“Care to elaborate?”
“You’re the one who hates supers. The rest of us are content to co-mingle in a world filled with heroes, but you…” His voice had turned low, almost to where I expected the next words to be a scolding insult. “There isn’t a day where you didn’t wish they’d vanish.”
Bernard and Alejandro were unusually quiet. I wouldn’t have thought getting my wish would drive a wedge between us. Yes, their jobs depended on heroes, but so did mine. Perhaps after a day or two, they’d see that the people of Vanguard were resilient enough to hold their own.
“I’m not sure where you’re going with this. Are you blaming me? Or are you mad that for a change, I’m not the one on the losing side of this argument?”
Griffin leaned back in his chair, withholding anyfollow-up statement. I didn’t speak up when he went off about a new comic book. With Alejandro, I never judged him being a hero chaser. Good for him. Bernard, well, he was Bernard.
“I’m not going to sit here and cheer that my argument won. I’m not a dick. But give it a couple days. Maybe you’ll see that I was right, and we can get along without superheroes.”
Bernard started shaking his head. For years he had worked with the Centurions, one of the world’s elite superhero teams. He always had interesting stories to tell about events happening behind the scenes. There was even a time when I had one of his team in the back of my ambulance after being impaled on a beam of light.
“It’s going to descend into chaos,” Bernard muttered.
“I wouldn’t?—”
Every phone in the coffee shop dinged at the same time. Without a doubt, it was the HeroApp™. Nobody at the table reached for their phone. Their willingness to ignore their devices caused my anxiety to jump. Gay men were wired to their phones. We’d have them installed in our brains if we could.
“Fine, I’ll bite.” I flipped mine over and, of course, it was the HeroApp™. See, everything was returning to normal. There were plenty of blips on the— Where the heroes were typically identified by red dots, the map showed nearly a dozen black dots all over the city, including the Ward.
The heroes were gone, but the villains, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be suffering. There were no red blips appearing, no heroes, none.
“Chaos,” Bernard said as he got up from his chair. “I have to head to work and see what the government is going to do. Be careful out there. Better yet, check in every few hours.”
Alejandro nodded. “Si, Papi.”
Bernard’s face hardened as he looked at me. I could handle nearly dying or being covered in gore, but under his disapproving gaze, something in my stomach tightened. Up to this point, our difference of opinion had been lighthearted and playful, but now the guilt forced me to sink into my chair.
“Be careful,” I echoed.
7
“Doyou think it was the government?”
It took a moment before Lei smacked me on the shoulder, nearly knocking the coffee from my hand. I had been staring at my phone for the better part of twenty minutes, waiting for Aiden to return a text message. For the past few days, he had continued texting, keeping me informed about his investigation into the missing superheroes. Well, more like he complained about the lack of leads and no information to be had.
“The government? No, I don’t think so. What would they have to gain?”
“You’re way more fun when you’re not deep dicking a man.”
I spat, barely able to keep from choking on the coffee. Slowly, I turned my head to see the devious grin. I might bethe burly, large and in-charge type of guy, but Lei was the one who lacked censorship.
“What?”
“Don’t play me, fool. You’re staring at that phone like you’re waiting to find out if you won the lottery. I know when a medic is chasing skirt. Trousers? Kilts? What exactly is it you chase?”
“I don’t.”
“The death grip on your phone says otherwise.”
“Have I mentioned how much I hate you?”
“This hour? Wait, did you mention it when you said hello?”
“You’re exhausting.”
“I’m pretty sure you said it when?—”
