by Hayes, Drew
“Of all the people I have to worry about tomorrow, I know you’re not one of them. Nobody out there is tougher than you.” Vince carefully lifted his wine glass and extended it outward. While still not much of a drinker, he’d grown comfortable enough with the concept to have an occasional beer or a bit of wine at dinner. “But that’s tomorrow, and this is tonight, so I want to make a toast.”
“Oooh, does this mean I finally get to find out why you took me somewhere so fancy?” Camille was smiling, unbothered by the mystery. She hadn’t objected when he’d told her nothing more than that they were going somewhere nice. She’d merely shown up at his door wearing a lovely silver dress, expertly applied makeup, and styled hair. Alice had been involved in her outfit, there was no doubt about that, but it was Camille who made it look so beautiful. Staring at her, it was hard to imagine there was ever a time when Vince had felt unsure about his feelings. She was pure wonderment, and he couldn’t believe she’d fallen for someone like him.
“I guess it’s because… how to put this… you and I don’t really have an anniversary, you know. We came into this bit by bit, a little at a time, so it’s hard to say exactly when everything started,” Vince told her. “But about a year ago, just before Winter Break, is when you took the big step of laying everything out in the open. Without that, I doubt I ever would have had the courage to get things moving. So, tonight, I wanted to celebrate the anniversary of that moment. I know our lives are crazier than most people’s, and I know I’m not always the best at saying the right things at the right times, but I wanted to make sure you knew how glad I am that that night happened. How thankful I am to have you in my life.”
Vince tilted his glass forward, and after a moment Camille lifted her own and gently clinked the edge against his. “I feel the same way. Don’t worry so much, Vince. Even if you might not always say it, you show it more than you realize. But I do want you to promise me something.”
“If it’s that this wine will be good, I’m working off Nick’s recommendation, so that might be out of my ability.”
Camille giggled halfway through her sip of wine, snorting slightly into her glass. In that moment, Vince fell just the tiniest bit more in love with her. “No, but it is good. I want you to promise me that if tomorrow’s… semester final… is competitive, you won’t hold back. Not against me. I know how gentle you are, but the stakes are too high for both of us to risk something like that.”
“Oh, is that all? Sure, I can make you that promise, but there was never really a need to ask me for it,” Vince replied. “I couldn’t go easy on you, even if I wanted to. You are much too dangerous for anything like that.”
Her smile deepened as she set the wine glass down. Stretching out once more, Camille reached across the table, this time ignoring the bread and carefully resting her fingers on top of Vince’s hand.
“I have to admit, every now and then, you say exactly the right thing at the right time.”
* * *
It was like fighting someone invulnerable; every bit of damage Vince did vanished within seconds of hitting Camille’s body. She was constantly absorbing wounds, her flesh knitting itself together faster than even Chad could have managed. A powerful enough charge could knock her out, but that still required at least a few seconds to line up, and she was dead-set on not giving Vince even that much time to focus. All he could manage was burst-shooting multiple smaller blasts that would have easily worn her down if she weren’t healing herself to perfect health every few seconds.
Vince had one tactic left for getting some distance. As Camille came in close, he let loose another flash of bright light, trying to catch her in the eyes. It wasn’t a perfect shot, but she spat a string of curse words and reflexively rubbed her face. Constant healing or not, some reactions were deeply ingrained, and that was exactly what Vince had been hoping for. He only had a few precious seconds, but in that time he called forth enough electricity to drop someone twice Camille’s size. Even if she was healing as it hit, there should still be enough to knock her out. She tried to dodge again, fuzzy vision be damned; however, the bolt of electricity caught her directly in the hip. Camille tumbled back and hit the ground, sliding to a stop when she bumped against the wall.
Vince was panting, exhausted from constant movement paired with his injuries, and coated in sweat. Still, he’d won, and he was damn proud of that fact. Walking over to her, Vince knelt down to take Camille’s pulse.
Her hand closed around his just as it came close to her. Camille’s triumphant grin was the last thing Vince saw before an influx of new injuries drove him into unconsciousness. She laid him onto the ground carefully, making sure his head didn’t slam down.
“Good shot,” Camille told him, even though he couldn’t hear. “But it looks like I can heal a little faster than you can hurt, at least with that level of power.” A doorway slid open in a nearby wall, casting her and Vince in fluorescent light. Leaning over, she kissed him on the forehead for some time, taking away all of his injuries. He’d wake up soon, though she wouldn’t be there to see it. “Next time, maybe hang back and make sure the opponent isn’t playing possum.”
Hauling herself to her feet, Camille absorbed the last lingering damage from Vince’s attack. With no announcement made and the lights still off, it stood to reason that there were still enemies left to be found. Camille picked a nearby hall and headed off, making sure to be out of sight before Vince’s eyes fluttered open and he returned to the waking world.
137.
Alice wasn’t moving nearly so quietly this time as she floated down the hall, drops of blood from still closing wounds and her own ragged breathing making her much easier to track. She knew these were problematic, but with no bandages, medicine, or access to a healer, there was little that could be done. Blood would fall, and heavy breathing was simply a side effect of trying to ignore two broken limbs. Besides, she’d leaned on surprise a lot during this trial; it might be good to show the watching Heroes how she fared on even footing.
