Scarred

Glass shattered. Concrete crumbled behind us, blam! blam! blam! as Sophron slammed the walls with her giant invisible crunching foot, or whatever it was. We dived for cover amongst the rubble.

Smack! I banged my elbow on a broken lump of concrete as I fell, and gasped like a grounded swampfish while the funnies hit my bones.

Mike ducked behind the broken wall with us. He rubbed his silver bracelets together, like a defibrillator, and current arced bright blue, snap-crackle-pop! "Jem's sick," he filled us in shortly. "He can't fight. Gotta get rid of these fuckers now and worry about what they want later."

"Agreed." Adonis shot me another dark glance, like everything was my fault. Hell, maybe it was, inadvertently. Didn't mean he had to keep on about it.

"Plan?" Glimmer popped his pistol's magazine and checked the chamber. Sure, some augments are bulletproof, or can dodge, or deflect, or whatever. I'm convinced Razorfire evades gunfire on the strength of pure ego. But most can't. So long as you get in quickly? A bullet is still a ninety-five percent solution.

But Glimmer's magazine was half empty. We were running short. Even Glimmer can't conjure more ammo from nothing, and you can't legally buy firearms or rounds in this state without ID. It's black market or nothing, and these days gunrunning in Sapphire City is strictly Gallery.

Me? I'd left my pistol upstairs. Nice move, Verity. A Boy Scout, I ain't.

"Well, we still don't know precisely what their augments are." Adonis grimaced. "And we don't have all day. I say let's shock-and-awe these assholes and find out what they've got."

Like we were free to disagree, or something. Glimmer didn't even bother to speak.

I shrugged. "Sure."

Harriet crawled from the ruins to crouch beside Mike. "Me, too." A mascara-lashed glance at Glimmer. "I want to help Jem."

Mike nodded brusquely. "Okay, I'm in. Just be careful, sweetheart." He ruffled Harriet's hair, making her dodge and scowl.

Happy champagne tingles popped in my heart. Most dads would tear their own skin off before they let their daughter walk into danger. But Mike's no ordinary dad, and Harriet isn't a regular daughter. My family are special, and though I might grumble and snipe and bicker, I love 'em all to death.

Well, maybe not Harriet. But even she's worth a thousand of those normal assholes who hate us and want us kept under control, but scream to us for help when their safe little bubble pops…

Very good, whispered Villain Verity, that scaly, black-twisted snake coiling in my heart. Nurture that hatred. Feed it. It's what he'd want…

"Where's Eb?" Adonis breathed deeply and stretched his spine, wincing as the joints popped. My brother's charisma augment works more reliably when he's feeling calm and Zen. When he gets worked up… well, let's just say there's a fine line between an obliging little crush and the sort of obsession that kills.

"He's sneaking around the back." Harriet smirked. Apparently, she liked the idea of Eb leaping out from behind a tree and scaring the living crap out of these idiots.

Come to think of it, so did I.

"Okay." Adonis spoke rapidly, the way he did when he was making shit up as he went along. "Michael, you first, let's flush 'em out. The forest is wet, it shouldn't catch fire, but aim for the ground, not the canopy. Let's keep this covert if we can. When we can see them—presuming we can see them—the rest of us pick 'em off. Glimmer, help Harriet. And everyone watch out for Eb's arc of fire; you know what happens when he gets his hard-on. When you pin one down, yell, and I'll shut them the fuck up. If we can get 'em alive, great. If not? Do whatever. I really don't care. We've got civilians to protect. Verity, you're on shield duty. Just don't tear the fucking building down."

"Screw you." I meant it, too. Why'd everyone have to keep on about that? It wasn't like I'd torn any buildings down lately.

Adonis ignored me. "Suggestions, questions, gripes?"

"Yeah. Screw you."

"I'm good." Mike flexed his fingers, testing a sizzle of voltage. For an old dude, he was totally cool. "You," he added, flicking a blue ball of static at Glimmer that made his skunk stripe crackle on end, "with the hair and the face. Make yourself useful and look after my daughter. If she breaks a nail? I'm gonna come looking for you."

