And maybe that was why Scribe hadn't allowed him to have these sorts of toys to play with. The drones dropped thousands of grenades along the collective Kipa population. I shoved the group of us behind a dumpster at the last second and covered my ears, hoping that the plate metal would be enough to stop any shrapnel that threatened to sneak past the alleyway entrance.
People in their homes screamed. I could hear it through the brick facades around their tiny apartments. There was a scurrying of feet not far behind me and I knew I could only imagine what the Thomaston Alliance insurance was going to have to pay out for this one. Thank God the numbers weren't my job.
The explosions went off one at a time, each louder than the last and slowly creeping our way. Bloodied, filthy, covered in sweat, I grabbed my sister and held her to my chest, curling around her and wishing I could do the same for Cassie and the others. But if I came down to it, at least I'd save Isabella. And maybe she could go take on Scribe herself.
Though the grenades were hard on my ears since I was unable to shield them, the silence was all the more deafening. I lifted my head, a burn present on the back of my ankle. A tiny piece of metal protruded through my suit. I reached down and plucked it out, dropping it to the ground.
"Are you all right?" Izzy whispered, though her mouth was open awfully wide to be whispering.
I nodded and got up, letting her loose in the same movement. She ran out to the opening of the alleyway and what awaited us I... wasn't ready for.
When you break a mirror, you get seven years of bad luck. That's how the story goes. The world looked like Edwin had smashed a whole warehouse of mirrors, though I knew the shards were metal. The Kipas looked like porcupines, the ground thick with shiny metal bits and gallons of Kipa blood.
Nate flinched as a piece of metal bit into his paw. He shifted back to his human form and pulled it from his boot. "Little bit of overkill, Edwin. But I think you got them all."
"Damn right I did. When we fix Yarborough, I am absolutely getting me some of this."
It came across to every single one of us and I shook my head. Picking my way carefully across the bodies of the Kipas, I went to check on Cassie's side of the alleyway.
They hadn't been lucky enough to have a dumpster to hide behind, though Nishelle had melted the vast majority of what had come at them. Still, Cassie had a few bits of metal embedded in her a little too deep to just pull them out. I sighed and tapped my communication unit. "We need medics."
Chapter 13
The ambulance came and went three separate times before I was loaded into the back of one. My injuries hurt but I could bear pain well enough after so many years of getting smacked around. Besides, there was a civilian kid who'd gotten a shard of metal through his leg and the EMTs said it was incredibly close to an artery or a vein; I couldn't remember which.
And I had Nate with me.
I think they only waited so long because he told them that he, too, was an EMT. He kept pressure on the parts that needed to be... pressurized? and the parts that didn't were left alone. He did good. I don't know much else because it all hurt too much to keep track of it. But I knew Nate would take care of me.
He did.
I blinked around myself as we entered a back entrance at the Alliance building. Not the hospital? Well, okay then. They hauled me off to a full medical suite, which was far more than I'd hoped for. James came in a few minutes later, accompanied by three nurses and Nate, out of his supersuit.
"Well, you got all banged up," my dear sweet cousin smiled.
I flopped back on the bed and sighed. "Edwin exploded all over me."
"Is that supposed to be weird and sexual? Because I don't care if you're banging him," James said, getting to work on me. "You are an adult. Technically. Just because I used to babysit you doesn't mean anything."
Smiling, I let my eyes slide closed and tried not to twitch when he squirted my ouches with numbing spray. I don't know what's in that stuff, but it makes everything so much better when they have to dig something out of your skin. Sure, I could feel the push and pry, the scrape and tug that was happening, but it was like getting jostled around on an amusement park ride. It didn't really hurt and you were only kind of aware of it, but you knew that if something wasn't shutting it out you'd probably be screaming.
"I'm dating him, thank you very much. I'm dating all kinds of people these days." I opened one eye to look down at him. "How are the rest of us from Yarborough?"
James freed a fragment just about then and I got to watch a squirt of my blood stain his fancy shirt. He put the bit of metal on a tray and shrugged, completely unbothered by the splattering. "Nishelle has a bruise the size of her head on her back. A few of you would set off a metal detector, but nobody so much as you. You were first. There -are- other doctors here other than me."
"Which baffles me. How much do they pay you for medical? I mean, we have that wing at Mercy Hospital, but a whole staff of doctors is like something from a dream."
He shook his head. "It's not extra. I just do it to take care of the people around me. Two more. Hold on tight and we'll be done in no time."
I flinched as he pried out the second and third bit. The fourth one was in a place they couldn't really numb without an injection, and no one was going to inject me -there-. So he was a little more careful when dealing with the shard that was a little too close for comfort to my guts.
In the end, he had me all fixed up in about twenty minutes. No stitches, only a few bandages and some glue in a couple of spots that were a touch too big for a bandage. I'd come off worse fighting bad guys at Harcourt Mall.
