Page 120 of Lovesick Titan

Later, what woke Mal was the flash of a camera phone.

Peeking his eyes open from where he lay, he burrowed deeper into the covers, turned toward Danny’s side of their joined beds with one arm draped over Michael sandwiched between them. They’d only let the boy crawl up there because he complained the chair was too far away with the beds connected. They hadn’t meant to fall asleep.

Glaring at the intrusion, Mal decided to ignore the sight of Stella holding her phone out while Carla looked on with a wide smile and even John stood grinning, though it might have had more to do with cradling baby Mai in his arms.

Mal could threaten them for a copy of the photo later.

R

All Danny wanted was to use his powers. Not to run away from anything, not anymore. Just to feel the thrum of lightning. He was finally out of bed for good and so was Mal, though Mal moved slower as his recovery would take longer. Still, to look at either of them, no one would ever guess what they’d gone through a week ago.

Danny was looking forward to taking Mal out. Bringing him home and then taking him somewhere nice—or maybe just Haven, since anywhere else, if people recognized Mal, they might recognizeDannynow too, or assume Prometheus was cheating on Zeus.

The public were having way too much fun with speculative news stories about their affair, though at least it all mostly had a positive spin to it, considering the city was on their side after they’d defeated Ludgate.

“What about Mrs. Pak’s?” Danny suggested. “Do you think she’d make us some bulgogi for lunch if she’s not too busy?”

“I think she’d be offended if we went anywhere else,” Mal said, slipping on his leather jacket. “Bulgogi it is.”

Danny hummed at the thought. They’d been treated well during their recovery, with meals brought in from Carla and Captain Shan, even Dom once—she made a very delicious, potent chili—but Danny was stir-crazy.

“There’s something else though, Sparky, once we’re at my place. Something I need to ask you.” Mal glanced away, insecurity that Danny rarely caught sight of flashing through his eyes, but he was getting better at reading Mal’s tells.

“Hey, I know Stella and Lucy moved some of my stuff over,” Danny said with a bashful smile. “If it freaks you out, I don’t have to stay. Everything’s been happening so fast—”

“It’s not that,” Mal broke in, meeting Danny’s gaze with sudden, heartfelt affection. “It’s not thatat all. I wanted to ask—”

“Glad to see you’re both out of bed,” Captain Shan appeared.

Damn it.Normally, Danny would be glad for any visitors to help quell how dull it was being cooped up, but not when Mal was about to tell him something important!

“Hey, Captain,” he smiled regardless. “We were just on our way to grab lunch. I cannotwaitto get out of here. And we still can’t thank you enough for securing those pardons from the mayor.” He turned earnest eyes on the man. Shan had talked about it, but he’d actually pulled through, not only for Mal, but for Dom, Lucy, Priestly, and Oz for the parts they’d each played in taking Ludgate down.

“Keeping our streets safer is always the priority, Grant,” Shan nodded before casting a scrutinizing gaze on Mal. “And with Cho, I like it better when I know what he’s up to.”

“Such concern, Captain?” Mal brought a hand to his chest.

“All that aside,” Shan pursed his lips, “I’m afraid I have to interrupt your lunch date.”

“Something wrong?” Mal asked.

“Ludgate’s out of the infirmary. They’re going to speed things along to move up his hearing for later today.”

“So what’s the problem?” Danny frowned.

“The judge wants either Zeus or Prometheus to testify.Withimmunity,” he assured them when they exchanged startled glances, “whatever you decide. But that’s not the problem. I know the circle of people privy to your identity has widened lately, Grant, but keeping your real name a secret still takes precedence if we want to keep the feds at bay. And right now,” he eyed them both gravely, “Ludgate is telling everyone who’ll listen that Zeus is Danny Grant.”

Chapter31

“So it is your professional opinion, Doctor Rivers, that the defendant’s mental state has been altered?” the district attorney asked.

“More than my professional opinion—it’s fact,” Lynn said, nodding to the slide displayed on the projector. She sat on the stand poised and professional in a light grey suit coat and skirt. “As you can see with the image on the left, the brain doesn’t display any abnormalities. Mr. Ludgate chose to have a brain scan only a few months before the explosion that caused his Awakening. I can only speculate at his reasoning for requesting the scan, but I assume it to have something to do with his research into the mirror world.

“The image on the right, however, shows his current brain scan. There is significant damage to the prefrontal cortex. Whether in Mr. Ludgate’s case this was caused by the activation of his Elemental powers or a byproduct of his time in the mirror world is unclear, but it does explain his increasingly aggressive behavior since the first scan.”

“Do you believe then, Doctor Rivers,” the DA continued, “that the defendant is unfit to stand trial?”

“Absolutely not,” Lynn answered the woman firmly. “While the damage can be used to explain his outbreak of more extreme criminal activity, it is my medical opinion that he is fully aware of what he has done and what is happening, and he feels no remorse for the pain he has caused this city or its people.”

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