Chapter 2
Chapter two
Mandie
The cracked pavement beneath my boots echoed with each step, a hollow rhythm that matched the sour thump of my pulse. Shadowed Lane lived up to its name. The streetlights flickered like dying fireflies, casting jagged shadows that stretched and twisted across the broken asphalt.
I tugged my coat tighter, the late autumn air biting through the fabric.
Of course, the damn subway had to break down tonight.
The week my car was destroyed, I needed it the most. It wouldn't surprise me if Victor Scarpetta shut it down just so he and his board members could use the tunnel for a private gala.
My phone buzzed. Cassie.
"Tell me you are not canceling on me," I said, forcing a lighter tone.
"No! I’m leaving soon. Just wanted to make sure you weren't going to cancel because you met some random subway guy."
"Hell no. I am done with men. I don't even know why I bother with birth control.”
"Yeah, right."
"There is no guy out there for me, Cass. I accepted that."
"There is someone for everyone, Mandie."
I groaned, kicking a pebble into the gutter.
"Not me. I’m too complicated. One minute I want the tall, hot alpha guy railing me.
Next, I want some over-educated intellectual to whisper physics equations in my ear while he does it.
Then I want a rugged, blue-collar type that is super masculine.
Next, a sweet, sensitive artist who does everything I tell him.
Then a sarcastic asshole who gives it to me as good as he gets.
" I paused for breath. “And a bonus would be if he could nibble on my neck the way Teddy did,” I finally admitted.
"I’m a walking contradiction. No one man is all that, and no man would want to put up with someone as complicated as me. "
"You are a hot mess, is what you are."
"Tell me about it. That is why I need a vacation. As soon as HR approves it, I am going to the two places Teddy would never take me: Disney World and Hawaii.”
“Who’s the lucky guy going with you?”
“If you play your cards right, it could be you. I’m almost home. See you soon."
I hung up as my apartment building came into view. The city’s distant hum felt more like a warning than background noise. The street was empty, save for a figure hunched in the shadows ahead. A cloak was draped over him, tattered and grim.
I sighed, already digging into my pockets. I knew the drill. My fingers brushed a crumpled five-dollar bill.
"Spare some change, miss?" The voice was raspy, wet.
I stopped. "Here. It’s all I got."
I held out the bill. His fingers brushed mine, cold, but not like flesh. Like metal left out in the snow.
Before I could pull back, he ripped the robe away.
Yellow. Blinding, electric yellow.
A full-body suit pulsed with crackling energy, sparks spitting onto the pavement. A black mask covered his face, featureless except for two glowing slits. Static charged the air, raising the hair on my arms.
Conductor. Just my luck. A supervillain on a Tuesday.
"Don’t. Fucking. Scream," he hissed, his voice distorted by static.
I froze. My brain short-circuited. This isn’t happening.
A roar split the night.
Fire erupted in the sky, a wall of orange and red licking the pavement. A motorcycle tore through the flames, its frame wreathed in burning light. The rider was massive with Ferrari red skin, black horns curling from his temples, muscles like steel cables. He grinned, teeth too sharp, too white.
Brickslayer.
"Well, well," the demon-biker rumbled, voice like gravel in a landslide. "Look what we got here."
My breath hitched. The five-dollar bill fluttered from my numb fingers.
Then I screamed.
It tore out of me, raw and panicked. Conductor cursed, lunging for me, electricity arcing from his hands. But Brickslayer just laughed.
"My boy told you not to scream," a new voice drawled from the darkness.
A man stepped into the flickering light, dressed like a fireman if the gear glowed with hellfire. His helmet was off, revealing a cruel face and pale, cold eyes. Flames danced along his gloves.
Soulflame. Three supervillains. One girl. Great odds.
I stumbled back, my heel catching on a crack in the pavement. This was it. Not a car crash, not old age. I was going to die because the subway broke down.
A blur of motion dropped from the sky.
Something dark slammed into Conductor with a crack like thunder.
The yellow-suited villain hit the ground hard, his lightning aura sputtering.
The newcomer rolled to his feet, tall, clad in navy leather, a yellow cape snapping in the wind.
A pearlescent helmet obscured his face, but the white “V” on his chest was unmistakable.
Riven.
One of the city's heavy hitters was here? For me?
He didn’t look at me. His focus was locked on Conductor, who was already scrambling up.
"You just had to make this personal," Riven said, his voice low and conversational. Like he hadn’t just body-slammed a living lightning bolt.
Then the air split.
Boom.
A flying motorcycle streaked overhead, a blur of charcoal and gold.
Quantum Knight.
His suit gleamed under the sickly streetlights, circuitry pulsing along his arms as he landed between me and Brickslayer. One gauntleted hand shot out. A wave of invisible force blasted the demon-biker off his ride, sending him skidding into a dumpster with a crash of dented metal.
"Stay down," Quantum Knight ordered. His voice was robotic, cold, and distorted.
I pressed myself against the brick wall, trembling.
Soulflame chuckled, flames flickering higher on his arms. "Now, now, boys. No need to get testy."
"Fuck you," I snapped. My voice shook, but the words were clear.
His smirk widened. "Oh, I like you."
A fifteen-foot wall of water erupted from the sidewalk.
It crashed over Soulflame like a tidal wave, slamming him into the graffiti-smeared wall. I whirled, expecting a busted hydrant, but there was nothing. Just a man standing where the water had been, sleek in a shimmering trench coat, large sunglasses, and a fedora pulled low.
Liquen.
He didn’t speak. The water receded, dripping from the bricks and from Soulflame’s sputtering form.
Conductor was back on his feet. He lunged at Riven, and the two took their fight to the sky, trading punches and lightning bolts. Brickslayer roared, shaking off the impact, and charged Quantum Knight.
The street became a war zone. Fire, water, force, lightning.
I pressed harder against the wall, gasping for air. This wasn't a mugging. This was a coordinated strike.
Riven flipped Conductor onto the asphalt, pinning him with a knee. "You’re slipping, spark boy," he taunted.
Quantum Knight landed his motorcycle beside me, the engine humming like a live wire. He didn’t look at me, but his gauntlet twitched, like he was fighting the urge to reach out.
Liquen stepped forward, water swirling at his feet like serpents.
Soulflame groaned, pushing himself up. "Serves you dumbasses right," he spat. "You take my boy, now we take your girl."
Your girl?
Liquen turned his head slightly toward me.
And I realized. They weren’t fighting over territory. They were fighting over me.
My stomach twisted. Why? I was a data analyst. A nobody.
But the way Quantum Knight’s helmet tilted… it felt familiar.
"Hop on the back and hold on tight," Quantum Knight ordered.
I should’ve argued. I should’ve asked questions. But Brickslayer was already scrambling back to his bike, engine roaring.
"Hurry! There isn't time!" Quantum Knight yelled.
I didn't hesitate. I threw my leg over the bike, wrapping my arms around his armored waist. The engine screamed, and we shot into the sky, leaving the burning street far below.