Allied: A Superhero Reverse Harem Romance (The PTB Alliance Book 3), стр. 21

I was, I wasn't a murderer. And that was what I was going for. I was after her to end -her-, not because she was a threat to me. People aren't often as selfless as they like to think they are, but we -had- to be.

She frowned as I worked through it and shrank back, those terrible multi-colored eyes staring a hole through me. I pulled my head up and felt the power around me sing into being, like my sister was inches from me. Or that Cassie had just Blitzed past my shoulder. I drew it all in and shivered as the connection with my powers re-established itself.

"This is wrong. You won't harm these people because there aren't any people here. This is your Dream, your madness," I said. "And I won't be a part of it anymore. You'll be lost, forgotten in time, a footnote to a paragraph about Izzy wrecking the building."

Before me, she began to fade out. She faded back in, shaking her head. "This is reality. As much as it can be, as much as you'll ever see again. I'll trap you here for the rest of time, listening to the screams of the damned, of those you could never save. Because you're worthless, Creed. You kill for fun, you use your power to hurt people. That's all it's ever been for you; a power struggle."

I stared at her as she mouthed off to me. Had I been so gullible? To just, lay down and let her do those things to me? Honestly, that was more of an insult than what she was saying. Now that I had perspective, she was laughable. She was no more a threat to me or mine than the average news reporter, the type that said we were all scum and were out for money and fame.

So much money and fame that most of us didn't even own cars. The parking garage was never crowded despite all the superheroes who lived at the Alliance building. I wrinkled my nose at her, a perfect imitation of Cassie, and turned around, walking back through the street.

Her screams echoed down that dark road but it was if she couldn't escape. Like I'd somehow cut her off. In reality, I was certain that James was the only one doing the cutting off like that, but it felt good to know that maybe I was helping somehow. It wasn't like I was any expert on Psychic superhero stuff.

But the fact that I was still in whatever version of the Dream this was worried me. Would I be retrievable? Or would I be stuck there forever? I looked around at the clear streetlights, the sharpness of the buildings, and briefly wondered if I was actually back in Yarborough. If maybe James had somehow done some kind of Presto thing and sent me into another dimension. Magic-users were tricky and I didn't really understand -them-, either.

"I didn't do that, I promise." His voice came from a trash can a few feet away. I blinked down at it and he spoke up again. "I don't quite have you but I'm getting close. She's fading fast and I think you'll be out pretty soon. You feeling any better?"

I tipped my head to one side. "Feels pretty good so far, whatever you're doing. I appreciate it. You wanna get a steak some time?"

"Nah, I don't want to make Cass jealous. I get you around me, you'll want nothing else for the rest of time. Besides, I heard you're the type that needs to eat half a cow and I can't pay for a date like that."

Yeah, that was what I meant. We really needed to talk to Patterson about problems like pay. I put my shoulders against one of the buildings and watched the trash can, hoping it would reveal the wonders of the universe to me. Or at least keep talking to me, because it was the only friend I had and I really needed someone to talk to.

Unfortunately, it remained as silent as one would expect one of them to do. A rain began to pitter-patter down on my head and I stepped back into the shadow of a building, looking up at the sky and sighing. I didn't really have a guess of how much time was passing in real life, though I certainly hoped that I wasn't endangering anyone. I rubbed my nose and sniffled, then sank down to the ground and pulled my arms around my knees.

It was lonely and cold. At least Allison had been snapping to tear my head off, but making me sit on a rainy street was someone's best idea of torture. I put my chin on my knees and waited, watching the silent street with nothing but the best intentions.

I just wished I was free.

The rain turned into a thunderstorm. Lightning struck the building behind me and I moved back out into the rain, feeling the hair on my arms stand on end due to the electricity in the air. A pen dropped in front of me; a familiar one. I'd have known Scribe's favorite pen anywhere. I picked it up and frowned at it, then looked at the sky.

"One more minute and I'll have you free. Someone else did something to you a while ago, man. But you're almost there. Just hang on another minute for me."

I opened my mouth to respond, to try to show him the pen; maybe he'd recognize it, but I wound up sitting on the couch with my arm outstretched. James looked at me, in reality, through a ghostly white face and sighed. "How you feelin'?"

And then he fainted in a heap. Not like I blamed him, the sun outside the window was sinking over the horizon. He'd been going for hours with no one else to help him, and no support for his physical body.