Heroes Lost and Found (26 page)

Steve looked up from his dismembering of the pizza box with a wide grin. “Is that room soundproofed?” Beside him Harris went beet red as he stole pieces of pepperoni off the frozen slab and popped them in his mouth.

I flipped him the bird. “I’m going to rest, you big lug. And even at my loudest it still doesn’t match your snoring.”

Peter glanced over from where Rachael and Jessie were going through video game cartridges in a drawer under one of the bunk beds. “She’s got you there, dude. You’d peel the wallpaper off the walls, if we had any.”

Hunter chuckled as he hustled me to the back of the bus and through the bedroom door.

My eyes went wide as Hunter closed the door and locked it behind us.

The king-sized bed filled at least half of the room, pushed against the wood paneling. A thick, fluffy, dark red comforter accompanied four fat pillows, almost an exact duplicate of what we’d had in Vegas. I flopped onto it with a groan, relishing the easy give of the springs.

“Get some rest.” Hunter turned up one corner of the blanket, covering me. “Don’t worry about Dykovski. This is the endgame. All we have to do is take him down and we’ll be done with this business.”

I rolled over and flipped the quilt off, letting the cold air raise goose pimples on my bare skin. “Until next time. Until there’s another rogue super or ex-Guardian or freaked-out kid with new powers who decides to start something.”

“Yep.” Hunter sat down. He put one hand on my waist and pulled me towards him. “Because that’s what we do.”

“Save the world and all that.” I sighed.

“Yep. And twice on Sundays.”

“You’re giving me what twice on Sundays?”

Hunter let out a soft laugh. He dropped a kiss on the tip of my nose and stood up. “Even if you can’t sleep, just rest. You’ve had a hell of a week.”

“You think?” I called after him as the door shut.

The bus engine must have been right under the bedroom because a low vibration ran through the mattress, an almost soothing rhythm lulling me to sleep despite my initial intention to think about a battle plan to deal with Dykovski.

“Tough day at work, hmm?” Mike sat on the edge of the bed, bouncing up and down. “Sweet bed. Might want to watch the acrobatics, though—you’ll bash your brains out. Ceiling’s pretty low. Don’t you be levitating off the bed.”

I stared at him. He wore a light blue dress shirt and dark blue slacks, his going-to-dinner-in-public outfit. A gold chain peeked out through the opening at his neck, shining against his ebony skin.

“I thought you were gone,” I mumbled.

“Do you want me to go?”

“Yes. No. I need more drugs.” I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “Hello.”

“Hello yourself, hero,” Mike said. “Got to tell you, that man Hunter got some serious moves I never thought of.” He grinned at me, adding a saucy wink.

I blushed and looked away. I wasn’t one of those women who bragged about her lovers, much less to ex-lovers. Very much less to ghostly ex-Guardian lovers.

“You’re thinking you’re going to have to kill Dykovski.”

I turned back. “You’re a lousy Jiminy Cricket, you know.”

Mike chuckled. “Hey, you go with what you got.” His tone switched from playful to serious. “You’re worried about doing it again, having to kill someone. Or worse, letting one of the team do it. You don’t want them to carry that weight.”

I rubbed my eyes, hoping he wouldn’t disappear. “He’s got to be stopped. If he gets away, he’ll just start randomly killing supers with that device, grabbing their plug codes and popping their brains without any notice. Maybe we can put the word out about the injections, set up stations for supers to walk into for the shot and be finally fully protected from this crap, but that’s not going to save everyone. Some of them won’t come forward out of fear and he’ll get them sooner or later. It’ll be a bloodbath that’ll make what the Agency did small potatoes.” The mental image made me shudder.

Mike nodded, one hand motioning for me to continue.

I tugged my T-shirt down over my bare midriff. “We may have crippled his ability to recruit and build a new team, but he’s still dangerous. To say nothing of what he could do in a public area with those weapons. Be a lot of dead civilians before the police or military could stop him.”

