Chapter 13
G: Breakfast or I stab you.
X: Whoa. You sound like me.
G: Bernard is extra moody lately. I can’t deal.
B: I’m in this chat.
A: Griffin’s not wrong.
B: I hate you all.
X: I’ll be there.
B: Don’t be late.
B: I’ll need an alibi when I kill them.
B: Just kidding.
B: Not kidding.
Now was the part of the conversation when everybody descended into lewd emojis and archaic memes. For a group of grown men, we acted like a bunch of children. We should be ashamed, but we’d be loud about it until the entire coffee shop stopped and stared.
Setting my phone aside, I laid back in bed, staring at the ceiling.
It had been a long time since I stayed the night after sex.
I found the ritual awkward. Aiden had attempted to exit without waking me, which was sweet, but now I didn’t know if I should stay naked in bed, get up and make some coffee, or hunt down any juicy dirt I could uncover?
Coffee. I don’t know why I even considered other options.
I scoured the bed for my underwear. I needed to do a better job of remembering where I disrobed. Nothing. Peeling back the cover, I was about to give up hope when I dropped to the floor, hunting for my boxer briefs.
“Where the hell—”
There are certain sensations the skin can recall just by thinking about it; a warm towel, a light touch, even the warm sands between the toes.
The cool, wet slime worked its way along my arms. Quickly, it caused my gag reflex to kick in.
Oh my God, it was awful. There was no controlling it, willing it underneath my skin.
Seconds later, it had responded to the dilemma of being naked.
“Not now.” It acted like fabric, pulling away from my body as I tugged at the collar.
Despite stretching, it refused to tear. If I peeled myself out of it, would it vanish?
Was it alive? While I was playing hero, I didn’t care how it worked, just that it lets me be super.
Now, I needed it to go away before Aiden discovered he had blown a superhero this morning.
“Did you say something?” The shower shut off. I kicked the door, slamming it harder than I intended. He probably thought I was going through his drawers, which would be easier to explain than wearing skintight latex.
“I don’t need you right now.” It’s hard to make a whisper sound stern, but I tried my damndest. I found my t-shirt wrapped up in the sheets and tossed it over my head.
Shaking out the linens, I was out of luck.
I was about to give up hope when I saw the pile of damp clothes.
I found underwear, socks, but still no pants.
Without wasting a second, I pulled on the underwear.
Damp, this was going to be a rough morning of chaffing.
I ignored the fact they were inside out. Next, the socks.
I looked like a superhero on laundry day.
“Go away.”
“Xander?” I pinned my foot at the base of the door. It held fast as Aiden attempted to open it. “Is everything okay?”
I looked down, grasping at how I’d explain the suit. Skin. Bright white thighs vanished into a pair of black briefs. Without so much as slither, the suit vanished. Thank you, an awkward conversation avoided.
“Sorry about that. Was hunting for my pants.” I lied, sue me. “Much as I’d like to stay naked with you—” I had to pause and soak in the sight of him. Upright, I admired the curves of his body. He might be even sexier.
“Oh,” he said, “yeah, I should probably get some work done.”
Taking his hand, I placed it on my shoulder as I stepped in closer. “Trust me, I would much rather be right here.”
“Still on for coffee?” The poor guy was worried that this was a one-night stand. I had done that in the past before, but now… yeah, it wouldn’t be the last time. After a night of mind-altering sex, I was already thinking of what might happen next time.
Kissing him remained as amazing as last night. I broke away before the urge to throw him on the bed returned. “I’m expecting it.”
“Pants are on the table.”
“Stealing my clothes?”
“How else would I fashion a pillow boyfriend to sleep with?”
I gave him a pat on the ass as I walked into the kitchen. He vanished into the bedroom, opening and closing drawers as I slid on my pants. Scattered across the table were notes on legal pads of paper. There were several news articles torn from the paper.
“Powered hero saves hospital.” I pushed it to the side, looking at the other clippings. “Vigilante demonstrates abilities.” Even as I whispered the words, I couldn’t fathom that my antics had landed me in several newspapers.
