I stared at Fiona and reached for the waves of red-hot energy. A fiery power poured into my body, and I fluttered my fingers. The candles on the cake flared back to life even though I’d blown them out long ago.
“Bloody hell,” Fiona said. “That’s just like what you did at the factory.”
“Unfortunately,” I muttered. “Why couldn’t it just go away? Do you think it might in a few more days?”
The chief shook his head. “Probably not. If it’s lasted this long, then it’s more than likely permanent.”
I groaned and buried my head in my hands.
“Being an empath is nothing to be worried about or scared of, my dear.” The chief put a comforting hand on my shoulder.
I frowned. “An empath? What are you talking about?”
“Your power. You’re an empath. When you first came here, I thought you might have some latent ability. You kept mentioning how you knew certain things would happen right before they did. You called it instinct. It’s really empathy, the ability to tune into the emotions and feelings of others and sense their thoughts and future actions. It’s a rare gift. In your case, you seem to be able not only to sense other people’s feelings but to actually see the psychic energy that surrounds them. In the Triad’s case, you tapped into their powers and used them to your advantage.”
“But I don’t want to be an empath,” I wailed.
The chief chuckled. “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.”
I put my head down into my arms. “Fantastic,” I muttered. “Just fantastic.”
Soon after, I claimed I had a headache and wanted to go to bed. I left the others, including Sam, in the dining room and made my way up to my suite. I shut the door, flopped down onto the bed, and stared at the plush carpet.
I couldn’t quite wrap my head around everything that had happened in the past week or so. I’d gone from getting Sam kidnapped, to finding out Malefica’s real identity, to getting the rest of the Fearless Five captured, to being dumped in a vat of radioactive waste, to somehow saving everyone. Oh yes, and now I had powers.
Superpowers.
I rubbed my aching temples. I didn’t want powers of any kind, much less superpowers. But it seemed as though I was stuck with them. Whether I liked it or not.
The question now was what the hell was I going to do with them?
*
The next morning, I went out into the garden. I wandered among the flowers and tried not to think about the green energy rippling out of them. Flowers, plants, trees. Even the grass underfoot radiated waves of energy. All the untapped power pulsed and flowed around me, just begging me to reach out and latch on to it. I refused to give in to the temptation. I did my best to pretend everything was normal, that my vision wasn’t awash in shimmering, colorful waves. If I didn’t specifically look for them, I could almost ignore the energy waves. Almost.
I frowned. My inner voice chirped. Someone was watching me. I stared at a bush up ahead—a bush with sapphire blue waves radiating out of it.
“I know you’re there. Come out, Sam.”
He pushed some branches aside and stepped forward. “How did you know—”
I pointed to my eyes. “I’ve got supervision now, remember?”
“Yes, well, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” He peered at me, his eyes full of concern. “How are you doing?”
I shrugged. “As well as can be expected, I suppose. After all, it’s not every day you learn you’ve developed superpowers. So far, I’ve only hyperventilated once.”
Sam smiled. “That’s good. Superheroes really shouldn’t hyperventilate. Especially those in the Fearless Five.”
I froze. “What?”
Sam took a breath. “We want you to become the newest member of the Fearless Five.”
My mouth dropped open. “You want me to what?”
“Join the Fearless Five,” Sam repeated.
I shook my head. I felt like I had water in my ears. “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that one more time?”
Sam took my hands. “Join us. Be part of the team. Like you were when you went up against the Triad.”
I flashed back to the factory. Something Malefica had said echoed in my mind, and I stared up into his silvery eyes. “Was Malefica right? When she said you cared about me?”
Sam stared deep into my eyes. “Yes, she was. I’ve come to care a great deal about you, Carmen, despite my best intentions to stay away, to let you go back to your old life once the Triad was defeated. The question is, how do you feel about me?”
“I care about you too.”
Suddenly, we were kissing. Sam plundered my mouth with his demanding tongue. I pulled him tighter to me and ran my hands up and down his muscled back. Everything felt just as good as it had before. Better, actually. But my inner voice chattered, and I couldn’t stop the nagging thought running through my head. I pulled back and broke off the passionate kiss.
“What do you really want, Sam? Me or my new powers?”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“I have to know. You want me to join the Fearless Five in one breath, and in the next, you’re telling me how much you care about me. What do you really want?”
“I—I want both,” he admitted. “I care about you, Carmen. I do. But I also think you’d make a great addition to the team. We would be the Fearless Five again.”
My heart sank to my ankles and bled out my shoes. Sam didn’t want me. He didn’t want Carmen Cole—he just wanted the superhero he thought I could be. “I see.”
“So what do you say?” Sam asked. His hands settled on my waist, and his silver eyes glowed with hope and excitement.
It broke my heart.
I closed my eyes, drinking in his musky scent, savoring the feel of his warm hands on my body. For the last time. I stared at him, memorizing every line, every curve of his handsome face. Then, I stepped back.
“I’m sorry, Sam. I just—I can’t,” I said.
I turned and ran away.
Chapter Thirty-One
One month later
I swirled the champagne around in my glass. Bubbles rose up in the golden liquid, then fizzed out.