That didn't say much for the typical villains we had wandering around Yarborough, but super tough and super smart aliens were pretty good at wrecking you. The weird thing was, only one of my injuries had come from them. The rest had been Edwin's fault, and I felt it was time to take him to task for that.
I touched the side of my hood. "Hey, are you there?"
"Of course I am. Looks like all of you fared pretty well. A couple of injuries in the civilians but no deaths. Are you calling me to tell me how wonderful I am?"
The grin on my face was impossible to shutter away. "I'm calling to tell you that you're the reason we don't have those things back at home. And that I'm all beat up because of you. I think we could've taken those Kipas if you'd given us a chance."
"Chance or not, you could have been killed. All of you could have. They were bringing more in and when those explosions went off, they fled," Edwin said.
I pulled my hand away from the unit. It would keep connection for a little while. "Which doesn't make any sense. They weren't running from Izzy's concussive force."
"Yeah, because they could see her. They can reason that much; there's a threat, there's what we target. But they didn't understand the drones and they had no idea what I could do with them. Besides. You're just jealous that I got to do the superhero thing for once."
There was a faint break in his voice. Aww. I was busting his balls and all he wanted was praise. I ran my finger over the surface of the white linen bedspread. "You did do pretty great, Edwin. I'm really impressed."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
He paused and I was pretty sure I heard a sniffle. Edwin had helped when Izzy had gone nuts but he'd been taken out of the fight pretty early on. Maybe taking down those Kipas was some sort of a redemption for him, in his own mind. It was certainly in character for him. "Thanks, Cassie."
"Mm. You going to bring that big brain of yours down here and teach me a thing or two about how cool you are?" I asked.
Edwin's chuckle was a dark thing that promised all sorts of things. "Am I allowed to?"
"If you bring the boys, I say you are. And I don't really care what the rules are about visitors or after-hours or whatever. See if Nishelle's available, too? I need to be held for a while as we work all of this disaster out."
"Is that an order?"
"Do I really have to give you a fucking order to c
ome down here and cuddle me?"
I hated to be so vulnerable. I sounded pathetic in my own ears, but Edwin wasn't going to figure it out if I didn't ask him; not from such a far distance away. His microphone clicked off and my stomach fell. Had I pissed him off? Was he going to ignore my weak call for snuggling in the dark, cold, lonely night?
Because that didn't impress me very much if he was.
Alone and in that too-bright room, I pulled up the sheets and curled up on my side. As the minutes ticked by, my need grew stronger. Every part of me wanted to be engulfed by Nishelle and the guys. I'd gotten spoiled coming home the past few times to people who gave a shit about me and being completely without them? It took some getting used to.
The numbing spray was wearing off, too. I squirmed, reached out, grabbed one of the Tramadols James had left me and swallowed it own. I wasn't exactly in pain, but it was a nagging and uncomfortable feeling that just kept tugging at my mind. I kicked my sore leg out, jiggled it, and tried to get it to shut up. But it just wouldn't.
My door popped open and in came a cavalcade of people. Edwin was in the pink of health, perfectly fine and dandy. Why wouldn't he be? He'd been playing support and they rarely got physically hurt. Adam had been cleaned up and was out of his supersuit, his pajamas covered in duckies and clearly second-hand. Nishelle and Nate were still costumed and I ran my eyes over that skin-tight wear, resisting the urge to bite my lower lip like some kind of romance novel heroine.
But maybe one tooth slipped out and nipped down on top of it a little bit, okay? I'm not completely beyond hope, but I have my flaws.
In one hand, Nishelle had a simply enormous carafe of orange juice. She offered it out to me and the smell of vodka almost knocked me out of bed. I coughed and shook my head. "Tramadol. Not a great idea to get drunk with that in my system. God, could that be stronger?"
"It could, if I'd found any more booze laying around," Nishelle beamed.
Nate sat down beside me and, carefully, pulled me into his arms. "She thought about pouring a little Listerine in to really top it off, but I convinced her we'd all go blind. And a drink or two won't hurt you. Heavier pain killers, yeah. Not tramadol. It'll just make you loopy."
"Like I need any help," I muttered. "You sure it won't do anything to screw with me too much?"
"Nothing we won't do in turn."
My brows went up. Oh. Oh, no, I'd only meant to settle in with them but as I looked around at my troop of lovers, I saw a certain gleam in their eyes. "Guys, I don't know if I'm up for this."
"I don't know if I am, either," Adam said, settling down across from Nate. "But Izzy's asleep and safe. And I'm happy to give it a try."
They converged on me as one and I squeaked. How much did I owe all of them? In moments, I had no idea which way was up. I was stripped, kissed, my battered skin stinging as they worked their way around my injuries. Nate peered down at me from above and tilted his head. "No?"
"Yes," I hissed as lips drew close to my sex.
My knee curled up toward the ceiling, trying to... I really don't know what I was trying to do, but I damn sure was trying to -do- it. Adam was busy at my chest, lips latched to a nipple. He bit down on it just hard enough to make me gasp and arch toward him. But he blocked my view of what was happening down below. Both Edwin and Nishelle disappeared behind Adam's back and my ankles were pulled apart, slowly but surely, and someone pinned them down.
