by Kelly Oram
“Why?”
“Because Carter didn’t know for sure that you were dead. He assumed you were, but he didn’t actually see you die. He didn’t know. You could have gotten away, or Visticorp could have still had you. The ACEs were my only chance at finding you.”
I blushed. Everything he said or did came back as a compliment to me, or a declaration of his feelings for me. He was either determined to show me how much he loved me, or he simply did love me that much and acted subconsciously. I honestly couldn’t tell if he was aware of what he was doing or not.
Unsure how to react to him, I cleared my throat and wiped at the salty crust on my cheeks left behind by my sob fest. “You mean you walked away from your family, friends, home, and a college football career so that you could run off to look for a girl who was probably dead?”
I didn’t mean to sound skeptical, but come on. Ryan shrugged, as if the answer were a given. “What if I had been dead?” I asked. “What if you never found me?”
“But you weren’t dead, and I did find you.”
And he was grinning again. Ugh. He was impossible. “But if I was?” I insisted. “If you never found me? That thought had to have crossed your mind.”
The playful smile finally fell from his face and he nodded slowly. “It did. More times than I’d like to admit.”
“Then why’d you leave?”
“Honestly?” I stayed silent, and it took Ryan a minute to answer. “I was running.” His eyes slipped out of focus as he drifted into a memory. “After you disappeared, I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t go on with life pretending like you never existed.”
I was touched by his candidness, but it saddened me, too. He hadn’t exactly said so, but it was clear that my disappearance had devastated him. He’d lost the girl he loved and it hurt him so badly that it drove him to leave his family and home in order to chase after a ghost.
It was hard to imagine what this situation must feel like for him. He’d been through something every bit as horrible as I had. Different, but equally awful. Though I knew I shouldn’t be, I was overcome with guilt thinking about how he must feel right now. But I wasn’t ready to get into the relationship discussion yet, so I moved the conversation on. “And what about the others?” Ryan shook himself from his daze and frowned at me. “The four people you said I rescued from Visticorp,” I clarified.
“Oh. You’ve met two of them—Tyson and Abiodun.”
“Okay, the kid is easy, but which one was Abiodun?”
“The really big black guy with the thick African accent. He’s older than everyone except Major Wilks.”
I nodded. He’d been the soft-spoken one who kept my temper calm when Ryan had freaked out about Tony earlier. He seemed like a nice man.
“And Tyson would be crushed if he ever heard you call him a kid, by the way,” Ryan added. “He idolizes you.”
I smiled behind my cup of tea. Tyson was cute. “And the other two?”
Ryan’s face fell. “An eight-year-old girl and a seventy-nine-year-old woman. Visticorp has them again. After the explosion, the four of them had no place to go. You said you’d find them, but of course you never did. Abiodun found an abandoned building to hide in, and then he and Tyson went out searching for you. Visticorp found the girls before they got back.
“Donovan knew they had escaped before the explosion, and combed the city like mad. Betty is a telepath. She was able to tell Abiodun they’d been found, but Abiodun and Tyson couldn’t get back to them in time. They must have knocked Betty out, because she stopped communicating right after she sent the warning. Now she must be out of range to reach us.”
My stomach churned. Visticorp was holding an eight-year-old girl and a seventy-nine-year-old woman hostage and running tests on them? It was horrific.
Ryan saw the loathing in my expression, and his own became fierce. “That’s the other reason I joined the ACEs. It’s why Tyson and Abiodun risked exposing themselves to join, too. We weren’t sure about you, but Betty and Natalia are still out there somewhere, and we need to get them back.”
I was sold. In fact, I was ready to leave. Maybe Major Wilks was right with his tough-love approach. My personal drama could wait. Donovan had done enough damage, and it was time to make him pay for it. Whether I trusted the ACEs or not, I needed their help and they needed mine. I finished the last of my tea and rose to my feet with a sigh. “I guess we should get going, then.”
