Page 20

TODAY IS NOT THE DAY

THADDEUS

I saw Syd’s face when the douche said we’d have to name our team and come up with a ‘branding strategy’. She’s going to lose her mind at some point today, and I’m not sure we can afford that. We agreed to keep everything on the DL as a team so we can check out the competition, but if they’re going to make us do stupid shit, it will be hard to keep her on track with that plan.

She might not be the only one, too, given the disgust mirrored by the dragon.

The trappings of this contest feel stupid and superfluous when it’s weighed against the seriousness of its conclusion. Sydney is so angry about what happened four years ago—especially her father’s death—and she’s never processed it properly. Anger keeps her going, and she doesn’t want to let go of it because she’s afraid there won’t be anything left to fuel her. Of course, she’s never said that, but it’s clear as day when you know her as well as I do. Her fury about the world forsaking the supes of the former America out of capitalistic greed helps her deal with the reality of our lives now.

Now we have to play to the cameras and the media vultures to ensure our survival—it’s going to take time for her to swallow that injustice. The only thing Huck and I can do is help her deal with it in private as best we can while hoping the others don’t push her boundaries enough to fuck up our chances in this damn competition. Sighing as I watch her stew quietly while the Chad dude continues to explain our activities for the morning, I place my hand on her shoulder gently. I don’t want to spook her, but I think she needs something to ground her.

“This is such a fucking circus, Thad,” she whispers. “So much money is being spent on a facade for the rest of the world when people are suffering—especially the camps ranked lower than T7.”

“I know,” I reply ruefully. “But we can only control what’s in our grasp, Syd. If we rise to the top of the barrel and gain public adoration, maybe we can put the focus on the truth of supe life in FHSA.”

She turns, looking over her shoulder at me, her eyes wide. “Holy shit, you’re right. If we use this not to escape, but to fuck up their perfect bubble of lies, we might be able to help everyone, not just ourselves.”

“Great,” the vampire says low enough that only our team can hear. “She’s going to turn into a crusader now, bear. That’s going to go badly since she can’t even defend herself with magic or supe skills, plus she’s got zero control over her emotions.”

Sydney glares at him so intensely that I think if she had powers, it would?—

Sebastian starts choking, his hands flying to his throat as he scrabbles to get air. His eyes pop open, panic reflected in the red orbs as he tries to keep the noise from his struggle quiet. Our girl’s lips curve up in satisfaction, an evil glee coming over her face as she continues to stare at him. The dragon notices the problem, and I feel the air around us grow cooler, a salty tang filling my nostrils as he moves closer. He approaches Syd carefully, like she’s a rabid animal he doesn’t want to bite him.

“ Toafilemu, aloiafi natia. E tatau ona e filemu ? 1 .”

Huck frowns, whatever language the sea dragon is speaking, he isn’t familiar with. Rory looks similarly confused, and the vampire simply claws at his windpipe. I rumble soothingly, hoping to help her with my touch and the bear’s support. There’s no way Syd has any clue what this dude is saying, either. She’s never been out of our state, much less?—

“ Ua tatau ona maliu o ia mo lana vaega i lo tatou pagatia. Ua ia faalumaina a?u ma o tatou tagata i lona faatasi mai. ? 2 ”

What the fucking shit is that?!

The royal laughs softly, his chuckle rumbling with a touch of his inner beast. “That is true, aloiafi natia ? 3 . But today is not the day to mete out that punishment, and perhaps this vampire isn’t the one who has earned it. You are smarter than that, I believe.”

Suddenly, she breaks eye contact with Sebastian and he’s able to suck in deep breaths, trying to slowly get oxygen back into his body. I didn’t think vamps actually needed air, which means we’ve been taken in by a mythos probably spread by their own kind to protect themselves. A vampire locked in a coffin for revenge would die much faster of air loss than starvation—so it makes sense they’d pretend otherwise.

“Dude, what the fuck?” I say as I look at the rich moron.

He can’t speak yet, so he holds a finger up, and continues working through the injuries our girl gave him without a second thought. When he’s finally able to blow out a slow, even breath, he croaks, “We don’t need air, and I have no idea what the motherfucking shit that bitch just did to me.”

Elias smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. “I believe she just showed you what happens when you fuck around with her, blood sucker.”

“Well, that’s for sure, scaly man, but how did she do that little demo, mm?” Huck pushes his cowboy hat back, his face full of confusion. “Sweet pea’s never been able to do a thing in class, and bless your heart, you seem to have awakened a beast.”

The dragon shrugs. “I’m not sure how I knew what to say, or that she’d be able to understand, demon. It just came out of my mouth. As for ‘how’, I couldn’t tell you; I still don’t have a read on her type, which is weird as fuck.”

Sydney holds her hand up, shaking her head. “We can’t deal with this here; too many witnesses, both seen and unseen. Discussion will have to be later; we have extremely unpleasant bullshit to deal with first.”

