I’ll only bring you down.”
Before he could respond, I walked in and shut my door behind me.
Metal chains burst from the walls, wrapped around me, and something cold stabbed my neck.
Suit stepped out from the shadows of my room and said, “Don’t struggle, we just need some samples.”
This day just kept getting better and better.
The sedative forced me to go limp, and my eyes closed.
“You’ll wake up and won’t remember a thing,” Suit said as I fell asleep.
Like hell, I wouldn’t.
Chapter Five
Every morning for two weeks, I woke up tired and cranky. I would have written it off as not being comfortable in my new home, but it was definitely more.
Ion, another electricity user had been assigned as my trainer. He was tall, thin, and the nicest man I had ever met.
With Ion’s help, I had come a long way with my powers in a short time and could mostly control them.
At lunch, Alura found me like always and sat with me. “How did it go today?” she asked. She had long, naturally wavy red hair and a slim body shape I had always envied. Her love powers turned out to actually be aura manipulation, which was even cooler in my opinion.
“Good. He thinks I’m ready for my first mission,” I said, smiling at the woman who had quickly become my best friend.
She smiled. “Awesome! I want to go, too.”
“Go where?” Austin asked and sat beside Alura, across from me.
He’d been with me as much as he could each day. Even sitting against a wall and watching when I had my lessons. He hadn’t tried to make a move or anything, which totally disappointed me.
“My first mission,” I said and then dropped my eyes to my plate.
“Hey, could you help me with my outfit tonight?” Alura asked me.
A huge smile split my face as I nodded vigorously. “Yes, please.”
“Have you picked your hero name yet?” Austin asked.
I shook my head. The Director had asked me to register officially with the Organization, but you had to have a hero name, and I didn’t have one. Nothing felt right.
“It will come to you,” he said and smiled warmly at me.
He had way more faith in me than I had in myself.
Done with my food, I stood and put my plate in the dirty dish bucket. When I turned and looked out over the heroes in their brightly colored outfits, I wondered, not for the first time, if I actually belonged here.
Most days it didn’t feel like it.
“Hey, you busy?” Austin asked.
I shook my head and looked at him. His eyebrows were furrowed, his jaw clenched and his hands were fisted.
Had I done something wrong? Upset him somehow?
“Will you come on a walk with me?” he asked.
I smiled wide, trying to seem unworried. “Sure.”
Several heroes stared at us but most ignored me now.
Austin led me out to the gardens in the center of the compound and sat on one of the concrete benches near the fountain.
I loved coming here to smell the flowers and listen to the soothing sound of the water flowing from the fountain.
After a quick sniff of my favorite purple flowers, I sat by Austin and turned to face him. “What’s troubling you?”
He looked at me and asked, “Will you go out to dinner with me?”
I blinked. Then blinked again. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. “Yeah.”
Shouting yes didn’t seem appropriate. So, I nodded and bit my lip to keep from yelling. “But, not a commitment yet, okay? Just dating?”
He nodded. “I’ve wanted to ask you for a while, but I wasn’t sure how long I was supposed to wait after you and Cobalt split,” he said and his entire body relaxed.
“I’ve been waiting for you to make a move, but thought maybe I wasn’t your type,” I said and chuckled.
“Since you haven’t been able to leave the compound, it made asking you on a date fairly impossible,” he said. “But now that they’re letting you out, we can go somewhere together.”
“I can’t wait to get out of here,” I said. “I miss the fresh air.”
An alarm sounded and then a woman announced, “Class five attack. All personnel report to the briefing room.”
Austin and I ran out of the gardens.
Class five was the highest level for attacks. What could it be?
“Come on,” he said and headed towards the elevators.
“I’m not—”
He interrupted me. “You’re part of our team. Come on.”
Arguing would just delay him, so I stepped into the elevator beside