Super Bad (a Superlovin' novella) (17 page)

“No one is going to
hurt Mirage,” Julian insisted. He wouldn’t allow it.

“Not now. Not when her
death means the death of Kim Carruthers.”

“Not ever. There was
never a conspiracy to hurt her.” Julian directed his arguments at Eisenmann,
not knowing where else to look and feeling strange about talking to the shadows
as Mirage did.

Wroth didn’t seem to
hear. “I just want my daughter back safely.”

Mirage stepped forward
again. “And here I am, Dad. I’m completely unharmed. Just let Kim and Eisenmann
go and I’ll stay with you—”

“
No.
” The word
ripped out of Julian’s throat, instinctive and primitive. “Mirage stays with
me.” He wasn’t letting her out of his sight.

“Mirage for Kim and the
doctor,” Demon-Eisenmann grated. “That’s the deal. Take it or watch them die.”

Julian’s eyes locked on
the green fluid poised above Kim and Eisenmann’s IVs. If he believed Mirage, it
wouldn’t kill them, just give them superpowers, but as much as he trusted
Mirage, that trust didn’t extend to her father. Julian couldn’t stand not being
able to see him, hearing his words only through Eisenmann, so
everything
felt like a lie, because the words were a lie to Eisenmann, and he couldn’t get
a read on the situation. He was used to always knowing the truth. Always knowing
what to do. But now all he had was his gut and he had to say situations like
this without his superpowers
sucked
.

He was strong enough to
take any amount of damage, but Demon had found his weakness—his need to save
everyone—and exploited it. He couldn’t let any harm come to Kim. Not because he
was in love with her—since he didn’t feel a thing when he looked at her anymore—but
because it would change him on a fundamental level if he walked away from his
convictions that way. He couldn’t trade one life for another—even if he wasn’t
certain Kim was in mortal danger. But neither could he lose Mirage. The idea of
watching her walk away, disappear from his life, never to be seen again, tugged
at something raw and visceral in his soul. It went deeper than honor to a place
where caveman instinct ruled. She was
his
. If she ever left him, it
would shred him, but it would be
her
choice. Not at the coercion of her
father. And if she would have him, if she felt a fraction for him of what he
felt for her, he would make sure she never had a reason to want to vanish like
a mirage from his life.

Which meant he couldn’t
hurt Demon, because that would hurt Mirage. Dammit. There was no good answer. Except,
perhaps, the truth.

“I’m sorry…sir,” he added
belatedly, remembering his manners when he realized he might want to suck up a
bit to his potential future father-in-law. “I can’t let you take Mirage away
from me. Not as long as she wants to stay. You see, I don’t trust you. And I
love her too much to watch her walk away.”

A few steps in front of
him, Mirage’s back went stiff and her head snapped around. “
That’s
how
you tell me you love me? Seriously?”

“I know my timing isn’t
ideal, but it’s the truth.”

“
Lies
.” Demon-Eisenmann’s
roared echoed off the rafters. Mirage and Julian’s attention lasered in on the
doctor as his entire body began to shudder. “He’s lying to you! This is what
heroes do! They earn your trust, play against your emotions, and betray you
when your guard is down.”

Julian took a step
toward Mirage, one hand stretched out to her, and Demon-Eisenmann’s eyes went
so wide the white was visible all the way around the iris.

“
Get away from her!
”

“Dad, release
Eisenmann!” The panic in Mirage’s voice triggered a rush of adrenaline in
Julian. Something was
very wrong
. “You’re pushing him too hard, Dad. Get
out of him
now
!”

Mirage broke toward
Eisenmann, but the room was too damn big and they were too far away. She only
made it two running steps before Eisenmann’s eyes rolled back in his head, a
massive seizure wracking his body. With the first convulsion, his hand smacked
down on the button and the green liquid slid sinuously into the IVs. Mirage got
to him first, but her top priority was making sure the doctor didn’t swallow
his tongue, not yanking out the IV lines. By the time Julian reached the
chairs, the damage was done. Whatever the “poison” was, it was in their veins
now.

