Heroes Without, Monsters Within

by Sheryl Nantus

“I sell books in a used bookstore. Nice little place called Bookworm’s Hideout. Best store in Toronto.”

  “Cool.”

  “And what do you do for a living, Hunter Dillon?” I asked.

  I felt the shiver run through his body. “I…I’m a cop.”

  “Oh.” My muddled mind couldn’t think of what to say. “Ever shoot anyone?”

  It was a stupid question, a horrible question, a question that only young kids and stupid adults ask.

  “Yes,” he whispered. “I have.”

  A wave of emotion rushed over me, the events of the past few hours finally coming home. I slumped down, my legs turning to Jell-O. Hunter grabbed me around my waist, pulling me against him and holding me up before I crashed onto the cool ceramic tiles.

  “I just killed a man.” I gasped. The tears flowed, mingling with the hot water falling down on us as we knelt together, almost in prayer.

  “Yes you did.” Hunter propped me up and continued to run one hand along my arms, massaging as much as he stroked them. “But you didn’t have a choice. We talked about this before. And you gave him a choice. More than the bastard deserved, if you ask me.”

  I sighed and leaned into his touch. “True, that. But I still feel bad.”

  “That’s good,” he said. “That’s the difference between people like us and people like Lamarr and this Controller. If you don’t feel anything when you kill someone, it’s too late for you.”

  A shiver ran up my spine. “Do you ever feel less guilty about it?”

  “Not if you’re human,” Hunter replied. “But it gets better with time.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.” He dropped a wet, sloppy kiss on my cheek. “Now can we get back to the dating thing?”

  The laugh came out before I could call it back, a choking cough. “Okay.” I closed my eyes, the heat running through my body both from the water and from Hunter’s touch. “What would Mike think?”

  His hands stilled for a second, one resting on my shoulder while the other lay on my hip. “Of you dating me or how you handled Lamarr?”

  I growled, thrusting my hips back just enough to make him groan. In response his right hand moved on my belly, drawing small circles in the soapy foam.

  “Okay, okay. I think he’d be proud of the way you dealt with this entire situation. You adapted and overcame. Can’t ask much more than that.”

  “I broke the first rule.”

  “Yes, you did. But I think that in this brave new world we can make up our own rules.” He stood up behind me, nudging me to my feet. “I think we should get out of here before you turn into a prune. There’s still some cheese and crackers left for you to snack on.”

  “And then what?” I asked.

  Hunter turned me around to face him. “Whatever you want, Jo Tanis. Whatever you want. Or don’t want.”

  The smoldering embers started to flare up again, a firestorm threatening to burn through any barriers I had left.

  “I want, but I’m…” I couldn’t help laughing as I fell into his arms. “God, I’m so tired and sore. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m up to doing much.”

  Hunter looked at me with an impish smile, sending a shiver of delight through my aching bones. “I live to serve. How about you lie back and I show you exactly how lucky I am and you are. You can return the favor when you feel up to it in a few days.”

  I giggled. “Why do I think you’ll cash in this IOU as soon as I’m able to walk again?”

  “I’m a patient, patient man.” One hand swooped southward, sliding through the remaining foam. “And, after all, I’m your Guardian. I’m here to take care of you.” His lips met mine, a hint of a laugh escaping. “And I plan to do so to the best of my abilities.”

  It’d been a long, amazing few hours of touching and holding, gentle fingers drawing gasps and moans out of me while I lay back and let my Guardian do what he wanted to, within limits. Pain mixed with pleasure as we shattered the emotional wall keeping us apart.

  He’d pushed my hands away at times, gently tugging my arms over my head with an admonishment.

  “What is it you Canucks say, ‘Lie back and think of England’?”

  “Not by a long shot,” I’d gasped. “But I’m keeping a score sheet.”

  “Good.” His mouth fell on my throat, teeth tugging at unbruised skin. “Now let me rack up the points here.”

  I woke up in a king-sized bed alone, the super-soft sheets making it easy to forget the aches and pains in every part of my body. And a few that I didn’t know could ache, to be honest.

