Page 8 of Seductive Architect (Grunts of Vanguard #2)

I jumped to my feet. With a thought, the nanites crept along my skin, covering me in my superhero uniform.

I could hear the legion of tiny machines as they locked into place.

The visor wrapped around my head, the heads-up-display already scouring the HeroApp? for any information on what had caused the explosion.

Let’s see which idiot had stumbled onto a building filled with supers .

Kiki sighed. “Just once, I’d love to end a session on hope.”

She followed me to the window. Her arms were folded over her chest, pouting as I lifted the glass.

I took a bit of satisfaction knowing I dodged her question.

There’d be another session, and we’d go toe-to-toe.

I’d do my best to, as she put it, “Deflect from the real problem.” I couldn’t handle the frown on her face. She needed a win today.

“If it makes you happy.” I stood in the window, turning about. As I fell backward, I shouted, “I’ll ask him out again.”

Even as the jetpack roared to life, I could hear Kiki scream, “Victory!”

“Connie, ready to open a can of whoop ass?”

Millions of tiny robots, making up my uniform, encased me like medieval armor.

While other heroes were home tailoring suits out of spandex, I preferred a modern solution.

Their outfits might show off their rippling muscles or epic bulges, but mine came with sassy artificial intelligence and a slew of weapons.

No showing off my underwear to the world.

“Asses are about to get whooped,” she cheered in my ear .

Janet might not be the best mentor with teamwork, but she loved to scream about a killer photo opportunity.

I killed the jetpack and fell the last twenty feet.

I landed in front of the doors leading inside, dropping to one knee, fist pressed against the cement walkway.

Wait for it. Wait. Wait. I raised my head, moving to my feet in a slow, deliberate motion.

“Nailed it,” Connie said.

Unfortunately, all the employees rushed inside, leaving my epic landing less than useful. I’d have to try it again tonight and see if I could leave a crowd of onlookers in awe.

“Who do we?—”

Connie uploaded the villain’s profile into my visor.

Pulled straight from the HeroApp?, the dossier included a brief history, powers, and outstanding warrants.

“Wow.” Prism had a police record stretching several pages.

This wasn’t the usual grab-and-go villain looking for a quick buck.

We had murder, kidnapping, and… jaywalking?

“Connie, get the Coven here.”

He had already blown out several windows of the lobby.

Hopefully, the bomb hadn’t destroyed the coffee shop…

or hurt people, I guess. I scanned the open area in front of the building while skimming through data.

Prism. Light powers. The ability to bend and reshape.

Several of the photos in his file showed him half invisible. I switched to infrared .

“Wyatt is off-planet for training. Drew in Sin City meeting with a sponsor.”

Great. I have a killer on my hands and no backup. “Try Dustin or Ricardo.” I didn’t know Wyatt or Arthur’s boyfriends well enough to make them a first pick, but if Prism was as bad as the?—

My visor flashed white before something struck me from the side.

Burning. Pain. I sailed into the adjacent lot, smashing into the scaffolding surrounding an under-construction building.

The concrete cracked from the impact. We needed to update Prism’s profile to include death rays.

The nanites screamed in pain, mourning the death of thousands of their companions.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force away the glowing orbs in my eyes.

“Dustin is presenting to Vanguard police. Ricardo isn’t picking up.”

“It’s just us.”

“We’ve got this,” she said.

I appreciated Connie’s misplaced confidence.

As my uniform stitched itself together, I lacked her enthusiasm.

I only put on the suit out of necessity.

This was Wyatt and Drew’s dream. I preferred focusing on the villains working behind the scenes.

However, no rainbow-wielding asshole was going to stop me.

“We’ve got this,” I echoed. The nanites cheered.

Screams. From this vantage point, my visor highlighted people trapped in a taxi as it dropped off an employee. As it rose into the air, Prism turned visible. I lunged from the building, jetpack firing. Adding the repulsors in my gauntlets, I sped toward the bad guy.

“Shit.” While I focused on the big bad, I hadn’t looked for accomplices. Three men turned visible, grunts with ski-masks and guns. I hated it when villains hired lackeys. It reeked of insecurity.

“Connie. Drone.”

Prism hurled the car at the building. Connie disconnected my jetpack, sending it toward the car.

I rolled along the ground, jumping to my feet.

Firing lasers from my gloves, Prism smacked them away as if they were nothing more than an inconvenience.

Stupid. Of course, he wouldn’t be bothered by a few high-intensity lasers.

I only needed to distract him long enough for Connie to save the people in the car.

The ground shook as the taxi smashed into the building. Connie had attached my jetpack to the vehicle, slowing its momentum, but not enough to stop more shattered windows. Ricardo had best have good insurance with the number of times he had to rebuild the lobby.

The three goons headed inside. Dammit. I couldn’t be everywhere at once. “Connie, can you handle his sidekicks?”

“On it.” The jetpack detached from the car and flew inside.

I turned just in time to see Prism’s entire body flash white.

I threw up my arm, a purple shield spreading out from my gauntlets.

The beam hit with enough force that my feet slid along the pavement.

As soon as it vanished, I blasted forward, landing close enough to smash a fist into Prism’s jaw.

If I were going to stop the goons, I needed to put this villain down.

I followed with another fist. Prism caught it, squeezing until the metal bent, sparks erupting from my knuckles.

With the remaining glove, I fired the repulsor, breaking free of his hold.

This wasn’t going to plan, not in the least. I’d need to work on developing weapons that didn’t rely on light.

