King Of Bad [Super Villian Academy Book 1] (16 page)

Jeff winced. He
hadn’t watched closely when he’d hit Set and his buddies with the flames. No
wonder they hadn’t bothered him since.

The crowd
advanced into the room, tables and chairs tossed in the air like toys to make
way. Trays of food splattered the floor and the scattering kids. When the group
reached the center of the room, they unfurled like a flower bud. Jeff thought
these were the same people who’d stolen Source. But this time Jeff knew the
person in the center of the group.

All six feet
one inch of Mystic was wrapped in honey colored velvet. Even with defense, Jeff
couldn’t look at her without salivating. She was intoxicating, erotic and repulsive
all at once. The sexual attraction that she exuded was sickening and addicting.
Jeff tore his gaze from her and found the majority of the room ogled and
drooled over her.

Then the crowd
of intruders all focused on Jeff. His hands blazed with flame in response.

“Hello, Polar.”
Mystic’s voice sent shivers through Jeff’s body. It ran over him like a thick
coat of suntan oil warmed in the sun. He wanted Mystic’s hands on him, rubbing
it in and around.

He shook his
head trying to clear it. Why was her suave working on him so well? He hadn’t
had this problem the whole time he’d hung out with her.

Mystic chuckled
and Jeff’s legs went weak.

“I
giveth
, and I
taketh
away,” she said
and laughed.

Jeff’s eyes
grew wide and fear clutched his heart. He was defenseless again. Why had he
trusted her?

Occasional
scuffles erupted between the intruders and the academy members, but for the
most part, everyone stood and waited to see what was going to happen. Jeff
suspected that was Mystic’s suave at work. Though his hands burned with live
fire, he couldn’t will himself to use it against her.

“What do you
want?” he asked.

“You,” Mystic
answered.

“Why?” Oceanus
stepped forward.

Mystic raised
her eyebrows. “I see you still have your watchdog, Polar.”

Mystic turned
her full attention to Oceanus, momentarily lifting the suave from Jeff. Jeff
increased his fire and was about to throw it when Oceanus screamed and crumpled
to the floor.

“I hate that
little bitch,” Mystic mumbled.

In the split
second Jeff’s attention diverted to Oceanus, Mystic had him back in her control
again. The fire in his hands ebbed, though he wondered how much heat her body
could handle while he imagined all the places he’d like to explore.

Jeff glanced at
Oceanus heaped on the floor and something stirred inside him. He blinked, shook
his head and rubbed his temples. He knew he wasn’t in his right mind, but he
couldn’t shake the hold Mystic had on him. With his eyes locked on Oceanus’
unconscious form, Jeff slowly recounted who he was.

“They call me
Polar. I’m an S.V. with opposing abilities. I have fire and ice, levity and
gravity. I’m good and bad.” His eyes snapped up and locked on Mystic. “I’m good
and bad!”

Mystic smiled.
“Yes, you are. That’s why I’m here.”

The front line
intruders with the blue flame advanced toward Jeff. He ignited his hands and
threw an arc of fire toward them. Red flame collided with blue and fireworks ignited,
but neither flame reached its destination. Jeff filled his lungs and blew cold
air. The blue flame froze into hail balls and fell to the floor, sparking and
bouncing away ineffectually. He gathered gravity to lock the advancing intruders
down, but found their feet didn’t touch the ground. Four of the intruders stood
off to the sides of the main group and appeared to be levitating the front line.
Jeff threw the gravity into the air, hoping to grab the feet of the advancing
line, but the gravity scattered as soon as it left the ground.

Deep within his
body, Jeff tapped magnesium from his muscles. His hands lit up a blue so bright
it was almost white. He shot the flame at the three closest intruders. His
brilliant blue flame drove through theirs and right into the hands of those
that cast it. The three people yelled in pain. One was knocked over backward
and lay hovering off the ground,
glowing
a ghostly
blue-white. The levitator let the three injured fall to the ground.

Jeff shot at
another group of intruders. His mark hit two, but a third ducked and his shot
hit a levitator. Four of the front line intruders fell to the ground while two
crumpled from the electric pulse.