She’s not wrong, but what happens if someone pisses her off during our sessions?

“I don’t like this shit,” I mutter to Huck as the mass crowd of supes head out of the atrium back across the courtyard we used to come to our building last night. They’re taking us in the back way again and Syd is keeping her distance from all of us. Probably a good plan considering, but I’m using the time to catch my other best friend alone. “How did the stupid prince know what to do? How did she do that at all? Why would the vampire admit it shouldn’t have worked? There’s too many unanswered questions.”

The demon shrugs, his eyes darting around before he replies, “Change is seldom comfortable, my friend, nor does it come when it’s convenient. You and I have had this conversation many times since I arrived in these parts; I’ve always believed our girl was holdin’ cards we couldn’t see. Obviously, I wasn’t far off the mark.”

“She wasn’t doing it purposefully, man. You saw the surprise in her eyes at first—before it faded to happily psychotic glee, I mean.”

He laughs, looking more than a little intrigued by the thought. “An attitude I find even more attractive than her normal prickly behavior, I’m afraid. The pure evil in her eyes while the vamp was trying not to die was enough to make my entire body light up like a holiday festival.”

She’s going to kill him, too, if he gets too aggressive with his appreciation.

“Huck, if she’s coming into the suppressed power of a species we have no clue about… You might consider treading lightly with the come-ons, man.” I scratch my chin as we follow the group into the building, keeping close enough to Sydney to get to her if need be. “You know how… anti-intimacy… she is.”

His laugh surprises me and I arch a brow. “Oh, naive little bear. Sydney Jolie is not asexual in the slightest—though I would adore her regardless. She’s simply terrified of being left alone again. Mommy abandonment, Daddy abandonment—even due to death—has made her create a hard shell around herself to keep from being hurt again. How can you not realize that?”

I frown, holding the door for him as we enter. “I never delved too deep out of respect, Huck. It’s not my place to force her to confront shit; I’m not a fucking shrink.”

The fear demon shakes his head ruefully. “I fear you’ve done both of you, and now me, a great disservice.”

“How?”

Huck grins, his eyes swirling with the swirls of his actual magic. “Because what we fear defines who we are, and overcoming it can open many, many doors, Thaddeus. Our mind will seek to overcome them when emotions are extreme—like today. However, when there’s no adrenaline forcing your hand, you are owned by them.”

Groaning, I give him a frustrated look. “Explain better.”

“Thad, I believe that she unintentionally used what little magic she had developed to put a shell around her that’s only grown stronger over the years—especially the past four in the sector.” His smug expression irritates me, but I let him go on. “I didn’t notice because she kept me farther away until now. However, her true powers may be… leaking out of that shell.”

“It’s cracked?” I ask as we line up where the guides show everyone to stand. “What did that?”

“Fuck if I know,” he says. “But I believe it has and now she’s coming into her own. What I don’t know is how she’s able to exhibit the level of power she did earlier. The Marker should have prevented it.”

We fall silent for a few moments, and it comes to me. “We all saw doctors separately, Huck.”

“Well, I’ll be a daisy, Thad. You’re right.” His dark features furrow into a thoughtful look and he glances at our girl quickly. “She has to know, if that’s the case. Why didn’t she tell us?”

That bothers me, too.

“I don’t know, but it might be because we haven’t really had ‘alone time’ with her. The others are always around. I can’t imagine she’d share something that treasonous in front of people we don’t know yet.”

Huck scratches his head as he looks at our three additional team members. “I find myself puzzled by them, to be truthful. I don’t get bad vibes from them, but the dragon and vamp are closed off to my abilities for now. I intend to work on the mage first. He’s far too open for his own good.”

I snort. “Hopefully, that’s not a trap, man.”

“I’ve never met a single spell sucker in my long existence who could entrap me. Don’t worry your big paws about me,” he says with a wink.

“Are you two done gossiping like old maids?” We look up to see Sydney standing with her arms crossed as she looks at us in consternation. “I’d prefer to have you along when we go into this… wonderful…branding exercise.”

As we join her, the mage in question strolls up with a smirk. “I have news. Most of these idiots are going to use names that are both dumb and contrived. We won’t have much competition in this group of teams.”

I blink. “You were off doing something… useful?”

“One of us has to talk to people that aren't only our team, bear. Since Vicious isn’t socially inclined enough to flirt with the guys, and you two only watch her… it’s down to the rest of us. Bas over there is still finding his nuts and the dragon hates people. Again, it’s all me, man.”

Elias arches a brow. “I hate most people.”

“Oh, that’s helpful,” Sydney mutters. “How would one know which people you might want to interact with, then?”

“I don’t let them get themselves killed for strangling a vampire in public?”

Her jaw drops and she just blinks at the big supe as Huck and the mage both laugh.

Well, that’s fucking fantastic.

1 ? Calm, hidden spark. You must be calm.

2 ? He deserves to die for his part in our misery. He insults me and our people with his presence.

3 ? hidden spark