Page 42 of Lovesick Titan

Chapter10

Danny’s back was sore from crouching in the same spot for so long, but it couldn’t be helped. He’d cased the location as the best vantage point to see every possible angle into the museum. He didn’t know when Mal planned to hit the place, only that it would be tonight, so he’d been on the scene ever since sundown. It was almost 10PM now, and nothing had stirred.

Danny was so tired.

It felt odd being back in the Zeus suit. Last time he’d worn The Invisible Man, the thought of which still made him shudder. But tonight had nothing to do with Hades—at least he hoped not. Tonight he had to be there to stopPrometheus, not because Danny cared if Mal stole something, but because Lucy had asked. Because Danny owed him.

“Maybe Lucy was wrong, Danny,” Andre said over the comms. “Maybe Cho isn’t going to show tonight.”

“I’m not leaving. It’s not like I have to get up for work in the morning. I’ll stay all night if I have to.”

He’d spent hours at this already, but he still didn’t know what he was going to say when he saw Mal. Maybe all he could do was be Zeus and show Mal he wasn’t the awful version of himself that he’d shown glimpses of for all these weeks. He couldn’t be the reason Mal stopped being a better man. The neighborhood needed him. Lucy needed him.Danny…

The clock struck 10PM—a nearby church chimed the hour—and everything changed.

It started as a flicker. Flashes of light through the windows. Danny had no idea how Mal had managed to get inside without him seeing, but he knew the show had already begun before any alarms had been tripped.

“He’s here. I’m going in,” Danny said, standing up from where he’d been perched and lightning jumping down to the street. He went to the back door closest to where he’d seen the flashes. The door was frozen and busted open.

“Danny, are you sure?” Lynn asked. “There hasn’t been any—”

“I’m sure. I’ll keep you posted.”

The museum was dark, save the emergency lights along the edge of the walls and as track lighting on the path through the exhibits for security to follow. Memories of the first Prometheus heist he ever thwarted, of the first experience he’d had of ice powers stalling his lightning, assaulted him as he saw the ice residue on the walls beside prominent scorch marks. Helios was here too.

Danny didn’t want to startle or subdue Mal; he wanted to talk. So he moved swiftly but without additional lightning jumps, following the trail of damage. They weren’t trying to hide their presence, but they weren’t stopping to take anything along the way either. They had a destination in mind.

The high ceilings in the building meant voices echoed easily. Danny heard the pair several rooms before he caught up to them. They were in the art gallery stealing paintings, joyfully laughing and calling to each other as they worked. The prospect of stopping a heist had excited Danny a week ago, but tonight the sound of their mirth turned his stomach.

“H-Help…”

Danny whirled around to find the security guard leaned heavily against a wall behind him, shivering and half-conscious. They were in the Ancient Greece section. Danny hadn’t seen him when he entered because a marble statue of Persephone blocked his view.

“I have the guard,” Danny whispered as he darted to the man’s side.

“Do you want us to alert OCPD?” Lynn asked.

“Not yet. Let me handle this.”

He shushed the guard as he reached him. The man didn’t have any burns or larger coatings of ice anywhere, but frost covered his clothingand was slowly melting into dampness. Danny never thought he’d feel so much relief at seeing evidence of the cold field. Mal was still upholding their deal.

“It’s okay. I’ll take care of them,” Danny said as he helped the man stand. He was unsteady but already thawing. “You’ll be fine. Head out through the back as quickly as you can. I got this.”

The guard nodded through his shivers, “Th-Thank you, Zeus,” and did as he was told.

Shuddering, Danny steeled himself for what came next.

“Still the same weakness, I see.”

At the sound of Mal’s voice, he whipped back around. They must have seen Danny, must have heard him, must haveknown, because there Prometheus stood, framed in the entryway into the next exhibit.

He wore sunglasses instead of the goggles Danny had yet to return, but the rest of the outfit was puresexand all for him. Mal wore the shirt, the one Danny loved, bright teal that brought out Mal’s eyes, with a black three-piece suit, tie, and sharp black trench coat. He looked sogood. Just like Danny had asked for.

“You’re early, Zeus,” Mal called, confident in the way he took up the doorway. “And why might that be, I wonder?”

Danny risked a step closer. “Maybe you’re getting too easy to predict.”

“Lucy,” Mal said with a twisted smirk. “No matter. If I needed to stay ahead of you to beat you, I’d be a poor nemesis indeed. Getting the jump on people isyourthing. As you’ll recall, I have something better.”

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