Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
ALEX
My head throbbed, and my body sagged with sleep.
Everything was heavy. I blinked, stars dancing in my vision before my eyes could focus on the dimly lit room. Stone walls, iron bars and a steel slab that doubled as a bed surrounded me.
A fucking prison? Seriously?
Just my luck.
“Where are we?” I rasped, my throat clenching as it chaffed.
A bandaged hand held out a cup of water.
I didn’t hesitate, didn’t inspect the offering, as if it were given by a friend rather than a Villain.
But that was the thing about Glitch—he wasn’t the enemy.
You know, minus the kidnapping part. Or the bombings.
Or putting Leo in the hospital. I was so sure, I could hardly breathe.
No, I’ve just lost my mind.
“My humble abode.” He bowed with an arm lazy across his stomach, his black hood slipping over his bandaged face. “Make yourself at home.”
“I’m good, thanks.”
Don’t be stupid. Just… test the waters.
Glitch leaned back, that hood slipping down to rest around his shoulders.
A mess of white hair was bright against the black of his outfit.
His dark eyes were soft this time, no creases of madness or fury.
Beneath the bandages that ran over his nose and mouth, I could see the gentle drop of his lips.
Unguarded.
“So mean,” he hummed. “After all I’ve done to protect you.”
“Kicking Leo’s ass and terrorizing my city is protecting me?” I chuckled and cocked my head. “I’d hate to see what you’d do if you hated me.”
“Kick your ass, and terrorize the city,” he said plainly.
It was like he didn’t understand the gravity of his words; it was such a simple, easy thing to do.
That was the part that made my spine straighten.
Glitch would do as he pleased regardless of who he hurt in the process, and he’d have no regrets about it.
His morals were a twisted, broken web. Even Villains had some shred of humanity about them; but it was hard to find his.
Joon played the perfect Hero. But he wasn’t what he seemed, either.
That was the best part, actually. Joon was never perfect; he just got good at hiding anything that was harder to digest. He resented the VIA for its class systems, had a tendency to be vain, or even selfish.
Joon was playful, and kind, and saw people for what they were.
It made him empathetic and cautious at the same time. Joon was human, and a damned good Hero.
“Why play this game?” I asked. “What do you want from me?”
He stared at me, those abysmal eyes like a void. His brows creased a moment before relaxing again, a smile stretching beneath the bandages over his mouth.
“I want many things, and you’re going to help me get them.”
“How?”
Glitch dropped down, seated in front of me as he rested his arms over his knees. Even crunched over, he was large. Not as muscular as Leo, but with wide shoulders and long legs that made his boots nearly touch mine. But his energy was what overwhelmed me — a calculated calm that chilled the air.
“The VIA has to pay. They need to pay for their sins, their greed, and their corruption. We’re treated like animals, expected to show our bellies as soon as they make the call.
We die for them, while they cover it up and call it sacrifice.
” He shifted, his eyes flashing a strange purple that buzzed, and reminded me of that old TV screen.
It was only a second, a quick moment before settling on that dark stare again. I jerked back, my chest frozen as I held my breath.
What was that?
It was, well, a glitch.
“I have personal business with Cinder. But you… aren’t someone I want caught in the crossfire. You’ll be safe here,” he said finally.
The edge in his tone had softened into something pleading.
“You’re a stranger to me.” I narrowed my eyes. “Why go so far?”
Don’t make assumptions. Let him lead.
I was toeing the line between insanity and revelation.
“Am I?” He cocked his head, the evening light filtering through a singular window to cast him in a golden glow. “Am I really a stranger to you?”
My body refused to tense up, even when he was so close, so dangerous.
There was a lingering feeling that he wouldn’t hurt me; not physically, anyway.
The way his jaw curved, and his fingers twitched as if he wanted to curl them, but didn’t.
Restraint—a practiced focus, so that he wouldn’t appear threatening, or aggressive.
“Everyone is afraid of the unknown,” Joon sighed. “Variants are wildcards. We have to work harder for them to trust us. Even our body language matters—we can’t afford to go flying off the handle. Why do you think they partnered me with Leo?” He snickered. “They have to balance out the image a bit.”
“Take them off,” I breathed.
Glitch remained frozen, a silent dare resting between us. I reached out, placing down the cup and forcing my fingertips to graze the planes of his face. I tugged on the section closest to his ear, my knuckles brushing against an earring. He didn’t move, didn’t blink.
“Yeah, no, Mom was pissed,” Joon groaned, toying with the diamond studs in his ears. “But they’re cool, right? C’mon, Alex, you know I look good.”
I began to unravel the bandages. Pulling away his secrets, shedding his armor to find what hid beneath. When I was done, a bundle of strips were clenched in my palm, and my lips curled into my teeth.
“Am I gorgeous, or what?” he asked, a chirp to his tone.
His tan skin was marred with a large scar—or, a vast series of small ones. They started at the bridge of his nose before cascading around his cheekbones and bleeding into his throat and collarbones. Bright, purple-red skin shined and his cracked lips sent me an easy smile with sharp, white canines.
I knew that smile.
“They’ve been working on me, my… friends,” he paused.
