Was it because she was being allusive by saying the CDS couldn’t have me sign this particular contract – essentially, making it sound like they couldn’t sign at all if I was sovereign, when in reality it would just require a different type of contract?
I definitely needed some clarity here.
“Just to make sure I understand. Am I going to receive Political Sovereignty and access to my evaluation?”
Her response was short. “Yes.”
“And is it possible to add people to my ‘country’ essentially, or however that’s viewed?”
She hesitated, glancing at the others still seated, before clearing her throat. “I’ll need a full list of those you wish to include, as well as–”
Pennington abruptly interrupted her. “Now, just so we’re clear, Mr. Archer. Being Politically Sovereign doesn’t mean you can do whatever the hell you want. And just like a separate nation, we can still wage war on anyone we view as a threat. Furthermore, if you become Politically Sovereign, then there’s a certain level of clearance you’ll never be able to achieve.”
Unexpectedly, Liz scoffed behind me, prompting him to look at her in outrage. Without another word, appearing as if he was going to blow a head gasket, he abruptly stood to his feet and began marching out of the room, cursing under his breath as he did so.
Damn, he was acting like someone had pissed in his cereal, irritated just because he didn’t get his way in a negotiation that probably didn’t actually affect him much on a personal level.
So really, he was angry because he didn’t get to piss in my cereal.
Jackie cleared her throat as she stood up, her papers and tablet in hand. “We’ll talk later. Please remain here until Ms. Stockton comes to get you.”
I nodded, watching as everyone else got up to leave too.
Finally, it was just Winter and Liz, with the short blonde sprite moving to take a seat where Mrs. Dolan had been on my left, while Winter remained exactly where she was, staring ahead at the wall in silence. She didn’t look very happy, and I had zero idea why.
“Thanks, by the way,” I whispered quietly to Liz.
She leaned forward on the table, stretching her arms out, before sighing. “You’re welcome. And no one can hear us again.”
“Why did you help?” I wondered.
She rested her cheek in her palm, looking a little bored as she also stared at the wall, before answering. “Simple. When you’re dealing with people like us, it’s best to try to keep things peaceful. I helped you because I was able to do so, and all I ask in return is that you do the same if the opportunity ever presents itself.”
“Of course,” I agreed adamantly.
Her blue gaze focused on me. “And we’re not keeping score or anything,” she clarified. “If you’re never in a position where you can help me, which honestly is unlikely to begin with, that doesn’t mean I still won’t help you with simple things like this.”
I nodded. “So, what is the Grimoires Act anyway?”
She sighed, focusing on the wall again. “In general? It’s a universal law designed to help nations deal with those who are determined to have above-average lifespans. Section 105 specifically provides for such individuals over the age of a hundred to legally become recognized as a Sovereign Persons, so long as they have never been convicted of a felony at the time of request. And there’s also a section for adding other people related to the super.”
Shit, I sure as hell hoped they didn’t decide to try to stop this from happening by slapping a felony on me…because, I did technically kill someone and all. Although, assuming that didn’t happen, I fully intended to try to get Lexi and Heidi added underneath my Sovereign ID if I could, in addition to Freya, Lily, and my daughters.
The reason? For one, to give Lexi an extra safety net, via absolute legal immunity, in the event her actions while under duress were discovered and deemed something else. Not to mention, adding them wasn’t that big of a deal to begin with. I mean, it wasn’t like I was adding them to my family, just my figurative ‘country.’
“However,” Liz continued in a bored tone. “As you can imagine, they aren’t thrilled about handing that kind of legal status out to a ton of people.” She glanced at me again. “Even if there aren’t that many of us, allowing for powerful immortal supers to become sovereign can have some negative consequences in their perspective.”
I nodded in understanding, deciding not to ask for further details, since I suspected we’d be parting ways soon, and had other questions to ask. “So, is there a way I can meet the others?” I wondered. “Like your husband, for example?”
She shook her head. “Not at this time. Maybe one day.”
