“Exactly, she should be on standby.”
“It’s no big deal,” Grace offered.
“No, it’s fine, Grace. Parker can do it himself.” Flint handed the clipboard back to Parker.
“I’m the one running this thing,” he said. “Despite what they’re calling this, it’s serving a purpose—to test out Griff’s limits.”
“I’ll do it.” Lilo put up her hand. “Just tell me what to do.”
Parker scrutinized her. “Lilo, right?”
She nodded.
“Didn’t get a chance to be properly introduced on Friday.”
“Um, no,” she said with a nervous laugh—the man was intimidating—as she took the clipboard. “You were busy being the owner, and I was busy being dragged into the alley and attacked.”
It was meant to be a joke, but Parker’s expression went from bored to downright murderous. The next word barely made it out of his clenched teeth. “What?”
“Um. Griffin didn’t tell you?”
“Griff!” he bellowed then got up to join his siblings on the mat. The glares and clenched jaws were punctuated by the loaded stares they sent Lilo’s way.
She bit her lip. “Why are they so angry at me? I was the one attacked.”
“Not at you. They’re angry because you were attacked in his club,” Flint said with a furious frown. “Honestly, you can’t hire good security these days.”
“I didn’t know.” Grace patted Lilo on the leg. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I mean, it was scary, but Griffin was there.” Thinking back had her mind reeling. “In fact, he wiped the floor with those four men. I’m sure it won’t happen again.”
“No it won’t,” Parker said. “I’ll be hiring security I trust.” He paused, watching his family spar on the mat intently. “You said four against one?”
“Yeah, he pulled gutters with his power and pinned them to the wall. It was incredible to watch. Even the fire-escape came off.”
Parker’s jaw moved from side to side as though he were chewing on his thoughts. “This room won’t do then.” He clapped his hands. “Everybody out.”
Liza protested. “But we were just getting started!”
“Into the alley,” he elaborated. “This room is too small for Griffin’s power.”
Tony’s eyes brightened. “Weapons?”
“I wouldn’t bring anything metal, unless you want your ass handed to you,” Mary noted.
“I got all the weapons I need right here.” Evan’s fists crackled and sparked with blue lights.
Grace snorted. “Show off.”
Lilo couldn’t hide the smile on her face. “If Misha were here, she’d be placing bets.”
“Great idea!” Liza pointed at Lilo.
“Don’t encourage her,” Parker threw over his shoulder before leading them all outside.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Griffin stood before three of his siblings in the very alley he almost lost Lilo in. It only served to rile him up, not give them a sporting chance against his new power. It was just before midday, and most of the snow had melted meaning the cold snap was over—he glanced at the blue sky—possibly for good. Spring was on its way.
“Come on,” Tony shouted, bouncing on his toes, fists in front of him. “We don’t have all day.”
Griffin glanced to the alley exit, just to be sure. Mary and Flint both stood, blocking any passersby from entering. Still—it was broad daylight, and not the sort of thing he wanted to be doing in a public alley, even if the only access was blocked, and all windows were boarded up on the opposite building. On second thought, he let his power fill his body until he buzzed from toes to head and connected with metal as though it were a phantom limb. He used that limb to shove a big red dumpster, dragging it from its space near the wall. Rubbish tumbled from the bin, and papers flew into the air, twirling. Mary watched it coming toward her with a wary eye until it stopped feet before her.
Much better. Good luck seeing over that.
Griffin turned back to where Parker, Lilo and Grace watched from the open doorway of headquarters. Parker rubbed his chin, deep in thought as he eyed the metal destruction littered around the alley, evidence of Griffin’s last venture there.
“You’re so going win this, baby,” Lilo grinned.
He ground his bo-staff into the dirty floor. He just wanted it over with.
“Right, new plan.” Parker walked over, eyeing the fallen fire escape behind Griffin. He pulled out a small handheld device in the shape of a rectangle. “It’s clear you already have some control over your ability. This is a magnetometer. It’s going the measure the strength of your magnetic force. Someone throw something metal at Griffin.”
