The Crucible (Steel City Heroes Book 2)

by LE Barbant

  Finally Elijah did. “What’s coming next? You said your brother can feel things, that he’s influenced by the future. So, what do we do now?”

  Rhett rubbed his face with his palms, sighing into their creases. “I haven’t seen Paul in a while. Sometimes, well, sometimes I don’t know what to make of him. He’s here one second and gone another. He doesn’t seem to get attached to things like I do.”

  “Can we meet him?” Elijah asked.

  “Maybe. But only on his terms. His abilities are quite impressive, but I don’t think we should count on them, I’m sad to say.”

  Elijah sighed. “Well, it would be nice to know what to expect, how to prepare. We’re flying in the dark with all of this.”

  Cat collapsed in a fit of purring as Rhett continued to pet the creature. “I think we can take a page from your book on this one, Professor. If we want to know what’s coming down the road, then we should probably look to the past. Sooner or later, it’s going to repeat itself. And when it does, we’d better sure as hell be ready.”

  EPILOGUE

  Boxes of cheap liquor lined the concrete walls of the dark, dank room. A moldy smell emanated from somewhere in the ceiling, probably connected with the dark water marks covering the drop tile. It didn’t bother him. Years of luxury hadn’t softened his resolve, and this place reminded him of home; though, he barely remembered where that was.

  Other than boxes of booze, the twenty by twenty space held two tattered, mismatching recliners and an old school television, with a screen hardly big enough to justify its existence.

  Cheering garbled out of the tiny speakers. “No, no. Thank you,” a young man crooned to the crowd which snapped to attention at the sound of his voice. “This isn’t about me, it’s about you. It’s about Pittsburgh. Now, some say I am standing here on this stage only because of the terrible things that happened to Mayor Dobbs. That’s hard to say. As a community we mourn his loss. But today is not a day to look to the past. No, it’s time to look toward the future. It is a time to dream and imagine all that Pittsburgh can be. Today is the first step in a long journey toward a better tomorrow.”

  Rapture took over the crowd.

  The man in the storeroom looked past Kinnard and narrowed his eyes at a familiar figure sitting on the platform behind the new mayor. The speechwriter was good looking—the finest on the stand. He smiled and clapped his leather driving gloves along with the crowd.

  Rage took over, and the large man swung a granite fist at the screen. The tube television exploded, sending sparks through the air.

  “Rex, this isn’t like you.”

  The bald man spun and faced the sound of the familiar voice. He tilted his head, satisfied with the cracking of his neck. Composure always returned quickly, though he was embarrassed about losing his cool in front of the man.

  He ignored the small trickle of blood making its way down the back of his hand.

  “Dobbs was our best shot,” Rex replied. “I’ve been working this angle for years. A lot of resources were poured into that corpse, not to mention the tech program. It was in its final stages, nearly perfect. But that bastard got impatient. Power hungry.”

  “Come on, Rex. We’re all power hungry, aren’t we? Dobbs had a pulse, just like you and I. We should have seen it coming.” The man smiled. His aged frame was bent, but Rex knew there was a power in the bag of bones that most would never recognize. The old man was time-tested like few others. And while many considered him a coward, Rex knew his power—or at least he thought he did. Experience had cautioned him when it came to those like his companion.

  “Dobbs was weak,” the old man continued. “He could barely hold onto what little power we gave him. His foolishness might have cost us everything. If the magician was less hateful, she could have taken her time and gotten some real information from him—information about us. Think of the consequences. We should count it as a blessing that the man was weaker than we expected.”

  “I never pictured her as the killing type.”

  The old man smirked, “She wanted to kill you. Is your memory that short?”

  Rex’s large eyes became vacant. He recalled the fight at the PPG Tower.

  A smile crossed his face.

  “No,” he said. “I’ve faced killers. She isn’t one of them, or at least she wasn’t in February.”

  “Well, I pushed her in the right direction then.” He smiled, sending a chill down Rex’s spine. “She was Plan B all along, and now that we've seen what she and her friends are capable of, I'm glad we're taking this path. Under my influence, she’ll be the perfect weapon. This might work out better than we thought.”

  “Then what's our next move?” Rex asked. The man’s confidence eased Rex’s fears, but the plan had changed and he required orders.

  “Ever been to China, Rex?” The man’s smile remain on his waxen face. “You’re going for a brief visit with our old colleague, Mr. Fong. The last time we spoke, I sensed some hesitation on his part. Help him remember his loyalty.”

  Rex wrung his hands and cracked his knuckles. “I'm sure that can be arranged. What’s your move?”

  “Things are advancing rapidly. I need to arrange a meeting with our friend on the inside to let him know that the final initiative is now in effect.”

  Rex nodded, then glanced around the room. “Why do you always insist on meeting here? There are far nicer places.””

  The smile melted from the man’s face. “This is where it began, all those years ago. He brought us here, convinced us we could be heroes. Convinced us of our powers. Edwin was intoxicating. We were all drawn in. But he was a damned fool. He reaped what he sowed. He was weak.”

  “He had power over you, Dr. Crane.”

  “Yes, he did for a time.” A scowl spread across Mallory Crane’s face. “But he’s dead. And I’m going to use his granddaughter to destroy everything he worked so hard to restore.”

  The old man stood and limped to the door. Looking back at Rex, he said, “Once she has fulfilled my plans….she's all yours.”

  ****

  Thanks for reading The Crucible.

  Don’t worry, Elijah, Willa, and Chem’s adventures continue in The Casting, Book 3 of The Steel City Heroes Series.

  Sign up here for updates from the authors. If you join their mailing list, you’ll receive Willa’s Spellbook for free.

  This is a REALLY cool companion to The Steel City Heroes series. It includes the spells that Willa is studying and her reflections on poetry, life, and the events of the books.

  Chris and Lee have been calling it the director’s cut.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  L. E. Barbant is co-host of the remarkably mediocre Part-Time Writers Podcast. When he’s not writing (or struggling to pay the bills with his day job) Lee spends his time reading everything from Greek dramas to zombie thrillers, babysitting his four monstrous nephews, and wishing he could fly. The Catalyst is his debut novel but if his superhero career doesn’t pan out, he’s planning on giving full-time writing a shot.

  He lives outside of Pittsburgh with his lovely wife and a cat named Cat.

  C.M. Raymond holds a PhD in philosophy, which qualifies him to write superhero stories but not much else. His home is in a river valley of Western Pennsylvania. Outside of reading and writing, he loves to spend time with his family in the woods and wilds or the city streets. Before writing The Catalyst, C.M. penned a middle grade/teen serialized fiction series called Arcanum Island, first for his sweet daughter, then for the general public. It’s fast, fun, and full of adventure. Though written with kids in mind, many adults have also been taken by the mystery. Buy the first season of the series or try the first episode for free.

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