Just like my life.
After leaving Sam in the garden, I’d spent a few more days at Sublime, recovering my strength and learning to control my newfound, unwanted power. The chief had asked me to stay longer, but I’d packed up my things and moved back into my apartment. I couldn’t face Sam, and I didn’t want to learn about my power. I just wanted it to go away. I just wanted things to return to normal. I wanted to go back to the good ole days when people hated me for killing Tornado, and I was toiling away on the society beat.
I took a swig from the glass. In a way, things had returned to normal. I’d put everything back into place in my apartment, and the chief had hypnotized his officers and the editors at The Exposé into forgetting about Morgana’s frame-up of me. I’d even resumed my duties on the society beat, although I was keeping a low profile. The newspaper was in quite an uproar. Lulu had more than kept her word. A few hours after I’d gone into the ice cream factory, the computer whiz had leaked Malefica’s real identity to the press, much to the chagrin of the editors at The Exposé. Given the fact that Morgana Madison hadn’t been seen or heard from in over a month, the editors had been forced to run the story and admit their conquering hero was an ubervillain. One who was missing in action. I bought every copy of the newspaper I could get my hands on and pasted them up all over my apartment. I didn’t know if Malefica was alive or not, but her cover as Morgana Madison had been completely blown. To my complete and utter delight.
Tonight, I was at the annual holiday ball hosted by the performing arts center. Another night, another society benefit, another glass of flat champagne. My eyes roamed the crowd. All the usual suspects were in attendance.
Except Sam Sloane.
The broken pieces of my heart twisted in my chest. Sam had been noticeably absent from the society scen
e lately. I hadn’t seen him since I’d left Sublime, although he starred in my feverish dreams every night. There, he would come to me, kiss me, make passionate love to me. All the while, Sam would whisper that he loved me for me—not for my new powers. Every morning, I woke up smooching my pillow and murmuring how much I loved him in return. My heart shattered all over again when I realized it wasn’t real. That Sam wasn’t there beside me.
That he didn’t love me.
I was torn between wanting to see Sam and glad I didn’t have to face him. I certainly didn’t want to see him with some skinny, perfect supermodel hanging on to his arm. And I didn’t want to do something foolish, like throw myself at him and beg him to love me for me.
I stared into the crowd once more. This time, though, I concentrated. Waves of power shimmered to life, and the room erupted with color. Every person radiated his or her own unique shade. More often than not, the color, the feel of the waves corresponded to someone’s personality. Blues often indicated a strong, take-charge soul, while greens were usually caring, compassionate people. Whites tended to be shy, retiring types, while reds, yellows, and oranges almost always surrounded loud, boisterous extroverts. In a way, it was like looking at someone’s karma.
I quit concentrating. The waves vanished, and the colors faded. I sighed. Every so often I tested out my power, hoping it had deserted me. Hoping it had gone away. It hadn’t, and it never would.
I gave my empty glass to a passing waiter. I’d already gotten quotes for my story. Time to leave. I turned and smacked into someone.
“Oh! Excuse me. I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize, Carmen,” Fiona purred.
Fiona had been trying to corner me at every society benefit this week. So far I’d been able to avoid her. I could spot her heat signature a hundred feet away, but I’d been too depressed and distracted to watch out for her tonight.
“So, how are things?” Fiona asked, her blue eyes wide and curious. She was trying to look all sweet and innocent. She didn’t fool me for a second.
“Fine. And you?”
“Well, I’m not so fine. Do you know why?”
I stared at Fiona’s flamboyant dress. “Because you’re wearing something that would make a peacock blush?”
Fiona sniffed and smoothed down the sequined ruffles on her colorful gown. “I’m going to chalk that comment up to your lack of fashion expertise. No, I’m not fine because Sam is not fine. All he does is mope around the house. He’s been a real sourpuss lately. It’s getting on my last nerve. I’m the one with the bad attitude, not him.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked in a guarded tone. I didn’t know what Fiona was up to.
“Because I think you should give Sam a call. He misses you.”
Sam missed me. For a moment, happiness flooded my body. Then, all my doubts and fears roared back to the surface. “I’ve got nothing to say to him.”
Fiona arched one of her perfect, blond eyebrows. “I’d say the two of you have lots to talk about. Didn’t you see him when Malefica dropped you into that tub of radioactive goo? He was frantic. Sam really does care about you, Carmen, whether you believe it or not.”
I glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on us and lowered my voice. “Listen to me. I’m only going to say this once. I’m not a superhero. I never will be. And that’s what Sam really wants. He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t care about me. He just wants to add another member to the team.”
“Oh come on,” Fiona snapped. Her blond hair shimmered. “Wake up and smell the champagne, Carmen. Sam wants you. He doesn’t care about your powers at all. For some reason I can’t fathom, he actually cares about you.”
“Even if he did, and that’s a very big if, we could never be together.” A sour, bitter taste filled my mouth.
“Why the hell not? You’ve been together plenty of times already.”
“I’m not talking about sex,” I snapped. “I mean we couldn’t ever have a real, lasting relationship. There’s too much bad karma between us.”
“Like what?”
