by Jillian Neal
They fell into their regular booth in the back of Lesco’s; Rainer breathed in the soothing familiarity. The Haydenshires ate a Lesco’s Pub regularly. Rainer recalled his father bringing him and Logan, and occasionally Emily, as well, to eat at Lesco’s every Friday night when he was alive.
Rainer and Logan had been given ‘the facts of life’ talk in the very booth where they were currently seated. Rainer had woken up at Logan’s one Saturday morning a few days before his thirteenth birthday, and his voice was several octaves lower; save for the words he’d squeaked out for the next few weeks, which had thoroughly embarrassed him.
Governor Lawson had arrived with a sentimental and pride-filled smile that morning, as soon as Governor Haydenshire had called him discreetly from his office. Rainer’s father and Governor Haydenshire had taken Rainer and Logan to breakfast at Lesco’s. The talk had lasted through bacon, eggs, and pancakes, then into several milkshakes and ultimately burgers for lunch.
Les, who ran the burger joint, was a dear friend of the Haydenshires and the Lawsons, and he was perfectly willing to let them take up a booth for as long as they needed.
“Em keeping tabs, or are you ok?” Garrett quizzed Rainer with an eye roll. Rainer chuckled at Garrett’s disdain over women wanting to know his whereabouts.
“The Angels are doing the photo-shoot for the season’s programs today, so she’ll be in Alexandria for a little while.”
“Adeline’s working the late shift tonight,” Logan sighed dejectedly.
“Not too many years ago, you refused to sit anywhere near these two, Garrett,” Les teased, with a kind smile and a twinkle in his eye as he approached their table with his order pad.
“Yeah, but they’ve gotten way cooler in the last few years.” Rainer and Logan rolled their eyes, though they were both secretly pleased with the assessment.
Les chuckled and nodded his understanding. “What’ll it be boys; you want the usual?” When the Haydenshire boys and Rainer showed up together, Les typically loaded up the table with platters of cheeseburgers, onion rings, fries, and wings, along with milkshakes or pitchers of beers to be shared.
A few years before, the Governor and Mrs. Haydenshire had purchased the building that housed Les’s Pub. After upgrading Les’s kitchen, the Haydenshires had worked a deal with him. In exchange for feeding their family a few times each month, Les didn’t have to pay rent.
Governor Haydenshire deeply respected Les and his work ethic. He’d wanted to make certain that Les didn’t suffer from the economic downturns that often plagued the Non-Gifted Realm. Les was thrilled with the offer, of course, and always served the Haydenshires well.
“Sure, Les, load ‘em up, but it’s only three of us so don’t put yourself out,” Garrett instructed.
Les nodded his understanding. He gave Garrett an appreciative smile. Neither side wanted to take advantage of the other in the deal they’d struck.
‘If you work hard for the best outcome for others, you’ll always find yourself being taken care of,’ was a favorite expression of Governor Haydenshire’s.
“You got it.” Les returned to the kitchen quickly.
“So what’d Dan tell you, exactly?” Garrett probed. Rainer sensed that he thought part of the story might have been left out.
Logan and Rainer shared a quizzical glance.
“Uh, well, that Wretchkinsides killed Amelia, and he couldn’t stop him. He watched him do it,” Logan managed, though his voice was strained and horrified.
Garrett nodded, but didn’t add anything else.
Les returned with the food, and they dug in.
Half-way through his second cheeseburger, Rainer’s brow furrowed. All of the blood in Garrett’s face drained quickly as he dropped his burger back on his plate.
“What the hell?” he glanced nervously around the restaurant. “Unsnap your holsters, chamber, but don’t pull,” Garrett commanded quickly.
Stunned disbelief rocked through Rainer as he laid his right hand on his holster and unsnapped his Glock. He turned towards the door of the pub where Garrett was staring. His mouth fell open as Logan gasped.
They watched in cold-blooded terror as none other than Dominic Wretchkinsides moved towards them. His hate-filled, malevolent glare was trained on Rainer.
Rainer’s cell phone began playing I Got You Babe.
“Turn it off,” Garrett growled. Wretchkinsides was ten feet away.