Jeff tried to
gather gravity, but he was tiring fast. He’d tapped too much of himself to
create the powerful blue flame. His arms and legs were like lead and it seemed
as if his abilities were mired in a tar pit. Yet seven intruders with blue
flame remained. Jeff gathered enough gravity to stick the four advancing
intruders to the floor, but he couldn’t produce a powerful enough flame to
attack the three that levitated toward him. He blew cold air at their shot of
flame and more electric hail rained down between them, sounding like a bug
zapper on a summer night. But the intruders recovered quickly and shot again.
Jeff had nothing left to defend himself with. The three bolts struck him,
riddling his body with static electricity. He convulsed as pain shot through
him. The gravitational hold he’d had on the four intruders released as he lost
consciousness.

Chapter 21

When Jeff awoke
he found himself tucked into a warm, soft bed. Pale mustard walls and chocolate
colored blinds that were pulled closed against the sun gave the room a comforting
feel. Jeff sat up and shoved a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his
face. It had been raining when they’d abducted Jeff. Had the rain stopped? Had
he been out a long time? Did they take him somewhere far away?

Jeff wore only
his boxers. He frowned, wondering where his clothes were and who’d taken them.

“You’re awake.”

Startled, Jeff
squinted into the shadowed corner where the intoxicating voice had drawled and
he growled, “Stop
suaving
me.”

“I’m not.”
Mystic reached over and yanked hard on the bottom of a blind, making it roll
open.

Jeff closed his
eyes against the sudden bath of sunlight. Then he blinked them open again to
glare at Mystic. Her long, bare legs hung over the arm of a cushy chair and glistened
in the sunlight. “If you aren’t
suaving
me, why do I
still…”

Her rumbling
chuckle stirred his groin. He closed his eyes again.

“You’re
probably experiencing residual effects. It’ll go away.” Mystic smirked.

“Where are my
clothes?”

“They were a
bit crisped. We sent someone out to buy you new clothes. No one here is as tall
as you.”

“Where’s here?”

“We are
currently residing at F.V.A, Future Villains of America.”

“What?”

Mystic placed
her hand over her heart and leaned away from Jeff. “You’re surprised?”

“I thought you
were good?”

“No, Polar,
you’re good, not me.”

“I’m not good!”
Jeff spat with indignation.

“You said it
yourself, Polar-boy, fire and ice, levity and gravity, good and bad. Therein
lies
the problem.” Mystic swung her long legs around and
stood.

Jeff stood too,
not wanting to be at a disadvantage. But standing there in only his boxers left
him feeling vulnerable regardless. So he squared his shoulders and puffed up
his chest to look as intimidating as possible.

Mystic chuckled
and lifted an eyebrow.

His cheeks
burned.

Stepping in
front of him, Mystic trailed a long finger down his chest and belly. She hooked
her finger into the top of his waistband and stopped. She looked up into his
eyes. “I’m not afraid of you, Polar. Remember, I know everything about you.”

Jeff grimaced.
He removed her hand from his boxers and shoved her away. “So what if I’m good,
too? Why would that matter to you? I might not ever have acknowledged it if it
hadn’t been for you.”

“You see, my
little flame thrower, that’s where you’re wrong. You were on the verge of
discovering it when I got myself thrown out of the academy. I was worried I
wouldn’t get back to you on time. If you’d discovered it while you were still
there, you’d have been in serious trouble.”

“I was in
serious trouble anyway. Your sudden heroics left me with a reputation as some
‘harbinger of goodness.’” Jeff made finger quotes in the air. “In case you
forgot, all those kids back there are villains. Villains aren’t nice to kids
they like…”

There was a
light knock on the door.

“Come in,”
Mystic said.

A beautiful
redhead entered, carrying a pile of clothes. She snuck glimpses of Jeff from
under her lashes, so he flashed his crooked grin and her cheeks glowed redder
than her hair.

Mystic
chuckled. “Come now, Polar, leave the poor girl alone.” She took the pile of
clothes from the girl.

The girl’s
manner changed completely. She dropped her gaze to the floor and curtsied
before backing out of the room. “What, are you royalty around here, or
something?”