I threw up my hands. I’d only been talking to Fiona two minutes, and she had already exasperated me. “I’m talking about the fact that I used to expose superheroes for a living. I’m talking about the fact that my relationships with men, especially superheroes, never work out. I’m talking about the fact that I almost got you all killed.” I drew in a deep breath. “And then there’s the biggie—Travis’s death.”
Sadness filled Fiona’s eyes.
“Despite what Malefica said, I’m the reason he’s dead. I led her straight to him.”
“I miss Travis. I always will. But Malefica’s the one responsible. She killed him, Carmen, not you. Even I see that now. I don’t blame you anymore.”
I arched an eyebrow.
“Well, maybe just a little bit,” Fiona admitted. “We’ll never be best friends, but I can tolerate your presence now—for Sam’s sake.”
“Gee, thanks for the ringing endorsement.”
Fiona glared at me. This time, though, my temperature didn’t shoot up. I used the energy waves in the room to buffer me from Fiona’s heated gaze. There were some advantages to having superpowers.
Finally, I looked away. I was tired. So tired of everything. “Why are you telling me this? You don’t even like me.”
Fiona shrugged. “I want Sam to be happy, and you seem to make him happy. Give him a chance, Carmen, that’s all I’m asking.” She turned on her high heel and flounced away. The ruffles on her dressed floated around her like butterflies.
All I could do was watch her leave and try to squash the sudden hope that flared in my shattered heart.
*
I went back to the newspaper and wrote my story. I waited for the usual e-mail response, packed up my things, and left. I passed Henry’s empty desk on the way out. He’d been spending less and less of his spare time at the office and more and more of it with Lulu. I was glad the computer whiz wasn’t in his chair. I didn’t need another superhero telling me how to run my life.
I pulled on my jacket and stepped outside. After the attack, I’d tried to avoid walking home alone late at night. I wasn’t afraid of being raped or mugged now. Funny what being dropped into a vat of radioactive waste did for your courage.
I ambled down the streets and brooded. I thought about Sam and the Fearless Five and Sam and Sam some more. I’d been so hurt by Matt. Did I want to take a chance on having my heart broken by another superhero? One who seemed to want my powers just as much as he wanted me? Suddenly, my inner voice screeched.
“Help! Somebody please help me!” a woman’s voice rang out.
Somebody was in trouble. I picked up my pace. I turned a corner and found a young woman with her back pressed against the wall. Three men stood in front of the woman, who clutched her purse over her chest.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” I shouted.
One of the men glanced over his shoulder. I froze. It was the same man who had tried to rape me all those weeks ago. The same man Striker had reduced to a pile of mush. Why the hell was he walking around free as a bird? Maybe he’d taken up the bad ubervillain habit of not staying in prison more than a few days before busting out.
“Well, well, sweet stuff. How are tricks?” the man crooned. He grinned, and I noticed he was missing some of his gold-capped teeth. “Looks like we’re going to get two for the price of one tonight, boys.”
The men laughed. I took a breath to calm my nerves. Striker wasn’t going to swoop in and save me this time. I’d have to do it myself. The leader walked toward me, and I concentrated on him just the way Chief Newman had taught me. Slowly but surely, I spotted wavy lines of psychic energy emanating from his body. Black waves. Just like his soul.
The man drew closer, and I reached for the waves. He put his hand on my chest and drew me toward him. I ducked under the man’s body and used his own power to flip him over my shoulder. He hit the sidewalk with a satisfying thud.
>
Another one of the men came at me. I tapped into his psychic energy to throw him back against the wall. The men shook off their injuries and came at me again. Once more, I used their own power to propel them back into the wall. They slammed against it so hard that bits of crumbled brick broke off. Dust thickened the air. The men staggered to their feet and lunged at me. For the third time, I sent them flying through the air. This time, they didn’t get up.
The other man, seeing what I had done to his companions, ran away.
I stepped over the groaning men toward the woman. “Are you okay?”
“I—I—I think so. How did you do that? It was amazing!” The woman’s eyes were as big and round as marbles.
“Um, well, I take, um, karate lessons. Karate is all about using your opponent’s strength against him.”
“You saved me. You’re my hero.” The woman pumped my hand like she was meeting a rock star. “How can I ever thank you?”
“Call the police and report the men. I bet you’re not the first woman they’ve attacked. And don’t walk down the street by yourself at night. This neighborhood is dangerous. You’re just asking for trouble when you do that.” Said the voice of experience. Me.
“I will, and I won’t. Thanks again.” The woman whipped out her cell phone.
She dialed 911. I ducked around the corner and hid in the shadows until I saw the flashing lights of a police car. Once the officer approached the woman, I eased down the street. I had no desire to be identified as the Good Samaritan and explain how I took out two men with my bare hands and scared another one away. My karate story wouldn’t cut it with the cops.
“Nicely done, although I would have stuck around for the TV cameras. It’s always good to remind people just how noble and heroic you are,” a low, male voice murmured behind me.
I shrieked and whirled around, ready to do battle once more. To my surprise, Swifte stood behind me. I hadn’t even heard the speedy superhero approach.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, wary.
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