Chapter 21
ANNIE
“Perfect,” I muttered, watching tendrils of fog curl around my headlights. “Just perfect.”
I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, trying to calm my nerves. This was ridiculous. I’d faced down actual Villains without feeling this anxious. Why was I so on edge?
“Because this feels like a trap,” I answered myself.
The silence pressed in around me, broken only by the sound of foghorns on the bay and the distant sound of cars passing on the main road several blocks away. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Havoc:
I’m here.
I’ve got eyes on you. Be careful.
That provided some comfort. Havoc knew exactly where I was, and if anything went wrong, he’d be here in seconds.
I tucked the evidence into my jacket pocket, took a deep breath, and stepped out of the car. The damp air immediately clung to my skin, and I pulled my jacket tighter around me.
The warehouse entrance was partially obscured by fog, the rusty door looking like it hadn’t been opened in years. My footsteps echoed on the concrete as I approached, each sound seeming unnaturally loud in the eerie silence.
“This is how people die in movies,” I muttered, reaching for the door handle. “Walking into abandoned warehouses to meet mysterious strangers.”
I was surprised when the door opened easily, silent despite its unused, rusty appearance. But opening the door revealed nothing but darkness beyond. I hesitated at the threshold, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Hello?” I called out, hating how my voice wavered slightly. “Wraith?”
No response. Just the empty darkness of the warehouse stretching before me.
I jumped when there was a snap from further inside and a single overhead light highlighted a small table in the center of the vast space. The circle of illumination was an island in a sea of darkness, the boundaries between light and shadow unnaturally sharp.
I took a deep breath, cursing Wraith’s dramatics and approached the table. It was just a bare metal surface reflecting the harsh light from above. I reached into my pocket, fingers brushing against the evidence Havoc had collected for me to deliver.
As soon as I reached the table, the light above went out with a sharp click and I jumped, my heart leaping into my throat as darkness swallowed me. I scrambled backward deciding to run for the door but I collided with something solid. Someone.
A hand gripped my shoulder, preventing me from spinning around to face them.
“Put the items on the table.” A voice whispered directly into my ear, so close I could feel breath against my skin. The voice was barely audible but male and deliberately distorted. I tried to turn my head, but the grip on my shoulder tightened.
“I can’t see the table,” I whispered back.
The presence behind me didn’t move, didn’t speak again. I extended my hand into the darkness, reaching forward until my fingertips brushed against cold metal. I fumbled in my pocket for the shield and belt parts and placed them on the surface with a soft clatter.
I waited, acutely aware of the presence still behind me. Close enough that I could feel body heat. Close enough that I could feel the sensation of a manufactured Super.
I wasn’t surprised Wraith was a Super, but I wasn’t happy about it either.
“Can I leave now? I delivered what you asked for.”
“No.” The single word hung in the air, flat and final.
“Havoc knows I’m here. I have a distress beacon,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “If I activate it, he’ll be here in seconds.”
“Are you sure about that?” The distorted voice held something that might have been amusement and a chill ran through me.
I reached into my inner jacket pocket where I kept the small beacon and my fingers closed around the familiar shape.
I pulled it out, thumb hovering over the activation button, but something felt wrong.
The small indicator light that should have been green was dark.
I ran my thumb over the surface, feeling for the subtle vibration that indicated it was in standby mode.
Nothing.
I pressed the activation button. No response.
The beacon was dead.
“What did you do?” I whispered, unable to keep the tremor from my voice this time.
The hand on my shoulder tightened slightly, as if sensing my growing fear. My mind raced through my options. Wraith clearly had the upper hand here, but I wasn’t about to let him know I was terrified.
“Havoc will kill you if you try to hurt me,” I said, injecting steel into my voice.
A low chuckle vibrated against my ear. “Havoc? I can handle Havoc. Besides, if I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t have bothered with this meeting.”
I felt him shift behind me, his presence moving around me in the darkness. He circled me then stopped directly in front of me.
“I’m leaving now,” I announced, taking a deliberate step backward in the direction of the door. “You have what you wanted.”
“No.” The single word stopped me cold. The toes of his boots bumped against my shoes. “We’re not finished here.”
My fear was rapidly transforming into anger. Who did this guy think he was?