Mystic smirked.
“Or something.”

She placed the
pile of clothes on the bed and took the shirt off the top. She shook it out and
asked, “Would you like some help getting dressed?”

Her eyes
smoldered as she lifted her arms to pull the shirt over his head.

Jeff snatched
the shirt from her hands and spun away from her. “No, I’ll take care of it,
thanks.”

Mischievousness
lit her eyes.
“You and your manners.”

Jeff frowned as
he pulled on his clothes. Oceanus always teased him about his manners, too.
Almost like he was the “bad boy” version of an S.V.
He dared
to be good and that made him appealing.
Oci
.
He ached with the memory of her crumpled form and her
piercing scream. He hoped she was okay. He couldn’t ask Mystic; she hated
Oci
and wouldn’t answer honestly.

When he was
dressed, Mystic led him down softly lit hallways covered in sage-colored
wallpaper with a buff-colored bamboo design. They entered a warm kitchen with
rouge-colored stucco walls, a slate floor and large stone ovens built into the
walls. A plump woman lumbered from the pantry, laden with a huge sack of
potatoes. Jeff rushed over and took the potatoes from her.

“Where do you
want them?”

The woman
blushed and stammered, “Um…well…the large sink.” She pointed across the room.

“There you go.”
He dumped the sack onto the counter.

Mystic stood
next to the woman. “Glenda, this is Polar.”

Glenda’s eyes
grew round. “Oh!”

“Do you have
any food for the kid? He eats a lot,” Mystic asked.

“Oh, yes, I
guess he would,” Glenda said. She shuffled to the stove and took down a cast
iron frying pan. Then busied
herself
breaking several
eggs into a bowl.

Mystic said to
Jeff, “Why don’t we sit over there while she whips up your meal?” She settled
at a small table in the far corner of the kitchen and gestured to the empty
chair on the opposite side.

Jeff sat, but
felt out of place. The cook’s reaction to him was odd. Had she recognized his
name because Mystic had assembled such a large group of people to capture him?
Was she impressed by his strange, good manners or was it something else?

Mystic lounged
as casually as ever, her legs stretched straight out in front of her and
crossed at the ankles. Gleaming sable waves tumbled down the front of her to
her waist. Though he’d never actually touched her hair, Jeff knew from the
implanted memories that it was as soft as silk and tickled in all the right
places.

Her abilities
annoyed him. He purposefully shifted his attention from her intriguing presence
to a multi-colored brick at the foot of the wall. Though she had no choice as
to what her root ability was, it irritated him to be so susceptible to it.

Glenda set a
plate overflowing with a fluffy, steaming omelet in front of him. The scent of
sautéed onion wafted up and his stomach growled. He smiled up at Glenda.
“Thanks, I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”

Glenda flushed,
nodded and staggered away.

Mystic
chuckled.

“What’s with
all the girlie reaction?” Jeff asked, nodding his head after Glenda as he
stuffed a fork full of egg into his mouth.

Glenda placed a
plate of toast and a glass of orange juice in front of Jeff and hustled away
before he could say anything.

Mystic said,
“If I’m not mistaken, I think you are developing
another
ability
.”

Jeff cocked his
head. “What do you mean?”

“Your goodness
appears to have its own polar effect. Not only is it good, in the stomach
turning sense of the word, but it seems it is the ultimate weapon of charm for
females.”

Jeff made a
face and then bit into his toast. “Girls just like manners. That’s what Mother
always said, anyway.”

“Well, S.V.’s
don’t usually have them, so it appears to have a dramatic impact.”

“But I’ve
always had manners. Why would they matter more now?”

“First off, your manners have always charmed girls to
an extent. Why do you think Oceanus wags her tail whenever you’re around? But I
suspect now that your goodness is emerging, the charm is deepened.” Mystic’s
eyes hooded and she smiled. “I admit it even works on me. I’ve always found you
attractive, but now you are almost irresistible.”

Jeff blushed.

Mystic sighed.

“What’s next?” Jeff asked around a mouth full of
omelet. “You didn’t go through all that trouble to bring me here just to have
me attend a new school of villains, did you?”