by Angel Lawson
Cedric spreads the ropes and nods, encouraging her to enter the ring. She does, still not pleased with any of this. Draco and Quinn step inside and they’re all together, mostly healthy—definitely alive.
“Look,” she starts, “I just think we all need to take a break, maybe. Figure out what we want to do with our lives. What we want to do with…you know.”
“No,” Quinn says, crossing his arms. “We don’t know.”
“I don’t want to force any of you to stay. We fought the battle our mentors prepared us for. If we want, we can…” She can’t say the words.
Owen’s jaw drops for a brief moment before he recovers. “Are you breaking up with us?”
“No!” She cries. “I’m just confused. Are you confused?”
Draco shakes his head. “Not in the slightest.”
Quinn works his jaw and says, “Nope.”
Owen rubs his chin. “Absolutely, fucking, not confused at all.”
Cedric sighs. “If you think you’re going to ditch us, we’re going to have to get a therapist or something. Like Superhero family counseling, because four of the five of us are a hard no.”
Astrid swallows. “I just thought that after all that you may want to explore other options.”
Slowly they’ve crowded around her, she feels their heat, their strength. Fingers touch her hair, a hand lands on her hip, a soft kiss on the back of her neck.
“That bond?” Quinn says, “The one that brought us together? It’s still with us, Astrid, even if the fight is over.”
A thrill runs up her spine.
“Do you really think the corruption in this city is over? That the gangs are off the streets? The criminals are gone?” Draco asks.
“No, but…”
“There’s no but, Astrid,” Owen says. “This thing we’ve got? It’s not going away. We’re not going away.”
She looks at each one of them, sees the love in their eyes, feels it in her heart.
“So, we’re good?” she asks, trying to figure out where the doubt had even come from. Exhaustion, most likely.
“Better than good,” Cedric says. “And Draco’s right. I have a long list of criminals we need to keep an eye on. That dark web shit is for real.”
That’s when it hits her. She wasn’t confused about these men. No. She was just lost without a purpose. But they’re right, evil will always exist. They may not even be the only ones with powers out there.
“So we keep working?” she says.
“In the gym,” Quinn says.
“On the web,” Cedric adds.
Draco nods. “In the business community.”
“And in the bedroom,” Owen says with a cheeky grin. “Because I’ll be there when you’re ready.”
“Dude, you did not just say that,” Quinn chides.
Draco shakes his head and picks up the boxing gloves on the ground before walking off in disgust.
“You have one hand,” Cedric says, “How much pleasure can you give a girl with one hand?”
“As much pleasure as I can get from kicking your ass with one hand,” he growls and the two start circling.
Even though she shouldn’t, Astrid laughs, and Quinn tosses his arm around her shoulder. She leans in.
“Do you think they knew about this?” Astrid asks.
“Who?”
“Atticus and Holden. Do you think they knew we could build a family like this?”
He thought about it for a minute. “They probably knew we needed each other—although I doubt Atticus knew about the sex part.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Yeah, probably not.”
“I do think they’d be happy to know we found one another. I really do.”
She smiles, feeling the tug of loss and love in her chest. She may have lost her father and mentor, but she gained so much more. Astrid gives Quinn a kiss in the cheek. “Me too.”
Epilogue
The fresh-churned soil, balloons, banners, and bright, sunny day make Astrid feel like she’s entered an alternate reality. Days ago, this was a warzone. Now? The future is coming to the Swamp.
“Stop,” Owen says. He looks handsome in his green leathers, face obscured by his mask.
“I’m not doing anything,” she claims.
“You’re stressing out,” Quinn adds, squeezing her hand. “It’s for the best. The community will be better this way.”
“He’s right,” Cedric says. “Crescent Homes should have been razed decades ago. The rebuild looks amazing. New apartments, playgrounds, community center with programs for all ages. Jensen outdid himself.”
Jensen stands under an archway made of red and blue balloons, speaking with reporters. She doesn’t know if it’s out of guilt, retribution or what, but like Cedric said, he’d outdone himself with the Swamp revitalization project. He looks up and gives her a proud smile.