I nodded again, falling silent, only to glance at Winter. I really wanted to thank her too, but she had this ‘Don’t talk to me or I’ll rip your head off’ vibe going on right now. And while I certainly didn’t feel threatened by it, I also didn’t want to be disrespectful by ignoring the obvious nonverbal signals she was giving off.
I wouldn’t think that her telling them that she trusted me would be that big of a deal, but her expression made me wonder if she’d sacrificed more than she was willing to admit. But how? How in the world would her telling them she trusted me be a sacrifice?
Would she be held responsible for my actions because of it?
Or was it something else entirely?
Unexpectedly, she sighed heavily, rolling her pale green eyes. “Dammit, you’re ridiculous,” she mumbled, only to turn her head to focus on me. “The universe doesn’t revolve around you, Mr. Archer. Most of my focus during that conversation was on that man’s thoughts, not yours. I was barely even paying attention to you the whole time.”
“Oh.” Shit, she was totally right. I thought her facial expressions were in response to my own thoughts, but most likely every single look crossing her face was directly a result of whatever that guy was thinking, not me. “And who was that, anyway?” I asked seriously.
Liz spoke up immediately. “We can’t say,” she said firmly.
“He must be the real reason your ‘services’ were requested,” I assumed.
She pursed her lips. “Perhaps. I honestly didn’t realize he was going to be here until he showed up with the General. But most likely, you are correct. Then again, they might have ‘requested my services,’ as you put it, even if he didn’t show up.”
“I see.” I looked up at Winter, focusing briefly on her black lips pulled to the side slightly, like she was deep in thought again. “And you didn’t come here for them at all, did you? You came either because you wanted to, because your aunt asked you to, or because someone else wanted you to assess me.”
Liz answered in her stead. “My husband,” she agreed automatically, garnering my attention again. “He wanted to verify that we could trust you. That, and my niece did want to get out.”
Winter scoffed. “You better leave it at that,” she mumbled threateningly.
Liz smirked slightly, before taking a deep breath as she leaned back in her chair. “Well, Mr. Archer, I do believe the person coming down the hall is your ticket out of here, so I guess this is goodbye for now.”
I nodded, holding out my hand to shake hers. Damn, her hands were so small. “I appreciate everything. Honestly, you two seem like a lot of fun. Kind of wish you lived around here, so we could hang out or something.” Winter’s eyebrow twitched, but I ignored it. “Your husband kind of sounds like a cool guy too. And it’d be nice to know someone who could relate to being older than the average person. It’d also be nice to have friends who…you know, weren’t going to die within a century.”
Liz gave me a sympathetic look. “Perhaps one day. Not anytime soon though. We all have our separate roles to play for now.” She looked up when Lexi appeared in the doorway.
I stood up in greeting, surprised to see the confident look on her face. I mean, Lexi was at work now, so it only made sense she’d present herself as the self-assured powerful super that everyone knew her
as.
Really, the vulnerability she showed to me in private was truly something only I was meant to see. Whereas this was the Lexi everyone else saw.
She smiled at me warmly. “I heard it went well,” she commented. “Which means I get to show you around now,” she added with a wink, her amethyst eyes practically sparkling.
Damn. Confident Lexi was hot Lexi.
I mean, she was hot either way, but this side of her would make any guy drool.
I considered briefly if introductions were appropriate, since I wasn’t sure if Lexi knew Liz and Winter, but Liz had swiveled around in her seat and Winter was staring at the wall again. Thus, I decided to just go with a silent farewell in my head, knowing the mind reader should at least hear me.
“Yep,” I said to Lexi out loud, walking up to her. “So what’s first?”
“Well,” she said in a seductive tone. “I know you love lifting weights, so we could visit the gym or maybe the pool.”
Damn. They had a pool here? And a gym?
