Reality Hero
by
Ashlynn Monroe
Reality Hero
Copyright © 2013, Ashlynn Monroe
ISBN: 9781937325732
Publisher: Beachwalk Press, Inc.
Electronic Publication: June, 2013
Editor: Leigh Lamb
Cover: Fantasia Frog Designs
eBooks are not transferable. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Back Cover Copy
Can reality TV handle a reluctant superhero bachelor, ten attention-seeking women, and one evil villain?
Dina Dell’s career as a television producer has hit bottom. Desperate to save her job, she comes up with the idea for a reality show called I Want to Date a Superhero. But the only superhero bachelor she knows is the only man she’s ever loved—Zane Blair.
Zane was once a normal human, but a traumatic childhood incident mutated him, along with Dina’s sister and their friends. Dina was the only one who escaped without any superhero abilities. And while she might be the “normal” one, that only left her feeling like more of an outcast.
Her lack of powers put Zane in danger. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before someone used her to get to him, she left, breaking both their hearts in the process. After all the pain she caused him, will he be willing to help her now?
Then an old enemy emerges, putting Dina’s plans on hold. When her superhero friends are the ones who need help, Dina just might learn that sometimes little Miss Average can be a hero too.
Content Warning: graphic sexual content
Dedication
To Jessica Coulter Smith, who is made of 100% pure awesome. You’re the best, thank you for believing in me. You will always be the one who gave me a chance, and the courage to keep reaching higher. This is also for Misty Rayburn…who is amazing…that’s all I need to say because everyone who knows her will agree. **HUGS**
Acknowledgements
I’d like to acknowledge the staff at Beachwalk Press for helping my work to shine. Thank you for everything you do!
Chapter 1
Dina Dell sat in the conference room waiting anxiously. A huge lump began forming in her throat. She knew things weren’t going to go well, yet she held hope old Ervin might be feeling generous. Her past hip and innovative programming ideas had once made her his most valued employee. Now she was hanging onto her job by a thread. That’s how the television business is: unforgiving. She was the mastermind behind top rated shows such as Kid Exchange and Please, Someone Marry my Mother.
Unfortunately, the wellspring of creativity had run dry. For the last year, every show she’d produced had been ratings disasters, if her productions had even been lucky enough to air at all. Dina saw the writing on the wall, and with the network making major cuts to combat the economic slump, she knew the axe was coming down…on her head.
Watching the wily old codger walk toward the room through the opaque glass, even without seeing his face, she knew he was on the warpath. His body language said it all. His fists were clenched and his shoulders were tight. He lumbered down the hall as if he were preparing for murder—the murder of her career. Ervin threw open the door with dramatic flair.
“My Cat is in Charge? Really? Really and truly? Dear God, Dina. You honestly thought this was going to make good television? Who’d ever watch this? What happened to that brilliant brain of yours? Did you have a head injury? Did you have a stroke? Did someone hit me in the head, and this is all some coma-induced nightmare? What could possibly keep me from canning your sweet little ass right now?”
“Well, the sexual harassment lawsuit over your ‘sweet ass’ comment for one, and two, I have an idea that’ll blow your mind. I swear it. This one will put the network on top again. When the big boys hear the premise, neither of us will ever have to worry about our jobs again.” She paused and took a deep breath. Sweat ran down her face, but she resisted the urge to swipe at it, just in case he didn’t notice. Oh God, can he see that I’m lying? “That whole cat thing was just to get your attention for this. I swear the network will be kissing your ass after this airs.”
Dina was lying through her teeth. She had nothing that she could produce. Her only idea was one she could never actually use without destroying people she cared about. The cat thing was the most creative idea she’d had in months. Plenty of people loved cats. Someone would want to watch a show about families letting their furry feline make major life decisions. Oh fuck, that is awful. Crap. Hold it together, girl. The old man can smell fear. She gulped in another lungful of air.
He cocked a bushy, gray eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. Waiting. She took a breath. Folding her hands, she put them in her lap so he wouldn’t notice them shaking. Closing her eyes, she exhaled slowly. It was time to pull out the dramatics. She’d been around enough TV personalities to have picked up a thing or two about acting. Okay, maybe if I lie well, he won’t send me to spend the rest of my life living on the street and rambling incoherently about my glory days working in television. The desperate thoughts sent her heart racing. She opened her eyes and regretted it. Ervin was staring at her. He still hadn’t said a word, but she could see curiosity in his expression. Good. He’d taken the bait, too bad she had nothing to reel him in with.
“I respect you, Ervin, but I’ll take this idea to another network if you don’t want to hear it.”
His eyebrow rose. “Okay?”
He was giving her one last chance. She opened her mouth to condemn the one person who really mattered to her. Her mouth went dry and she shut it. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes. There was no more waiting, she had to do it, even if this idea cost her what was left of her soul. She looked up at her mentor.
“What if I told you I had a superhero who was willing to star in a new show? Would you want me to run with that?”