“True. But you know Outrager won’t let him get away. He’ll call in the military and have him shot down if he gets by you. Not a chance of Dykovski getting out of this, and everyone knows it. Including Dykovski.” He bounced on the bed again, shaking me up and down. “And Outrager’s right. If you don’t do it on camera, you’ll lose street cred.”

“The Agency can’t afford to have a crazed ex-Guardian running around,” I mused, connecting the dots. “It’s one thing to blame it on a supervillain, like we always did, but if Dykovski gets to the media and decides to spill the beans, it’ll be an unholy mess to clean up.”

“Take hostages and demand airtime? Sure. He’d do it in a heartbeat if it’d further his agenda of hurting the supers and the Agency. If he calls your bluff, tells the world the old battles were all set up and faked, he plants the seed of doubt and it goes downhill from there.” Mike cracked his knuckles. “Guy’s a major douche bag. I don’t like men who hit women.”

“So one of us gets to go out in a blaze of glory,” I mumbled. “Him or me.”

Mike spread his hands and grinned. “Been there, done that, girlfriend.” His expression turned serious. “You gotta do what’s right for you and for the team. And for the world.”

“You know, I miss the bookstore,” I mused. “Two-dollar bargain bin, three for five and exact change preferred.”

Mike laughed. “You might think you miss it, but you don’t.” He jerked a thumb at the door. “And you got Hunter and a bunch of good peeps to help keep it all honest. Couldn’t have done better myself.”

“I miss you, Mike.” I felt the tears start, blurring my vision as I watched him. “Wish you were still here.”

“Me too.” He chuckled. “But we deal with what we been dealt. Besides, I’d hate to have to compete with Hunter. He’d beat me out, hands down. And I don’t think I want to play second fiddle to a man who can make you scream like that.”

I wiped my nose on my sleeve, giggling.

“Girl, you got things to do. World to save. And a new life to build with a good man. I don’t think you need me dropping in anymore.”

He moved towards me, starting to go transparent.

“Gonna miss you,” I choked out as he kissed my forehead.

“Meh. I’m off to go haunt a nightclub in New Orleans. Hear they got great jazz.” He took a step back, his hands in his pockets. “You go, girl. Saving the world and saving yourself. I’m proud of you. Couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”

He continued to fade away, the wide smile the last to go, like the Cheshire Cat.

Chapter Fourteen

“Jo?”

I blinked myself awake. Hunter came into focus, frowning as he cradled me in his arms. Somehow we’d both lost our clothing, the heat from Hunter’s naked skin chasing away my goose bumps.

“Jo?” He stroked my cheek, smoothing away the tears. “Bad dreams?”

I pulled him close into a hug, burying my face in his neck. “No. A goodbye.”

“Hmm.” He didn’t say anything, didn’t ask what I was talking about. We’d already covered that ground one early morning in Vegas, snuggling atop the hotel roof and watching the stars wink out as the sun rose.

I tucked my head under his chin. “I’m naked.”

“Hmm.”

“You’re naked.”

“Why, yes. Yes I am,” he deadpanned.

“How did this happen?”

A chuckle rumbled through me. “Well, you see…I’ve developed this new power where all I need to do is wish someone naked and it happens. Quite useful.”

“You’re not serious.” I pulled up and glared at him.

He remained stoic. “Mayyybe…”

I tapped his chest with my index finger, possibly the only part of my body not stiff and sore. “Smartass.”

“Yes. Yes, I am,” he repeated. “But you can’t blame me for wanting to keep you close and safe right now.”

I sniffled, sensing a breakdown on the horizon. “I’m sorry. I should have listened to you.”

“No.” The reply startled me. “No, you were right.” He pressed his lips to my hair. “If you hadn’t gone to see Harris, we wouldn’t be anywhere near this close to Dykovski. It cost us a lot, but it was the right move.”

“Not for Kit.”

“No. But that was his choice to make, not yours. If he’d have played it your way, if he had worked with you instead of against all of us, he might have had a chance.”

I chewed on my bottom lip, weighing his words. “I still feel responsible.”