As if he’d known all along that I’d go with him, Ryan smiled up at me and made himself more comfortable on the sofa. “There’s no need to rush, Jamie. They still have a long drive through the desert. We can meet them at the base in an hour. Sit down and relax for a while.”
He patted the spot next to him, inviting me to join him again, and when I narrowed my eyes, his smile turned wicked. “Wanna get reacquainted?”
Unbelievable. “Are you seriously asking me to make out with you for a hour?”
“What?” His brows rose in surprise, but his face was too innocent. “You thought I was—no, of course not.” He couldn’t keep up the ruse and cracked a smile. “I was just teasing.”
Yeah, sure, he was teasing. Big, fat liar. Big, fat, charming, incredibly sexy liar. With an irresistible smile.
“Unless you want to…?”
I so didn’t want him to see my amusement, but how could I not laugh at that? When my lips quirked up, Ryan’s grin turned movie worthy. “Pass,” I told him.
Ryan’s smile never faltered. “Another time, then.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed the room to the wall safe Tony and I kept hidden behind a bookshelf. “What are you doing?” Ryan came to stand behind me as I held my eye up to the retinal scanner. “That is so cool.”
Guys and gadgets. I personally didn’t get it, but Tony loved his tech equipment, too. “I have something that I think might help find Donovan.” I opened the safe and pulled out a small bag. Inside were a couple of different alias passports, driver’s licenses, banking information for Tony and myself, and some emergency cash. I took all those, but what I was really interested in was the tiny pouch that contained a handful of microchips. “Tony has some encrypted information on Donovan and Visticorp. He backed up Visticorp’s entire mainframe before the explosion, when he was preparing to escape. He used to call it his insurance policy. If we could figure out a way to crack it—and that’s a very big if—this could give us clues to where he would go to disappear, or the people he might be working with now.”
Ryan nodded. “We have a guy that could probably do it.”
I had my doubts. “I hope he’s good. Tony is a straight-up supergenius when it comes to computers. But it’s worth a shot anyway.”
I shouldered the bag and looked to Ryan. “So where are we supposed to meet them?”
Ryan chuckled. “Seriously, Sunshine. Relax. We’ve got time. Go soak in a bath or something. You took on three superthugs today. You’ve earned a rest.”
He had a point. The Magic Tea had done wonders, but I’d still taken a severe physical beating today. Letting my sore muscles and pounding head loosen up in the hot water sounded like heaven. “Yeah, okay, you’re right. A hot shower and a change of clothes does sound nice.”
As I shut the safe and made my way to the stairs, Ryan followed me up and said, “Hey, just in case you didn’t already pack it in your other suitcase and you can’t decide what to wear, I really love the jeans skirt with the sparkly things on the back pockets, and your tall black boots.”
My jaw fell open, and he winked before laughing his way out into the living room to wait for me.
After my shower, I searched through what was left of my wardrobe and kept thinking about the skirt Ryan mentioned. I knew which one he meant, and for some reason it irked me that I’d already packed it. It was one of my favorites, but it was short. Very short. Of course he liked it. Rolling my eyes, I dressed in a pair of jeans and a Punisher T-shirt. Not exactly flirty, but most of my cute clothes were in the truck with the ACEs.
Once I was finally ready to leave, I found Ryan outside. My couch was still out in front of the house from where I assume Tony had thrown it trying to fight off the supersoldiers. Ryan had flipped it back upright and was lying on it, staring up at the sky. The sun had just sunk below the horizon, but the sky was still full of color. It made me smile that Ryan had come outside to watch the sun go down. There was nothing greater than a desert sunset.
He looked so content lying there, probably trying to process everything that had happened today, the way I still needed to. I hated to interrupt him, but I was exhausted and just wanted to get someplace where I could sleep off the last of my headache. It was only about seven o’clock, but it felt like three in the morning after the day I’d had.
I cleared my throat, and Ryan climbed to his feet. His smile was still in place, but his eyes were a little droopy now. He was as tired as I was. “You ready?” he asked.