His watery eyes bulged, then he recovered and a scowl replaced his shock. “You’ve made this network some serious money, but that’s in the past. For the last year, you’ve been a harbinger of series death. Whatever you’ve touched around here has turned to steaming piles of…crap. Your ideas stink. Once upon a time, I called you the Queen of Reality TV. What happened to my amazing, rising star? Why are you pushing terrible, idiotic, horrible programming? Everything you’ve done lately makes me want to stick sharp pencils in both my eyes so I can’t see them, and scratch off my ears so I can’t hear them. Then I’d rip the hair out of my head so the pain can distract me from the memory.” His face was turning from red to purple.
She cringed. This graphic assessment of her talent left her queasy. He glared at her before opening his mouth, as if to speak, then closing it again. The old man ran a hand through what was left of his straggly gray hair and pinned her with a less than friendly look. She tried to stand her ground, but under the weight of her mentor’s ire, she crumbled. Her shoulders slumped, and she couldn’t meet his eyes.
“If I didn’t respect you so much, and love you like the daughter I’m glad I never had, I’d have put you out of here six months ago. I put my sweet ass on the line for yours this morning with the network, so don’t screw me. I swear this cat thing made me want to stick a firecracker up my nose and blow my head off.”
She winced, Ervin was never one to spare feelings, but ouch…harsh. His dramatic criticism felt completely deserved. He was right. She did suck. The old coot’s face was still red from his tantrum.
“If this thing works out, I’ll be the queen again. S
o cool off before my only supporter has a massive heart attack and dies. Just think about your wife, and how much she’d like to spend your life insurance money.” The words seemed to calm him down, but not much.
“You’re giving your only supporter the heart problems, so last chance, kid. Turn the dung into gold or you’re fired.” He whirled around, leaving the same way he came in: abruptly. She could almost see him wiping her self-respect off his shoes as he marched away. If she screwed up this time, her career was finished. Dina genuinely worried about his health. For all his bark, he wasn’t a bad guy. He’d given her a good start in the industry. She’d been the one to screw it all up.
Dina sat quietly looking at the blank, smooth tabletop. She nibbled her lip and fought back tears. She had the perfect idea, but it was going to be a hard sell. Oh, it’d be easy to get the network interested, they’d love it. Old Ervin would respect her again. Masses of television viewers would praise her. Yet she’d hate herself…probably until she died. The only person who could star in this thing was the one person she loved the most. He was the only person she’d ever intentionally hurt. The person who could save her was the one who’d given Diamond City almost everything, and now she was going to ask for one last thing—his heart.
* * * *
Zane stood along on the rooftop. His body loomed protectively as he overlooked one of the worst areas of the city. Tight, midnight blue spandex encased his muscles. A matching mask covered his eyes. He gave every ounce of his inhuman strength to fight those who’d hurt the weak. His powerful mind could control others and teleport his physical body across vast distances. He used his amazing ears to hear and his miraculous eyes to see what no mere mortal could. Then he used his unique heart to give a damn about what was happening to those suffering in the city below. When they called emergency services and were put on hold, he came and saved the day.
His head ached. The darkness weighed on him. Each shout from the alleys, every angry word from the apartments on the block, all of it assaulted him. When he was tired, it was harder to triage the chaos and control his senses. Zane’s thoughts tormented him. Every night he risked his life for those in need of a hero. The constant ugliness was starting to get to him, but he knew the crime rate was dropping and people relied on him, so he continued as a vigilante. The press had dubbed him “Mind Man”. He used his mind-control ability to stop criminals. Someday it would catch up to him and he’d die, because at the end of the day he was still only human.
Zane crossed his arms over his chest. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to drown out the constant roar of amplified noise from Diamond City—his city. He’d done what he could to be normal, but he had to face the fact he was different. If the city only knew their hero thought of himself as an average guy. He’d never asked for the telekinesis, or mind control, or superhuman abilities. He was just Zane Blair, an accountant. Using his freakhood for good made him feel a little better, but only a little.
He felt someone watching him. Zane turned. Rain, his crime-fighting companion, materialized from liquid to solid behind him. He gave her a tight smile. “You’re back,” he said.
She moved to stand next to him. He looped his arm around her shoulders, but she shrugged him off. Something had been bothering her, but he didn’t know what it was. Once she’d told him everything, but now she was sullen.
Maybe this shithole of a city is getting to her too. Even a hero deserves to retire. He sighed. They weren’t teenagers anymore. Time was running out for Rain and Mind Man. Soon, he’d want to be just Zane, but would Rain want to be Ella Dell again? It was time they talked. Not just he and Ella, but Bridget, aka Stunner, too. The three of them had been at this too long. They’d lost one of their own recently, and it had affected them all.
“Where’s Stunner?” Zane didn’t look at Rain as he asked the question.
“Where do you think? You’re the mind, use your head,” she replied caustically.
“Touchy. The grave?”