Tony looked deflated. “I thought we were going to spar.”
“You think you can beat him?” Parker baited.
“Duh.”
Parker’s lips flattened. “Fine. But when this all goes pear shaped, remember you asked for it.” He turned to Griffin. “Teach him a quick lesson, then we’ll move onto measuring your output.”
“I heard that!” Tony shouted.
Teach him a quick lesson. Right. Griffin turned his focus to his brother bouncing around, jabbing his fists in the air. He stalked to the center of the alley until they were only a few feet apart.
Tony glared at him, and a calm, lethal intent crept into his eyes. The man stopped bouncing and smoothly circled Griffin. Any well trained warrior could see that Tony wasn’t as erratic and foolhardy as he led onlookers to believe. He was dangerous and deadly.
But no match for Griffin.
Make it quick.
Right.
Griffin searched Tony for a metal source. When his power connected, he almost felt bad for his brother. If he’d kept his wits about him, he might have remembered to remove his belt buckle. As it happened, the belt secured around his waist, sturdily weighted through his jeans belt loops.
Seeing Griffin unmoving, Tony launched—and jerked back as though being pulled by a string.
It wasn’t a string. It was Griffin pulling him in the opposite direction by the force of his power.
Tony’s face grew confused. He looked away, frowned, and then rallied. Anger swarmed over his features and he braced, boots against the ground, muscles straining against the unseen force of magnetism. Like a man staying staunch against a strong wind, Tony planted his boots and leaned forward. He stopped moving and just strained against the power. Impressive.
Still not enough. Griffin sensed metal supports buried within the soles of Tony’s boots, and he added his power to those, swiftly dislodging Tony’s feet until they kicked from underneath him and he went flying backward. When he landed with a thud on his back, stunned and staring up at the sky, Griffin spoke. “Anyone else?”
Liza frowned and glanced at her shoes, lifting them to peer under the souls. “You little fucker.”
He shrugged.
“Good.” Parker strode back to where Griffin stood. “Let’s just accept that Griffin’s better than you.”
“You didn’t give me a chance!” Evan whined.
“Me neither.” Liza pouted.
Parker sighed. “You’ll get your chance.”
He pointed the magnetometer at Griffin. “Amp up.”
Griffin flexed his fists. “Just fill with power?”
“Yeah.”
Okay. Griffin did. He focused inwards, closed his eyes and concentrated on the building energy his body produced. All the while, Parker narrated to those who watched what he knew about magnetic fields.
Griffin kept going until Parker whistled in awe. “One Tesla.”
He opened his eyes. “Is that good?”
“For comparison, a junkyard magnet that lifts a car is about two Tesla. Try lifting something.”
Griffin lifted his palms and pumped out more power and levitated a second dumpster toward the dark part of the alley. The big, beat up red structure lifted a few inches from the ground, creaking and moaning with protest.
<
br /> “Shit. Two Tesla. How do you feel?”
“Fine.” He trembled and sweat formed. His insides began to cramp, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He kept the dumpster levitating.
“Don’t lie, Griff.”
“It hurts a little,” he confessed. “But I can handle it.”
A small gasp from the peanut gallery. It was Lilo. The instant he made the connection, his hold on his power wobbled.
“Interesting,” Parker noted. “Distraction weakens you. Do you need your hands out to lift it?”
“It helps me focus, but I guess not.”
As if that were their cue to tear him down, Parker shot a look at his siblings and they attacked. One by one, they launched toward Griffin, and he defended by any means possible. Liza round-housed him. He jumped to avoid her swiping leg. Tony jabbed, and Griffin used his bo-staff to block. When Evan joined in, Griffin had no choice but to divert some of his power from the floating dumpster to his staff and use it to swing against Evan while his hands blocked the other two. Like a flurry of steel and leather, all four of them battled in a fast paced exchange of fists and boots.
