If I’d been faster. If I’d kept her closer, in the beginning…
“I…” Lucy sounded as though it was taking an effort for her to keep her voice steady. “I need to talk to you. In person.”
Victor glanced at his watch. It was still relatively early in the night, half past 11.
“I have something that I’m kind of in the middle of,” he said, hoping that it sounded less lame out loud as an excuse than it did in his head.
“Victor, please,” said Lucy. “We have to talk.”
He nodded slowly, knowing that she couldn’t see it over the phone.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll be right over.”
The two of them said their goodbyes, and Victor hung up the phone. Ella was leaned against the wall of the alleyway, frowning at him.
“That was her, wasn’t it?” she asked.
“Ella, would you please stop trying to be the jealous-“
“That’s not why I’m asking, Victor!” She sighed and shook her head. “Jesus Christ, you’re like a mopy teenager sometimes.”
“Alright, fine. What is it?”
“I just wanted to remind you that you need to be careful about getting close to her again,” said Ella. “Eli is holding Kiara, essentially as a hostage over you. I’m surprised he hasn’t made any threats against her after all the fake sick days you’ve taken over the past two weeks.”
Victor sighed.
“So am I, to be honest,” he said. “And you’re right. I’ve already done enough to fuck up Lucy’s life, just by getting her little sister into this mess to begin with.”
“And there’s more to it than just that,” said Ella. “Kiara’s going to wake up eventually.”
Victor didn’t say anything.
“And when she does,” continued Ella. “You don’t want her to, well, you know. Get the wrong idea about things. You and her were pretty close right before her coma. And things between you and Lucy have gotten a little weird.”
“I get it,” said Victor. “You’re right.”
He walked out of the alley and ran a hand through his curly hair, feeling physically and emotionally tired. After taking a look around to make sure that nobody was watching, he crouched down and leaped into the air, using his diamond aura to propel him into smooth flight.
CHAPTER 3
Lucy rented a small apartment in one of the nicer sections of Undercliff City’s outlying suburbs. Victor always noticed it when he flew over the city from above, and had occasionally taken close enough passes to see Lucy standing on her shared balcony outside.
It always makes me feel like a bit of a stalker, but I’m just making sure that she’s safe.
He did a slow circle over the neighborhood, spotting for the best place to crash land. Grass was the gold standard, and other than a tendency to stain his clothes a bit, it usually left him no worse than wear.
There was a park a few blocks away from Lucy’s apartment, and Victor brought himself down on a tiny open stretch of grass in between a few trees. Instead of trying to run out his momentum, this time he anticipated the fall, touching off once with his feet and tossing his body into an almost graceful dive roll.
Of course, all of the rain over the past few days left sections of the ground muddy, and Victor slid out the last of his landing on his knees, directly through a stretch of wet earth that ended in a puddle. He stood up and cleaned his pants off the best that he could, forcing a sardonic smile onto his face for nobody’s benefit.
He took his time walking to Lucy’s house, savoring the feeling of blending in with the normal nighttime pedestrians. He could see that the light was on inside, and took the steps up to her second-floor apartment two at a time.
Victor knocked on the door. Lucy opened it after no more than a couple of seconds.
“Hey.”
Lucy was in her mid-thirties, but looked as though she could pass for her younger sister’s long haired twin under the right lighting circumstances. She was short, with long blonde hair, large breasts that Victor always felt guilty about noticing, and a fit body with interesting curves in the hip and posterior regions. She wore a short kimono robe that looked like it was almost a little too small for her, and it took a second for Victor to pull his jaw up off the floor before he could speak.
“Uh, hey,” he said, feeling dumb.
“Do you want to come in?” Lucy smiled at him, a beautiful expression. Her face was lovely, and her eyes were like brilliant blue crystals.
“Yeah,” said Victor. “Sure.”
He stepped through the doorway and hesitated before taking his shoes off. Ella had been right before, and for him to get too comfortable would virtually guarantee future complications in his life. So instead, Victor folded his arms and pretended to look around her place, which looked the same as it had the last time he’d been there.
Kiara was, apparently, responsible for most of the decorations. Pink and floral printed slipcovers decorated most of the furniture. The tables were filled with photos, some of her and Lucy, some of their deceased parents. Everyone was smiling in all of them.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” asked Victor.
Lucy motioned him over to the couch.
“Please,” she said. “Sit down.”
“I really shouldn’t,” he said. “It’s late. I should-“
“Victor!” Lucy had been Victor’s boss for long enough to know how to get her way. He sighed, slipped off his sneakers, and joined her on the couch.
“You’ve been acting weird these past two weeks,” she said. Victor shrugged, letting his indifference show on his face.
“And is that so wrong?” he asked her. “I’ve been struggling with it, Lucy.”
“We both have.”
“It’s my fault!” he said, sharply. “It’s because of me that she’s…”
He trailed off, not wanting to let his first choice of words leave his mouth.
Because of me that she’s gone.
“She chose to be there, Victor,” said Lucy. “You couldn’t have stopped her, and you know it.”