“I’d kind of like to see your office,” I admitted. “Or wherever it is you work.” Shit, that sounded more suggestive than I was anticipating, especially if her office involved a separate room with a lockable door. I glanced back at Winter, who had taken a seat in my spot, her hand in her cheek as she spoke quietly to Liz, before moving to begin walking down the hall. Doubtful the woman cared even if I had meant for it to be suggestive, but it was just strange knowing someone was privy to all my thoughts.
The sensation wasn’t like Freya’s ability, where she could only use the power for a few minutes after drinking blood.
I supposed ultimately I didn’t care too much, but part of the discomfort came from not fully knowing what kind of a person Winter was. She’d initially seemed super distant, only to show a brief few minutes of openness, followed immediately by that same distant attitude. Granted, I supposed it didn’t matter, since I was unlikely to see her again anytime soon.
I focused on the purple eyes looking up at me expectantly. “Or maybe I could meet some of your coworkers,” I continued. “Assuming they aren’t too busy right now.”
Lexi nodded. “Yeah, we can do that. I kind of made them get the whole birthday thing over with so that I could focus on you.”
I sighed. “You didn’t have to do that.”
She shook her head. “No, I did, and honestly it only took like five minutes. Otherwise, you’d end up just standing around while everyone was focused on me, and I didn’t want to do that to you when you don’t even know anyone. But now, the focus can be on meeting you.”
“Do they already know about me?” I wondered, pausing as Lexi hit the button for the elevator. Given that there were eight of them, it dinged right away, one of them opening, so we stepped inside. Without hesitation, Lexi immediately grabbed my hand the moment the doors closed, intertwining her fingers in mine.
“Sort of,” she answered, acting as if we weren’t doing anything unusual. “They know there’s a negotiation going on today, and they’re aware I’m involved, but they don’t know anything about you yet.”
“And what will they eventually find out?” I wondered, focusing on her. “Like, will they have access to my evaluation?”
She shook her head, giving my hand one more tight squeeze before letting go as the elevator stopped. I followed her into the hallway as she responded. “No, there will only be two ways they come to find out what you can do – either you tell them, or else they find out via a mission. Specifically, if it’s disclosed why you’re being assigned a particular role. However…” She stopped next to a doorway, turning around to look up at me. “For the first month or two, you’ll probably just accompany me on any missions I’m assigned, just to watch things in action.”
I nodded, seeing that the door she was standing next to was labeled ‘Lounge.’
“Ready?” she asked expectantly.
“Oh, sure. I didn’t realize we were already here.”
She smiled. “Yeah, this is basically our breakroom. Jackie came to get me when they were just starting on cake, so probably most everyone is still here.” She opened the door then, ushering me into the most fancy ‘breakroom’ I’d ever seen.
Like damn.
There was literally a place for ‘lounging’ including plush couches and chairs, as well as a full kitchen, multiple vending machines that would prepare the food right in front of you, and even a large dining area.
Shit, the place felt like the lounging area for the fanciest college dorm on the planet.
“You like?” she asked in response to my stunned expression.
I simply nodded.
A cluster of people, all of them guys, were socializing on the other side of the room by a table with a birthday cake that put some wedding cakes to shame. One of the men noticed us enter the room, and commented on it.
“Hey, Lexi’s back with the new guy.”
I ignored them for now, since we had a few dozen feet to walk to be within comfortable speaking range, although one of them broke away to meet us halfway. “That’s a big cake,” I commented, kind of glad it was her birthday after all, since everyone was in a good mood when there was cake around, but also surprised by how elaborate it was.
Lexi frowned. “It’s excessive,” she agreed. “Have as much as you want,” she added, looking frustrated now. “I certainly won’t be eating any.”
My first thought was that maybe Lexi didn’t like that someone bought something so expensive for her, especially if that someone was one of her male coworkers. But I didn’t get a chance to try to figure out what she meant, because the guy approaching us walked right up to shake my hand. He looked like he was straight out of a rock band, with spiked hair as red as Lexi’s Ferrari, most likely dyed, and a lean muscular figure.
