Chapter Eleven
Shawn shifted uncomfortably as he stood in the hallway outside of Apparition’s hospital room.
He still wore his uniform though he’d abandoned the mask.
Passing hospital staff would occasionally give him a strange look, but with his secret identity basically a lost cause, he didn’t care anymore.
He especially didn’t care enough to leave the hospital to get a change of clothes.
After a quick nap in the waiting room, he looked undeniably crumpled, hardly the picture perfect image of a DOSA hero.
The doctors had told him Nikki—Apparition, Kacey, he still couldn’t decide how he saw her—would be all right.
They’d said it was a close call, but the combination of swift medical intervention and her natural sable healing abilities had kept her from the brink.
Mythcreant hadn’t been so lucky. Shawn supposed he should feel sorry about that, but what horror he’d felt over taking a human life had quickly been chased away by the distress of seeing Nikki bleeding from a knife wound inflicted by the person whose life he’d ended.
Before he’d been ambivalent as to the idea of a justified kill.
With so many options for restraining someone, especially with superpowers, he’d hoped he’d always be able to find another way, to never have to make that call.
Now, though, having come across someone so twisted that his dying wish was to kill his own daughter, he couldn’t bring himself to regret the choice.
Maybe when things calmed and he had time to process everything that had happened the night before, he’d feel differently, but for now he was content to let that go.
The door to Apparition’s room opened, and her doctor emerged.
Shawn stood up a little straighter. “How is she?”
“She’s up and asking to see you.” The doctor pushed her glasses up her nose. “Do you want to go in?”
“Yes, please.” He nodded.
He slipped into the room and gave Apparition his best smile. “Hey, how are you feeling?”
She smiled wearily. “Okay, I guess.”
Her face was pale, and her red hair spread out over her pillow like a halo around her head. His heart skipped a beat. She looked like an angel.
Steadying himself, he pulled a chair up to her bedside. “The doctors seem to think you’re going to be fine.”
“That’s what they said. Sable healing factor.” She laughed bitterly. “Didn’t help Dad much.”
Shawn dropped his gaze to his feet. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. You gave him multiple opportunities to back off.
It was like he couldn’t.” Her hands tightened around the blankets until her knuckles whitened.
“I can’t even imagine being that driven by hate.
I just wish I’d seen what he was earlier.
Maybe we could’ve avoided some of this mess. ” She sniffled.
He took a tissue from the box on the bedside table and handed it to her.
“Thanks,” she whispered. “What you said about DOSA having a supervillain reforming group, was that true?”
He nodded. “The SVR is a real thing. I’m not exactly high in DOSA’s ranks, but I bet you anything they’ll accept you as a member. You’re kind of perfect for it, honestly.”
“Will we ... will we be able to work together then?” She bit her bottom lip, her voice quavering.
His heart twisted. “Not right away. The SVR has a few branches throughout the US, but as a new DOSA member, I won’t necessarily be able to pick my assignments even when I join full time.
I’ll probably be assigned a team based on vacancies.
I mean, we’ll both be in DOSA, but I don’t think we’ll be stationed in the same city . .. maybe not even the same state.”
“Oh.” A tear slid down the bridge of her nose.
“I’ve spent the last few hours thinking about us, though, and I’ve come to two conclusions that are both true, but they’re kind of fighting with each other.
” He reached out and took her hand. “Nikki—Kacey, I guess, but anyway—the things you said about me, the reasons you like me, they’re all based on me simply being a decent human being. ”
Her brow furrowed. “Isn’t that a good reason to like someone?”
“Yes, but there are a lot more decent human beings out there than just me,” he pointed out.
“I’m worried that you built me up to be some sort of super-boyfriend in your head just because I didn’t treat you like dirt the way your dad did.
I mean, the fact that he did treat you like that—” He drew a deep breath to clear his mind.
“Look, all I’m saying is that we had a whirlwind introduction to each other.
I kind of want to see if how you feel about me lasts if given some time to cool down and if you get a chance to meet other people who aren’t, well, terrible.
” Even as he said it, his chest grew hollow.
Her lower lip trembled. “But ... I ... Shawn, I don’t think it’s only that you’re any decent guy. You ... I really care about you.”