He quickly snapped the
handcuff links and tore through the restraints tying Kim to the chair, tossing
her still-unconscious form over his shoulder as he turned to help Mirage with
Eisenmann.

“What’s happening to
him?”

“Natural defense
mechanism when the mind is pushed too far.” She pinned the doctor’s flailing
arms down.

Eisenmann went abruptly
still. There was a beat of pure silence in the room, the sound of their
breathing unnaturally loud in the eerie stillness.

Then all hell broke
loose.

The first explosion
knocked him off his feet. Julian flew backward, twisting awkwardly in the air
to protect Kim as much as possible when they landed hard, punching a divot into
the hardwood floor.

“Mirage!” he shouted
over the sudden roaring in his ears. He came to his knees, cradling Kim’s limp
body. Then he looked up and realized the roaring wasn’t only in his ears. The
room was on fire, hungry flames noisily devouring the dry, aged timbers. The
explosion hadn’t been a bomb, but a fireball. Demon Wroth had put them inside a
goddamn tinderbox and lit a match. The bastard. His own daughter…

No. That couldn’t be
it. He wouldn’t hurt Mirage. It had to be a mistake. Or an illusion. She’d been
growing more powerful. She’d said she would need to use the full force of her
abilities to overpower her father. Had she somehow rolled even Julian, in spite
of his natural immunity? Their plan. It was all part of the plan. If anything
went wrong, she would pull an illusion. He just hadn’t expected to be caught in
the middle of it.

Heat slammed against
him and smoke-thickened air clogged in his lungs. “Mirage!” he roared, then
broke into coughing as he sucked in another breath of ashy air. He couldn’t see
her, couldn’t get to her to touch her and feel the truth.
Shit, what if she
has another mental break now?
“Mirage, turn it off!”

“It isn’t me!” She
appeared at his side, pushing through the smoke and flames.

The
real
smoke
and flames. Holy shit, the fire was
real
. Soot dusted her cheeks, but
she seemed whole and uninjured. For now. The fire wasn’t taking any prisoners. Mirage
was in danger and even superstrength didn’t make him burn-proof.

“Goddamn your fucking
father!” Julian’s anger spiked and the rush of rage cleared his head. The fire
had originated in the center of the room where they’d been standing. The path
to the front door was still clear—though at the rate the fire was going, it
wouldn’t be for long. They just had to get Eisenmann and get the hell out
before the burning ceiling rained down on them. “Where’s Eisenmann?”

Mirage pointed straight
into the blinding inferno where the flames burned blue and even purple they
were so hot.

Jesus Christ.
There
was no way he was still alive. Julian locked his jaw. He’d liked the doctor. Hadn’t
known him very well, but he’d seemed like a good guy. A brilliant man, valued
in his field. Fuck Demon Wroth.

“It’s him!” Mirage
shouted, pointing toward the epicenter of the fire.

“Your father?”

“No, Eisenmann! He’s
the fire. Can’t you feel him? My father must have found a way to accelerate the
poison’s effects. Eisenmann’s pyrokinetic.”

Oh holy motherfucking
shit.
Pyrokinetics were unstable on the best of days, but
when their abilities emerged for the first time, they’d been known to take out
entire city blocks. He shot a look up at the rafters where burning pieces of
roof were already beginning to crash down. Fire couldn’t hurt a pyrokinetic,
but falling debris had killed more than a few.

“How can we shut him
down?” he shouted over the growling flames, already knowing the answer. He
couldn’t get close enough to Eisenmann to knock him out, and even if he could,
there was no guarantee that would stop the blaze. Some pyros could light fires
even under sedation.

“We can’t,” Mirage
shouted back. “We have to find my father and get out of here.”

He fully supported the
second half of that statement. The first half? Out of the fucking question. “We
have no idea where he is. And even if we knew, it’s too dangerous. The building
is coming down, Mirage.”

