Where There's Fire (Panopolis Book 2) (14 page)

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Authors: Cari Z.

BOOK: Where There's Fire (Panopolis Book 2)

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“That didn’t exactly mesh with my goal at the time,” I said. “Not that Craig doesn’t deserve a punch in the face for handing me over to the cops before, but he did let me go. I got a bunch of information about him on the thumb drive, and I told him I’d— Shit!” I sat upright. “Where’s the thumb drive?”

“Relax,” Vibro said as she reentered the living room. “I’ve got it. We’ll need to get it decrypted by my contact before it’s useful for anything, though.”

“It’s got the information on Freight Train in it,” I said. “He let me go because I promised to pass on whatever we learned about his condition.”

“Making alliances with Heroes? That’s ballsy. How do you know he won’t fuck you over once you spill the beans?”

“Because I’ll blow him to kingdom come if he tries,” Raul growled. Vibro patted him on the head.

“So fierce, boss,” she said with a smirk, then extended a glass of what could be clotted blood toward me. “Oh relax, it’s cherry pomegranate.”

“Why did you call Raul boss?” I asked, ignoring the smoothie.

“Because that’s what you two are now. The Mad Bombardier and the Mastermind, the guys who took out Maggot and almost his entire crew because they dared to fuck with you.” She pressed the glass into my hand. “Maggot made a lot of promises, but in the end he didn’t follow through. Raul’s already done a better job organizing the new enforcers than Maggot ever did with the old ones.”

“Enforcers?” I glanced at Raul, who shrugged.

“You were unconscious, I was half-blind and concussed, and we had nowhere safe to run to. We needed allies. I chose people with a reason to be grateful to you. Daya, because you spared her. Prasun, for the same reason. Nico.”

“Impulse,” Vibro said helpfully. “Nico’s his real name.”

“Why would he be grateful to me? I tased him!”

“You let him live. And honestly, I think he might be more grateful to me,” Raul said. “I took him away from his tormentors and warned them to choose their sides more wisely. Now Impulse is loyal, at least as long as we’re in a position of strength.”

I could hardly believe it. “How did you manage all of this so fast?”

Raul smiled, then leaned in and very gently kissed me. It was barely a touch of our lips, not enough to make me grope for emotional control I wasn’t capable of yet, but enough to give me some of that connection I craved. “My parents ran their own group of rebels, remember. This isn’t so different. There have been fewer explosions so far, actually.”

“And he had a little help,” Vibro added. She looked me straight in the eyes. “I still believe that we need a leader. It’s no secret a lot of us were thrown into the Abattoir because we wouldn’t kowtow to the people who fucked us up in the first place. We deserve a voice in Panopolis, and if it’s not gonna come through Maggot’s might, then maybe it’ll come through the Mastermind’s charisma.”

I bit my lip. “But I don’t have any charisma.”

“You do now, Edward.” Vibro straightened up and smoothed out her bright-blue kurti. It went well with her hair. “I’ve got a meeting with Ms. Clark,” she said as she headed for the door. “I’ll be back soon.”

She left, and I turned to Raul. “Tell me this is a dream.”

“I’m sorry, love,” he said sympathetically. “You’re completely awake.”

“It doesn’t feel like it. A few days ago it was us against the world, and now we’ve got, what, a following?”

“So it seems.” Raul shrugged helplessly. “You know . . . before, all I wanted was to keep you safe, but I failed.”

I shook my head. “No, you didn’t. I didn’t want that, remember? Bad idea. I needed to prove that I can handle myself.” I smiled a little crookedly. “And I think I have.”

“Beyond all my expectations.” Raul’s voice was proud as he stroked his thumb over the back of my hand. “But there are plenty of people here who aren’t as capable as you, and in the power vacuum they’re looking to us. Not everything Maggot was fighting for was wrong, even if the way he went about it was brutal.”

That was an understatement if I ever heard one, but I took the point. I nodded, and Raul went on.

“There are still plenty of people waiting to try and take us down. We have to consolidate our forces to keep ourselves alive, and that means reaching out to people. I know it makes you uncomfortable, you never wanted to be involved in this part, and I didn’t want to make you.” He touched his gloved fingers to my chin and lifted my face a bit. “Isolationism isn’t an option for us now, Edward. But I’m still here; we’re together. We can do anything together.”

He said it so confidently that I couldn’t help but believe him. “Even run a revolution?”

“If we need to. Right now I’ll be satisfied with teaching both sides of the conflict to respect our authority. Freight Train could be a powerful ally, and public opinion of you is the best any Villain’s ever had it. We might be able to make some things better for people, you know.” He stroked my cheek. “Think of all the bank accounts you could set up.”

I laughed. It was that or cry. “Oh my god, sure. Yes. Better living through banking, I can see it.” The thing was, I actually could see it. Having access to financial services was a normalizing factor in a person’s everyday life. Without it, potential Villains were forced to use the black market to do business, which just got them deeper into illegal activity. And there were other things they should have access to: reliable power and water and places where they could sit down and talk . . . there needed to be safe, neutral spaces to relax in. Places where people didn’t have to be Villains just to keep themselves alive. I’d had Raul to provide a sanctuary early on, but not everyone was as lucky as me.

Raul raised his eyebrows. “What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about a plan.” I could only see the edges of it, but still . . . “At least, the beginning of one.” I took Raul’s hands in mind. “This is going to be hard,” I told him, but the thought didn’t fill me with dread like it would have yesterday.

“The best things in life are the hardest to achieve, sometimes.”

Spoken by the man who’d blown up half the Abattoir to rescue me, this meant a lot. “Well. I guess we’d better get to work, then.”

If we had to move forward, then we should try to move everyone forward with us. All of the Supers, who were the victims of politicians and corporations, Villains and Heroes alike, deserved answers. And they weren’t going to get them if things kept going the way they had been.

Step aside, Edward Dinges. It was time to be Mastermind.

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