I glared at my reflection and pointed a finger at my protruding belly. “No more, Anna,” I scolded myself. “Food is fuel. Food is fuel. Food is f-gah!” I screeched as I noticed Emmett’s reflection laughing at me and whirled around on him. “How long have you been standing there?” I demanded.
“Long enough to learn yet another of your quirks. Do you always yell at yourself in the morning?”
I rolled my eyes and turned back to my reflection. “I do when I’ve been eating shit for five days straight and now have a pizza baby gestating in my tummy.”
Emmett sauntered up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “You’re delusional,” he murmured, nuzzling the sensitive spot beneath my ear. “But if you’re that worried about it, I can give you some exercise right now.” He nipped at my earlobe, sending shivers down my spine.
I took a deep breath, stealing my resolve, and turned to face him. “As tempting as that is, I can’t. I need to race home to feed Fig, change, get clothes for work and get to the gym.” I stood on my tippy toes to kiss him quickly.
Emmett groaned and released me. “Alright, alright. I need to get in to the office early anyway. I’m sure I missed a ton of work yesterday being gone.”
“Emmett, you really should take a couple days off to recuperate,” I chided. “You were kidnapped, for Pete’s sake. You’ve earned some time off.”
“You’re probably right, but I feel fine. I’d drive myself crazy staying home. I might as well go in and see how many fires need to be put out.”
I ran my fingers through his hair and leaned in for one more kiss. “Alright, well … I’ll see you later maybe?”
Emmett smiled as he kissed me. “Absolutely. I’ll email you when I know what my schedule looks like.”
I gathered my clothes and tried to hold my head high as I did the walk of shame to my car. Luckily, I parked in Emmett’s parking garage, so I didn’t have to pass by his doorman.
After a quick stop at home for the necessities, I made my way to Vance Publishing. Entering the gym, I noticed more people than usual were on the machines and free weights. Tuesdays were Hot Ian days, but several of my normal classmates were spread throughout the gym. I deposited my gym bag in the locker room and made my way to the group fitness room where I found a note taped to the door.
5:10 STRENGTH TRAINING CANCELLED
Well, that explained why the machines were so packed. I shrugged and started back toward the main gym. The lights flickered and I had the feeling the treadmills would be finicky again. You’d think with a Class A office building like ours, we’d have our electricity up to code.
I rounded the corner leading to the locker rooms and rammed into a very large, very firm chest. Two hands shot out to steady me and a familiar jolt zipped up my arms.
“Ian! Hello!” I smiled up at him.
“Hello, Anna,” Ian answered with a smile.
“Are you ill? I saw that class was cancelled.”
Ian shook his head, his lips twitching as he held his smile in place. “I’m not ill. Anna, can we talk for a moment?”
Ian placed a hand on my shoulder, causing another shock wave to race across my back, this one quite uncomfortable. He steered me toward the women’s locker room and followed me inside. “Grab your coat, please.”
Concern turned to alarm. “Ian, this is the women’s locker room. You can’t be in here. Let’s just sit outside on the bench and talk.”
His smile faltered. “Grab your coat, Anna.”
“Ian … What’s going on?”
“God damn it, Anna!” he roared. “Grab your fucking coat!”
I jumped and skidded over to my locker to quickly grab my coat and duffel. I shut my locker door and turned, muffling a scream as I bumped into Ian’s chest.
“Ian. You’re scaring me.”
He grinned down menacingly. “Good, Anna. You should be scared. I warned you. I warned you twice. You ruined everything and now you will pay.”
“What?! What did I ruin?!” My eyes darted about the locker room, looking for someone or something to help me.
“EVERYTHING!” Ian screamed, slamming his fist into the locker behind me. The lights flickered again. “Get your coat on. It’s not a request.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said, trying to scootch along the lockers to get around him.
Ian laughed, the evil sound sending shivers down my spine. He reached for me and I ducked under his arm.
What I wouldn’t give for some of Grandma Rose’s jars of jam in my gym bag.