“Well, you did lose my jacket.” A low chuckle ran over us. “I’ll punish you for it later.”

“Double smartass.”

“Oh, see. Now you’re making it worse.”

I tilted my head up and nipped at his chin. “I’ll take my chances. Remember, I still run this team.”

“Yes, ma’am. You can beat me for my insubordination later.”

I ran a finger over his wristband, the cool metal pressed against his skin. If there was a way to unlock it from Hunter’s arm, Outrager hadn’t seen fit to share it. Yet.

He frowned. “Problem?”

“I just…” I sighed. “I just can’t figure out how the Agency decided who could be a Guardian and who couldn’t. Mike, he was a good man.”

“He was.” His lips brushed my temple. “He took good care of you, and I’ll always owe him for that.”

“Then how do you get monsters like Dykovski?” I rested my hand on the bracelet. “How can you be so casual about killing someone?”

“Are you asking me or asking about Dykovski?” Hunter slid down the bed and looked at me.

“Both. Neither.” I rubbed my eyes with the palm of one hand. “I just don’t understand how cruel people can be.”

He grunted. “Happens everywhere. Military, police—you can pass all the tests, ace all the evals and still be bat-shit crazy. I’m not sure anyone can really understand it. The Agency went through the steps, thought they had a good man. Turns out he was hiding it all, hiding his anger at being normal, and turning it into hatred.”

Now it was my turn to frown. “You think he’s jealous about not being a super?”

Hunter shrugged. “A lot of Guardians were. That’s why some became sidekicks, trying to ride on the rush of having powers.”

I closed my eyes. “Do you think that’s what Mike thought?”

“I don’t know. But I do know he cared for you and loved you and when the call went out he never flinched, not at the very end. He was a hero and a good Guardian. That’s how I’ll remember him and how the world will.”

“Yes.” I squeezed back the tears. “He was.”

“And Dykovski is a shithead I’m going to enjoy stomping into snail snot and tossing into a cage.”

I coughed. “I think we won’t use that sound bite.”

He kissed my forehead. “We good?”

“We just fine,” I replied. “How’s our time?”

“About another half hour before we get there.” His hands roamed over my back, sending tremors through my body before resting on my hips. “Anything I can do for you?” A smirk materialized. “A pre-battle quickie, perhaps?”

“I’m not at a hundred percent,” I mumbled as his lips moved down to nibble at my neck. “But I think I could suffer through a little hands-on care. Maybe a massage to work the kinks out, get me warmed up.”

“I live to serve.” Hunter rolled me on my back and hovered over me, his wide grin chasing away the aches and pains. “I’ll be gentle.” He bent down and put his mouth to my left ear, tongue flicking out to tease the earlobe. “Until you don’t want me to be.”

Steve’s voice rumbled through the door right after a series of loud knocks.

“We’re about five minutes out from the cache. Reports have Dykovski still inside, waiting for us. Hasn’t made any attempt to move or contact anyone. And we have lots of hot pizza.”

I let out a low hum, smelling the melted-cheese aroma drift into the room. “Yum.”

“Playtime’s over.” Hunter yanked the sheets off both of us and bounced to the edge of the bed. His smug grin dissolved into a frown as he looked over the still-fresh bruises dotting my skin.

“Don’t get upset again,” I warned. “Remember, split that Guardian and lover thing.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t be protective,” he grumbled. “First thing you need to do is fill up your energy tank. And get dressed.” He walked over to the small closet, which was hardly worthy of the name, at the end of the bed. “Brought another full set of leathers for you…” a heartbeat, perfectly timed, “…to fight the bad guy in.”

I smacked my lips. “Tease.”

Laughing, he drew out two sets of identical leather jackets and pants and laid them at the bottom of the bed. “Business before pleasure.” One hand ran over the back of the jacket. “Same setup as before. Armored as much as they could jam in, and special weaving to enhance your powers. Gloves in the pockets, same deal. GPS, basic signs monitoring, mini camera in the lapel.” He smiled. “Mine’s a little less awesome, but that’s until I put it on.”