Page 30 of Lovesick Gods (Lovesick #1)

The second file Danny came to was older, maybe the oldest on record.

Danny could tell by the date that Cho would have been a young teenager.

He realized as he read the details that while he had only been a kid himself at the time, he knew this case.

He remembered it from the news—the day Harold Cho, the Elemental dubbed Icebox by the papers, had finally been captured and sent away to prison.

Icebox was known for a string of brutal B he only wanted them to take care of his sister.

‘Cho, Malcolm—found in near catatonic state, mumbling to himself and rocking back and forth while he held his sister, Lucy,’ the report read .

‘Ice surrounded them, covering most of his father, Harold—aka Icebox—but Lucy remained untouched. Malcolm came willingly when police arrived. His only words were on behalf of his sister, to be sure she was safe and would be taken care of. He showed no remorse for his unconscious father or being removed from his home. Adolescent is clearly suffering from extreme duress and trauma. Recommend psych evaluation and immediate conditioning.’

Danny cringed. Elementals didn’t go into normal foster care.

Most people hid their children when they Awakened, but if they came forward or were found out, they could choose to have their children trained and safely contained until adulthood when they were old enough to decide for themselves if they wanted to live quietly without their powers or to work for the government.

Wards of the state didn’t get the same choice.

Officially, they did, but Danny knew it didn’t actually work that way.

Statistically, most Elemental orphans ended up as government agents or criminals—never catch and release; never dampened to live normal lives.

Some disappeared from the system all together.

Back when Harold was first hauled away, Cho was separated from Lucy for years, until the day she Awakened too.

Her foster mother came upon her playing inside a greenhouse she had erected from winding vines and flowers, enclosing her from the outside world. She refused to come out or to create a doorway for anyone to enter until they agreed to let her see her brother.

Meanwhile, Cho had already met Drake in Juvi, making the three of them an almost unstoppable gang of raw power that got smarter and more influential every year they were active.

Icebox was long gone by this time. He’d been killed in prison less than a year after his capture.

His biggest fault was relying too heavily on his abilities.

Without them, forced to wear dampeners full-time, he couldn’t stand up to the trained muscle he picked fights with in the yard.

His arrogance was his undoing, whereas his son would come to escape prison without the use of his powers time and time again.

If Cho had been like Thanatos, or even more like his father, he would have been a much bigger threat to the city. Instead, he remained a simple but talented thief.

He wasn’t a monster. Not back then.

Danny jumped when a message popped up on his computer.

His father had gotten a hit on one of the glassworks’ employees.

He was running a few ideas past Lynn and Andre, and then he’d get back to Danny with his findings.

Danny replied with enthusiasm that was easier to fake over text and promised he’d finish his portion of the list as soon as he could. Researching Cho would have to wait.

Later, Danny didn’t know if he should be angry or relieved that before the end of his shift, when he thought he might have a couple hours to spare to see if Cho could rearrange his schedule, he got a message from Andre saying that he, Lynn, and John were waiting for him downstairs.

He stared at his phone in longing before lightning jumping down to the morgue.

“Whoa, kiddo!” John held up his hands as Danny sparked into existence right next to him. “I don’t think I’d be too happy if you landed on top of me one of these days.”

“Sorry,” Danny offered a shaky laugh as he rustled his fingers through his hair and dropped his messenger bag on Andre’s desk. “Feeling kind of rushed today. What did you guys find?”

Lynn stood looking over Andre’s shoulder at the computer screen.

Danny and John joined them and regarded the mug shot they’d pulled up.

There was nothing particularly defining about the man, other than his teal eyes.

Mid-30s, brown hair, no prominent features; neither unattractive nor good looking. He seemed the epitome of the everyman.

“Cassidy Ludgate,” Danny read from the photo. “What do we know about him?”

“He’s the only former employee of the glassworks with a record,” Andre said. “He was fired last year. And —and this is the real kicker—he disappeared from Olympus City the day after Thanatos was defeated.”

The blood drained from Danny’s face. “What does he have to do with Thanatos?”

“We don’t know yet,” John jumped in, “but it’s that much more likely he’s an Elemental. Maybe he has ties to Thanatos. Maybe he…admired him.”

Danny’s stomach churned at the thought.

“The real question is how is he breaking into these places? What’s his power? Walk through walls? Turn invisible?” John turned to Lynn and Andre for their thoughts.

“That fits some known Light abilities and it would make naming him easier,” Andre said, since he was rather fond of ‘The Invisible Man’.

“But it wouldn’t explain the amount of loot being taken,” Danny burst his bubble. “Even if he could make the loot invisible too, how did he do it all so quickly?”

“Ability to…shrink things and…?” Andre tried but tapered off.

Lynn interjected, “Unfortunately, we don’t know enough to pinpoint his powers yet or why he disappeared when he did. He’s registered as Light leaning , so he was likely in hiding.”

“Meaning we’re still at square one,” Danny huffed.

“Hardly.” John slapped him on the back. “We have a name, Danny. A face. Someone had to have seen the guy, even if his last known address is over a year old. It’s something. We’ll put out an APB and see what comes up.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Danny wanted to be pleased, but he also wanted a target. Not just a name, but a location to track the guy down and…

Rolling his shoulders to keep that jolt of anger from climbing, Danny reminded himself that he didn’t want to hurt him. If he had to throw the guy around a bit to bring him in, fine, but he had to be better than that. He had to be better than Thanatos. Better than what Thanatos had made of him.

John’s hand coming down on his shoulder again startled him. “You beat yourself up, kiddo, but you’re playing detective as well as full-time superhero. Don’t be so hard on yourself. We’ll get him.”

“I know.” Danny pulled on a smile. “It just would have been a nice way to start the night’s patrol if I could put this one behind us.”

“The night’s still young. Maybe the APB will get a hit.”

Danny highly doubted luck was in his favor.

While he got into costume and prepared for a long night, John headed upstairs to get things rolling on the APB.

“Danny, can I talk to you for a minute?” Lynn came over as he was about to pull down his mask.

“Uh sure.”

Bringing him out into the hallway that led to the various storerooms, it was clear Lynn meant for this to be a private conversation. Great.

“I just wanted you to know that I’ve been researching possible ways to use medication on you,” she said. “Not just because of how you’ve been feeling lately, but for pain too.”

“That’s…great.” Danny burned through pain killers too quickly for most of them to be of any use to him. The rest of the topic wasn’t one he wanted to discuss right now, but he mustered a smile for her efforts.

“The truth is, Danny,” she said softer, causing him to sharpen his gaze on her concerned face, “your serotonin levels have been low. Much lower than I’d like.

It’s a perpetuating cycle. You’re depressed because bad things happened, so your serotonin levels are lower, and because they’re low, you feel more depressed, which makes you act out and pull away from activities and people that might provide a boost and rush of endorphins. ”

Danny held up a hand. “I know how all that works, Lynn. And I’ve been trying to find some time for more endorphin-friendly activities, but I’ve been busy.”

“There’s always time for your own wellbeing, Danny.” Reaching for his arm, she gave a gentle squeeze.

“I know,” Danny said, even as the chasm in his chest deepened.

“Thanks, Lynn. If you figure something out with the meds, maybe it’ll help.

” The idea of being able to flip a switch and be happy again would have been comforting, but even if Lynn could find a way past his metabolism, he knew it didn’t work that way.