With a shrug, I licked it off my hand, surprised by its saltiness. A shot of protein never hurt anybody. It wasn’t as hot post-orgasm, but as my cock twitched, it was enough to get my motor going again.
Convinced I got it all, I reached for the phone. With a swipe of my thumb, my heart sank. One after another, notifications appeared, warnings from the HeroApp™. The city was under siege as villains terrorized every corner of Vanguard. The app had moved to an alert warning citizens to stay inside at night.
“Jesus,” I said. “I guess Griffin was right.” I would never tell him that, but it appeared that heroes did keep the menaces of the city in check. I growled as I read a text Griffin sent hours earlier.
“Told you so.” I would never hear the end of it.
Thankfully, the next message had a number I recognized. I deleted that punk Griffin and moved to Aiden’s text.
A: Don’t be a hero.
A: You okay?
A: Not funny. Cops are making us leave the hospital. Where are you?
A: If you’re dead, I’ll be pissed.
A: You’re never going to get ass this way.
I snorted at the man’s determination. He had gotten away safely and had no idea that I turned into a firefly. Revealing that I had joined the league of spandex to a journalist for a superhero magazine might make things complicated.
X: Phone got smashed. I’m alive. How are you?
I switched over to the HeroApp™ while waiting for his reply. On any given night, two or three minor villains popped up. But tonight, I lost count at twenty-two small crimes taking place and two major events underway. The city wasn’t going to be safe, not until the heroes came back.
“Maybe…” I flexed my hand, forcing the knuckles to bulge on my right hand. I had driven my hand through a concrete wall without feeling pain. Somehow, I shot fire like a flamethrower. Somewhere inside my body was a leather suit waiting to make an appearance. “Don’t want them, but maybe…”
The phone vibrated, and I picked it up, expecting to see a text. Instead, a photo from Aiden had come in. He was sitting in the bathtub with strategically placed bubbles. On the side sat a glass of bourbon, and I swear I could see an old-school boom box just out of focus in the frame. The message simply read, “Been worse.”
X: Better if you weren’t alone.
A: True. Did you see the new superhero in the hospital?
X: Lol. From my hiding spot? No.
A: He’s the answer.
I wasn’t sure where he might be going with this. I knew from listening to Griffin that heroes maintained secret identities to keep the people around them safe. If Smoke knew I was close with somebody, he could use it against me. Letting Aiden in on my little secret wouldn’t end well.
X: To???
A: For the magazine. I’m going to land an interview with Blaze.
“Blaze?” I scoffed. “No. Not just no, but hell no.”
A: He’s probably out saving the city.
Saving the city, not so much. Pounding his fist against the face of bank robbers. Yeah, he might be up for that. I unplugged the phone and headed to the shower—again. Once I washed up, and got myself in a clean set of clothes, it was time to go out find some ass to kick.
10
They had builtVanguard City to show the limitless potential of mankind. Sitting on the ledge of the Ward’s tallest building, I understood the sentiment. Even while chaos ran rampant on the streets below, from here, I only saw man’s determination to carve out a moment in history for themselves. It was unfortunate we also had a limitless ability for destruction.
A nearly full moon hung high in the sky, casting an eerie cool light across the city. Despite the ethereal glow, it didn’t hide the blood coating my hands. There were splashes of crimson that still shimmered from the wetness.
From up here, the streets were quiet. I should quit, call it a night, and head home. Turning my hand into a fist, the blood pulled at the hair. I wanted more. The manattempting to rob a young woman received a matching pair of broken arms. The customer wielding a gun at the gas station would need a dentist after they wired his jaw shut. It had been an eventful night.
Touching the hole in yet another t-shirt, I thought about inching from the ledge. None of their punches hurt, neither did the gunshot, despite my flinching. If I dropped off an eight-story building, would I land without a scratch? If I was lucky, I’d land the classic pose, dropping to one knee with the pavement cracking underneath my weight.
