Page 205 of Villainous Rise

“No!” I twisted in his grip, but Helios held me effortlessly.

Another pulse of light erupted from his fingertips. This one hit Simmons square in the chest, sending him flying backward. He hit the wall with a sickening thud before crumpling behind the desk, out of sight.

“Simmons!”

A thunderous boom echoed from the sealed office doors. Cipher or Havoc, maybe both, were trying to break through. The metal glowed red-hot where Helios had sealed it, but the Tower was working against them too. All of the doors and walls were reinforced to withstand super-powered assaults, meaning with the doors fused, they were trapped in the office.

“They won’t get through in time,” Helios whispered, his breath scalding against my ear. “Havoc built this place too well.”

As if summoned by his name, reality tore open beside us—a jagged wound in the air ringed with crackling blue-black energy. Havoc stepped through, his eyes blazing with cold fury.

The chaotic energy surrounding him made my skin crawl, acidic pinpricks dancing across my nerves. It couldn’t hurt me but the sensation was deeply unpleasant.

“Let her go, William,” Havoc demanded, chaos energy swirling around his fists.

Helios yanked me in front of him like a shield, pinning my arms to my sides. “I wish we could catch up properly,” he said. “But I have business elsewhere.”

“This isn’t you, Helios. Fight it.”

“You have no idea who I am.” Helios’s laugh chilled my blood. “None of you ever did.”

Havoc struck without warning, a blast of chaos energy arcing toward us. He knew it wouldn’t harm me, but Helios⁠—

Light erupted from Helios’s entire body, a supernova of raw power. The chaos energy disintegrated on contact and Havoc’s eyes widened in genuine shock.

“Surprised?” Helios taunted. “Didn’t you know? Helios hobbled himself. He was too afraid of what he could do.” Another blinding blast followed.

Havoc tried to counter, but the energy wave hit him. He flew backward, slamming into the far wall before sliding to the floor, unmoving.

“No!” I struggled harder, but Helios’s grip was unbreakable.

The windows behind Simmons’s desk liquefied under a stream of concentrated heat from Helios’s free hand. Cold night air rushed in as the glass dripped like water onto the floor.

Helios stepped toward the opening, dragging me with him and launched us outside. He banked sharply and leveled us out, hovering near the exterior wall directly in front of the launch bay doors connected to Havoc’s office.

The lockdown had caused a secondary door to deploy and Cipher was just breaking through that door.

Helios raised his free hand and unleashed a concentrated beam of white-hot solar energy. It struck the center seam of the bay doors with a deafening hiss. The metal frame glowed blindingly bright as it melted, Helios fusing it shut.

Cipher was trapped, not even the Hammer could get past the melted door.

Helios drifted sideways, carrying me along the exterior of the building. Through the reinforced glass, I could see Cipher, his face contorted with rage and fear, fists pummeling the window. Tiny fractures had begun to form, but not quickly enough.

“Don’t worry,” Helios called out. “I’ll take good care of her.”

Cipher’s eyes locked with mine for one agonizing second before Helios turned and flew us away from the Tower.

CHAPTER 37

ANNIE

My stomach lurched at the rapid ascent, the city shrinking beneath us, buildings becoming miniature models as Helios flew higher and higher. The wind whipped my hair across my face as we climbed, the air growing thin and bitingly cold.

Helios was silent, his usual cheerful chatter absent. I craned my neck to look at his face and felt my blood run cold. His normally warm, expressive features were blank, eyes hard and calculating in a way I’d never seen before.

We finally stopped ascending, hovering hundreds of feet above the city.

“Helios, please,” I tried, my voice shaking from both the cold and fear. “This isn’t you. I know something’s wrong.”