Blaze of Glory (25 page)

“Ya think?” Limox snarled in my ear from behind, making me jump. “What the fuck is going on here?”

May appeared at Hunter’s side, sliding in beside him and taking his hand. “Don’t be nasty to him. It’s not his fault.”

My hand moved up to the back of his head, rubbing the small hairs gently. “A Guardian and a super.” The whispered words bounced around my head like I was in the middle of the wildest pinball machine ever. He leaned forward, almost resting his forehead on my shoulder.

“A what?” Slammer chewed on his fingernails as he strode around the room, his steps reverberating through the floor. “Never been such a thing.”

“Exactly. Because if anyone knew, other than the Agency, it’d skew the fights.” I released him. “He changes the entire balance of things without lifting a finger.”

Hunter nodded, a sheepish look on his face. “Not exactly a power skill.”

“Don’t pick on him.”
May’s voice was low and threatening in our minds, the background static beginning to rise.
“It’s not his fault.”

“It’s not.” I allowed myself a smile. “But it explains how damned lucky we’ve been so far.” I continued to talk, letting my tone rise so everyone could hear. “Ever wonder how we got so lucky with the raid, finding each other and staying alive? It’s all due to Hunter here. The guy’s a walking good-luck charm.” My attention turned back to Kol’tak. “Which means that you just won the lottery, my alien friend. You call your boss and arrange the prize fight for Earth.”

Chapter Eighteen

“This is insane.” Limox sat on the couch, hands wrapped around his knees with fingers entwined, rocking back and forth. “We are going to be so dead. Multiple times. Over and over.”

“Technically you can only die once,” Jessie chirped in from his desk, his eyes flashing back and forth between the monitors. “News feed is looking good, seems the Agency really isn’t keen on everyone knowing their dirty little secret. There’s rumors that there’s a secret group of supers using Toronto as a home base, but there’s plenty of misinformation being planted to send them off the trail. Sightings in London, San Francisco and Hong Kong, among others.”

“They’ve seen us fly overhead.” Slammer let out a rumbling snort. “Dumb Canucks.”

“Never underestimate the ability of the media to change reality into fantasy. And the reverse.” David sat beside me with a tray holding not only a full pot of fresh tea but another plateful of sandwiches. “Although I think the local supermarket may be getting suspicious of me. This is the third time I’ve cleared out their deli counter and bread shelf.” He scowled as Peter deftly snagged a trio of bologna sandwiches so quickly that I wondered if he had another hidden ability.

“So we’re just going to stand by and let Kol’tak take on this…what’s his name again?” Slammer leaned back on the couch, the weathered old springs creaking under his weight. His skin glistened in the light, and I wondered again if he hated to look in the mirror or relished it.

“That would be Mal’tor.” Kol’tak had moved off to sit in an empty corner of the loft, his legs curled up under him in what had to be an uncomfortable position and his eyes closed in what I could only assume was some meditation scenario. “I’ve arranged for the fight to be over the lake, as you requested.”

I nodded, aware of the stares. “Thank you. That way we’ll have less chance of civilian casualties.” I saw David give an approving nod. “As for standing by, we’re not going to be doing exactly that.” Picking up one of the mugs of tea, I added a splash of milk from the small ceramic cup on the tray. “According to the Chu’kar rules of engagement, no one is allowed to interfere in a command battle. Which means them. But it doesn’t mean us.”

“Ah.” Slammer’s smile was wider than the Ohio River. “We’re going to smash and crash the party.”

“No.” I took a sip, the hot liquid threatening to scald my tongue. “We’re going to let Kol’tak do his thing. But if he loses, we’ll have to take on the boss and then the ships. One by one.”

“That’ll…” Peter pushed a lump of food into his cheek, making him look even more like a cute chipmunk you wanted to smother with hugs and kisses. “That’ll be a suicide run.”

“Probably.” The room was very, very quiet. “Look, I don’t want to be like the Agency, telling any of you what to do. We’re done with that crap. But if Kol’tak doesn’t win, I expect the aliens to continue their hunt for a good fight, destroying cities while they look for the last super to brawl with.” The white ceramic mug was burning hot in my cold hands. “They won’t stop until they find every one of us, every one they saw on the shows. We can run and hide, but we’ll be sending thousands of people to their deaths as the Chu’kar look for us. I know what Mike would have done, what he did do. And I’m going to stand there on the beach and make my stand.” My eyes remained focused on the floor—I didn’t dare look up. “If any of you want to go, then go now. I won’t hold it against you. We never asked for these skills and we sure as hell never asked for the Agency or the plugs or this crap. But if you stay, we’re not going to stop until we’re dead or we win.”