The sounds of steps came from nearby; soft, steady, and instantly recognizable. “Camille?” Alice called.
“Yeah. Alice?”
“You know it. Is Vince with you?”
“Nope. I beat him.”
It wasn’t exactly a shocker; Alice knew how dangerous Camille could be. But beating Vince was no small accomplishment in its own right, and her esteem of the damage absorber raised by a few more notches. “According to Mary, that makes us the final two.”
“Hang on, you beat Mary?”
Right… to anyone who hadn’t seen the battle, that might be something of a shocker. After all, Mary’s telekinetic power was nothing short of incredible, a fact that made losing her from the HCP all the harder to swallow. But Alice couldn’t deal with any of that just yet; for the moment she needed to focus on getting through to the end of this trial. Thankfully, it seemed only one more fight stood in her way.
“I won,” Alice replied. “Saying I beat her might be disingenuous. But I won. Which means it’s down to just you and me.”
“The healer and the Subtlety student. If anyone was taking bets on this, we’ve definitely screwed up their pool.” Despite the cheerful words, Camille’s tone was dead serious. They both knew what was about to happen, and they were both worn down—mentally, if not physically. Making it this far was a big accomplishment, but neither would slack at the end. They both wanted to be the last, to truly beat the odds and cause an upset. While the overall winner would come from the point total, there was a lot to be said for being the last Super standing.
“I’m sure we’ve surprised a few people by pulling this off. Let’s make sure to finish strong,” Alice said. “You ready?”
“Sure,” Camille agreed.
“Good, me too.” Alice floated slightly further back, making sure there was ample distance between herself and her opponent. “So, I guess, here we go!”
With that, both of them flew into action. Camille dashed to the side as Alice dr
amatically increased the gravity in her area. She wasn’t going for anything fancy like a ceiling capture; all Alice wanted was for this to be done. Quick as she was, though, Alice’s injuries were still muddling her head, dulling her reactions. Camille managed to get out of the area just in time, continuing her sprint as she zigged and zagged toward Alice.
Fighting back an initial instinct of fear, Alice forced herself to stay calm. She was slower than usual, and that sucked, but it didn’t change the obstacle before her. When a tactic failed, the best method was to switch to something else; she’d learned that lesson in combat and Subtlety many times over. If Camille was moving too quickly for Alice to pin her down, then she wouldn’t try to. Alice couldn’t be quick and precise, which meant her next best method was to be the complete opposite.
Alice floated higher, pressing herself against the ceiling and wincing as her broken limbs made contact with the rough stone. She shrank her own area of warped gravity down as small as possible then turned her attention to the hallway around her. It was a big space, plenty of room for Camille to dart about. But that didn’t mean she was safe by any means. Lifting her hand, Alice focused with all she had and began to increase the gravity around the entire hall. It was hard: the area was already bigger than what she usually worked with, and adding in the mental exhaustion of nursing so many injuries only made the task more difficult. Regardless, her hand and gravity never wavered. Alice couldn’t risk Camille making her way over and leaping up. One touch from that woman would mean the end, and Alice wasn’t ready to be done just yet.
The sound of stumbling was the first cue that it was working. Alice grinned in the darkness, taking heart in the noise and continuing her efforts. Another stumble, then a trip, and then an unmistakable thud. Camille had fallen, and before she could even entertain the idea of rising once more, Alice narrowed her area of focus and cranked up the gravity around Camille. There was struggling, defiant and unyielding, but all the heart in the world didn’t give Camille enough raw strength to lift herself from the ground.
They stayed like that for three long minutes: Camille fighting to rise with all she had while Alice did everything she could to stay focused and maintain her gravitational hold. She wasn’t sure she would make it, honestly. Her vision was beginning to get blurry, and it felt like her whole brain had been dunked in a pool of water. In the end, despite all the tricks and tactics they’d employed over the trial, it came down to a test of simple endurance.
When the lights suddenly flashed on, it surprised Alice so much that she nearly dropped to the ground, catching herself mid-fall and floating down gently. Seconds later, Dean Blaine’s voice came over the intercom.
“Alice Adair has defeated Camille Belden and is officially the lone remaining student in the trial. Both of you, please take your exits so you can be checked over by our medical staff and properly congratulated for your outstanding achievements.”
A sense of relief flooded through Alice’s veins, which was a welcome respite to the constant agony. Camille pulled herself up from the floor, took one look at Alice, and appeared as though she might faint.
“Holy shit, Alice! What in the living hell happened?”
“Don’t ever let anyone tell you Thomas can’t put up a good fight,” Alice said.
“No one would.” Camille bolted over, moving almost as fast as when she’d been trying to defeat Alice, and laid her healing hands on the wounded woman’s neck. “You couldn’t just beat me, could you? You had to do it while looking like you just walked away from a car accident.”
The sudden absence of pain was so intoxicating that Alice nearly forgot to respond. “I… yeah… guess I wanted to put on a good show.”
