I turned the key before he could snatch it away and leaned forward, ready to take off. “Deadly. Get on, and shut your mouth, or stay here, and scream into the void. Your choice.”
“So we both die, then?”
I shrugged as I slipped my helmet on. “I thought you were a big bad Hero? Save me if you need to. But I’m riding this bitch into the sunset whether you approve, or not.”
Leo’s eyes went from my face to the side of my bike, right where I’d put the name Hopper. His shoulders sagged, and his face softened before finally, mercifully, he relented.
“You got a real mouth on you, you know that?” He grumbled before sliding behind me.
Leo wrapped his arms around my waist, and I couldn’t help but snicker. A six-foot-something guy latched onto me, atop a bike that could pass as a toy compared to his size. Comedy gold. I made a mental note to ask the security guys for the camera footage, later.
He leaned in, tucking his chin on my shoulder to make sure I heard him through the helmet, and I held my breath.
“Hopper,” he hummed. “I like the name…it’s nice. Joon would love it.”
For the first time, I actually agreed with Leo.
NINE
LEO
Motorcycles made me nauseous.
I wasn’t sure if it was because Alex was the one driving, or if I wasn’t built to zip through the city on a toy while car horns honked and red lights were run. If I didn’t think so before, now I was sure. Alex had a fucking death wish, and she was taking me into the ground with her.
“Slow down!” I yelled for the eighteenth time.
She didn’t hear me, or pretended not to as she laid on the throttle. So tiny, and so fucking terrifying. The woman feared absolutely nothing. I held onto her tighter, some vain attempt at convincing myself that if we crashed, I’d be able to shield her, and save us both. But fire didn’t usually help situations like that, so I wasn’t sure what I thought I could do.
Do I have a will?After eight years of Hero work, the thought finally popped into my head.
All it took was a madwoman on wheels.
We sat at a red light, the bike rumbling beneath us as Alex kept her gaze fixated ahead. I took the opportunity to breathe, leaning back from where I’d clung to her. My hands stayed on her hips, unwilling to let go in case she decided to jerk usforward again. Her skin was cooler to the touch than mine; even through her tank top—which left her arms and shoulders completely unprotected and at risk for some serious road rash—the chill was almost soothing.
My gaze trailed down her neck, peeking around the black braid she’d tied her hair into. A small white scar sat below her ear on the left side, right where all Variants got their chips. I narrowed in on a black mark at the base of her neck, and pushed her braid aside to get a better look, my hands moving on their own. She waved an arm behind her, batting me away, but I’d already caught a glimpse of the delicate outline of a rose tattoo.
When did she get that?
I didn’t know Alex had tattoos. I didn’t know much about her at all, actually. Only what I’d observed in the academy, and what Joon had mentioned about her. Her parents worked hard; they grew up together, and Alex used to cry a lot. I always thought that detail was weird; she never cried at the academy. She only fought back, even when she was pounded into dust during training.
I hated to admit it, but she was kind of a badass.
In the academy, I could only fixate on her size, and the way her ability left her completely vulnerable. She couldn’t be on the field—if she fell asleep, it would be left to her partner to wake her up, or protect her from whatever was around them. Joon was certain that she could do it, but it always gnawed at me, that feeling of holding my breath every time she entered the arena to spar.
The first time she got hurt, I wanted to vomit. I’d seen bad injuries, experienced many of them myself, but healers could always help us recover. Alex had gone in against a Variant that could create spikes from his body; large pikes that shredded flesh. She hadn’t gotten to him in time, and he impaled her. Seven times.
I’d never seen so much blood before then.
Joon had run for her, and I’d found myself following him. A healing Variant worked on her for three hours before she came to and slapped a grin on her face with pride for surviving it. I didn’t want to see her like that again; I didn’t want to watch Joon pace in front of her hospital room every time she got hurt. I didn’t want us to go to her funeral.
That feeling only grew throughout the years. Each time she got beaten up, that feeling in my chest expanded. Joon knew; always watching me, watching her. But the warning remained—stay away from Alex, so she doesn’t get burned.
I hated that it hurt. Alex got her ass handed to her in training battles, just like Joon and I did. ButIwas meant to keep my distance;Iwas the one punished. There was only one time that I brought it up, though. One time was all it took for Joon to put me back in my place.
“She gets hurt in training, when we are supposed to hurt each other. It looks bad, it is bad, but it can be healed,” Joon had said. “You both went after each other that day. Both of you used your abilities out of anger, not necessity. There is a difference between hurting someone out of emotion, and hurting someone because you have to. Your ability is something she wouldn’t survive,”
By the time we reached headquarters, my hair was a frazzled mess, and I was sitting in a pool of self loathing. I wished I had been nicer to her; maybe then she would have reached out after Joon passed. I wished we’d found some common ground; maybe I would’ve known more about her Hero work, how important it was. I wished that I hadn’t lost my temper, and I wished she would talk to me like I wasn’t the enemy.