Victor didn’t reply to that, instead leaning forward and staring down at his sock covered feet.
“Look, there’s another reason why I wanted to meet in person tonight.” Lucy lifted her feet up onto the couch, turning sideways. “I think that Eli, or someone under him, is monitoring our phones again.”
“And you think your apartment is safe?”
Lucy nodded.
“I had Kronenberg do a full sweep of it,” she said. “He can detect electronic devices through his, well, I don’t know exactly what to call it. Nerd magic, I guess.”
Victor let out a single chuckle. He looked up, letting his eyes meet Lucy’s and accepting the electric tension that it brought with it.
“Why would he need to do that, though?” asked Victor. “We work for him. He’s a bastard, and Monteiro is a corrupt company, but you know as well I do that he has us in his pocket.”
“Something has changed,” said Lucy.
“Nothing’s changed.”
“No!” Lucy gave him a serious look. “With Kiara being treated in the Monteiro Tower infirmary, he made it very clear to us that it was our job to toe the line.”
“And you have,” said Victor. “I haven’t been showing up to work recently, but I’m not actively looking to disrupt anything at Monteiro, either. And Eli knows that if he touches a hair on her head, nothing will stop me from killing him.”
“Victor…” Lucy spoke in a quiet voice. “You need to be careful. He’s a dangerous man.”
“I know.” Victor looked back down at his feet.
Lucy reached her hand over and rubbed his shoulder. The touch sent a familiar wave of warmth and excitement through Victor’s body. He slowly turned to look at Lucy, feeling the chemistry between them.
“Lucy…” He leaned in closer, not out of choice, but rather due to something magnetic. She faced him directly, and their lips met, pushing together in a passiona
te kiss.
Time slowed down. Victor shifted on the couch again, positioning Lucy underneath him. He was hard, and her body was so soft, and so warm. He kissed her neck, and then her lips again, and then let his hands slide up across her stomach, coming to a rest on her breasts.
“No,” whispered Lucy. “Wait.”
She pulled back, though Victor could tell from the look on her face how much willpower it took. She frowned at him and shook her head slightly.
“What happened before, on the night that Kiara was taken…”
Victor forced himself to nod.
“I know,” he said. “It was a mistake.”
Lucy straightened her robe and looked at him squarely.
“I don’t know why it is that we’re attracted to each other, Victor,” she said. “But it’s wrong for a dozen different reasons.”
“I know,” he said.
“Kiara has feelings for you,” said Lucy. “She told me as much a few weeks ago.”
“I know,” he said.
“I’m older than you,” she said. “13 years older than you, to be exact.”
“I know,” he said.
“And… your father and I,” she said. “Back when before any of this had ever happened, we-“
“I know!” Victor rested a tired hand on his forehead and forced himself to calm down in several different ways. “Lucy, you don’t have to explain. It’s part of the reason why I didn’t want to stay for too long.”
They both looked at each other again, and Victor felt wild, animalistic arousal brewing in his chest.
“We just have to let it go,” she said. “And move on.”
Victor nodded. He stood up, breaking himself from the spell of Lucy’s sensual eyes and soft perfume.
“I’ll get in touch with you if anything comes up,” he said.
“And I’ll keep you up to date on Kiara’s condition,” said Lucy.
She stood up to show him to the door. Victor was tempted to give her a goodbye hug, but knew that his body wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation of letting it go further than a simple embrace.
“Goodnight, Lucy,” he said.
“Goodnight, Victor.”
Ella was waiting for him outside. If Lucy had been able to see her, it would have taken a complicated situation and cut it into irreconcilable pieces.
“Nicely done,” she said. “For a second there I almost thought you-“
“Don’t,” said Victor. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
He walked down the stairs and back out onto his street. Victor had begun the process of looking around the neighborhood and making sure that it was safe to take to the air when his phone vibrated again. He took it out to find a text from Eli Monteiro.
CHAPTER 4
The message was simple, and necessitated no response back. Eli wanted to meet with Victor immediately. The threat on Kiara’s life didn’t need to be explicitly stated for Victor to feel it. He tucked his phone back into his jacket’s inner pocket, and then took to the air.
Monteiro Tower looked differently from the sky than it did from the ground. The building was kept in immaculate condition, every window cleaned over by underpaid workers every morning, and every imperfection buffered out every night. It rose from the concrete like a gigantic, gleaming pillar.
Victor had thought it impressive, originally. Now it just looked oppressive, a monument to the cold, corrupt entity that held the life of his friend in its hand.
He slowed and went around the roof in a lazy arc. Entering through the front lobby would be the safest option. It was staffed at all hours, and it would be simple enough to take the elevator up to the top floor. It would also give Eli several minutes extra notice of him having entered the building.
Victor’s nanites were the one advantage he held over Eli, and he took every opportunity to flaunt them in the man’s face. It was important for him to remind Eli of his power, of the fact that he was no ordinary human, to be bullied and controlled at the CEO’s will.
A gust of wind was blowing against his approach, which made the entire process even more difficult to effectively time. His shins smashed into the roof’s safety railing, flipping him upside down before he’d even made contact with the cement. Victor flailed his arms and managed to arrest his momentum enough to land flat on his back, knocking the breath out of his lungs.