“Hey, nice to meet you,” he said cheerfully. “The name’s Benjamin.”
“Sam,” I replied, letting go of his hand. “Nice to meet you too.”
“So you got something really cool up your sleeve?” he wondered with a grin. “Seems like there’s been a lot of secrecy and hush-hush about you. And damn, you’ve got some crazy eyes going on there. That’s pretty awesome. Do they always glow like that?”
“Oh,” Lexi interjected, before I could respond. “Jackie just wanted to make sure they ironed out the details of his contract beforehand.”
“Uh-huh,” he replied skeptically. “So then, that mean you’re just a cinderblock too?”
“Cinderblock?” I repeated, sincerely confused.
“Strong and durable,” Lexi explained. “Usually to make it as a superhero, you either need to have those two qualities in some fashion, or some kind of valuable utility. For example, I’m not either of those, but my superpower is vital to a lot of our operations.”
“Yeah,” Benjamin agreed. “And if you’ve just got super strength, then you’re better off working for the police. Live longer that way. Pretty much all superheroes either have multiple abilities that make it practical to use them in the field, or else they at least have a really useful noncombatant power.”
“So what about you?” I wondered.
He laughed. “I’m like Lexi. I usually help with recon.”
“With insects,” she commented with a grimace.
“GMO Hornets,” he clarified. “You know what Genetically Modified Pheromone-Adaptive Hornets are, right?”
I tried not to laugh, my amusement leaking into my tone. “Not a clue.”
He grinned, this punk-rock superhero obviously thrilled to talk about his insects. “Scientists originally engineered them so that they could be trained to distribute pollen in areas where the bee population had been decimated. They also are great at killing off the Murder Hornet population as well, often the number one contributor to bee extinction in those areas, which can also help the normal bees recover.” His grin widened. “Anyway, I’ve got several thousand of them that react to my personal pheromones, allowing me to scope out areas with my superpower, since I can sen
se what they sense, and even attack the enemy in rare instances when it’s necessary.”
“Okay, that’s enough Mr. Bug Guy,” another dude said, walking up. He had brown hair and pale skin, but was wearing brownish-orange contacts. “I’m sure he’d be much more interested to hear about my pets.”
Benjamin rolled his eyes as the other guy stuck out his hand for me to shake.
“I’m Max, pack leader of forty-two Rashix.”
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head, sincerely shocked. The monster he was referring to was a literal science experiment gone wrong, when they tried to genetically engineer a creature that was some mix between a lion and a Komodo dragon. Why in the hell they would do that, I had no clue. Maybe they never anticipated it becoming capable of reproduction.
But the hairless monster was a ruthless predator, being more reptilian than mammalian, and almost impossible to eradicate once it had infested an area.
Shit, he was basically saying he had a horde of theatrical velociraptors at his command, except that these nightmares were scarier and ran on four legs. One bite was enough to kill a person if they didn’t get medical treatment, never mind the fact that if someone got bitten, there probably wouldn’t be enough remains to even have a proper funeral.
Max laughed. “Pretty cool, right? They were created for war, but impossible for most people to control.”
“Yes, yes, very cool,” Lexi agreed sarcastically. “Teasing Benjamin over here about his bugs, when all you want to do is talk about your obsession with lizards.” She looked up at me then, rolling her amethyst eyes. “Get bored of him talking about those ugly things, and then he’ll talk your ear off about all the tricks he’s taught his snakes at home.”
“They can do some pretty cool stuff,” Max said sincerely.
I finally laughed at that. “Does sound interesting,” I offered.
Lexi made an exaggerated effort to look playfully annoyed. “Okay then ,” she said emphatically, wrapping her arms around mine and giving me a tug. “Let me introduce you to everyone else here.”
I didn’t think anything of the gesture, but in the corner of my eyes both Benjamin and Max suddenly looked at me like I had three heads popping out of my shoulders. It took me a moment to realize it might be because of how Lexi was holding onto me, or even that she was touching me in the first place.
The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) Page 9