Griffin held them at bay, until Evan got past his defense and locked his hand around Griffin’s wrist. Electricity soared through him, seizing, cramping, tingling his teeth. His bones vibrated, and the dumpster shot meters into the sky. Griffin screamed in agony as his molecules tore apart, but Evan wouldn’t release. The electricity did something to him—like being plugged into a power socket—he amped up. Got stronger.
“Three Tesla!” Parker barked. “Don’t let go, Evan.”
But just as quickly as the power rushed, it collapsed. Unable to speak from the torment, Griffin dropped to one knee, a horrendous crash sounded, and Lilo’s distant voice screamed for them to stop, Evan let go.
White dots swam before his eyes. Everything hurt. His body felt like he’d been fried in a lightning storm. Griffin didn’t realize he’d fallen until faces peered over him, blocking the blue sky in his vision.
“Griffin?” Grace waved her hand in front of his face. Pressure at his neck told him she checked his pulse. “Good lord, his heart is racing—200 bps.”
“Griff?” Lilo was there.
He still couldn’t speak. Could hardly swallow.
“You good, bro?” That was Evan.
He tried to nod. Must have worked because a collective sigh of relief surrounded him.
“Pulse is dropping.”
He groaned. “That hurt.”
Mary and Flint had jogged over.
“What happened, Parker?” Mary asked.
“My guess is Evan gave too much. Griffin’s body couldn’t handle it.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m fine.” He tried to sit, but only managed to prop himself up on his elbows. Lilo sat behind him and rested his head on her thighs.
Parker rubbed his stubbled jaw, a frown on his face. “I think it’s best we avoid powering you up with Evan in the future. You might be fine this time, but the next, it could kill you.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
In his small apartment, Donald had been accosted by Falcon and a handsome man in his fifties, wearing a suit. From the way he ordered Falcon around, it became apparent the tall man was her superior.
“Tell him what happened to you earlier,” Falcon ordered Donald as she crowded him, edging him toward his ruined Chesterfield.
“I was taken and tortured by the Deadly Seven,” he answered, sitting down. “Those bastards kept me in a locked room and threw water at my face, over and over until I answered their questions.”
“Yet here you are. What were their questions?” The boss’s voice was deep, thick and smooth as he loomed over Donald. It was the kind of voice that never wasted or minced words. He was a man people listened to. Reminded Donald of his asshole Senator brother. He hated him already. Fuck him.
“They asked how I was able to sense the sin of greed. They asked where I got my temporary strength, and they asked something about a syndicate.”
That last word stilled the man until Donald thought perhaps he was a cardboard cutout, and nothing more.
“So they’re finally catching up.” His voice was cold and dissonant. He left Donald and moved to the window overlooking the city.
Falcon followed. “I don’t know why you haven’t just killed them all. We know where they are, we know who they are. Get rid of them and be done with it.”
The man breathed heavily through his nose. “Do you remember when we lost them, all those years ago.”
“How could I forget?”
“We’d had such high hopes for them all.” He sighed. “For a few years, I truly thought we’d lost them, but when they started popping up in this city, playing at comic book heroes, I knew all was not lost.”
“We don’t need them.”
The man tilted his head marginally Donald’s way. When he spoke to Falcon, a layer of disgust rolled off his tongue. “He’s nothing like them. A poor carbon copy, no more.”
“What do you want me to do with him?”
They spoke about Donald as though he wasn’t there, as though he was a piece of trash to be thrown out.
“Keep the project online. While we wait for the originals to fall, we keep running contingencies.”
“Agreed.”
“Sin never sleeps.”
“We chip away until the cracks become a chasm.”
“Yes, my darling. Yes.” His piercing blue eyes locked onto Donald. “They asked you questions. What were your answers?”
Donald blinked. “I didn’t tell them anything.”
