Page 17 of Lovesick Gods (Lovesick #1)

“Been way too long, man,” Andre smiled at Danny.

“We need to schedule out a day like this every week—games, movies, whatever—when we know it’ll be slow on the Zeus front.

We’re connected if anything comes up,” he gestured at the monitor tapped into dispatch, “and we still get to relax. Plus, Lynn needed the night off too. I told her she wasn’t allowed down here during our bro-time. ”

“And how’d she respond to that?” Danny snorted.

“More colorfully than I care to repeat. I promised she could bro out with us next time, but I don’t think she minded missing out on Heists.”

“I don’t know. I bet if we let her try a round with us, she’d be addicted. Why do you think I never let you invite Stella? She’d outshine both of us by the end of the first run. She has a scary knack for video games.”

“Noted. Invite Stella next time to team up against you.”

“ Dick .”

“Language, dude, wow, I’m offended,” Andre teased. “Prove you’re worthy to run with VaughnDamme again and let’s get this one in the bag on the first try.”

The initial level heist was the only one they could complete with only two people.

It was a bank job, split into a driver and a driller.

Andre was the driller and had no trouble with his portion, but Danny may have run over a few too many pedestrians as he got used to the driving controls again.

He was more of a console guy; this type of game on his laptop was tougher for him, but it was the only way he and Andre could play at the morgue.

He also needed to keep a tight control over his temper and any frustration that might release his powers.

The last thing he needed was to fry his computer.

They managed to complete the mission with Danny reaching the rendezvous point by the skin of his teeth, police cars right on their tail the entire time.

The rush of adrenaline the heist provided was almost like a real patrol but without the threat of anyone getting hurt.

There was something very soothing about that, and Danny felt a little of the tension in his shoulders drain away as Andre pushed him in the arm with a jubilant, “Go Team Zeus, yeah!”

“Whatever, man,” Danny said, “I almost botched the whole thing.”

“Just wait ‘til we try the prison break one again.”

Danny groaned. He equally loved and hated that mission.

It was the one they’d done the most in the past because they failed at it as often as they succeeded so they usually had to redo it.

They also needed to connect with two other online players.

Although they hadn’t brought their headsets, if the others in their group had headsets, they’d still be able to listen in.

And they did, they discovered as soon as they connected for the new mission.

Danny breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out to be a husband and wife, who not only seemed to know what they were doing but weren’t annoying teenagers.

They only trash-talked each other, which was actually kind of adorable.

Danny and Andre took on the roles of fake prisoner and prison guard for the mission. This time, Danny considered it a small mercy that Andre was the one who mucked everything up. He got them so boxed in at one point, the two of them died together in a spectacular rain of gunfire.

“Reminder: invite Stella next time to team up against you ,” Danny laughed.

Andre pulled a wounded face. “Hilarious. I just need a good luck charm for this one. And I know just the thing.” Leaving the mission rather than waiting for the retry counter, he abandoned the husband and wife. Danny quickly left as well, so he wouldn’t get stuck doing the mission without him.

“Hey, what’s the deal? You know we’ll get like two twelve-year-olds next time for leaving a quality team like that.”

“Yeah, yeah, hang on… VaughnDamme needs a makeover.”

Danny rolled his eyes as dramatically as he could. Grabbing his paper plate while he waited, he realized he’d already eaten everything. “I need seconds. You?”

“Top me off, good sir,” Andre said, handing over his plastic cup for more soda. “Otherwise I’m good. Not all of us are bottomless pits.”

“And you have no idea how lucky you are,” Danny said as he traipsed out of the room. He considered getting a whole other four pack of Doritos from the kitchen but settled on just two for now.

With careful precision, Danny balanced both his and Andre’s cups and his plate of food on the way back to the main room .

He felt good. Really good. Lighter, even.

His talk with Stella had left him anxious, the case for Virgil Labs even more so, but utter and complete goofing around time with Andre pushed all of that to his periphery.

Until he returned to discover that Andre wasn’t merely changing his outfit. He was making a whole new character. One that looked suspiciously like Malcolm Cho.

“What are you doing?” Danny asked stiffly.

“Who better for a prison break, am I right?” Andre beamed proudly as Danny handed him his cup and sat back down. “Did I do justice to Prometheus’s stupid face or what?”

“Too good. I might run you to the police myself instead of helping you avoid them.”

Andre laughed.

Danny didn’t share the humor. Andre was already finished with the character creation and was outfitting Cho with gear. He even gave him a sleeveless duster that almost looked like the real thing.

The bile in Danny’s stomach surged up. Seeing the Cho look-a-like made him think of all the things he wanted to forget.

Made him think of all the reasons he had gone to Cho in the first place.

This was supposed to be his time away from all that, away from being Zeus and all the burdens that came with it.

“Seriously, can you not?” Danny said.

“What? Why?” Andre didn’t even turn to look at him.

“Because I don’t feel like partnering with someone who looks like a guy I hate .”

“You don’t hate Cho. You should. I should too. Guy’s a grade-A asshat.”

“Yeah. He is. People are terrified of him in this city. And he likes that.”

“Dude, you don’t have to tell me. But you still don’t hate him. It’s Prometheus. He’s a bad guy, sure, but he’s not a bad guy . Not as easy on the eyes as his sister…”

The ever-simmering anger in Danny fueled like a slow-burning fire. He stood from his chair. “You’re defending Cho now?”

Finally, Andre paused in his outfitting of the avatar and looked up at Danny. “I thought you were usually the one defending him.”

“And I was wrong .”

Pulling his hands away from his mouse and keyboard finally, Andre focused fully on Danny. “Really? Coz I know he’s a criminal and that he let you down, but he’s never actually done anything—”

“Except lie to me and stand by while other people got hurt? While they died ?”

“And you have every right to be angry about that. I’m just saying that if any of the Elementals you’ve faced might be worth saving—”

“It wouldn’t be Cho! He doesn’t just stand by and do nothing, Andre, he’s killed people.”

“Yeah, serious hardened criminals,” Andre huffed in disbelief, “so sorry if I’m not losing any sleep over that. And killing is where you draw the line suddenly? Isn’t that a little hypocritical?”

What remained of Danny’s knotted stomach fell to his toes, as a cold, empty sensation washed through him. They weren’t supposed to talk about it. They’d agreed to never talk about it.

Andre’s expression twisted as he registered what he’d said. “I didn’t mean—”

“So I’m a killer now and Cho’s worth saving?”

“I didn’t call you a killer.”

“But that’s what you think. I’m just trying to survive when none of the rules make sense anymore. Cho, if given the chance, would hurt me and use me and kill me just like any of the others. Unless I hurt him first.”

“Wait, what—”

“People don’t change, Andre.” Danny took a deliberate step toward his friend and, unlike the other night, this time Andre flinched as a fizzle of electricity traveled up Danny’s arm. “They just reveal who they always were.”

As Andre stared back at him with palpable disappointment and… fear , Danny didn’t know if he meant Cho, Thanatos, or himself.

He started to back away.

“Danny,” Andre stood up after him, knowing too well the telltale signs of when Danny was about to use his powers, but he wasn’t fast enough to change Danny’s mind.

Danny lightning jumped out of the morgue and stood in the alley outside the precinct to gather his thoughts. Pulling out his phone, which he’d thankfully kept in his pocket, he hit ignore when Andre tried to call him and pulled up Cho’s number instead.

He did hate Cho. Andre didn’t know what he was talking about. Danny hated him. And he was going to prove it.

You home?

At the moment.

Stay there.

Oh? And why should I?

I’ll be there in two minutes. I’m going to take you apart, Ice Man. Slowly.