Page 7 of Lovesick Gods

“What are you asking for?” Mal sized him up, gauging his intentions and what he’d be willing to offer in exchange. “A team-up? Zeus and Prometheus side by side?”

Danny clenched his hands into fists. “The only other Elementals in this city are your Titans and other criminals. The government won’t send help for one city’s problem. They figure Zeus has it handled enough not to get involved.”

If Danny had been waiting for the government to step in all these months, then he was more naïve than Mal thought. “You’re lucky they leave you alone. Could send in a whole squadron to track you down and force you into submission. They ever catch wind of your identity or you cause too much trouble, they still might.”

“I don’tcare.” Danny pounded a fist on the tabletop. “I can’t do this alone, Cho. The longer Thanatos is out there, the more people are going to get hurt. You’re the only person powerful enough that I can trust to have my back.”

Trust?Six months of playing footsie during bank and jewelry heists had this kid thinking Mal was soft. Just because he didn’t ice security guards or civilians didn’t mean he was a good guy.

Still, Danny’s desperation was understandable.

Thanatos hadn’t killed enough people to warrant government intervention, but he’d stillkilledand terrorized the city’s citizens, even used his shadows to disintegrate a few buildings. Worst thing was he didn’t seem to have any overarching goal, just chaos for chaos’s sake, carnage for carnage, blood for blood. And every week he outdid himself.

Mal had heard about what happened to Danny’s partner. Zeus had appeared shortly after Detective Edwards’s death. Made sense that Danny and the local superhero were one in the same; he’d probably been triggered that night, one of the very rare adults Awakened by trauma.

Six months Thanatos had been terrorizing their city, but whenever he was lying low, Zeus didn’t follow suit. He kept his presence known by cleaning up the streets of lower level criminals, lesser Elementals, and, occasionally, Mal and his Titans.

If Thanatos kept escalating the stakes, if Zeus really was certain he couldn’t beat him, something would have to give. Maldidn’t like the thought of what the city would look like under Thanatos’s control.

Tapping his fingers along the table, he leaned forward to match Danny’s posture. “What exactly are you proposing?”

ß

“First, for the gas.” Priestly got straight to business once they’d left the main shop, delving into the darkness of the back rooms, and then coming upon the much brighter lights that shone on the worktables. He picked up what looked like a simple spray can. “As easy as it looks. When you’re ready to use it, press here,” he held the top down and a puff of air escaped, “with about a five-foot range.” Next, he picked up a hose. “Given the type of containment you described to me and the nozzle, this attachment and hose should work to transfer the gas into the canister. Need anything demonstrated for that part?”

Mal eyed the hose, then the can itself. “Looks self-explanatory to me.”

“Good.” Priestly set both items down again. “You can take these with you when you go. I’ll get you a bag. As for a power amplifier…” He scanned his eyes down Mal’s body, not quite appreciatively, though he didn’t shy from lingering on certain areas, and pursed his lips when he got to Mal’s hands. “The current levels of your power are capable of inflicting everything from mild frostbite to pretty much instant death, but if you want another option for handling cops that get in your way—or wayward heroes in white leather,” he added with a faint smirk that Mal echoed, “you need something a bit more atmospheric. A projection of cold with yourself at the center, protected, while the rest of the room, however large we make the radius,plummets to below freezing. You said you wanted something non-lethal. That would do it.”

“And you can accomplish that for me? Unobtrusive accessory with simple controls?”

“I’m thinking…wrist cuff.” He glanced at Mal’s hands again. “Fashion can come after function, but you should be able to hide it with your sleeve when not in costume.”

“Perfect,” Mal nodded. “Dom was wondering if you could do something similar for her.”

Mal’s Titans consisted of him, his sister Lucy, Priestly, and Mal’s oldest friend, Dominique Drake. They’d had a fifth member once, but he chose a different path.

“Not a problem,” Priestly said. “Fire versus ice, but your abilities work on similar principles. Bring her in next time and I’ll outfit you both.”

That would keep Dom appeased leading up to the heist. She wasn’t called Helios for being cool-headed. On the other hand, “Lucy’s going to be jealous.” Mal’s sister hated when he got new toys without her. “Earth powers don’t have the same impact to make an amplifier worthwhile.”

“I have something else for our dearGaia,” Priestly said as he retrieved a bag to collect Mal’s spoils. “Very classic femme fatale item she wondered if I could make. I said it was stupid and ridiculous and that yes, I absolutely would have to try since she asked, so hopefully I’ll have a prototype ready about the same time as your cuffs.”

Mal folded his hands in front of him as his smile went crooked. “It’s knockout lipstick, isn’t it?

“How’d you know?”

The Ambusherswas a guilty pleasure movie for him and his sister ever since they were kids, along with a few others, though usually Lucy didn’t appreciate too many films before 1980. In it,a lady spy used poisoned lipstick while sipping on a drink that acted as the antidote.

“We change, we age, we grow,” he said, “but some things always stay the same, and I know my sister. How soon can you have everything done? We need to be able to test out the amplifiers with at least a few days’ leeway before the job at the museum.”

“Give me a week,” Priestly said, looking unimpressed as he set the now filled bag between them and crossed his arms. “Eight to nine days max.”

“Done. Usual fee and overhead for the Andrews?”

“Only on the cuffs. Lucy gave me a real challenge with the chemistry for the lipstick. That’s on the house.”

“Careful,” Mal smirked. “At this rate she’s likely to ask to keep you. She always wanted a baby brother.”

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