“So, they just let you go.”
“Yes.”
The boss let out a gust of air, muttering under his breath, “And you led us straight into this building, like lambs to the slaughter.”
“Well—”
“Enough.” Falcon was there before Donald could finish, threatening him with her closeness.
The boss looked to Falcon. “Your thoughts?”
“They will be tracking him, waiting for him to come to us. I don’t think they’ll actually be watching the building. We should be safe.”
“Good.” The boss relaxed and linked his hands behind his back. He turned to Donald. “What are you going to do about it?”
“About what?”
“Well, they humiliated you. They took everything from you. Are you the new Greed, or are you a coward?”
“I eradicated over ten greedy sinners already.”
“Ten. Is that all?”
“I want more serum.”
“Too much and you risk organ failure.”
“I’ll be fine.”
The boss indicated to Falcon, and she left the room to return with a zip-lock leather satchel. She opened it and showed four syringes filled with glossy liquid. “You know the dose. One at a time.”
But Donald’s eyes were as greedy as his mind. The more he took, the stronger he would be, and fuck anyone who tried to get in his way this time.
“Eradicate more sinners, and you will get more of the serum.” Falcon snapped the satchel shut and zipped it closed.
Donald nodded in a daze as he accepted the package from her.
The boss came forward to stand before Donald. “You know the real Greed is Griffin Lazarus, don’t you?”
Every furious bone in Donald’s body swelled. Fucking Lazarus. Should have known. Well, Donald knew exactly how to deal with him. He knew how to deal with them all.
“So, what will you do?” the boss asked. “Think big, Donald.”
Donald’s gaze spanned the city outside his window. There were thousands of greedy sinners out there. The more he removed, the more serum he got, the more powerful he became. No more vulnerability or humiliation from the Deadly Seven, he’d be serving it up instead, and as his benefactors went to leave his apartment, he thought, he’d see the last of them too.
“Whatever you choose.” The boss paused in the doorway. “Just don’
t kill Griffin Lazarus. We want him alive.”
And that made Donald the most furious of all. Fuck them. Fuck them all.
Chapter Thirty
Griffin drove into work on Monday with Lilo in his car and parked in the underground garage of the Cardinal Copy newsroom.
She allowed him to open her door. It made a subtle warmth expand in his chest. He offered a hand and she accepted, just like she had all weekend and the routine of this action had settled deep. It cleared his greedy slate and calmed him to the core. As men would often say, he felt as though he’d been walking on clouds and had almost forgotten the yearning pressure greed left behind.
That was until they entered his office and she let go of his hand.
Sin ebbed like a lazy ocean, oozing back into his pores.
When she kissed him, he tugged her close and inhaled her soft natural scent to drown out the waves.
“You don’t wear perfume anymore. Or chew blueberry gum,” he noted, with a rumble of appreciation.
She smiled. “You caught that, huh? I stopped when I heard it bothered you.”
“I never told you that.”
“Grace did a while ago.”
He stared for a while, unsure what to say. “No one has ever cared enough about me to change their scent. Usually my family like to push and test me. Our way has always been to keep each other strong. It’s all we’ve known.”
“Well, that’s between you and them. For us, we can handle things our own way.”
“Thank you,” he whispered and captured her mouth in a searing kiss. The tingling in his teeth drilled into his brain, but he had to do it. He was drawn to her like a magnet. One last kiss before she went to her desk because he wouldn’t see her for the rest of the day, and already the thought of her absence niggled at him. He wanted the sense of her to last.
Over the weekend, the more time he spent with her, the more her calming effect lasted. And when they spent any time apart, he would crave her touch like never before. She only went to the grocers for an hour, but when she’d come back, he’d been unable to help himself from stripping her naked the instant she got home. For a minute, he considered locking his office door and taking her on the desk. He considered just having the day off to go home with her, despite the fact he’d never played hooky in his life.
Greed Page 24