With one last glance back at my destroyed home, I shucked my bag over my shoulder and nodded.
“I called the major a few minutes ago. They just got to the base in Las Vegas and are holding the plane for us.”
“Plane?”
“Yeah. ACE headquarters is in Colorado, and Major Wilks wants you checked out by our doctor and no one else.”
“We have to fly? That’s so slow. Couldn’t we just meet them in Colorado?”
Ryan chuckled. “It’s a short flight. Come on; you can sleep on the plane.”
“All right.” I sighed. “To Las Vegas, then. You ready?” I held out my hand to him. When Ryan frowned at my outstretched hand, I said, “You’ve done this with me before, I assume?”
“Only a couple times. You used to worry pumping me full of mutant energy would hurt me. It took a long time to convince you it was okay.”
“Huh. Weird. I never noticed any side effects with Tony.”
Ryan’s jaw clenched. “You shared your energy with Teddy?”
“Of course. All the time. It was too convenient not to.” I didn’t understand the sudden jealousy. It’s not like a superrun was intimate or anything.
After a deep breath, Ryan shook off his irritation. “You’re right.” I think he was trying to convince himself. “I’m sorry.”
“Okay, then.” I held out my hand to him again. “You ready?”
Ryan’s stress melted away, and he gave me a shiver-inducing look. He took my hand and tugged me to him, slipping his arms around my waist. Laughing at my surprised gasp, he pulled me so close that there were only inches between our faces. His eyes fell to my mouth, making my heart kick into overdrive. “I’ve been ready for this since the second I got you back.”
When he started to lower his lips to mine, I finally snapped out of my shock and pulled my face back. “What are you doing?” I would have screeched the question, but I was too flustered at the moment, and it came out breathless.
Ryan tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and smiled. “Kissing my fiancée,” he said softly.
I almost let him do it. Heaven knows a part of me wanted him to. But he’d called me his fiancée, and it startled me so badly that I lost control of myself and accidentally shocked him. It was a baby zap, really, but it still should have been uncomfortable enough to startle him, or at least make him frown. Instead, after a slight wince, he took one look at the irritation on my face and laughed. “I guess some things never change.”
I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but there was a more pressing question I needed an answer to. “What are you doing? Why did you try to kiss me?”
His brow fell into a frown. “Um…because that’s how you pass your energy.”
Oh, that’s right. I forgot that when I first woke up after the explosion the only way I could ever successfully transfer my powers to Teddy was through a kiss. I hid my chagrin behind a scowl and clamped onto Ryan’s hand. Glaring the entire time, I pumped him full of energy until he started shaking and the hair on his head stood straight up. “Any questions?” I snapped.
“When’d you learn how to do that?” he asked. “You mostly just used to zap people anytime you tried that before.”
“Practice. I had a lot of motivation. Teddy kept finding reasons he needed to use my powers, and I was tired of kissing him.”
“Well, that’s comforting.” Ryan chuckled. “You promised me once that the superkisses were only for me.”
I smirked. Superkisses. That was the perfect description of them because they were so much more powerful—stimulating to the point of overwhelming—than regular kisses. Some superpower, huh? I wonder what superhero name Tyson would make up for me if he knew my special ability was the power to superkiss people.
“You know,” Ryan said, pulling me from my thoughts, “just because you have the control now doesn’t mean you can’t still do things the fun way.”
He laughed at whatever look I gave him and winked at me. “Just something to think about.”
Sending him one last eye roll, I grabbed his hand and took off for Las Vegas.
Flying is so slow. It was going to take us nearly two hours to go the same distance it would have taken me minutes. I was antsy as we boarded the small military transport plane. The ACEs were already buckled in for the flight, and they stared with open curiosity and excitement when Ryan and I boarded the plane together.
Major Wilks met us with an overeager smile and a firm handshake. “Glad you decided to join us, Angel.”
I shook his hand, but didn’t return the smile. “I haven’t decided anything yet.”
