wearing dudes pushed the crowd from her space.
“I’m so glad you made it,” said the guy in the center, taking Shay by the arm.
Shay’s usual instinct to cower down and slink away from the “cool people” didn’t kick on. Instead, she ogled the tall piece of gorgeous who clutched onto her arm. His blond hair was way shinier and much thicker than her own, and his blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.
The guy was way too hot for her, but she wasn’t letting go of his arm. Especially not now, since walking had become iffy after slamming those drinks. Plus, she was pretty sure the guy was captain of G.C. High’s football team, Ted or Tom. It was a major score.
“This is lit,” Shay said as they strolled through crowds of dancing bodies, moving closer to the DJ table at the lake’s edge.
“Let’s get you a drink.”
Mr. Way-Too-Hot glided his hand to the arch of Shay’s back. The soft stroke of his fingertips clouded her already hazy mind, but she wasn’t exactly there yet. She needed a bit more fuzz in her brain to fully forget the previous night’s events.
“I like the blue ones,” she said, pointing at a guy with a handful of test tubes.
“Gotcha.” He snatched two drinks and handed one to Shay.
“Thanks.” She twisted the tube in her fingers, taking a sip. Her gaze stuck to the dimples that followed Mr. Way-Too-Hot’s smile. Normally, she’d feel stupid staring at the guy; but for some reason, her head was extra loopy at the moment.
A flock of sophomores rushed toward Shay on her right, and bubbly freshmen crowded her on the left. The shouting and pushing started up again. Questions about superheroes flew through the air, which grew thicker as the crowd pushed in around Shay.
“I think your fans want you to say something,” Mr. Way-Too-Hot said, grabbing a mic from the DJ.
Shay slammed her drink, teetering on her toes. The most pleasant buzz vibrated her entire body. Its hum drowned out all her gloomy thoughts. In fact, she could no longer recall a single thing that bothered her.
The music cut off, which let the crowd’s excited voices ring out loud and clear. Shay took the mic and climbed atop the DJ table. Hands raised toward her. Most were holding little tubey drinks, and she took one.
“Hey,” Shay said, tapping the mic. “You guys wanna know something about superheroes?”
A hush fell over the crowd, clicks of cameras the only sound.
“Superheroes suck,” Shay yelled, lifting her tube in the air.
Cheers erupted and Shay drank down her blue awesomeness, which was what she’d be calling this drink from now on.
The DJ cranked up the music. Sharp hits of dubstep blasted throughout the small field once again and everybody resumed dancing. Mr. Way-Too-Hot helped Shay off the table since it wasn’t easy climbing down while swaying to the beat.
Shay sunk against the cliché hot guy’s chest, draping her arms around his neck. “You ever been with a superhero scientist?”
Mr. Way-Too-Hot clutched onto Shay’s hips and pulled her closer. “No.”
“Do you want to?” Shay rose to the tips of her toes. Their lips connected and explosions rang out. It wasn’t love at first kiss explosions. The gazebo beside the lake actually freaking blew up.
Screams rang out as shards of flaming wood shot through the crowd. Everybody ran for the hillside. The rush of the crowd crashed against Shay like a wave. She was carried into a mob of pushing arms, a wall of bodies crushing her chest. Bursts of bl
ack fire surged on all sides, pushing the crowd in against her even tighter. A rumble shook the ground, and the flame’s heat replaced all trace of oxygen.
Just as the press of hard chests threatened to suffocate Shay, someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her through the crowd. Cool air struck Shay like a slap, stinging her sweaty skin as she was dragged away from the people who ran toward the parking lot at the hill’s crest. The blur that clouded her vision cleared, and hot pink feathers smacked her face.
“Ollie?” She swatted the boa aside, which allowed her to glimpse Ollie’s grin.
“Having fun?” Ollie pulled Shay behind a tree in a small patch of woods.
“I was. What’s going on?”
“Antiserum.” Ollie pointed at a cloaked figure, who threw balls of black fire throughout the field of people fleeing the lake’s edge.
“Crap.” Shay ducked back behind the wide tree. “I think he’s looking for me.”
“We gotta get out of here. Come on.”
Ollie took Shay by the hand and pulled her deeper into the tight trees beside them. A wild churn nipped at her stomach, which slowed her steps. The trees began to spin, and that churn in her belly warped into a straight-up burn.
“Wait.” Shay yanked her hand free from Ollie’s clutch, stopping to gasp for breath. “I can’t. I need a minute.”
“We have to keep going.”
Shay waved Ollie off. “There’s something wrong with me. I’m seriously impaired for running right now.”
“No. You’re seriously drunk right now. Come on. We’re almost there.”
Ollie tugged Shay’s arm and the heat in her stomach rose into her chest.
“Oh no.” She leaned over and about a pint of blue awesomeness spewed from her mouth, landing on her sneakers. The trees whirled around her even faster and she dropped to her knees.
“Ollie?”
Shay looked behind her but Ollie was gone. There were only trees in the field around her. Their colorful leaves waved in the cool breeze, a cool breeze that failed to chill the fire that blazed in her stomach.