“I know, and I care about you too.” His hold on her hand tightened.
“That was actually the second conclusion I reached, the one that is making the first conclusion ache so much. I think I more than care about you. I love you. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.
If you asked me right now who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, it would be you, but as much as my soul is screaming that that won’t change, my brain is telling me if we don’t put the brakes on this we could make mistakes that we regret for a long time. ”
Her mouth quirked, but she nodded. “I guess. What do you want to do then?”
“I need to finish college. You need to get settled with the SVR.” He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand.
“What I think we should do is continue with those things. We can stay in touch via phone and email, of course. I’m not saying we should go cold turkey.
Honestly, I think I’d go nuts if we tried that .
.. but maybe step back a bit. Then, when I’ve graduated, we can get together again, see if we both feel the same way.
If you’ve moved on at that point, if you’ve realized this isn’t real for you, then okay.
No hard feelings. I’ll just be glad that you’ve found your place.
” He cleared his throat. “But if you feel the same way I do, then we pick up where we left off and see where it takes us.”
She stared down at his hand entwined with hers.
Shawn swept his gaze over her face, memorizing her features.
He didn’t see any future where the way he felt about her changed, but with how messy everything had been since they’d met, he didn’t want to risk getting this wrong.
No, he needed to do this right or he’d hate himself forever.
“Okay, it makes sense. I don’t like it very much, but it makes sense.” She looked him in the eye. “One condition, though.”
“You name it.” He nodded.
“You kiss me before you leave,” she said firmly. “Like you were going to on the rooftop before everything went wrong.”
A grin spread across Shawn’s face. “Your wish is my command.” He leaned forward, slipping one arm around her body.
She yielded to him. Her fingers caressed the side of his face before working into his hair.
They paused, eyes locked, breath intermingling, before he made his move.
Their lips met, and heat exploded through him. For one moment everything was perfect.
He withdrew to look her in the eyes. She smiled shyly.
“That was nice,” he murmured.
“Very nice,” she squeaked.
He chuckled and brushed a stray lock of red hair from her face. “Dang, you’re beautiful, Ni ... Kacey.” He grimaced. Why couldn’t he make that name fit her?
A rapping shattered the moment, and they both jerked to attention.
“Am I interrupting anything?” Dave Park poked his head through the door.
Shawn straightened. “Dad! You’re here.”
“Flew in as soon as I could.” Dave strode across the room to stand over his son.
For once he was dressed in his full DOSA uniform, black body armor with his last name in Korean written on the chest in silver.
“The DOSA clean up team filled me in on what was going on. Mind if I sit down and talk for a few minutes?”
“I guess not.” Apparition pulled her blankets closer about herself. “Are you going to arrest me?”
Shawn stood and offered his father his chair before moving to stand on the other side of the bed.
Dave settled into his seat. “No, but my son texted me about your case, and why he thought you would be a good fit for the SVR. It’s not my final call, but as a long standing member of DOSA, I do have some influence.
I emailed the head of the SVR to express my opinion that you’re a good candidate for the program.
What I’ve found out since then has only bolstered that opinion.
” He let out a sigh. “My son called you both Nikki and Kacey in his texts. What do you think your name is? Full name, if you could. First and last.”
“Kacey Meyers,” she said.
“Close, but not quite.”
Shawn and Apparition exchanged a glance.
“What do you mean?” Shawn frowned.
“And do you know why your father was so keen on hurting Shawn?” Dave ignored the question, keeping his focus on Apparition.
“No. I mean, he said something about you ruining his life, but I wasn’t sure what he meant,” she replied.
“It took me a while to put together. Shifting is a fairly common super ability, so I didn’t make the connection right away.
Your father wasn’t always a villain. A little over fifteen years ago, he was a hero working for DOSA.
In fact, he was one of the heroes on the team I was supervising at the time. ”
Shawn started. “Mythcreant was with DOSA?”
“Those days he went under the name of Slip, real name Paul Miller. He was a model DOSA member as far as his teammates, including myself, were concerned. Good record at work. Perfect family with a loving wife and a young daughter named Katie.”
“Katie?” Apparition whimpered.
Shawn placed his hand on her shoulder.