“He has to be close. I
know it. He might have been knocked out when Eisenmann ejected him from his
mind. He could be helpless, Julian. Please. Don’t even villains deserve to be
saved?”

“Shit. Fine. But you
wait outside with Kim.”

He grabbed Mirage and
threw her over his other shoulder, ignoring her kicking and struggling as he sprinted
for the door. They burst through just as the flames reached it. He set them
both on the ground outside, gratefully sucking in smoke-free air.

“Try to get through to Eisenmann.
Put him under an illusion, whatever you have to do.”

The moonlight showed
the blood rushing from her face as she paled beneath the ash marking her
cheeks. “I can’t, Julian. His mind is already so fragile. Last time, with Kevin,
I couldn’t control myself. What if I break him? There’s no telling what a pyro—”

“You won’t break him. You
can do this.” He palmed the back of Mirage’s head and pulled her up for a
quick, hard kiss. Releasing her, Julian shrugged out of his jacket and shirt,
wrapping the shirt around his nose and mouth to keep out the smoke before
putting the jacket back on to protect his skin. He touched her face, hoping
like hell it wouldn’t be the last time his fingers felt her skin.

Then he turned and ran
back into the burning building.

* * * * * * * * * *

Mirage watched Julian’s
strong back disappear into the crackling, hissing, deathbox of a lodge. He was
a hero, right? He did this kind of thing every day before breakfast, didn’t he?
And he was plunging back in there to save her father at her request. But the
thought of even a hair on his head getting singed made her chest ache, filling
her lungs with suffocating panic, and bringing home one very daunting truth.

Captain Justice was the
love of her life.

Not just some guy who’d
helped her, who she’d had sex with, and who she happened to like pretty well,
but The One. She hadn’t even realized she
believed
in The One until her
very soul was filled with the unalterable truth that he was it.

She couldn’t let him
die.

Pure, calm purpose
swelled up inside her. She could do this. Julian trusted her, believed in her
when no one else had. When others had looked at her like she was a lost cause,
he’d seen her through the confusion and never once doubted she would find her
way to the other side. He was her rock. Now it was her turn to be his.

The roaring fire faded
from view as she looked with her inner sight instead, seeking out the pinpoint
of wild light that was Eisenmann’s mind. She found him easily, but even his
thoughts were wrapped in layers of flame. The heat was intense. Even knowing it
was all in her mind, she felt certain her skin must be melting, her eyelashes
themselves catching fire, but still she held on, pushing through, pushing
deeper until she found the core of him. It was still hot there, searing, but
she could feel the frantic flutter of his thoughts, rationality completely
subsumed in instinct and terror. He was conscious enough to be afraid, but that
fear was only feeding his body’s newest defense mechanism.

She couldn’t speak to
his mind, her abilities had never worked that way, but she could give him
something much less frightening to think about. Mirage threaded herself ever so
gently into his consciousness, careful not to push, just a teasing tendril of
an illusion. She focused on making it the most soothing vacation from reality
that she could, taking the visceral sensation of heat and pouring it into
sunshine, waves pounding against a beach taking the place of the roar of the
fire. She put Eisenmann into a Corona commercial, lazy, comforting, the
furthest thing she could think of from fear. She lulled him until the layers of
flame in his mind were extinguished, one by one, but she didn’t dare open her
eyes to check if the flames in the building were following suit. Not until she
felt the tension ease out of his thoughts as Eisenmann lost consciousness.

When she came back to
herself, the timbers were glowing like embers in the night, but there were no
more active flames. Smoke poured off the roof and out of every opening and
every PSA she’d ever seen about smoke killing more than fire echoed in her
mind. Eisenmann, her father,
Julian
. They weren’t out of danger yet.

Had she been too slow? Had
the smoke and massive collapsing beams already killed them?

She shoved herself to
her feet and staggered over the uneven ground toward the door. She knew she was
too small to be much help, but she couldn’t stand there wringing her hands like
some medieval damsel in distress, waiting for her white knight to return. She
would lift the scorched beams off Julian with her bare hands if she had to.