Page 31 of Hero & Villain
“Put it in his hand. It’ll activate the buttons.”
I wrapped his hand around the thing, and it lit up. I pressed his thumb against a few things and finally a pink car down the road turned on its lights and opened the doors and the hood.
“No way I’m riding in that thing. If anyone saw me, that would be the end of my reputation,” Jezebel said.
It was so pink. “It’s too smart. It probably has voice recognition and anti-theft locks. I did not bring my car boosting purse with me on this trip. We’re going to have to take your car.”
“Or we could leave him in the middle of the road and hope someone runs him over,” she said, but headed back towards the house. “I think he’s getting heavier. Next time, I get the ankles.”
“Only if you search his pockets.”
She sniffed in disgust at the thought.
We finally got him to her garage. We maneuvered him into the back seat of Betsy, the topless blue Oldsmobile, and then we were ready to ride. The pink car still had its lights on and the doors and hood open as we pulled out of the driveway.
When he started stirring, Jezebel handed me a syringe. “Stab him somewhere meaty. That’s everywhere. No, that suit won’t be hospitable even to my needles. Stab him in the neck.”
I leaned over and stabbed him just as his eyes were fluttering open. He frowned in confusion and then his head rolled back again. I sat down and realized that there was no seatbelt.
“You’re coming with us on Girl’s Night Out,” she said loud enough I could hear her over the rushing wind.
“Do you think you can trust me with a gun? You must have heard him. I’m not Toni, Nitro’s cousin.” This scheme was a disaster.
“Identity is a fluid thing for me. You are who you are no matter what you’re called. And no matter what you say, you’re coming on Girl’s Night with us. Anyone who can bring down Dagger is good people.”
“I brought him down on top of me.”
“But you kept him down. That’s the main thing. So, you’re the girl from the top of the tower. That was a thing. Dagger doesn’t publicly go at it any more than I do. He’s the most private one on the team, for all of his exuberant color choices. I think it’s a cover to hide his dark soul.”
I looked over the seat and scowled at him. I wished he would come to so I could stab him with a needle again. “Now I feel so special.” He dragged me up and down all those cliffs when he knew how terrified I was of heights.
“Everyone is special. At least, that’s what they say. So many people look the same to me, the daily grind turning them to dust, never looking up to see the larger world around them.”
“Sounds nice. My grind would be playing the cello and eating chocolate.”
“And taking down ninjas.”
“And stabbing them with needles.”
She laughed, and I found myself laughing along with her. I settled back into my seat and almost enjoyed the drive. What else could I possibly do?
Chapter Eleven
HERO
Iwoke up with a scorpion on my face.
Other than that, the view was quite good, all jagged distant mountains beneath the pale blue dawn. The stars would take your breath away if the most desirable woman you’d ever met hadn’t stolen it first, and then dumped you in the desert.
I was almost surprised that she hadn’t stripped me naked. With my phone, it was a matter of minutes to get a chopper out there. I spent the thirty minutes waiting, having a nice breakfast of roasted scorpion. I should pack more spices in my suit’s compartments to go with the lasers I’d cooked the bugger with.
Maybe I should have minded being bagged and tagged by Daniela, but she’d kissed me, and only knocked me out when she realized that I’d seen her struggling through her night terrors, stripped her bare and vulnerable. Clint, her fiancé of two years, hadn’t ever seen her like that, because that’s not the side she showed, any more than she revealed the sharp tongue and sharper wits. What I’d expected was a little more seduction, and a lot less truth. It was almost as if she wasn’t interested in subjecting me to her feminine wiles at all. No, it was like she physically couldn’t seduce me as she intended.
I’d seen her flinch away from me when she was trying to be the icy heir who could bring anyone to their knees. She couldn’t stomach seducing me, which was a problem, since I was counting on her getting close enough to bring me down so that I could get her on the inside. Of course, I liked her much, much better when she was vicious, honest, true. But I didn’t deserve any of that.
When the chopper came, I was ready to climb in with only a slight headache. I kept the bits of the scorpion I hadn’t eaten as a memento.
I took a seat next to the pilot, Horse, and gave him a nod once I’d buckled myself in.