By the end of the week, I’d have suit 2. 0 ready to go. For now?—

Prism started to fade from sight. I fired the nanoscopic tracker, embedding it in his left shoulder.

Now, it didn’t matter if Mr. Destroy Company Property went invisible or not.

In a burst of multicolored light, he shot into the air…

running away? Okay, that had been easier than expected.

I’d spend the evening pondering the why?—

“Shit! Distraction.”

I turned to the building. With only one working gauntlet, I couldn’t fly.

That had been Prism’s goal all along. I had been too focused to think about the end game.

I ran, the suit letting me move faster than the average human.

With a single blast, I jumped into the air, tucking myself into a ball as I smashed through a window. Sorry, Ricardo .

“Connie, report.”

“Three men. Invisibility tech. Automatic rifles. Standard ammunition.” Her voice had a quiver to it. I hadn’t programmed that. “You have backup… I think?”

“You think?”

When I landed, I sprang to my feet. Shots fired. Somebody had torn the door off the car and used it as a shield. When one of the goons stopped to reload, the door whipped through the air like a Frisbee, smashing the henchman against a metal column.

“Hudson?”

Connie navigated the drone, sweeping in and stealing the rifle from another henchman. “It seems your boyfriend has moves.”

I watched as he charged the gunless man. Meanwhile, my head jerked to the side as the gun pressed against my temple. Shots fired, making my suit vibrate. When I didn’t drop dead, the man tried again.

“Why do bad guys insist on doing the same thing after it fails the first time?” Another three shots struck my cheek and neck.

“You deserve this.” I fired a repulsor into his chest. Soaring through the air, the drone snatched his gun.

He crumpled to the ground. I did a quick scan: still alive.

For good measure, Connie fired a tranquilizer dart.

He’d be useless for the next few hours. But he didn’t deserve my attention.

There it was again—the hum. It remained just out of focus, swallowed by the white noise created by the technology throughout the building.

It came from Hudson, a faint whisper. No, it wasn’t that I couldn’t hear it, wherever it came from, spoke faster than my powers could interpret.

That hadn’t happened since grade school.

The remaining henchman pulled a bayonet from his belt.

He swiped at Hudson, who ducked under the blade, stepping to the side.

With a kick to the back of the leg, the bad guy fell to his knees.

As he drew a pistol, Hudson caught his wrist, snatching the weapon.

In a fluid motion, he dropped the magazine and separated the slide from the body.

He moved with grace, a control that only came from years of combat. My new friend must be former military.

The henchman didn’t know it, but he had already lost this fight.

Hudson caught the man’s fist. Bones snapped.

With a kick to the chest, our last villain flew across the room, skidding to a stop at my feet.

Hudson might have muscles, but enough to toss the baddies around like they weighed nothing?

Could his performance and the hum of code somehow be linked?

Just when I thought I could focus on an adorable man in sexy suspenders, my questions were becoming theories.

When the henchman groaned, I stepped on his chest, ensuring he’d stay down. “How did you do that?” I needed to know.

Hudson eyed his hands, an eyebrow raised. He seemed as surprised as I was. “I just did.”

Did we have a sleeper agent in our midst? I’d have Connie analyze the security footage to see if we could uncover any useful information. He pulled out his phone, waving it in the air. Before I could argue, he dashed over, his phone leading the way.

“Can I get a photo?”

I had to remind myself that the HeroApp? did plenty of good for the community.

Heroes were winning the battle against villainy.

The trade-off was that citizens collected us like trading cards.

As he got closer, I touched my face, making sure my suit hid my identity.

With a thought, the modulator in my helmet lowered my voice an octave.

“Anything for a citizen of Vanguard.” That sounded like a cheesy hero line.

Hudson all but squealed. He squeezed next to me, stepping on the henchman as he leaned in close. Arm wrapped around my shoulder, I went to wave for the photo. Sparks continued leaping from my damaged gauntlet. Great, now the whole world could see me banged up and no villain to show for my troubles.

He snapped the photo. “Thank you so much.” He glanced at the phone, an eyebrow raised. “You’re not listed.” Up to this point, I deleted all entries about me. I didn’t mind saving the day, but I didn’t want my hero persona to be common knowledge.

“Uhm, I’m new,” I lied. I felt bad, especially considering how honest he had been on our date .

“What do I call you?”

Shit. Janet and Drew batted around ideas for my codename.

I had vetoed all of them. But as I turned to see employees emerging from the safety of their offices, I needed one fast. Heroes without names quickly discovered the public assigned the worst monikers.

Mr. McStabby could try to rebrand as the Silhouette all he wanted, but it’d never stick.

“Failsafe,” I blurted out before thinking. Great. One chance, and I came up with Failsafe? That meant everybody would abbreviate my name as Fail. Not my finest moment.

“Failsafe… I like it.” He stepped back with a wave.

“Make sure to add it to your list.” Why did I say that? Part of me wanted my superhero identity to be on the same page as our date. Hopefully, this went in his good column.

His eyes narrowed. I recognized the look of a man trying to assemble the pieces. Getting close to him was dangerous. Unfortunately, this was my cue to run away. Connie attached the drone to my back, transforming into a jetpack. With another wave, I blasted into the air and out a shattered window.

“Stupid.” That’s how heroes got themselves unmasked. “Connie, tell Arthur I’ll be working from home the rest of the day.”

I flew toward one of the safe houses heroes used to switch between identities. Then it’d be Route 17-A back home, and?—

“Sending email. Working from home while refreshing the HeroApp? for the photos of Hudson.”

“Connie!” She wasn’t wrong.

“I’m not wrong.”

Dammit, she got me.