The wall surrounding the community is still there, but it’s no longer gray and oppressive. Luby has spent the last few months working on his own project—approved by the city and with the help of a selected crew of artists. It’s bright, cheerful, and uniquely him. He’s talking to his own group of reporters and can’t keep the smile off his face.
Astrid and her team are across from the spectacle, waiting on the rooftop of a nearby building. They’re each dressed in their Supersuits. Their identities are still something of a secret to the community at large. The mayor wants to thank them publicly for their actions during Rowe’s siege, and asked them to be at the ground-breaking for the new Crescent Homes.
The rooftop door opens and Draco appears, tugging on his mask. “Working double duty today?” Quinn asks.
“WIND-E has donated a considerable amount of money to the healthcare facility being built. The press wanted to talk to me about it.” Draco still oversees the corporation. Demetria, from her cottage on the island, requested it. “But we all play multiple roles in this city. Mine just requires a suit and tie.”
“You look good in a suit and tie,” she tells him. God, all she wants is to be back at the house with them, eating doughnuts and playing video games. This—the attention, the reporters, everything about it—is painful.
Working through the pain of everything that happened has been as difficult as her physical healing. She longs for normalcy but is that even possible? Astrid eyes each of her men; they’re dressed up in costumes. They’re all in love with her and she with them. They fight crime and make love.
No, nothing about this is normal at all.
And that’s okay because she isn’t normal. She’s a fucking empath. And these guys? They are totally not normal. Not their powers or muscles or heroism or the way they love her with the ferocity of a thousand suns.
“You okay?” Draco asks, watching her watch them. All four of them stop and face her.
She thinks about everything they’ve been through. The pain, the death, the battles. The love, the lust, the commitment. Astrid has no idea what will happen in the future, but she does know the bond she has with these men is unbreakable and the future looks brighter than ever.
That’s too much to say though, and she can’t start crying before accepting her gold medal from the Mayor—that is totally un-superheroey. Instead she just kisses them all, one at a time, and says, “You know what? I think I am.”
To keep up with Angel for fun, entertainment and exclusive book updates please join, Angel’s Antics, on Facebook! This is the final book in this part of the Super’s series. I am hoping to send these incredible characters on new adventures at some point but for now I’m wrapping it up here!
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Angel Lawson Books
(Reverse Harem)
A Piece of Heaven: The Allendale Four
(Contemporary YA Reverse Harem)
Holding on to Heaven: The Allendale Four Book 2
The Road to Heaven: The Allendale Four Book 3
(Releases Fall of 2018)<
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Summer’s Kiss (Boys of Ocean Beach)
Summer’s Fun (Boys of Ocean Beach Book 2)
Raven Queen’s Harem:
Raven’s Mark (Part 1)
Ebony Rising (Part 2)
Black Magic (Part 3)
Obsidian Fire (Part 4)
Onyx Eclipse (Part 5)
Midnight’s End (Part 6)
*Raven’s Gift (Holiday Novella)
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Huntress: Trial of Gods
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The Elites: Supers of Project 12
Sentinels: Supers of Project 12 (Book 2)
Rogues: Supers of Project 12 (Book 3)
Heroes: Supers of Project 12 (Book 4)
The Death Fields: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller
The Girl Who Shot First
The Girl Who Punched Back
The Girl Who Kicked Ass
The Girl Who Kissed the Sun
The Girl Who Broke Free
The Girl Who Saved the World
Creature of Habit Series (Paranormal Romance)
Creature of Habit (Book 1)
Creature of Habit (Book2)
Creature of Habit (Book 3)
A Vampire’s Seduction (Ryan’s Story Book 4)
A Vampire’s Fate (Sebastian’s Story Book 5)
The Wraith Series (YA Paranormal Romance)
Wraith
Shadow Bound
Grave Possession
Urban Fantasy
The Lost Queen
Vigilant
Contemporary Romance:
FanGirl-A Girl Who Shot First Companion Novel
For the Win