  It took a few seconds to gather the top sheet around me and inch my way out of bed, using my built-in compass to navigate the expanse. As soon as my feet hit the floor I let out a soft cry, my legs protesting anything vertical.

  Hunter stood in the doorway. He’d gotten dressed in a pair of jeans and now wore a black T-shirt with the name “Joker” in white on the front, along with a diamond symbol.

  “Seriously?” I gestured at the shirt. “We are so not going to rename the team Wild Cards or something like that.”

  He tugged at the shirt as he approached the bed. “What? I think it fits.” Without warning he swept me up in his arms, the sheet tangling around me. “Hungry?”

  “Ravenous.” I couldn’t help blushing. “Surprised I have any energy left.”

  “Well, I do take pride in my work.” Hunter laughed. “Good thing I ordered everything on the menu for the after-ravishing meal.”

  I wriggled my nose. “Not much ravishing on my part.”

  “Oh, have no fear. I plan to cash in that IOU soon enough.” He nipped the tip of my nose with his teeth.

  He carried me into the main room. A series of wheeled tables filled every empty space, the covered dishes giving off a thousand different smells. My mouth watered, my body demanding nourishment.

  “First, we eat.” I reached for the nearest tray. “Then I need to go talk to Rachael.” The metal cover clattered as I tossed it to one side.

  Hunter stood me up by the table and watched as I laid into a stack of bacon the height of the Eiffel Tower. “What?”

  “I need to talk to her.” The crispy pieces of bacon flaked apart in my mouth. “There’s still a rogue super out there, Hunter. We’re not finished.”

  He stared at me for a second, and then took off another cover, exposing a pile of pancakes. “You eat, I’ll call Outrager.” He grinned. “Should I save some of the maple syrup for later?”

  I blushed, my mouth stuffed full of bacon. “Shuff uf.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The room was empty of everything except a single small table and two chairs. One wall of bulletproof, soundproof and one-way glass provided constant monitoring. The other three walls were grey and empty.

  Rachael Hammond sat in one chair behind the table, her hands in her lap. She wore a bright orange prison-issue jumpsuit, her long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail much like my own. The one black eye had subsided somewhat, but I saw new marks on her arms, the ant bites slow to heal.

  Her attention kept darting to the observation wall we stood behind. A necklace just like the one Hunter and I wore sat around her neck, keeping her safe. She kept playing with it, tugging at the chain and rolling it through her fingers.

  “So, who is the Controller?” Hunter demanded.

  “No one in our files by that codename. Sort of a silly name, when you think about it. Controller.” Outrager snorted. “Something he made up to sound cool.”

  “How’s the media story holding up?” Hunter asked.

  Outrager shrugged. “As well as could be expected. We released some stills, put up some short video clips of the fight on YouTube.”

  “Wait. Video clips?” I stared at Outrager. “Where did you get the footage?”

  “We have cameras everywhere the supers live and train.” His freakish smile sent a shiver down my spine. “Especially in the training areas. Among others.” He turned to Hunter. “Didn’t announce Lamarr
’s death, figure we’ll release that in a week or two. We’re not used to having supers die.”

  “Might want to get used to that,” Hunter shot back. “And the government?”

  “Happy for now.” Outrager inspected his fingernails. “At least any other bad boys will think twice before picking a fight with your team.”

  “It’s not my team,” Hunter replied.

  “Whatever.” Outrager waved him off and moved beside me, staring through the glass at the young woman. “Is this wise?” Outrager turned to Hunter. “Does she know what she’s asking? We’ve got security set up. We can pump the air out of there in a second and have her unconscious if she even twitches a breeze. But I can’t guarantee Surf’s safety in there with Wind Witch.”

  “Her name is Rachael. And I’m standing right here and my name is Jo, damn it.” I pointed at myself. “And yes, I still want to talk to her.”

