Allied: A Superhero Reverse Harem Romance (The PTB Alliance Book 3), стр. 31
Yeah, I definitely couldn't understand that at all.
"You guys don't mind that I added Nishelle to the group, right? We talked about it, but I'm double-checking, here," I whispered.
Nate smiled. "We've talked about it before. The verdict was a definite yes. No one minds and she's certainly welcome to come mingle with the rest of us whenever she wants."
"I don't know if that will happen. She's never been very into men, but there was that one guy that one time-"
"Is this a juicy story that I need to hear?" he asked.
I sniffed. "It's a juicy story that you can ask me to hear and if you're very, very good, you'll get to. It's sultry and wicked and all those things the romance books say on their covers at Wal-Mart."
"And how would you know about those?"
I grinned up at him but didn't answer. Let his mind run wild and see what kind of fun I could have with it later on that night. Assuming we had a later on that night to come back to.
Chapter 11
Most of the day passed by quietly. We spent it in separate groups or settling into board games. I thrashed everyone who dared face me in Monopoly, largely due to cheating. But you come to expect that from the person playing the Banker. Maybe you don't as a kid; but then you realize why your parents always won and you're out for blood.
Just after dinner, there was a soft knock on the door. I heard it but most of the others didn't. A second knock came just before I opened it, much louder than before. I grabbed the knob, twisted, and peered out at a handful of assembled people, all in supersuits, and Logan. He, of course, only had on his rather dashing suit. He was too old for me, but I mean, there's nothing wrong with looking at variety now and then.
"If I might intrude on you for a small portion of your evening?" he asked.
I moved to the side. "It's your building, sir. We're just annoying you."
He smiled at me, a thousand times friendlier than he'd been yesterday, and led the others inside. Two women, four men, but they all followed the first guy. I recognized him almost immediately. Starseer was a Flyer from Yarborough. He was a decade my senior and I hadn't had any idea where he'd ended up when he transferred shortly before my court case. Adam ran to embrace him. It'd been Starseer who had helped him work out most of the basics of flight with his gravity powers.
"I didn't know you were here!" Adam cried out.
Starseer, I think his real name was Chris, hugged him right back. "Have to admit it's the same here. Logan didn't warn us we'd be meeting up with all of you; though as the news tells it, you've all flipped villain."
"Of course we haven't," I sighed. "Though it'd be a hell of a lot easier if we had. At least there wouldn't be all this grey area to mess with."
The older superhero rounded on me and frowned. "Nothing's easy as a villain, Strikeout. You know that. And it's foolish to think otherwise." He looked back at Adam. "Is she all right? Did she catch a bad blow to the head? If she's unstable, her cousin can look after her. James is a wonder with medicine."
"If she needs medical treatment, Starseer, she's got a medic waiting in the wings," Nate said, frowning at the man.
Starseer took a step back from Nate, which said a hell of a lot more than it didn't. "Next thing you'll tell me is she's got Melody with her."
Izzy cleared her throat from the back of the room and raised her hand. Poor Starseer looked like his heart was about to give out and some part of me enjoyed that a little too much. Logan clapped his hands together and we gave him the attention he deserved.
"We'll get into strategy in a moment, but I've brought the backup you asked for. Starseer is a veteran of both your streets and ours. We've had word from our medical staff that Creed has been under surveillance for stress during his flights. We thought a Flyer was necessary. If he would be so kind as to introduce the others?" Logan asked.
Chris was in his element. He smiled and walked forward, drawing a woman in red and gold with him. "Kharmia is a Presto, one of our best. She has nineteen years in service and wanted to come out to help you." He offered his hand to the girl, barely of legal age, in amber. "Vyrah is a-"
I stopped listening about there. These people were willing to come and die for us and I just didn't have the time to get to know them. They would be back in Thomaston before terribly long and, I hoped, safe and sound. I knew it was a bitch thing to do, but I couldn't have their lives on my conscience, too. Already I was leading my lovers and their loved ones, Lexi excluded, into a war I didn't think we could win.
Bluntly, I hoped that it would hurt less if I didn't know the new team. If they died, they would be just more faces in the Hall back home, or in whatever served as the Hall here in Thomaston.
Edwin nudged me when Chris finished