“They managed to reconstruct most of it; you’d be surprised what crazy gadgets and medicines you can find in Villain markets.
In another year or two, I shouldn’t have more than a small scar.
Fuckin’ brilliant doctors in the underground—they charge a pretty penny, though. ”
Without the bandages muffling his voice, the light rasp struck me in the chest. It splintered my ribs and brought tears to my eyes.
“Say my name,” I demanded.
His smile wavered. “Daydream.”
“My real name.”
He paused, his smile growing easy and gentle. “Alex.”
I lurched forward, wrapping my arms around him as I put my hand through that foreign, white hair. There were different parts now; but I was sure it was him. I wasn’t crazy, or stuck in a daydream—this was real.
“Damnit,” I hiccupped, tears spilling from my eyes now. “Damnit, Joon.”
His arms wrapped around me, tugging me tight against him as he buried his nose in my shoulder. The scent of lilac filled my nose and made the pressure in my chest ease up. It wasn’t familiar—it was home. A missing piece finally set back into place.
“I’m alive,” he whispered. “I’m here.”
I shook my head before pushing on his shoulders. My hand came up before I realized and slapped him across the face. Hard.
“Shit, what was that for?!”
“What was that for?” I screeched before jumping to my feet. I hovered over him, raising a finger for each complaint. “Fucking up the city, kidnapping me, terrorizing Leo—”
“He is getting what he deserves,” Joon—Glitch—snarled.
My mouth snapped closed, eyes widening at the man before me. It was Joon, but it was also… Glitch. A memory of what he was, covered with this strange apparition that leaked poison.
Joon.
Hopper.
Glitch.
Villain.
“He’s their dog, the one they send to do their dirty work. He did this!” Joon raised his arms, his energy growing frantic as those eyes flashed purple again. “He ruined me! And then they… they saved me. Tell me the real Villain is here; I dare you.”
He stood in a flash, appearing on the other side of the room, before glitching back beside me. This ability—it was Joon’s — it had been warped, twisted, and turned unstable.
“They didn’t save you.” I shook my head, eyes pleading. “Look at what they did to you. Leo grieved you, I grieved you. We haven’t stopped! They turned you into a weapon, Joon, a fucking puppet. They’re using you!”
It was clear now. I’d seen it once—likely the prototype for what Joon had been turned into.
In the UAE, there were underground scientists that I was tasked with unmasking.
They’d created something; not a chip, but a collar.
It was meant to amplify abilities, but the frequencies ended up affecting the brain.
All their test subjects ended up dead—their minds had been fried, after trying to use their new power.
Splinter was dabbling in illegal alterations; using chemical and bioengineering to alter Variants. That’s why none of their grunts talked, why it was so difficult to pin them down. I’d gone to the UAE five years ago; science could grow exponentially in five years.
I couldn’t imagine what he’d gone through, what could have caused his dark hair to go white, or what made his eyes flash that strange purple.
They’d changed him, experimented on him.
I’d seen the underground labs, bumped elbows with the kind of people that wanted to make humanity evolve.
My stomach clenched, and bile pressed against the back of my throat.
Those kinds of experiments were akin to torture. Joon was lucky to be alive.
His expression was wild now; fury and frustration mixing into something terrifying as he reached out, his hand wrapping around my throat. Still, he didn’t apply enough pressure to make the threat worthwhile. Joon was still inside, still slipping through the monster.
“I will tear down this city and send that bastard straight to—”
The wall beside us exploded, debris flying at us as Joon pulled me close. My head whipped as he dodged the worst of it, his speed making my stomach churn and my head go light.
“Give. Her. Back,” a violent tone ripped through the smoke.
Joon hung his head, keeping an arm around my waist as he pulled the hood back over his white hair. “Faster than I anticipated. Bummer; I was really enjoying this little reunion.”
Leo’s flames danced around him, and there was murder on his face. Hatred seared between them. It made my throat clench, made tears brim in my eyes. This wasn’t them, wasn’t us. Everything was wrong, so wrong and twisted and warped.
Just like Glitch.
Joon sighed. “You’re such a crybaby, you know that?”
“Don’t fucking talk to her,” Leo sneered. “Let her go, Joon. Now.”
I went rigid. “You know?”
His eyes softened, that red glow simmering. “Dahlia figured out his chip; it’s Joon’s. It has to be him, but—”
“—It’s not, I know. Everything is very, very fucked up right now,” I rushed, my mind spinning, forming a plan to stop the battle that could destroy them both. “Is Reed around?”
His brows pinched, eyes flashing between Joon and me. “… Yes.”
“Are you ignoring me now?” Joon interjected. “You’re so mean to me, Alex.”
I nodded once, definitely ignoring him as I held Leo’s stare. “Good. Tell him to use lightning.”
Joon cursed, and Leo’s eyes widened with realization right before blue lit up the room.
Glitch was difficult to draw in with his bandages covering his face, but Joon?
He was easy. I knew every last detail, I remembered his voice, and now that I knew his scars.
I pulled him in—this time; he wasn’t going to be a figment of my imagination.
He was real, and I was going to bring him back.