“Anna, don’t make this harder than it has to be,” said Ian, as he made another move to grab me.
I elbowed him in the ribs and moved to race around him. Just as I thought I’d made it, Ian’s arm shot out and caught me around my middle. This time the jolt of electricity from his touch made me yelp.
Ian’s free hand came up to cover my mouth. “Shut up,” he hissed in my ear. “You’re only hurting yourself.”
I opened my mouth, inhaling as if I was about to scream. When Ian’s hand tightened over my lips, I bit down, causing him to release me.
“You bitch!” he screamed, cradling his hand.
I made one last mad dash for the door and made it two steps before Ian grabbed me again. The last thing I remember was a loud zap as searing hot pain raced through my body. Then everything went black.
19
Okay, so maybe capes do serve a purpose.
I woke up shivering on a cold cement floor. My head was swimming. Where am I? How did I get here?
On my first attempt at sitting up, my stomach lurched. “Oh shit,” I whispered before vomiting in my lap.
I scrambled to my knees, attempting to get out of the line of fire and only succeeded in vomiting all over the rest of my body. Classy is my middle name.
I finally admitted defeat and sank back down onto my ass. When the heaving stopped, I felt marginally better. My head ached and my extremities were tingly, but at least my stomach had settled. I caught my breath and took my first real look at my prison.
I was in a small, dark room about the size of my office. The walls were metal and the only door was heavy duty and also metal. The ground was smooth cement and the only light came from a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. The only other objects in the room were my coat and duffel bag. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the Heavens. At least I could get out of my disgusting clothes. What wasn’t covered in vomit was blackened and singed, I assumed, from when Hot Ian shocked me.
No. He’s lost the right to be Hot Ian. He’s now Douche Ian. Asshat Ian. Douche Asshat Ian.
I crawled slowly to my bag and ripped it open. My keys were missing, as was my cell phone. Wait … Where were my work clothes? Did he take those too? I reached in and pulled out the lone piece of clothing in the bag, gasping when I realized what it was. I looked down at the yellow and orange spandex nightmare in my hand and groaned. It wasn’t my gym bag. I must have accidentally grabbed the duffel Carl brought me the night before!
There was no way I was putting that crime against fashion on my body. I’d rather sit in my own vomit. Hell, I’d rather sit in someone else’s vomit. I shoved the garment back in the back and sat back against the wall, screeching when electricity coursed through my body. The bastard must have electrified the walls. I jumped away from the walls and sat on the ground with my head between my knees.
I tried to think about how to escape. I tried to think about how Emmett and Blake were ever going to find. I tried to think about anything productive. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t think over the horrid stench of vomit and burnt polyester wafting from my body.
I eyed the duffel bag. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I just left off the briefs and cape. I pulled the costume back out and looked it over. The damn thing was one entire piece. The briefs and cape were sewn on, as were the ridiculous orange gloves and socks. I grabbed the cape and gave it a tug, trying to rip it away from the neck. Not even a tiny rip appeared. Same drill with
the briefs. Disgusted, I crammed it back into the duffel.
I wouldn’t do it. No way. Nope.
Two minutes later, I was peeling my vomit-covered clothes off my body and cursing Carl with the worst words I’d ever heard my brothers use.
I stretched the neck of Carl’s creation as far as I could and squeezed my body into the suit. I felt like a can of busted biscuits. I’m sure I looked like it too. I refused to think about the idea that someone could find me wearing it. Instead, I wrapped my cape around me as a make-shift blanket and curled up in a ball on the ground.
I closed my eyes and replayed everything I knew about Douche Asshat Ian, which really wasn’t much. He had always been kind to me. He’d worked at Vance Publishing for at least two years. Looking back, that was when we started having power surges in the gym. And obviously those tingles I felt every time he touched me weren’t sparks of chemistry, but legit sparks that could easily have hurt me.
The door opened and Ian entered. He raised an eyebrow as he took in my outfit.
“Don’t,” I warned through clenched teeth.
