Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
ALEX
Leo covered me as debris rained down around us, making dust stick to the tears that were still drying on my cheeks.
“Awe, how sweet,” a voice purred, and it sounded so familiar. “Sorry for the interruption.”
“What—” Leo was already lifting me over his shoulder as I coughed, choking on the smoke around us as he ran.
A crazed laugh followed us as I choked and gagged into my fist, Leo’s heat pulsing beneath me. He was trying to maintain control; trying not to burn me. Even in madness, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, knew it would never be intentional.
That’s why I wanted to forgive him, why I wanted him to know that he was worthy.
I threw out a hand, blue lighting up the smoke around us as he sprinted through my apartment building, leaping over the railings in the stairwell to drop with a grunt on his feet.
He didn’t drop me, barely even jostled me as I forced my ability forward.
I created a shroud between us and the Villain that had sent an explosion into my room; a shaky excuse for cover, an attempt at leaving the illusion of smoke to allow us to gain some distance.
“Oh, great, you’re both alive,” Reed appeared on the street as we burst out the doors, already dressed in his Hero gear. “Dahlia called; they figured out how to track Glitch, and well… I think it alerted them, or something. It looks like he’s coming your way—”
He paused, staring up at the smoke that poured out from my building, his mismatched eyes hovering on the hole in the wall that would lead to my bedroom.
My room.
Where every picture of Joon and me sat, where all my memories and treasures were buried. Brick and smoke cascaded down, and my heart clenched. Were they all destroyed now?
“Hey, uh, Alex…did you know your apartment’s on fire?” Reed gaped.
Leo and I whipped our heads around, and shouted in unison, “Move, idiot!”
There wasn’t time for distractions.
Explosions started to rain down over us, every color of the rainbow as holes appeared in the cement, and the sound made my ears ring. Reed raised a hand, and I felt his shield go up just as purple burst over us, making the ground shake.
“Friendly reminder that you’d both definitely be dead without me,” Reed grimaced. “I need a damn raise.”
Helicopters started to appear overhead, large, black and menacing as they flooded the skyline. Heroes propelled down from them, all dropping onto the buildings around us, likely to evacuate any citizens in the vicinity. But we were the ones on the ground; the targets.
That laugh sounded again and made my blood turn cold.
Leo placed me down gently, his hands settled on my hips as we turned.
Glitch stood yards in front of us, closer than I’d seen him the last time.
I was able to get the details now; just a little more, and I could pull him in.
I’d trap the bastard in my daydream, and make him pay.
He stood with a lazy cock of his hip, a grin beneath the bandages across his mouth.
Sharp, narrow eyes watched me like a cat that’d found a new toy.
Dark and piercing, shadowed by that stark white hair.
My belly churned as I scanned his features, a strange sense of familiarity.
I blinked as he shoved his hands into his pockets and cocked his head, toying with us as he walked closer.
He ignored the chaos around us, those eyes singled in on us—or was it on me?
He stalked around the shields Reed threw up, his head bobbing as if he could spot any weak areas. Our eyes met again as he drew closer, running his fingers along the edge of the warped air. He paused in front of me, that dark gaze so intense that it made my skin crawl.
But there was no shaking the feeling; that sensation in my gut that screamed not to attack. Why was he familiar? The way his long fingers reached out, the way he walked with a gait that was confident but calm.
“Hey there, little dreamer,” his voice was husky, muffled beneath the bandages.
Ringing started in my ears.
“What did you call me?” I breathed.
“Hey there, little dreamer,” Joon patted my head. “Lost in your head again?”
The voice still wasn’t right in my mind, in my memories. I still couldn’t remember.
Joon held an icepack against my head, a smirk on his lips. “Gotta watch where you’re going, little dreamer. You’re a hazard to yourself, you know.”
Was it husky, like Leo’s voice? Or higher pitched, like Reed? How could I not fucking remember his voice? But the nickname—I’d always remember that.
Leo burst between us, smashing through the shield with a blazing fist. He tumbled through while Reed gaped; I didn’t think he was supposed to be able to do that.
But Reed was likely focused on keeping Glitch out, rather than Leo in.
We watched with open mouths as Leo was a flash of fire and fury, his flames roaring as the heat surrounded us.
But Glitch only hopped around, disappearing and reappearing, dodging Leo without even touching him.
Taunting him.
“Can you do it?” Reed ground out, throwing out a shield as Glitch appeared behind Leo, a kick aimed for his back. “Can you pull him in?”
I blinked, nodding quickly. “I think so—I need you to get me closer.”
“I don’t think Leo will like—”
I whirled around, my head spinning as I barked, “Just get me closer!”
When Splinter first attacked, I hadn’t gotten a good view of Glitch. I was too focused on Leo, on his burnout and his flames, his impending death. All I saw were bandages and a hood.
Reed hesitated before finally relenting.
He nodded, throwing up a small shield around me, before I raced forward.
Blue sparks fell into my vision, and my heart pounded as I tried to catch it all.
Glitch was fast, but with every reappearance, I was able to see a bit more.
The black, tattered hood that shrouded his face, stark white hair beneath it.
A trim jaw beneath bandages, and that crazed smile that peeled through them.
Just a little more, I thought, tracking him with my eyes as I spun in the street.
Black boots, dark eyes, straight brows. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t bring my ability forward. The way his eyes narrowed, like mischief was in the air. His movements; too fast to catch at first, but as I studied him, there were patterns. Glitch favored his left side—like Joon used to, too.
“You know what’s the best thing about being a lefty?” he snickered. “Everyone expects you to be swinging with your right.”
The memories made me falter—I’d gotten distracted.
Leo whirled around, and I heard his desperate shout as an arm wrapped around my waist.
“Always so confident,” a voice murmured in my ear. “I’m glad you haven’t lost that.”