The room was silent for a minute, then Limox spoke. “I sure as fuck want a stack of money if we do this and win.”

Slammer let out a roar of laughter, slapping the super on the back and sending him lurching towards the floor. “Spoken like a true capitalist.”

May sat beside me, helping herself to a cup of tea. “I wonder if there’ll be cameras. I don’t really like cameras.” One hand pushed down a stray lock of dark hair. “That’s one of the reasons they kept me in the background. Not too photogenic.”

I smiled. “May, you look great to me.”

The elderly woman patted my knee with her free hand. “Don’t be too hard on Hunter. I think they paired him with me to keep him out of the way.”

“He might be the lynchpin to us winning this thing.” David appeared behind us, resting his hands on the back of the couch. “I don’t mean to press, but we’re picking up the ship already. It should be over the lake in less than an hour.”

“Okay.” I stood up, swallowing the last of the tea. “Anyone want to do some silent praying, now’s the time. Same with the bathroom—I don’t want anyone wandering off looking for a Porta-Potty at the last minute.” I put the empty mug on the tray. “Jessie, we’re going to need surveillance on the ship and the area. We’ve got to make as sure as possible that the area’s clear for our…” I bit my tongue, almost saying the word
show
. “Our battle.”

The young man shook his head. “Right now you could walk down the street naked and no one would notice. They just put out an evac notice for the city.” He turned and looked at me directly, his face expressionless. “They’re saying that Toronto’s going to be destroyed.”

“Not today.” My smile was forced and I think we all knew that. “Everyone on the roof in five.” Spinning on my heel, I strode towards the bathroom, hoping no one was in my way.

After closing the door, I dropped to my knees and threw up the sandwich and tea I had just eaten.

“Typical woman.” Mike knelt beside me, pulling my hair away from my face. One hand rested on my back rubbing wide circles as I retched. “Can’t take you anywhere.” He let out a chuckle. “Nerves, girl. Gotta get control over your nerves. Performance anxiety and all that crap.”

“Oh, like you never throw up?” I warbled, spitting into the toilet.

“Every time and twice on Sundays.” He reached for a facecloth, wetting it in the sink and wiping my face. “Not such a bad thing to be nervous. Keeps you on your toes. Keeps you alive.”

I turned to face Mike, to tell him that this wasn’t a game and we weren’t going to play at being superheroes, and found myself staring at Hunter. His hand stopped on my back, burning through the dark fabric.

“You feeling better?” the dark-haired man whispered.

“Yeah.” I closed my eyes. “I just don’t know if we can do this, Hunter. I’m used to having it all fixed, all arranged before we walk out that door. We win, they lose and we’re all home in time for tea.”

“I know.” He drew the damp cloth over the back of my neck, dabbing over the scar. “But this is what you were trained for. This is what you are.”

I locked eyes with him. “Really?”

“Really.” He smiled. “Mike believed that. Now it’s time for you to believe it.”

“Then let’s go save the world.” Taking the cloth from him, I wiped my mouth and tossed it into the garbage bin in the corner. A small bottle of mouthwash sat on the shelf, next to a half-used tube of toothpaste. I rinsed my mouth out, then smacked my lips together. “Let’s get Kol’tak on his way and then get the fuck out of here.” I tapped the handle of the toilet. “People are going to start talking.”

He stayed kneeling on the floor, grinning.

I scowled at him then walked back out into the room. Jessie nodded towards the alien, who was now standing by one of the windows peeking out through the blinds.

“I have to go now.” The blond man didn’t look at me, his eyes focused elsewhere. “I can’t guarantee that I’ll win this fight. He is a powerful warrior. He fought his way to the top with very little resistance. He may kill me and then take out his anger on the rest of you and your world for daring to support me. It would be illegal, but I doubt anyone would contradict him.”

“Understood.”

