Page 43 of Lovesick Titan

The cold field struck Danny like a physical force. He tried to walk forward, but the sluggishness that entered his limbs made him falter, even with the suit on. Willing sparks of electricity through his body only helped for so long, banishing the stiffness and frost for a handful of moments before it returned faster than he could counter it.

“M-Mal…please…” Danny held up his hands as he tried to inch forward. “Lucy c-called me to…help you.”

“That so?” Mal sneered. “You spout lies at her too? Just what help do I need, Danny? So far the night’s going swimmingly.”

“S-Stop this.” Danny kept his momentum going, even as he hugged his arms around himself and shivered. “D-Don’t be r-r-reckless coz a me. P-People c-count on you—”

The blast of ice came so fast, Danny hardly noticed Mal had raised his arm. He flew across the room and struck the same wall the guard had been slumped against, barely missing the statue of Persephone.

“Chill out for a while,” Mal said, and when Danny was finally able to push upright and glance toward the entryway, he was gone.

“Danny, your vitals!” Lynn called.

“I’m f-fine…” he said as he fought to stand.

“I’m kicking in the failsafe,” Andre said, and instantly Danny was enveloped by warmth.

“Stop. Save it for later,” Danny said, even as the heat generated by the suit soothed him. Andre couldn’t do that forever or it’d short out the rest of the suit’s sensors. “The cold field sucks, but it’s not as bad as a strong blast. Even that wasn’t as bad as he could make it. He won’t hurt me.”

“I hear you, Danny,” Andre said as the failsafe switched off and the chill of the cold field crept over Danny again before he’d taken a few steps. “But he also gives you the benefit of the doubt to get out of sticky situations on your own. Don’t underestimate how things could go south.”

“I know.” But Danny deserved a little freezer burn if it helped him get through to Mal. The last thing the thief needed was another stint in prison.

The sudden vision of the two of them serving timetogethermade Danny’s breath catch.

He pushed onward into the next room. The frost built back over him quickly, but he could still move, he could fight this. He saw Mal and Helios one room further packing up paintings and getting ready to make their getaway.

“Dom!” Mal called when he saw Danny coming. “Why don’t you help Zeus warm up before we head out?” His grin was wicked as he took a ready bundle of loot and dashed out of the room through the exit.

Relief filled Danny as the cold field dropped, only for him to realize he was weak and still slow facing down Helios with a manic grin.

He barely dove to the side in time as an arc of fire shot toward him. Hitting the ground and rolling into the wall, a painting they’d left behind was engulfed in flames.

Danny sparked with lightning to slough off the last of the cold field’s effects, finally feeling limber and normal again as he jumped to his feet.But before he could zip into action, the flames died as Helios lowered her hands, and after a glance behind her at where Mal had disappeared, she lifted the welder’s mask on her costume.

“Zeus! Time out.”

“…what?” Danny halted as Helios stalked forward with her hands held up.

“Did she just say, ‘time out’?” Andre balked.

“Danny, be careful,” Lynn said.

It had to be a trick, a trap, but Danny didn’t think they’d had enough time to plan anything too intricate inside the museum.

“Come here,” Helios gestured when Danny made no move to meet her halfway. She had no visible weapons on her outside of her powers, and her expression was oddly dispassionate.

“What do you want?” Danny cautiously walked forward.

Once they stood in front of each other in the middle of the gallery, Helios lowered her arms. “I know about you two. That you werefucking. He won’t say what you did, but I saw him try to tear up a safe house after you left him hangin’ when he poured his heart out to you.”

Danny’s stomach sunk like it had been filled with lead.

“So if whatever you did after was worse,” Helios snarled as her previously hidden emotions flared to life on her face, “then the least you deserve isthis.”

The punch came at Danny as if in slow motion, betraying enough tells that everything around him slowed and he easily could have avoided the hit. He didn’t. He stayed where he was and closed his eyes just before Helios’s fist made contact with his jaw.

It struck him so hard, Danny was certain he’d be out cold if he was a normal human. He stumbled, nearly dropped to one knee, and only just barely righted himself to look at Helios again.

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