Douche Asshat Ian cleared his throat. “Don’t get any ideas about escaping,” he warned. “I don’t know how you got through my force fields last night, but the one surrounding you now is impenetrable.”
“Emmett will come for me,” I said. “The entire damn team will. You could have just walked away, Ian. Why are you doing this?”
“Oh I’m counting on them coming. I’ve got a nice surprise waiting for them. No one even expected poor, dumb Ian would be able to take over your beloved super team.” He took a moment to preen under the attention before continuing. “Why am I doing this? Simple. Your asshole of a boyfriend and his team have done everything in their power, pun intended, to stop me from reaching my goal. With them gone, I’m free to do what I want.”
“What is it that you want?” I asked.
“What do any of us want, Anna? Power. Control. I shut down one of the biggest airports in the country last night. There’s nothing I can’t accomplish with the right plan. Unfortunately for you, your little friends seem to anticipate my every move, slowing down my rise to power. Fortunately for me, I’ve now got you. No doubt that asshole Vance jumped at the opportunity to play your knight in shining armor and is on his way now.”
He walked toward me and reached out to tug on a strand of my hair. “I liked you, Anna. Against my better judgment, I warned you. Twice. I was disappointed more than you know when you chose Vance over me.” He rose and strode toward the door. “I came to warn you not to touch the walls. They’ve been set from stun to kill. You’d be smart to heed this warning.” He sent me one last smug smirk and walked out the door.
I rested my head against my knees and breathed through the need to cry. I had no idea how I would possibly walk out of this situation. More importantly, I had no idea how Emmett and Eric would walk out of this.
I began mentally screaming out to Blake, warning him they were walking into a trap. Either he couldn’t hear me or he wasn’t there yet because I received no answer back.
I curled back up on the floor, wrapped my cape around me and kept trying to reach Blake. Mentally and physically exhausted past my breaking point, I fell into a deep sleep.
I was dreaming about those giant static electricity balls we used to play with in Physics when something jarred me awake.
“Anna!”
“Eric!?” I shouted. No response.
“Anna!” Again, I heard Blake calling my name, this time inside my head.
Blake! Eric, you have to leave! You’re walking into a trap!
“Anna! Oh, thank God! We’re here. All of us. Where are you?”
I have no idea. I’m in a small room with metal walls and a metal door. He’s electrified the walls, Blake. You’ll be killed if you touch them!
“It’s alright, Anna. We’ll figure it out. Do you know where Zinger is?”
Blake, Zinger is Ian. Ian is Zinger! Hot Ian from the gym! It’s him!
“We know. As soon as Mae told us you hadn’t reported for work today, we watched the surveillance footage from the gym. Are you alright?”
I’m alright. I woke up here. He must not have shocked me as hard as he did Lloyd.
A ping sounded on the door to my right.
“Did you hear that?” asked Blake.
Yes! I’m in here! Blake, he’s waiting for you! You have to leave!
“We’re not going anywhere without you. Just stay p..” Blake’s voice drifted off.
Outside the door, I heard shouts. I ran to the door and got as close as I could to the metal without touching it and listened to what sounded like a full on war taking place outside. I could hear the crackle of electricity as Ian fought back. Lilith yelped in pain and Emmett swore furiously.
“Anna, step away from the door!” Blake shouted.
I quickly leapt backward just as a giant waste barrel came crashing through the heavy metal door. Almost immediately Emmett appeared in the doorway, his gaze raking over my body, searching for injuries.
“Anna! Are you alright?!” He cried as he ran in and wrapped me in his arms.
I nodded into his chest and held him tight. After a moment, he pried my arms from around his body and cupped my face in his palms.
“Stay here, babe. I need to go help the team. Do NOT leave this room.” With that, he spun around and leapt back through the door.