  I’d demanded fresh, reasonable clothing before we left Vegas, and Hunter had obliged, returning with a generic blue shirt and jeans along with new running shoes. He’d changed his shirt as well, now wearing a white dress shirt along with his jeans. We were going into the lion’s den and I still felt like raw meat. Loved, worshiped, raw meat, but still raw meat.

  The helicopter had met us on the roof of the hotel, sliding into the busy air-traffic lanes with little effort. We flew for about an hour before landing at a location not far from what I suspected would be Area 51, if I knew my topography.

  Another secret Agency base.

  Another trapped super.

  Another prisoner.

  “We’ve interrogated her.” The Agency man shrugged. “She wouldn’t speak.”

  “And you’re surprised. You’re the same bastard group that grabbed her out of a coma and trained her to jump through hoops or you’d blow her head off. Why do you think she’d talk to you now?” I stabbed my finger at the glass wall. “You push her around and didn’t give her anything for those bites. And you wonder why she isn’t chatting up a storm? I’m surprised she didn’t call us earlier.”

  His blank look drove my blood pressure up several points.

  “Five minutes. Alone.” I nodded to Hunter. “Just me.”

  “Unwise.” Outrager shook his head. “You could get hurt.”

  “I’ve already gotten hurt. So has she.” Without waiting for an answer I walked around the corner and opened the door.

  The steel door closed behind me with a hiss, reminding me of the situation. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to take her out before she tossed me into a wall and the Agency pumped the air out.

  Hell, I wasn’t sure if they’d do it just out of spite and see who survived.

  She didn’t move as I approached her, studying the tabletop as I sat down opposite her.

  “Hi, Rachael. I’m Jo. We sort of met while they were digging me out of the mine. Thank you for helping out there. Steve said you really made a difference.”

  Silence.

  “Peter wanted me to say again that he’s really, really sorry about the fire ants. He feels bad, but it was the only thing he could think of at the time.”

  Silence.

  “I’m sorry about the way things went down. I’m sorry about all this.” I waved a hand at the walls around us. “You deserve better.”

  “Thank you.” The whisper was so faint I almost missed it.

  “What?”

  “Thank you for not killing me.” She laid her hands on the table. Her fingernails were nonexistent, bitten down to the quick. The red blotchy marks on her skin made me wince inside.

  “You’re a victim, Rachael. Like me. Like Steve and Peter. Like Hunter. Like…” I gagged on the name, “…like Brian Lamarr was.”

  One hand went to her face and the healing black eye. “This Controller, he said if we didn’t do as he said he’d kill us. Turn the plugs on, one by one.” Her eyes met mine with a flash of anger. “I’m not stupid, you know. He showed me.”

  “Showed you?”

  “There was a woman. I saw her on the camera, in the other room. The Controller said he trapped her, captured her with some sort of weapon. She was lying on a bed. I don’t think she was okay, you know, all drugged up.” She drew a ragged breath. “He said her name was Blockhead.” Her long, slender fingers scratched the steel tabletop, the rough nail edges trying to dig into the metal sheet. “She woke up when he shouted at her. She told him her name was Linda, not Blockhead.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “He kept yelling at her, saying she didn’t have any other name other than Blockhead.”

  My pulse quickened. “Linda. Her name was Linda.”

  “Yes.” She pressed her palms down on the cold surface. “He touched a button and…and…”

  Rachael closed her eyes and shook her head, the tears starting to roll down her face.

  I glanced towards the glass wall. Blockhead had been one of the few supers who had shown up in Toronto at the last battle, fighting alongside me against the aliens. Linda hadn’t been a lightweight. Woman had been able to put up a force field on her own, fly and toss orange globes at the bad guys to make them fall to the ground, trapped inside almost unbreakable bubbles.

  In other words, she hadn’t been an easy capture. But she had been an easy kill once he found the frequency to activate her plug.

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. This guy was tough, maybe tougher than a handful of A-listers put together.

  Maybe too tough for the Protectors to handle.

  I reached over and touched her hand. The fingers quivered under my touch for a second, but she didn’t pull away.