Camille pulled her hands away, and Alice tested her limbs. Everything was whole and functional once more, although she was probably going to sleep like the dead with the toll that had taken on her.
“Come on. I’ve got a lot more people to heal, and I think you’ve probably got a crowd of Heroes that are even more interested in you than they were before.”
“Psh. I’m hot, I can fly, and I’ve got Subtlety skills. You think they weren’t already in love with me?” Alice threw her arm around Camille, and together the two of them made their way to a doorway that was sliding open. Even with Mary weighing on her mind, it was hard not to be in good spirits. She and Camille had made it to the end, Alice had been the final one standing, and both had done well enough to at least be sure they weren’t in the bottom of the scores.
Most importantly of all, the trial was done. They’d made it through their next-to-last semester. Only one more to go.
138.
“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Gale was still looking at the door on-screen, even as it slid shut and the other Heroes rose from their seats. There would be a half-hour break before the mixer in the gym began, and most were heading down early. Ostensibly, it was to be prepared when the students arrived, but truthfully they’d probably spend the time rehashing the trial’s highlights with one another. Most Heroes, at least the kind still willing to take interns, never lost the joy of watching students reach new potential before their very eyes.
“Unfortunate? Alice just swept the midyear trial. She was the last person standing, and unless my math is off, she had more points than anyone else. I’ll admit I’ve been out of the loop for a while, but I can’t imagine many students from the Subtlety department regularly manage that.” Titan stood from his own chair at the same time Gale did. They were being given a modest berth by the others, although that could have been due to Titan’s size as much as his reputation.
“Yeah, that’s my point,” Gale said. “I saw her potential from day one, and I’ve been courting her because of it. After a showing like that, she’s about to get a lot more people interested.”
Well, that was certainly true. Even teams that weren’t fully on board with Subtlety Heroes wouldn’t mind taking one on if they had Alice’s combat potential. It just meant she brought a measure of cunning to the grit, endurance, and skill she’d put on display.
“Alice is a smart young lady; she knows how to pick the teacher who’ll help her grow the most.” Titan clapped his hand on Gale’s shoulder as they headed toward the door. “Just keep reminding her you’re interested. She’ll make the right choice.”
Gale nodded, albeit stiffly. “Guess that’s all I can do for now. Come on, Titan, let’s get down there. The first round is on me.”
“It’s an open bar,” Titan reminded her.
“Then I’ll get the first two.”
* * *
“—glad to hear it. Okay. Okay. Yes, I—it’s fine, Vince. We’ll talk details tonight. Now get back there. You don’t want to miss your reception.”
Nick lowered the phone from his ear and ended the call, tossing it onto the bed next to his modest bag. He didn’t need to put away much for tomorrow’s trip; the majority of the packing was already done, aided greatly by the fact that the majority of his belongings were still in Vegas. This was nothing more than some items to have on hand during the trip. Still, he packed the bag, more for catharsis than necessity. Moments like these helped him mark his transitions between roles. Tomorrow, he would need to be the Vegas con man instead of the unseen aid to a group of would-be Heroes. These two weren’t necessarily different people, but they would react to things in different ways. Details mattered, especially around Ms. Pips. With the HCP so close to being done, Nick couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.
“Was that Vince?” Eliza walked in and dropped a small package next to Nick’s phone.
“You heard me say his name, so you know it was. He stepped out to call and let me know everyone made it through the test safely. Or as safely as one can emerge from an HCP trial. I’m sure I’ll get a play-by-play when they come over tonight.” Reaching down, Nick scooped up the package. It was cylindrical, wrapped in simple brown paper with a white ribbon tied around it. “I don’t mind if you made a copy for yourself, but this had better be the real deal.
”
“Be fair now. I might be happy to pilfer things from you, but I’d never steal from someone I respect.” Despite the smile and sass, Nick saw a flicker of sadness pass through Eliza’s eyes. She was doing her best to hide it, yet with every passing day it grew more pronounced. Whatever waited for them in Vegas, Eliza wasn’t looking forward to it.
Wordlessly, Nick slipped the package into the suitcase alongside a pair of jeans. Much as he wanted to grill Eliza, it wouldn’t do any good. Ms. Pips had obviously given the order for silence, and her word was law. There was nothing to be done but smile through the evening and get an early start on the drive home tomorrow morning.
Nick was tired of the quiet sadness and unspoken fear. It was time to get to the bottom of this.
* * *
Charles didn’t bother looking up from his desk as the door opened. If someone had come to kill him, then they’d made it past all of his security and no defense he could offer up would likely stop them. If they were in his employ, then they knew to wait quietly until Charles was ready. He continued working through the document before him for several minutes before finally reaching a stopping point and glancing at the intruder.
Simon stood there, unbothered by the lack of attention and steadfast silence. As one of Charles’s best aides and longest tenured employees, he knew well the habits of the man he served. Although he’d never say it to his face—for that would be highly improper—Charles was a touch fond of Simon. The man had turned down lucrative offers over the years to stay his employee (not that Simon was aware that Charles knew of said opportunities) and it spoke to his character. There were precious few things Charles Adair valued more than loyalty.