“My boyfriend will definitely kill you if you try anything,” I snapped. “And trust me, he’s a lot scarier than Havoc when he’s angry.”
“Boyfriend?” The mechanical distortion couldn’t hide the sudden, sharp interest in his tone. A gloved finger found my chin in the dark and he tilted my head up. “Valor? The media has been quite interested in your relationship.”
I laughed, the image of Valor being scarier than Havoc was so absurd it cut through my fear for a moment. I quickly composed myself, remembering where I was and who I was dealing with.
Wraith had obviously done his research on me. He would have seen the tabloids, all the media coverage painting me as Valor’s girlfriend.
“No,” I said firmly. “That’s not my boyfriend. That’s a PR stunt that went too far.”
“Interesting.” His thumb brushed over my lower lip and I froze at the contact. “Then who exactly is this boyfriend who’s supposedly scarier than Havoc?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. I’d said too much already. Mentioning Cipher had been careless. The last thing I needed was to broadcast our relationship to someone like Wraith.
“That’s not relevant to why we’re here,” I said, trying to redirect the conversation. “You have the evidence. You don’t need me here. So I’m leaving.”
“No.” His fingers tightened on my jaw just enough to hold me in place. “Not until I get the answer I want. Who is this magical boyfriend who will kill me?”
Something inside me shifted. I straightened my shoulders and felt my expression harden into what Dawn called my “Keeper face.” I was a professional at dealing with asshole Supers and Wraith was no different.
“You know what?” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous calm. “I don’t owe you answers. I don’t owe you anything beyond what I’ve already delivered.”
I took a deliberate step forward, into what I imagined was his personal space.
“And if you’re so curious about who might come looking for you if I don’t return home tonight, maybe it’s better you don’t know.
” I let a cold smile form on my lips. “So much more suspenseful, don’t you think?
Not knowing which shadow might belong to him?
Not knowing when he might strike? You’ll be looking over your shoulder, wondering which Villain, which Hero, which seemingly ordinary person might be the one I’m involved with. ”
I leaned closer to where I sensed Wraith’s face might be, letting my voice drop to a whisper.
“You know what my boyfriend did to the last man who put his hands on me without permission?” I asked. “He took his hands. Literally. Cut them off and gave them to me. Now,” I said, stepping back. “Are we done here?”
A deep, rough sound vibrated through the dark. I realized it was a low chuckle that grew into a distorted laugh of pure, unfiltered delight.
“Magnificent,” he breathed. The mechanical distortion couldn’t mask the adoration in his tone. “Hearing you wield my violence like a weapon. Absolutely magnificent, Bishop.”
“What—”
The overhead light snapped back on with a harsh click and I blinked against the sudden brightness, momentarily blinded after the complete darkness.
As my vision cleared, the figure before me came into focus.
“Cipher?”
He stood there in his full Villain regalia but the subtle glowing lines that accented the suit were powered down. They flickered on now that he was done hiding.
“What the hell is this?” I demanded. “You’re Wraith?”
His mouth curved into that infuriating smirk I knew so well. “Surprise,” he said, his voice no longer distorted.
“You let me come here thinking—” I couldn’t even finish the sentence, my anger making it hard to speak. “I was terrified, Cipher. I thought—”
“I know what you thought,” he said, taking a step toward me. “And I’m sorry for scaring you. But I needed to know I could trust—“
“This is exactly like Dread all over again!” My voice bounced off the warehouse walls, sharp with betrayal.
Cipher stiffened. “Annie—”
“No!” I jabbed my finger into his chest. “You knew who Dread was the entire time I was hunting him. You let me walk right into his trap because it suited your plans. And now you’re doing the same thing with Wraith!”
My hands trembled as memories flooded back.
“You’re keeping secrets again, playing games with my life to suit your agenda.” My voice cracked. “Did you enjoy watching me squirm in the dark? Did it amuse you to see me terrified?”
Cipher moved faster than my eyes could track. A solid wall of muscle and black armor blocked my path and he backed me up until my hips hit the edge of the table. His hands slammed down on the surface on either side of me, caging me in.
“This is nothing like Dread.” He reached up and ripped the mask off his face, tossing it blindly into the dark. His silver eyes were wild as he leaned in close. In the place of the polished, arrogant Villain was a desperate, obsessive man.