"Yes, sir." Glimmer scruffled at his electrified hair, but it only stuck up more.

Harriet blushed a gratifying beetroot shade. "Jeez, Dad, you're such a nerd."

Glimmer waved a questioning finger at Adonis. "What about the others, boss? What if the building gets crushed?"

"Peg's taking care of them."

"And what if Peg's on their side?" I retorted, with more bitterness than was really warranted. I was so over being blamed for everything. So I wasn't perfect. God knows, Adonis had made his own mistakes that stormy night at FortuneCorp. Remind me: who almost let the city get drenched in poison gas because he tried to drop Razorfire from a fifty-six-story rooftop? Not this scar-faced bad girl.

And—lately, this question had niggled at me, though I couldn't quite finger why—if Adonis was such a golden boy, why had Dad left the company to Equity, instead of to Adonis, whom everyone knew was his favorite son? Had they fallen out? What had Dad known that we didn't?

I didn't say any of that. No one ever asked those questions. Truth was? I didn't want the answers. But for whatever reason, Peg raised my hackles, and I ignored raised hackles at my peril. I'd learned that lesson the painful, bloody way.

"That's ridiculous." A glacial Adonis stare.

"You know what's ridiculous, Ad? Trusting some person you've known for five minutes with our lives."

Glimmer touched my arm, forever the voice of reason and calm-the-fuck-down. "Verity, let it be."

"What if Peg's a spy?" I persisted. "We've just taken her word for everything. What if she turns traitor? Ever consider that? Or are you too busy thinking with your hard-on?"

Adonis ignored me. "Anything else? Fine. Let's do it. Good luck."

Mike wasn't a subtle fighter. He didn't need to be. He just flicked his wrist and hurled a sheet of lightning.

Ksh-mack! The forest lit up, dazzling sunflash. A tree exploded and fell in a hail of flame.

I jumped up and flung out an invisible wall of force… just in time to intercept another whirling tree trunk. Bangggg! It slammed into my shield, jarring my bones right down to my toes. But my eager mindmuscle flexed, and the wall held. I flung the tree trunk harmlessly aside.

I grinned. So far, so fine. But we'd revealed our position now. Attacks would thicken, quicken and slicken. Heh. Good luck with that. They were facing one determined ugly chick. For more reasons than our safety, I needed to get this right.

"Again," Mike murmured calmly, and on a silent count of two I dropped the shield. Crrrack! Another sheet of lightning. I dragged the shield back up again. We walked forward.

From the forest, Sophron's laughter echoed louder. Shadows darted in the light of burning foliage.

Silently, I exulted. The stormy ozone tang invigorated me; the thunder thrilled power into my veins. Static from Mike's augment crackled like fireworks in my hair, over my arms. Damn, it felt good to be on the job again. A warm, sweet pain, like stretching muscles that had languished too long. Like massaging a roaring headache into bliss. Oh, my. I totally needed to get out more—but I wouldn't trade this for anything. Was it wrong that this was better than sex?

"You're doing fine," murmured Mike. His face glistened, electric-lit sweat, and his pale eyes glittered with power. "Your brother'll come around. Just take it easy."

"Easy, my ass," I scoffed, but I shot him a grateful glance.

Behind us, Glimmer whispered to Harriet. "How's your aim?"

"Good as yours," came her reply.

"You better believe it, sister. Let's kick some ass, okay?"

Jeez, don't encourage her. I would've rolled my eyes if I didn't know he meant it honestly. People absorbed confidence from Glimmer's trust, his quiet conviction and humble smile. All they ever absorbed from me was aggravation.

I lowered my shield again. Mike lashed out, a glowing spear. Zzzzap! Flickering blue light illuminated Sophron. She was crouching by a peeling eucalyptus trunk. Same patched jeans and ragged camisole, the strap hanging off one bony shoulder. The fire flickered around her, close enough to make her sweat. Her ghostly eyes shone, those blue dreadlocks shaking around her cheeks as she laughed.

Icy wire threaded my bones. She was utterly unhinged. Fruit cake packed with nuts. Madder than a shit-house rat.