Chapter 23

Fucking figures. The one time I’m actually relaxed…

I scrambled to my feet, just in time to avoid Steve grabbing me. Vi dropped everything she carried—including a very pissed off Pickles—and dove at Steve, tackling him to the ground. She rained down punch after punch but made the mistake of straddling him while doing so. He touched her bare thigh and she collapsed, shivering on the floor.

“Steve, don’t do this…” I warned.

He didn’t respond but lunged for me. Jay intercepted him, throwing an ineffective punch that grazed his cheek. Steve’s expression was a mixture of confusion and disbelief, as if to say, “Did you really just try to punch me?” Instead of freezing him, Steve simply punched Jay back, so hard it knocked him on his ass.

I focused on Steve, trying to inflict enough pain to halt his attack, but not enough to poof his brain. I didn’t know how long I was out, lying there on the couch with Jay, but I felt refreshed, like I’d slept for ten hours. It was a strange sensation, to feel relaxed yet in control at the same time.

Steve cringed, putting his hand on his forehead. When his nose started to bleed, I eased off, but only a little.

“You won’t win this.” It would be a lie to say I wasn’t enjoying it—not inflicting the pain as much as being able to finally control my power. He relented, sinking to the ground with his head in his hands.

I helped Vi and Jay to the couch, all the while keeping an eye on Steve. “Are you both all right?”

Vi wrapped herself in a throw blanket that was on the back of the couch and nodded. Jay’s eye was already starting to swell, but he nodded as well.

“Are you okay?” Jay asked. “Did he touch you?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Jay edged closer to Vi. “May I?” He motioned with his hands.

“Of course.” She exhaled when he placed his hands on her arms, and the shivering finally ceased.

I made my way over to where Steve sat on the floor. He lifted his head, and I got a view of his face. His lip was busted open, and the whole left side of his face was just fucked up. If Vi had continued her assault, I’m not sure he would’ve survived it.

“After you escaped… Derek’s on a rampage,” Steve said. “I don’t know what he’s capable of, I shudder to think what he could do to her… You must know I’m only doing this because I’m desperate.”

“I know,” I said. “As much as I want to despise you for everything that’s happened, I get the feeling you’re just a good person in a bad situation.”

He half-smiled. “I don’t expect you to forgive me.”

I stood, edging away from him. If he could reach me, he could teleport me out in a blink. And trusting him only burned me in the past. “Derek’s the bad guy, right? We can work together to save your daughter.”

“How?” Steve shook his head. “It’s impossible to get to her, I’ve tried.”

His thoughts came through without any effort at all. It’s hopeless. My feelings for her don’t matter…I have to bring her back somehow, then he’ll let Lillian go.

I wanted to slap some sense into him. “Don’t you fucking get it? Derek’s never going to let her go, that’s how he controls you!”

“Get out of my bloody head!” Steve roared. “You don’t understand.”

Vi joined me, positioning herself between Steve and me. “I understand you’re a selfish dickhead. Do you really want me to resume kicking your ass? Is that why you’re still here?”

“God, don’t you even want to know how I escaped?” I asked Steve. “Because it’s the key to saving your daughter.”

He softened. “I’m listening.”

“We can’t trust him,” Jay chimed in. “He’s probably bugged.”

He was likely correct, knowing the tech Derek had access to. I took Jay aside and whispered in his ear, “Is there a way we can check?”

Jay shuddered and nodded, then retrieved some kind of gadget from what I guessed was his bedroom. It looked similar to the wands they used to use at airports, to check for metal. But this one was more advanced.

Jay found two devices on Steve that both appeared to have been damaged in Vi’s assault. “What about his contacts?” he asked.

I looked into Steve’s ocean blue eyes and realized it never occurred to me to question why they weren’t hazy like the rest of ours. But Jay picked up on it.

“I bought them, they’re just colored lenses,” Steve said. “So that Lillian would recognize me. She never saw me, after the modification. I thought my altered eye color would scare her. That is, if I ever see her again.”

I sensed a sadness so profound from him. Looking at Jay and the sympathetic expression he wore, I got the feeling he picked up on it too.

“We’ll figure this out,” I said. “Together.”

“Did you, uh, want me to heal you?” Jay asked Steve. “Vi did a number on your face.”

Vi’s lips formed a sadistic yet proud grin. “Yep. Most fun I’ve had in months.”

“Heal?” Steve looked painfully confused for a second. “Oh, you must be the other one we were looking for.” He carefully touched his injuries. “No, it’ll look more convincing this way.” He turned his attention to me. “You really think we have a chance?”

“I don’t know. But we have to try.”

Steve nodded. “I have to report back, or Derek will get suspicious. When can we meet again?”

“Tomorrow,” I said. “We should have a game plan developed by then.”

Steve thanked us awkwardly, and then teleported out.

“Are we seriously going to work with him?” Vi asked, with more than a hint of frustration in her voice. “And what the fuck were the two of you doing while I was gone?” She shot Jay a reprimanding look. “We’re supposed to be watching over her.”

He looked off to the side. “She was so exhausted, that’s all. She needed a healing.”

“That’s fine, just be more vigilant, okay? Especially when I’m not here.”

Jay looked like a scolded child. It was so adorable. “Understood.”

He showed us the guest bedroom, and I moved my crap that was all over the floor into the room. Vi followed me in and hopped on the bed.

“It goes without saying I still don’t trust Steve,” she said. “Wouldn’t put it past that dick to end up double crossing us.”

It was a possibility I couldn’t argue, given his history. “They have his daughter. It’s the reason he’s been such a fucknut.” It felt good to make her smile. “It’ll be all right.”

“Damn, I’m exhausted,” Vi said and yawned.

“Why don’t you take a nap?” I said, as I put away my clothes. When I looked back at her, she was already out.

I covered her with the blanket on the bed, and gently kissed her forehead. She flashed a smile but stayed asleep.

Kicking Steve’s ass must’ve worn her out. Plus protecting me, even helping me dump a body… Then I remembered Alex—Derek mentioned he was still alive. Considering he was on the brink of death, he had to still be at the hospital. I tiptoed out of the bedroom to find Jay.

I didn’t find him in the kitchen or the living room, though I did see Pickles narrow his eyes at me from underneath the couch.

Jay’s bedroom door was cracked open, so I nudged it open wider.

He stood near his bed with his back partially to me, unbuttoning his white office shirt.