Nate caught my mouth with his, kissing me to keep me quiet. Who knew how many other patients the little infirmary had? I didn't want to wake anyone up, but as a pair of tongues went to work on my clit and deep into me, I didn't know how to silence myself. But he did.
He was out of his suit in an instant and hard as a rock. Nate's fingers curled in my hair as I sucked him in, ran my tongue down his shaft and bobbed my head in time to what was happening below my beltline.
God, I was so happy, so pleased. From getting back to Nishelle to her joining in with the men I loved? We were going to get help from Thomaston, we were going to go back home, and I would have everything I needed with the people around me right then. The world would be a brighter place, even if I sometimes got hurled across a street and landed on my face. It would be fine. It would be safe. It would be ours.
The spirit caught up the rest of the room in short order. Edwin grabbed Adam and kissed him even as Edwin hilted himself in me. I watched as Adam broke away, shook his head, and came over to pull Nate's attention to himself. He winked at me as he wrapped his hand around Nate's cock and drew the man in for a kiss.
Nishelle blinked and looked over at me, sitting down beside me on the bed. "Did I know that was happening?"
"Mmnn-nnnmm," I whimpered, reaching out for her.
She scooted away and looked down at Edwin. "What do you think?"
"I don't have much of an opinion on the matter, but it seems to me that you could help," Edwin growled.
And oh my gosh, that growl. Wow.
My long-time girlfriend crawled over me and settled into a comfortable 69 position. I was happy to take care of her again. I felt the tip of her tongue get to work on my clit even as Edwin drove me to a higher plain with every thrust. Besides, she worked just as well as a gag and I really, really needed one.
Locked together in a passionate embrace, Nate topping Adam, Nate pinned him down over Nishelle's back and railed him harder than he'd ever smashed me. And truth be told, I was a little jealous. One hand was busy, but the other wasn't. I snaked my fingers under Nishelle to wrap around Adam's thick, pre-cum slick dick and started to stroke him off, too.
The tramadol must have kicked in somewhere, because I was in some blissful place. The beat-up skin, the glued-together slashes; none of it mattered.
And to be honest, I was having trouble keeping track of everything. Nishelle writhed against me as she climaxed, the first of our group to do so. I wasn't very far behind her, dragging Edwin into me and begging him for all he had. In which, he nearly woke the dead with the bed's squeaking as he plowed me like a raw field and came, tightening his grip on my hips and quivering.
I watched as Adam reached over and kissed him again, trying to silence himself as he splattered my side with his seed, my hand never slowing. He panted back at Nate, whose thrusts quivered as he tried to hold back. Adam pulled away from Edwin to press a kiss on Nate, instead, and that proved to be his undoing. Once, twice, and Nate trembled as he dug his nails into Adam's sides, the very edges turning into sharpened tips.
As a group, we fell to pieces with each other. Nishelle curled up at my side. Nate released Adam to transform and settle across my legs, once Edwin had pulled back. I don't know how we did it, but we managed to pile four people and a big wolf-dog shapeshifter on one thin hospital mattress.
Maybe what was more impressive is that we didn't break the frame. None of us were lightweights and the screws popped, begging us not to rock the bed any more than we already had. But Nishelle had her special orange juice and we passed it around.
It felt like a good night to get a little wasted, to be honest. We'd been under so much pressure and so many things had gone wrong since the start of it all. We didn't even bother to turn on the television. Drink, pass, and snuggle up with your lovers? It was perfect.
Until it wasn't.
We were all incredibly naked when Logan opened the door. There was a brief pause and then he cleared his throat, as he seemed to like to do before he dropped the worst news on his innocent victims. "It appears that I'm interrupting something. I would apologize, except I don't think this is appropriate for a medical area."
"I don't know. It feels better than it did before," Nishelle yawned, rubbing her cheek against my shoulder. I slung my arm around her.
After a while, you get used to being naked around people. No, you don't go showing it off, but they constantly inspect when you're younger and sometimes those inspections are... indecent. To be a young recruit in the Alliance you have to be drug-free. There's too much relying on you and it's an inves
tment; all that, you get it.
The thing is, sometimes kids got in the habit of shoving certain items in orifices that they didn't normally go in. I hadn't, but once they caught someone smuggling it was time to inspect all of us. And that meant every single part of us.
Like I said; you get used to being naked around people. Maybe not coated in another superhero's cum in front of authority figures, but it's not that far outside of the box.
Logan glared at Nishelle. "Regardless. You were instructed to remain behind. You were told, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Kipas would be taken care of. You did not obey that order and now some of my people are dead."
"Some of your people were already hurt or dead before we got there, sir, and it would have been much worse without our help," I said, holding Nishelle tighter. Adam took my hand when it went questing for his.
Allied: A Superhero Reverse Harem Romance (The PTB Alliance Book 3) Page 12