Smooth. Real smooth.
He stood up, brushed himself off, and tried to give off a rugged, serious appearance. The roof had a single stairway down to the lower level, and after melting the lock off with his scarlet aura, he headed down.
The stairs spilled out into a hallway he recognized. He took a left, and then a right, and then stood in front of the door to Eli Monteiro’s office. He hesitated, thinking better of kicking the door in, and softly knocked three times.
From how long it took for someone to greet him on the other side, Victor got the feeling that Eli wasn’t used to having unexpected visitors. He grinned, feeling as though that, alone, validated the spot of road rash the landing had given his shoulders.
An unfamiliar face opened the door for him. A tall, tan skinned woman stood on the other side, her eyes dark, and her hair jet black. She said nothing, merely stepping to one side and gesturing with her hand for him to come in.
“Victor.” Eli Monteiro sat at his desk, smiling as though nothing at all was out of the ordinary. “Thanks for arriving promptly. I wasn’t sure if you’d gotten my message or not.”
Eli’s office consisted of his desk, a small bar alongside one of the room, and a collection of expensive furniture, art, and rugs. A woman that could have only been poached to work for Monteiro from a previous life as a supermodel or playboy playmate held a tray with several drinks on it. Eli nodded to Victor, and she walked over and offered him a drink.
“Please,” said Eli. “Relax. I’m not here to reprimand you for your recent spree of absences.”
Victor eyed the drink the girl had given him, electing not to take a sip.
“It’s the middle of the night, Eli,” he said. “I’m sure you can forgive my wild imagination.”
“Oh, but of course.” Eli grinned, apparently pleased by something in Victor’s demeanor. “Jade, if you would close and lock the door, please?”
The woman from before, Jade, immediately moved to do as asked. She had a nice body, and a short skirt, stockings, and a professional looking sweater over them.
“Why am I here, Eli?” asked Victor.
“Oh, come now,” said the CEO. “There’s no need for us to jump straight to business. Enjoy your drink, take a load off. We can get to talking serious when we’re both good and ready.”
This is the man keeping Kiara imprisoned.
Victor finished his drink, a gin and tonic, in a single long pull and then threw his glass at the wall, whipping it out of his hand with enough speed to make everyone in the room flinch. It never hit, and he stared dumbly at where it hovered in midair, a half inch away from smashing.
“You and your father both always had a flare for the dramatic,” said Eli. “Unfortunately for you, I have one better. Victor, why don’t I officially introduce you to Jade? Jade, this is Victor.”
Victor turned and saw the familiar bright, white glow surrounding the tan skinned woman’s body. She reeled the glass in with her diamond aura slowly, closing her fingers around it when it came into range.
“Give Victor his glass back, Jade,” said Eli.
Face unreadable and expressionless, Jade walked over and handed Victor the glass.
“Pour him another drink, Dominique,” said Eli, this time to the girl behind the bar. She immediately stood up, briskly walked over, took Victor’s glass and refilled it with gin.
“Now Victor,” said Eli. “Drink that and listen to what I have to say. If you continue trying to fuck around, there will be consequences.”
Victor blinked, feeling as though he was at an impasse. He decided that his only option was to play along, at least for the
moment.
“She’s an aura binder,” said Victor. “I thought that it was dangerous giving the nanites to new people?”
“It is,” said Eli. “And boy, let me tell you, you don’t want to see the dropouts from her class.”
Victor looked back over at Jade. She met his eye without flinching, without reacting at all. He frowned, almost taking a step away from her out of reflex.
“How have you been, Victor?” asked Eli. Victor shrugged.
“Can’t complain,” he said.
“You know, I’ve heard a bit about your exploits.” Eli smiled wolfishly at him. “See, I read all the newspapers. Even the rags. And there have been a couple of stories about a supposed superman running around, saving people’s lives.”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that.” Victor returned the smile.
“Yeah, well, it’s time for to knock it the fuck off!” Eli chuckled, but it was clear from his eyes that there was no joke in his demand. “People will get the wrong idea if you keep it up. There are other systems in place to help people, you see.”
“Is that why you asked me to come in for this meaning?”
Eli took a long sip of his drink, pursing his lips afterward as though savoring the flavor.
“Of course not,” he said. “There’s something else that you’re going to do for me.”
Victor snorted.
“That I’m going to do for you?” He smiled and shook his head. “That’s not how it works anymore, Eli. You’re holding my friend hostage, and it’s probably the only thing-“
Bright red light exploded into Victor’s head along with… something else. Something that didn’t feel entirely unpleasant. Something that made the moment suddenly seem more erotically compelling than anything else that had happened in his entire life. The serving girl behind the bar was reaching up to take a bottle off the top shelf, and Victor’s eyes locked onto her butt as though he hadn’t seen a woman in a century.
“You’re right about one thing, Victor,” said Eli. “Things do work differently now.”
CHAPTER 5
Forbidden Magic: The Complete Collection Page 45