“I can’t promise that I’ll be able to control the fleet even if I do win.” A siren went off somewhere nearby, making me jump. Toronto didn’t have a habit of setting off air-raid sirens, and I suspected that they had dug these out of storage or pried them off some decrepit historical site to reactivate the old skeletons. “The command structure may not recognize my authority after I defeat Mal’tor and try to remedy the situation without us losing face or discrediting the warriors’ efforts. But I will do my best to declare a victory and lead the fleet back to our home world where I will discuss the situation with our leadership.”

“Yes.” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. “I know that your culture doesn’t…doesn’t understand what was going on here. Tell the truth, I’m not sure if I do and I don’t know if we’re going to be able to ever tell the whole story to the public, not without sounding like we’re all crazy as loons. But as long as you do your best we’ll be satisfied.”

He turned around and beamed at me, a grin that would have sunk a thousand ships if it had been on a cover of one of the many romance books David had downstairs. “Thank you. And good luck.”

Striding quickly past me, he nodded to Hunter and disappeared through the door, heading towards the roof.

The Guardian/super looked at me. “They’re all upstairs, ready to go. Mayday’s a bit jittery. She’s going to ride with Slammer and Meltdown. Ani-Man and I are with you.”

“What tag did they ever give you?” I moved closer to him. “Your nickname?”

“Never had one.” He smiled. “I was a ghost, remember?”

“Probably be something silly like Vegas Varmint or Lucky Lou.” I sighed.

“Probably.” Hunter looked down at my hands. “May get nasty out there.”

Jenny’s prophecy rang in the back of my mind. “It will.”

“Then let’s get this over with. I hate being stressed.” He reached forward, one hand caressing the back of my neck as he pressed his lips against mine.

I could tell you that it was the best kiss of my life, but that’d be lying.

But it was good. Damned good. And as his arms went around me in a tight embrace, my mind started to shut down and just wallow in the moment. There was no guilt over Mike, no worrying about getting killed or getting the rest of the team killed, no Agency or plug or anything at all.

“Damn,” I mumbled, tugging on his lower lip with my teeth when he threatened to back away. “You’re good.”

“Fantastic,” he whispered, pressing in for a series of short, sharp kisses along the edges of my mouth. “Figure I’ll give you some incentive to get out of this alive.”

“I’m definitely encouraged.” The throaty whisper came from me, but for a brief second I didn’t know who it was. “Just be careful out there. You’re in a dangerous spot ’round me.”

Hunter released me and pressed his forehead to mine. “All I have to do is stay around. You’ve got the tough job.”

A throttled cough from Jessie brought the two of us up to stare at the blushing technician. “Uh…isn’t it time to save the world or something like that?”

I looked at Hunter, a wide smirk on my face. “Yes, yes it is. Let’s go kick some alien butt.” Grabbing his hand, I led him to the stairs and up towards the roof. He didn’t try to break free, probably smiling like a hyena as we gathered with the others.

Peter grinned at me, reaching for the nylon harness I had slipped on over my black jacket again. “I’ve managed to secure for us some aquatic help if anyone falls in the lake. It won’t be much, but no one’ll drown.”

A shiver ran up my spine as I tugged on the rope, checking the knots. “Lord, don’t even think about that. The pollution in the lake’ll probably mutate us beyond belief.”

An answering snort from Limox, standing a few feet away near Stephen, confirmed my words. “Rather fall into a shitpile than that water.” He glanced at May next to him, a frown settling over her delicate features. “Sorry. I’m trying.” His sheepish look appeared to be genuine. Maybe some old dogs can learn new tricks.

“Try harder.” The harsh tone was tempered with a small bit of sympathy, the edges of her mouth twitching upwards with the slight reprimand. She nodded at Slammer. “I’m ready to go.”

Kol’tak gave me a nod before leaving, jumping into the air and gaining altitude at a dizzying pace. I figured he was trying to intercept the alien ship before it got too comfortable over Lake Ontario and decided to wander inland for the heck of it. I hoped he wasn’t about to defect to his family and open up another round of fighting. Even with Hunter Dillon on our side, there was no guarantee we’d take Kol’tak out a second time.

May was a little pale, Limox appeared a bit green around the gills, and Slammer really didn’t seem to care, looking like he was about to chug a few beers at a Penguins game. Hunter wrapped the cord around his hand, standing tall. The flirty persona was gone. This was the Guardian in charge, getting ready for the Show of the Century. Again. And even that got lousy ratings the first time around.