Her brows scrunched together. “What are you doing?”
“Letting you enjoy the view.”
“My least-favorite thing to see. How lovely,” she drawled.
There you are.
She blinked, and the air around us warped. “I think your friend found them, the smelling salts.”
I glanced down at her pink lips, then back up to those crystal blue eyes. It was strange how they shifted from sleepy to alert, like she was constantly bouncing between a state of exhaustion and hyper-awareness. I used to find myself watching her to see what form she was in, wondering how she would react. It was a juvenile curiosity, an interest that I would never admit to.Joon saw it, though. The part of me that I never wanted to be discovered — that one weak spot in my armor.
“Do you have a motorcycle?” I asked impulsively, ignoring how the scene around us started to blur together.
Her lids got heavy, and my body followed. “What?”
“Did you run from me the other night—” I didn’t get to finish as everything faded to black.
SIX
ALEX
My head poundedas I blinked away the stars in my vision.
Hot cement burned my bare thighs, and I tried to sit up with a yelp, but was held down by a heavy arm. Beside me, a massive man had me pinned. Leo lay there, his eyes starting to flutter as ash blond hair fell over his pale lashes. He was dressed in his Hero suit—the same one from a few nights before, with that heavy mask hanging around his neck.
I tried to push him off, but he curled his arm around my waist, tugging me in as my skin slid over the ground. I hissed before slapping his face—hard.
“Wake up, you fucking elephant,” I seethed.
Leo opened his eyes; dark brown, with a soft, red glow behind them. When he used his ability, they would flare like a wildfire, as if he was burning inside. He blinked once before scrunching his nose at me, then let his gaze trail over my body. The look was too slow, and I couldn’t decide if he was drinking me in or picking me apart.
Judgy bastard.
“Morning,” he grumbled, and shoved me away.
I rolled onto my knees and tried to pull down the shirt around my thighs, barely covering my ass. What underwear was I wearing today? I couldn’t remember. Apparently, that happened after going on a drinking binge for three days. The fear of the VIA rejecting my leave, mixed with the anniversary of Joon’s death, had been too much. I wanted to be numb.
But now two Heroes had come to collect me, and reality was crashing in. I couldn’t run forever, couldn’t stay under the VIA’s radar. Life continued, and I was being sucked back into the sludge of Hero work, whether I liked it or not. If I were lucky, the VIA would claim that I broke some rule, that my three year leave had been too much and they considered me AWOL. They’d put me in a cell, and it would be uncomfortable, but I could wallow by myself for the rest of my life.
My daydreams would make it easy—I’d never come out of them. Strangely, the idea of being put in a Variant prison was much more palatable than being aHeroagain.
“Not to be that guy,” a light voice chuckled beside me, “but this is probably the best thing I’ve seen in my life. Did you used to take him out like this? Can you do it again? Can I get a picture?”
I snapped my head to the side and barely recognized the face. He’d chased me down the street, too, but it was Leo who I was fleeing from. He seemed a bit younger than us, a baby face with pale skin and mesmerizing eyes. One green, one blue, framed by shaggy red hair that I had definitely attempted to achieve through box-dye before. It didn’t pan out well for me.
“Is that natural?” I mused, reaching to get a closer look.
He grinned back with a nod. “One hundred percent. My eyes are, too. I’m pretty, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Reed. But you can call me WildGuard on the field—get it, WildGuard, like WildCard.” He snickered to himself, as if his Hero name was the best thing that had ever happened to Nightmyre.
I chuckled back, my shoulders relaxing. “Very pretty. I’m Alex.”
Reed didn’t come off as harsh, or worn down. Some Heroes were strict, others filled with hubris, but he had a hint of sarcasm to his voice, and it reminded me of Joon. He’d been the ‘perfect’ Hero, but he never took himself too seriously. There had always been a side to him that only I knew, that was shielded from the press and VIA.
A hand lashed out and snatched my wrist. Leo pulled me back and snarled at Reed; he was always grumpy when my ability wore off. I was never sure if it was from frustration, or if that’s always how he woke up from a deep sleep. It wouldn’t have surprised me; Leo was permanently angry. No wonder that flames were his forte.
“Awe, he’s mad that you think I’m pretty,” Reed sighed. “I think he’s jealous.”
“I’ll burn you alive,” Leo snapped before standing up, pulling me along with him. “Did you get lost or something? We don’t have time to play around.”