It was the last article that made me cringe. “Newest villain wages war.” As I picked up the cut-out piece of paper, I unfolded it to see an image at the top. It was blurry and impossible to identify the hero. Karma never worked in my favor. I was glad to see at least my identity was safe.
“New Powers: Villain by Default.”
I was about to ask Aiden which hack wrote the articles. I’d go down there, and before I finished, I’d burn down his office and beat the snot out of him.
On another paper, Aiden had written, Who is Blaze?
“Found my ticket, huh?”
“Ticket?” I didn’t get his meaning.
“To becoming a staff writer.”
I forgot he wasn’t officially a reporter at Revelations. The work on the table bordered on a conspiracy theory. The only thing missing was a blue string linking it all back to a single mastermind. I set down the paper, trying to maintain a neutral tone.
“Why Blaze?” I nearly wretched saying the name.
Aiden started pushing paper about the table. He unfolded an article, pulled another from beneath the legal pad, and dropped a couple dozen photos from the HeroApp?.
“I’m going to get the scoop on Blaze.” I needed a new name before this stuck. “There were a dozen accounts from the hospital. Then, a bank robber from a heist said he shot a man in the chest and he hardly flinched.”
“Villains still have their powers, so what?”
“Blaze saved those people. Xander, he’s not a villain. He’s a hero, a hero with powers.” The tone in his voice shifted, and it became obvious he was less talking to me and more reaffirming his own theory.
“Take it from somebody who chases heroes for a job. This is going to put you in danger.”
“If I can get an interview with him or find out his origin, it would make my career. The people at Revelations will have to take me seriously. This is the story that starts my career.”
Of course, I could put the suit on and sit down and have an interview with him.
But I didn’t want the spotlight focused on me.
If I had stopped to read a newspaper, I’d have seen Blaze—God, that’s a stupid name—was already getting more attention than I wanted.
Half the city already believed I was just another villain cashing in on the mayhem.
“It’s about the truth,” he said.
“Huh?”
“When I was a kid, I was enamored by the news. Here were a couple of people sitting behind a desk telling us all the information going on in the world. Two people. They shaped the opinions of tens of thousands of people. That’s a lot of power. It’s like a superpower in its own right.”
I was worried Aiden was about to start a maniacal laugh. At any moment, he’d tear away his clothes to reveal spandex and a cape and declare his intent to take over the world. Was I standing at ground zero for a villain in the making?
“I don’t want to shape opinions. There are too many people out there trying to do that. The world should see an unbiased truth. I don’t think Blaze is the villain they’re saying.”
He looked at the paper sitting in the middle of the table.
It held a single question, the source of the article and Aiden’s driving force.
Who is Blaze? It was touching that in a world where headlines were nothing more than clickbait, he wanted to enlighten the people.
If it had been any other hero, I would have patted him on the back and asked what I could do to help.
“Heroes can’t do it alone,” he whispered.
I wanted to argue that the self-entitled jerks destroying our city for their own egos needed nothing from us.
I wanted to launch into the same speech I gave Griffin every few days.
Then I thought of Hellcat going out of her way and asking for nothing in return.
Even Aiden, determined to shine a chivalrous light on a hero, wanted to help.
“Maybe you’re right.”
Even with Vanguard falling apart, the HideOut seemed unscathed.
Patrons placed their orders and exited with large cups of coffee like it was any other day of the week.
It was impossible to tell that we were slowly being overrun by criminals, or that at any moment an alien invasion could level the city.
Chad set the silver thermos on the counter, a routine that had become second nature.
I chomped through my bagel as he turned away when he froze and eyed the canister.
If things were normal, Zipper’s sonic boom would rattle the windows as he swapped it out with an empty one from the previous day.
Instead, Chad took the thermos and set it behind the counter, a defeated look passing over his face before he stapled on a smile and greeted the next patron.
“Do you think they’re coming back?”
Griffin’s question snapped me back to the trio at the table.
While the world continued on as if nothing was happening, Griffin, Alejandro, and Bernard acted as if somebody had ran over their pet poodles.
I could understand Alejandro’s dismay, without superpowered people in his club tips must be pretty bad.
It also didn’t help that he probably hadn’t been tossed around the bedroom since the depowering.
Between bites, I answered, “I don’t know.”
“No.”