“Well, hopefully we can change your mind about that after a good night’s rest and a tour of the base in the morning. For now, just buckle in and take it easy. The men will leave you alone until you’re feeling better. Right, men?”
I nearly laughed when the answering round of nods and “yes, sirs” seemed so sullen. I couldn’t blame them for being curious, but I was grateful to the major for insisting on the peace.
Ryan led me by the hand to a couple of empty seats. I was surprised to feel his hand slip into mine, but was too tired to protest. “How’s your head feeling?” he asked as we buckled in. “The superrun didn’t make it worse, did it?”
I shook my head, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath as I massaged my temples. “It’s better than it was, but it’s still pounding like crazy. I’m sorry if it’s been making me such a grouch today.”
Ryan immediately shook his head. “I should be the one apologizing. I completely freaked out on you earlier and you didn’t need that. It won’t happen again. I promise.” He managed a crooked smile and said, “I’m pretty sure I got it all out of my system.”
Remembering that moment brought the awkwardness back, but my lips still quirked into a smile. “It was a rather impressive temper tantrum. I thought I held the title on those, but now I’m not so sure.”
Ryan laughed. “Oh no, babe, you definitely have me beat in the drama department. It’s just, if I have one weak spot in my otherwise unshakable calm, it’s Teddy.”
I blushed because he’d called me babe, but it had flowed so naturally from his mouth I didn’t think he even realized he’d said it. “Why do you call him Teddy?” I asked before he could comment about my red cheeks.
“His real name is Teodoro Vivenzio.”
“Tay-oh-what-o?”
“Exactly. You never could say it right, so you started calling him Teddy, and it stuck.”
I thought about it for a moment and nodded. “I guess I could see it.” I tried it out slowly, once, just to see if I could get used to it. “Teddy…” It didn’t seem any stranger than Ryan calling me Jamie after six months of my being April. Thinking about Teddy made me sigh. “I have to get him back.”
Ryan flinched. “You want him back?”
“Not like that. I’m so mad at him I could kill him, but it’s my fault he was captured. You said they could trace my pho
ne, and that’s how they found me. Well, I’m assuming they could trace whomever I called, too. Tony, I mean Teddy, was always so paranoid. He warned me a million times that I couldn’t break the rules or Visticorp would find us. But I went to the doctor anyway, and now he’s gone. They’ve taken him to do who knows what to him. He lied to me, but no one deserves to be caged up and experimented on.”
I expected Ryan to be upset, but he had only sympathy for me. “We’ll find him, and we’ll get him back. We’ll get them all back.”
I got a little choked up that someone who had such a personal stake in this mess could put his own feelings aside out of concern for me. Tony had never done that. He’d always been selfish.
Before I could express my gratitude, the plane’s engines roared to life and we went zooming down the runway. I hadn’t expected to be afraid of flying, but when I felt the ground disappear under my seat, I sucked in a breath and gripped the armrests of my chair.
The plane shook a little and a small squeak escaped me, accompanied by a surge of energy that made the cabin lights flicker. All eyes immediately found me. “Whoa, Jamie, relax,” Ryan said, as if he just realized I was freaking out. “Babe, I’m not sure frying the plane would be the best thing to do.”
“Sorry.” I gasped. “I just lose control when I’m freaked out.”
“You’re a nervous flier?” Ryan sounded surprised.
“I guess so. I’ve never done it before.”
The ACEs all watched me with wide eyes. Their fear that I would fry the plane and send us all to our fiery deaths was evident.
“Hey, did you know that your favorite place in the whole world is the Grand Canyon?” Ryan said suddenly.
He was trying to distract me, and it worked. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, held it in my lungs until they burned, and then slowly let it out. The edges of my mouth curled into a small smile, and my hands relaxed their grip just a tiny bit. “I actually did know that. I used to go out there whenever I needed to get away from Teddy or our situation, or just whatever. The sunsets there are the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.”
