Allied: A Superhero Reverse Harem Romance (The PTB Alliance Book 3), стр. 18

I didn't have any powers and he was attached to the Costa Negra Alliance building thousands of miles away. Still, the internet was convinced that I was Altitude and that he ran support part-time in Yarborough then... what, flew home on the weekends? Fuck if I knew.

We walked into the Thomaston building and my breath caught. Just beyond the entrance was a space station built on the idea of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Computers, blinking lights, huge reel-to-reel recording stations; they had it all and so much more. Though some of the machines were older, they served better that way. I ran to the dividing glass to drool all over it, my heart in my throat.

What if I'd taken the opportunity to come here, instead? I would have been well out of the madness of the superhero business. I could have been one of any of the white coats bustling around in there, making discoveries, working with excellent technology, or even building databases that served the Alliance better than the ones we had now.

But I wouldn't have had Cassie, or Adam. I wouldn't have had any of the people who stood at my back, though two of them were traitors. Technically three, I guessed, but Nate had redeemed himself during that fight that seemed so very long ago. Had it only been a few weeks, really? Yeah. Right around a month and a half.

What the fuck were we going to look like a year from now?

"Can I help you?"

The voice belonged to a man who had Cassie's chin and jaw structure. James Clark I knew, at least on sight, because of his social media presence. I immediately extended a hand. "Edwin Noll, I work at Yarborough."

"You're my cousin's boyfriend!" he said, excitement in his voice. "Come in, come in. All of you. Bring your friends. Cassie and the others are in here. They had a brush with security but I got things calmed down."

"They had a what?" I asked, following him. Nate ran to catch the door behind me and held it for the ladies.

He rolled his eyes. "A brief skirmish with security. It was a misunderstanding. They're all safe and sound. Cassie, Edwin's here!"

I heard a crash near the door to an office, then it ripped open and Cassie practically tackled me. I caught her and spun her around, gentle as I could be, and kissed her. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed back, bright, cheerful. I hadn't seen her like that in so long that it melted my heart.

"You're all right?" I asked, running my hand down her side.

She nestled into me and sighed. "Good enough. Things are fucked to pieces, but it's good enough." Then she realized the others behind me and blinked. "Wow. You brought everybody."

"Technically, they brought themselves. But that doesn't matter. What's going on?"

Cassie drew away from me, took my hand by the wrist, and waved the others after us. She dragged me into the office she'd just leaped from. Adam lay unconscious on the couch, Nishelle sitting on the edge of the desk. She gave me a little nod and I returned it. Izzy, Nate, and Lexi followed us.

"Things are a mess," Cassie said. "Patterson is aware of the situation in Yarborough but is hesitant to step in. He doesn't want to overstep his boundaries and he thinks that coming down hard on Scribe would do that. Instead, he's thinking about sending us all in together as a group, with back up from here, and working our way in. Trying to talk him into a more rational state of mind."

Nate snorted. "It's not going to happen. I'll talk to Patterson myself, if I have to. Scribe's brains are scrambled. He tried to kill me."

Cassie moved from me to Nate and I felt a faint pang of jealousy. I'd been threatened, too, just... you know. Over a phone.

"What did he do?" she asked, looking him over. "Are you hurt?"

He smiled down at her and slid down the wall to sit on the ground, pulling her with him. She fell into his lap. "Nothing that you can't fix, Cassie."

Lexi cleared her throat. "I'd really prefer not to watch that."

"The door's right behind you," Nishelle snapped.

And that caught my attention. Nishelle had spent most of the last time I'd spoken with her growling about not being enough for Cassie, about the three of us attaching ourselves to Cassie, and about the injustice of the world in general. Seeing her step up like that was a big deal and it warmed the... how do they say it? It warmed the cockles of my cold, dead heart. Right?

Lexi had a look on her face as if she were thinking about it until Isabella intervened. "We have to stick together. I'm sorry about the situation. Lexi won't open her mouth again, I promise." As Izzy said it, Lexi started to speak. Izzy shook her head. "We'll talk later. We'll get through this. But we are not abandoning them in their time of need. Not after the shit we started. Do you understand me?"

"I..." Lexi sighed as she looked around the room. "Fine. I guess."

"You're the one that cheated on me," Nate murmured, kissing Cassie's neck. "Not the other way around. If you wanted me, you had me. And it's your own fault that you don't have me anymore. I'm happy. Let me be."

I watched the room like some sort of sports game and began to envy Adam. Though he was suffering from some kind of long-term problems associated with the Dream, as far as I could tell, at least he didn't have to watch this high school bullshit play out in front of him.

Isabella took Lexi to her brother and gently pulled his head up so Izzy could sit with it in her lap. Worry was painted over every