Listening to instructions is definitely not my forte. As soon as Emmett turned his back, I was racing toward the door, prepared to jump into battle. I hadn’t made it more than ten steps before a ball of electricity flew past me, missing my head by no more than a few inches, the heat nearly singing my eyebrows off. I reached up to double check that both brows were present and accounted for before launching myself through the doorway and tripping over one of Lilith’s weird killer vines.
I landed hard on my butt and let out a whoosh of air. Before I could push myself to a sitting position, the offending vine began to wrap itself around my ankles, winding itself quickly up my legs, trapping me like an ivy mummy. I kicked furiously at the vines, trying desperately to free my extremities, but it was no use.
“Dammit, Lilith!” I screamed. “Get your creepy crawlies off of me!”
Lilith, who at that point really didn’t have any eyebrows left, shot me an apologetic grimace between dodging lightning strikes. “Sorry, Anna! Emmett’s orders!”
The more I struggled, the tighter the vines gripped my body. At this point, both my arms and legs were pinned and I was being dragged back into my prison. As my body slid across the concrete floor, I could do nothing but watch as Captain Zinger alternated between launching electricity balls and lightning bolts at my team of heroes. The vines deposited me in the middle of the floor, graciously avoiding the pile of vomit from earlier.
All I could do was lay there and listen to the grunts of pain and zaps of energy. Suddenly, I heard a deep growl from Emmett just before something crashed against the outside of the wall, sending fingers of lightning snaking across the walls. The lightning raced toward a concentrated point; the human shaped dent on the wall. The entire room shook as the acrid smell of burning flesh permeated the air. I screamed and covered my eyes in horror.
“Blake! Emmett!” I cried through my sobs. My screams were met with silence.
Several moments later, a figure emerged in the open doorway. Emmett stood on the other side of the door, his clothing singed but otherwise unharmed. He took a second to catch his breath before racing in and tearing away the vines holding me captive.
As soon as I was free, I launched myself into his arms, sobbing. He held me tight, rocking me and kissing my forehead and temples.
“You’re alright, baby. You’re alright,” he whispered, still rocking me as I sobbed against his shoulder.
If Emmett was there holding me, who was lying dead and charred outside the door?
“Blake!” I cried. “Eric … He’s … He’s …”
“He’s wondering
what in the hell you are wearing,” came Blake’s voice.
I gasped and released my hold on Emmett before allowing my gaze to take in the site. Blake, Lilith, Peter and Dom were all accounted for. Dom’s arm was slung over Peter’s shoulders for support, but all in all, they looked alright.
I ran to Blake and wrapped him in a hug. “I thought you were dead,” I cried.
He patted my back awkwardly before peeling me off of him. “Not today, Ms. Jennings. Or … Do I call you something different now?”
I pulled back confused.
“Well, when Carl wears his super suit, he becomes Stealth. What should we call you?” Blake was struggling not to laugh.
Emmett walked up beside me and gathered me to his side. “Ignore him, babe. I think you look hot.”
I could feel the laughter coursing through Emmett’s body and I elbowed him swiftly in the gut.
“I threw up on my clothes. I had no choice,” I argued.
“Sure. Sure,” laughed Blake. “Whatever you say, Super Girl.”
Ignoring the fierce need to knee Blake in his manhood, I glanced over at what was left of my tiny metal prison. I wish I hadn’t. There lying against the metal wall was the charred, smoldering body of Douche Asshat Ian. The sight will literally be burned into my brain for eternity.
Emmett grabbed my shoulders and turned me away. I buried my face in his chest and took a deep breath.
“The bastard shocked me pretty good when I shoved him,” said Blake. “But apparently not as good as what he got from his own invention.”
I shivered as I recalled the sound of Ian being electrocuted. Emmett wrapped my cape around me and lifted me into his arms. “Let’s get you home, babe.”
I nodded and looked over his shoulder at the team. “Thank you,” I croaked, trying desperately to hold on to my tears.
They each nodded and smiled reassuringly before turning to take care of the mess they’d made. I caught Blake’s eye as Emmett carried me toward his car.
Power Surge (Anna Jennings Super Novel Book 1) Page 19