“It’s Emily,” Rainer pled through his teeth.
“You ever want to see her again--turn it off!”
Rainer reached with his left hand, and hit the side button on his phone, sending the call to voice mail.
“Remember, you don’t know who he is,” was Garrett’s last command before Wretchkinsides was upon them.
“Mr. Lawson, I believe...” he drawled in a distinctly foreboding German accent.
As he forced himself to breathe, Rainer kept his cool. “I’m sorry, have we met?”
“Well, not officially, of course, but doesn’t everyone know who you are?”
Rainer forced a mirthless chuckle to escape his mouth before extending his hand, “And who might you be?”
“Dominic Wretchkinsides,” he answered truthfully. “Most people call me Nic. I knew your father, and I believe you know my daughter.” Rainer let a quizzical look cross his features.
“Marlisa,” Wretchkinsides stated. “I believe you threw her at the Senate Gala a few weeks ago.” The challenge was clear in Wretchkinsides’ face.
“Ah, was that your daughter?” Rainer let Wretchkinsides know he wasn’t going to play. Wretchkinsides simpered, but waited on Rainer to continue. “Well, I tend to get defensive when someone summons a heat cast near my fiancée.” He let menace leak through every word.
Wretchkinsides gave an evil laugh.
“Yes,well, Marlisa has always had a terrible temper; she gets that from me, I suspect.” With that, his face lost all traces of laughter.
Rainer glanced at Garrett, who was steadfastly holding Wretchkinsides’ eyes with his own.
“How quaint, a little family meal, so near the farmstead,” Wretchkinsides mocked Garrett. The threat was implicit. He knew everything about them, including where they’d been raised and the Haydenshires’ favorite diner.
“Was there something you wanted, Dominic?” Garrett asked cooly.
With another mirthless laugh, Wretchkinsides turned his glare back on Rainer.
“Just thought I’d stop in, say hello to Vindico’s newest taskforce members. Tell Daniel I asked about him. Tell him I do hope life is treating him well these days,” he drawled repugnantly.
Rainer felt his blood begin to boil as he clenched his jaw.
“Gentlemen,” Wretchkinsides gave them a nod as he edged back towards the entrance. “And, Lawson...” he challenged as he tossed a vile grin back at Rainer. He narrowed his eyes as he hissed. “It’s interesting, someone so ready to defend his fiancée, lets her go off to Alexandria every day completely unprotected.”
Rainer felt his blood suddenly run cold as his head spun and his lungs begged for air. Wretchkinsides exited the pub.
Rainer stared up at Logan for one endless, horrifying moment.
“Emily,” he gasped as they all moved at once.
“Call her, and get in my car,” Garrett commanded.
They raced out of the diner, with Rainer calling Emily’s cell and Garrett already on the phone with Vindico.
“Call Dad!” Garrett ordered Logan.
They flew into Garrett’s Highlander, and he took off.
“She’s not answering.” Rainer felt like he was being strangled.
He couldn’t draw breath; his heart hammered out of rhythm. He couldn’t see anything but the black hatred of Dominic Wretchkinsides’ malignant glare.
“Dan’s on his way. He called out Elite,” Garrett tried to sound reassuring, but terror riddled his words.
“Em, it’s me... answer... or call me back,” Rainer pled to Emily’s voicemail.
Traffic was horrendous, and Garrett cursed as he maneuvered through the D.C. gridlock.
As they flew into the parking deck of Angels’ Arena, Rainer’s heart stopped momentarily as he took in every member of Elite Iodex, all with guns drawn through the haze of blue flashing lights.
After sprinting through the assembled crowd, Rainer shoved two Gifted police officers out of his way. Emily was lying on the ground.
“Emily!” He fell to his knees. “Baby, what happened?”
Governor Haydenshire was standing over Emily. All of the Angels were gathered behind her and looked terrified. Fionna was seated beside Emily. She’d been casting her, Rainer realized.
“Some guys were waiting near her car,” she soothed sweetly. “There were two other guys trying to break into the arena, and security was trying to deal with them. But she felt them, and then I don’t know. It was amazing.”
“What?” Rainer demanded as Emily fell into his arms sobbing.