  “I need your help. We need your help to find him and stop him,” I whispered. “Before he does this to anyone else.”

  “He said he’d hurt me.” Her free hand went to her throat and the jammer. “The men who brought me here, they told me this would stop him from doing that…thing.”

  “It will,” I replied. “Jessie’s the genius behind it. He’s a computer whiz. He’s the one who shut the plugs down in the first place so if he says it’ll jam this thug’s signal, it’ll jam it.” I tightened my grip on her hand. “But we’re the only ones with these right now. We have to find this Controller and stop him to save the rest of the supers. They’re our family. We need to save all of them from this madman.”

  Rachael bit her lip, hard enough to break the skin. I watched as she sucked on the open cut, drawing the delicate flesh into her mouth.

  I waited for a response. A minute later her hand slid out from under mine, gathering into a fist.

  “I’ll tell you everything I can. But I need something in exchange.” Her voice gained strength and confidence as she kept speaking. “I can’t stay here. I know I did some pretty bad things, but I can’t stay here. It’s too much like before.”

  I couldn’t disagree with her. I already had the urge to bolt for the nearest door.

  “Okay.” I leaned forward. “What do you want?”

  “I want to join the team. I want to help people.”

  “Done.” A loud thump came from the glass wall, either from Hunter or Outrager. I didn’t care which one. “But you have to follow our rules. One team, one set of rules.”

  “Agreed.” She smiled, a faint wisp of happiness working through the recent trauma. “This’ll be cool.”

  I stood up. “Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. Remember, rules.” I nodded towards the window. “Don’t give me a reason to bring you back here. You don’t want to be someone’s punching bag, you want your freedom—here’s where you fight for it.”

  Rachael looked down at her fists. “I don’t want to be a victim anymore.”

  “Then don’t be one. Take control of your life. I’ll help you, we all will.” I stood and put out my hand. “Welcome to the Protectors.”

  She got up and grinned before taking my hand, squeezing it with a surprising strength. The door opened.

  Hunter walked in wearing a cautious smile. “I’m Hunter. Welcome to the team.” He stretched out his hand as
well.

  Rachael took it, her gaze drifting down to the Guardian bracelet on his left wrist. It lay inert and deactivated, its small digital screen blank. Hunter still couldn’t remove it and we hadn’t considered trying, unsure if it had the same fail-safes as the plugs. The Agency, specifically Outrager, hadn’t seen fit to give us that information so far.

  Damned thing got in the way at the worst times. I forced back a blush, remembering the previous few hours.

  “You’re a Guardian?” she said, a sudden tremble in her voice.

  “Yes. A good one.” He winked at me. I chewed back a reply.

  “The man, the Controller.” She stumbled over the words. “He had something just like that, but it had something attached to it, an extension. That’s why I was so afraid. His control bracelet, it’s still active.”

  “A Guardian?” Hunter and I tumbled over each other with our response.

  Rachael nodded. “He said it was his duty. Said he was going to unite all the surviving supers under his control. Or kill us all.”

  I looked at the glass wall. Outrager was there, watching. The Agency who was supposed to be on our side. Our original captors who had not only created superheroes, but supervillains and Guardians who straddled both sides.

  A shiver crept up my spine. A rogue super was one thing, a rogue Guardian with stolen Agency resources was another, something we hadn’t been trained for. Something we’d never even considered.

  There was a man out there who wanted to build his own private army of supers, willing and unwilling. I didn’t care what he wanted to do with them. I couldn’t let that happen, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.

  I was a superhero, and I had a strong team behind me.

  I knew what Mike would say and do. I knew what I had to do. What the Protectors had to do.

  I smiled and reached out my hands, taking Rachael’s hand in one and Hunter’s in the other. “Let’s go save the world.”

  About the Author

  Sheryl Nantus was born in Montreal, Canada and grew up in Toronto, Canada. A rabid reader almost from birth, she attended Sheridan College in Oakville, graduating in 1984 with a diploma in Media Arts Writing.