She grunted at him. Zane turned to look at her. She nodded brusquely. She’d been crying. He reached out to comfort his dearest friend, but she stepped away. “Don’t.”
“What’s been eating you lately? I’ve never seen you like this. I know it’s bad, but we’ll get through it. He was like a brother to me too.” Zane spoke quietly as his throat closed around the words. Ella, Bridget, and Aaron were the only family he had left. They’d been with him when he was sure he’d never make it another day. He trembled as the memory of Helium dying ignited in his mind.
“It’s too late. Damn it, you can’t go in there!” Zane screamed at Aaron, aka Helium, as he levitated toward the burning top floor of the seven-story apartment building. Aaron had always been stubborn.
Bridget, aka Stunner, stood helplessly beside Zane as she gazed in horror at her husband. “For God’s sake, stop him, Zane,” she pleaded. He could see the agony in her eyes. It was too late to stop Aaron.
Zane couldn’t fly, or levitate. That was one thing he couldn’t do. Even with his list of powers growing every day, he was grounded. He couldn’t even will himself into the building. He’d never been there before. His power to transport himself with a thought required him to have been at his destination before. He was helpless. Mind games didn’t work on fire. He could only control people and animals, not the elements.
“I can’t,” Zane replied tightly. He’d always been the leader.
Ella glared at him accusingly. Guilt made him ache. This time Aaron was on his own.
Zane looked around. The fire department still wasn’t here. The city’s resources were thin, but this was ridiculous. Two little faces peeked out of the window. Zane realized why his friend was making the reckless choice. A boy and a girl huddled together, terrified and trapped. The mother stood weeping in the crowd. He heard her babbling. “I had them, they were right here. Why would they go back inside?” She paused and took a shaky breath. “The hamster, dear God, they went back for the cage. Melody. Jimmy. Hang on, Mommy will save you.” A man grabbed the woman. “Let me go. Andrew, let me go or I’ll never forgive you. Melody! Jimmy!”
The man held the hysterical woman. “Everything will be okay,” the man whispered sorrowfully. He made soft shushing sounds.
It didn’t matter why those kids had gone back, not really. The children were as good as dead. A flash erupted behind them and he could hear their screams of terror. The building was going to blow any second. His friend didn’t have consistent control of his ability to levitate, but he was foolishly attempting the rescue alone. Ella could turn into liquid, but not enough of it to put out a blaze of that size and she was unlikely to survive the attempt. Bridget could freeze people, but not fire, so this was beyond their abilities.
Zane watched in horror as the flames licked out around the screaming children and his friend. An explosion shook the building and Aaron moved toward danger. Aaron reached inside just as another explosion rocked the building hard enough to make the ground under Zane’s feet tremble. His friend held the children in his arms as his body sailed backward toward the ground. The sound of Aaron hitting the pavement was sickening. Bridget screamed. Aaron’s arms flopped to the sides. The children sat up, stunned. Aaron had saved them, but the puddle of blood surrounding his body spoke clearly. Aaron was dead.
Zane took Bridget’s hand. She looked up at him. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide. “We have to go now. We have to take him home,” Zane said quietly.
“He needs a doctor. Please. Zane. He needs help,” Bridget half-begged, half-sobbed.
Ella was there. She grabbed Bridget’s face between her palms and forced her best friend to look her in the eyes. “He’s gone, honey. I’m so sorry. We have to get him home or they’ll take him. The assholes who did this to us, they will get their dirty hands on his body. Do you want them to cut him up so they can use what’s left of him to hurt more kids?”
Bridget shook her head. The anguish on her face was heartbreakingly poignant. Sirens blared. Help had arri
ved—too late. He grabbed the women’s hands and they ran toward Aaron.
The mother had already scooped up her children, holding them tight and burying her face against their blond heads. The mother heaved a great, shaking sob. Then she looked up at the Bridget. “Thank you, thank you. I’m so sorry.”
Bridget scowled at the woman. “I loved him and now he’s gone. Raise them right and keep a better eye on them. Get the hell out of this city. Raise them somewhere green and healthy. Don’t make his sacrifice for nothing, lady.”
The woman gaped at her, nodding fiercely. Zane gathered his friends close and thought of home. They left the blazing building, and gawking crowd, behind.
“Dina called. She wants to meet with you later. I was surprised she still has my number. It must be important.” Disapproval saturated Ella’s tone.
Dina’s name chased the dark memories away. Just hearing her soft voice was a balm to his battle-weary soul. Zane tried not to smile. He’d been missing Dina fiercely. He hadn’t wanted to admit how much he wanted to see her. It had been months since the last time he’d found an excuse to go to her. He hadn’t seen her since Bridget’s birthday, right before Aaron died. She was the only person on the planet who didn’t want to be around the hero. Dina just wanted the man. He always felt complete with her.
Her skin was so smooth. He reached out to stroke her pale cheek. Her long, dark hair curled around her face as she looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “I love you,” she whispered.
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