“I tried to call you so many times,” she convulsed.
Fionna touched her forearm again. She summoned and soothed Emily instantly. Rainer had never seen a more powerful Receiver’s cast.
“She threw a shield cast, and it was amazing! I’ve never seen one so strong! It shattered her phone! Are you a double Predilect?” Chloe quizzed Emily. She shook her head before burying her face in Rainer’s shoulder.
“Are you ok?” Rainer studied her as he made certain no one had touched her. He felt sick. Vile, heartbreaking revulsion washed over him as the thoughts that had ricocheted in his mind for the past half hour began replaying in vivid detail. She nodded, but didn’t lift her head from his shoulder.
Vindico was pale and drawn; he looked sickly as he approached.
“Emily, I’m so sorry, but would you mind telling me if you can remember what any of the men looked like?”
Emily leaned away from Rainer as she allowed him to wipe away her tears.
“It was that guy we saw on the boardwalk that day,” she informed Rainer through her terror-ridden tears.
“The guy with all the snake tattoos.” Rainer watched as what little color was in Vindico’s face disappeared instantly. He shuddered convulsively.
“Cascavel,” he hushed in a choked whisper. Incensed fury lit Governor Haydenshire’s features.
“Damn it, Daniel,” the Governor spat furiously. “This will not happen.”
“I know, but the only way to stop it is to end them.” He squatted down near Emily. “Was he the only one?” his voice sounded distant and frightened.
Emily shook her head. “No, there was one other. He had a suit on, and brown hair, but that’s all I remember.” She shuddered as renewed sobs quaked through her. Rainer pulled her back against him, and shook his head at Vindico. He wouldn’t allow her to be questioned anymore.
“I, uh,” Vindico drew a deep breath, “I need you to come back to the office before you go home. We need to talk about how she threw that shield,” he whispered so that no one else could hear him.
“I am taking her home,” Rainer declared angrily.
“No, Rainer, it’s ok,” Emily immediately placated, but Rainer saw the desperation in her eyes.
“Look, Lawson, I understand, believe me; but we need to talk about this. I can come out to the farm if you’d rather, but we need to talk now.”
Rainer studied Emily as he thanked God that she was all right. He nodded his begrudged agreement to Vindico’s request.
“Why don’t you come out to our new house? I want her at home where she’s safe.”
“Oh, I’d say she’s pretty damn safe wherever she goes, but that’s fine,” was Vindico’s cryptic response.
“He sent the snake, Rainer,” Emily whispered. She was still in shock.
“What, baby?”
“Just before I threw the shield and knocked him backwards, he said, ‘Lawson isn’t here to save you like when you were a little girl’.”
The Copperhead. Rainer shook his head, unable to sort through the endless sea of emotions. The evil, black smoke of the Copperhead was from Cascavel. He’d casted the snake. It was his own black energy. That was why the snake in the guesthouse, that Logan had stumbled upon, hadn’t felt evil in any way, and had only emitted a white heat. Rainer shuddered, and forced himself to focus on Emily alone.
With This Ring
A little while later, Rainer handed Emily a mug of tea, and then sat beside her on their couch as he cradled her to him again. The time it had taken him to make the tea was the longest he’d gone without having his arms around her since he’d arrived at Angels’ Arena.
The Haydenshires were standing in the living room, as were Garrett, Logan, Adeline, Connor, and Patrick. The twins were playing in the floor as Vindico paced.
“I really didn’t believe it was true,” he kept stating in disbelief.
“You didn’t believe what was true?” Rainer demanded.
“There was a rumor, or a legend I suppose, that the ring you're wearing, Miss Haydenshire, the Lawson family ring, was imbued with Promethium. It’s inside the rather large diamond there. It’s an extremely rare element from deep within the earth’s crust,” Vindico explained. “The way the ring is formed completes the transference between the wearer and the extreme amount of untapped energy that the ring holds,” he elaborated as he studied Emily’s hand. “When the wearer needs to draw on the energy, it supplies it in ready doses.”
“You mean Promethium, as in...?” Rainer quizzed in stunned disbelief.
“Nuclear energy,” Vindico nodded. “When your mother was killed, Rainer, people discounted the ring. They said that the legend simply wasn’t true. For the most part, the ring was locked up after her death and wasn’t discussed anymore.”
“Ok,” Rainer tried to take in everything Vindico was saying. “So if the ring holds all this energy, how did my mother get killed?”
“My best guess,” Vindico allowed, “is that your mother wasn’t a Receiver, Lawson. She couldn’t feel them coming for her the way Emily can. She didn’t have time to stop them, but with Emily’s extremely strong capabilities to feel black energy, combined with the energy in the ring, I’d say she’s about as safe as she could possibly be. However,” Vindico seemed puzzled, “you certainly can’t play in Summation Challenges wearing that ring.”
“That’s what happened at practice today! When my meter kept messing up,” Emily gasped. Rainer nodded, but was still shocked by all he’d just heard.
“But I also don’t want to give any credence to the legend.” Vindico went on. “Like I said, most people don’t believe it’s true, and we don’t want that ring to become any more valuable to the press or to Wretchkinsides.”
Rainer took his hands off of Emily, just long enough to rub his eyes with the heels of his hands before pushing them through his hair.
“So, is she safer with it on or off?”
“Definitely with it on. We just need to have a duplicate made that she could wear for challenges. That way no one will know what we’ve learned. The ring needs to be with one of you at all times. I think Wretchkinsides may believe the legend, and that’s why Pendergrath complemented the ring at Mick’s that night.”
Rainer’s mind reeled. He had almost forgotten Pendergrath’s words that night at the restaurant. Governor Haydenshire had been quietly listening the entire time, but finally he drew a deep breath.
“So, what is the extent of this energy, Dan? What does it do for her exactly?”
“The fact that Emily is a Receiver who can detect dark castings, and can transfer all kinds of energy so easily, means that with the sheer amount of energy inside that ring, and her own body’s ability to close the transference loop-- I really don’t believe anyone could touch her, as long as she’s wearing it.”
“My brother, Tad, could duplicate the ring for her,” Mrs. Haydenshire finally spoke. Those were the first words she’d uttered since she’d met everyone at the guesthouse and had clung to Emily for several long min
utes. She’d forced her from Rainer’s grasp.
Tad Anderson was Mrs. Haydenshire’s younger brother. Emily and Logan’s Uncle Tad was an extremely talented jeweler. He was also an Occamy Predilect just like Mrs. Haydenshire. He was, however, one of the only Gifted individuals alive who could lock onto the energy in the atoms of carbon, and turn them into diamonds. It was an extraordinary thing to watch.
Rainer had known Tad most of his life. Whenever Tad and Nathan visited Emily’s grandparents or came to the farm, he had always enjoyed hanging out with them.
Tad and Nathan spent most of their time in New York, where they owned a jewelry shop on the Upper East Side. Emily adored her uncle’s jewelry taste, and he’d made her several pieces for different occasions.
“But, Lawson,” Vindico shook Rainer from his distraction. “Like I told you this afternoon when you agreed to help me with Wretchkinsides, I won’t let you live my regrets. If you want to bring her with you to the office when she’s not at practice, I have no issue with that. If you want an officer to pick her up after practice, I’ll make that happen, as well.” Rainer considered the offer as he locked eyes with Emily for a long moment.
“I, uh,” Rainer breathed, “I think we just need a little time to process all of this.” Emily nodded her agreement.
“The Sirens, that’s the team Wretchkinsides formed today,” Vindico reminded Rainer of their discussion at lunch. “They are going to force the Angels to add them to their schedule, probably as the first challenge. This weekend will be the best time to make the trip to New York. That will be before the Northeast Exhibition and before Summation Season Challenges begin.
“We’ll go Saturday,” Rainer assured him.
“I’ll keep her safe, Lawson. I swear to you,” Vindico vowed. Rainer nodded solemnly as he watched the Governor walk Vindico out of the guesthouse.
Supergirl vs. Wonder Woman
Later that evening, Rainer cradled Emily tenderly against his chest, and wrapped her up in his shield. He pushed away all of the horrible thoughts of what might have happened and focused on feeling her energy as she lay beside him.