his cult to cast a spell so he could eventually free them with the help of the DarkLight, who happens to be my baby sister, Emily. Whom my father desperately wants to protect.
The Dragon was still stuck in the DarkLands dimension, thanks to my father, but his minions were still trying to find a way to get him back. It was pretty much an exercise in futility: my father had locked the Dragon away and threw away the key, casting a spell so powerful it was darn near impossible to circumvent. But that wasn’t going to stop those little cultists from trying to, at the very least, corrupt little Emily. Had Wesley said something about his current problem I would have cast a spell to help him, but of course I’m the last one he ever thinks to contact.
Paul Christian, aka White Heat, coleader of the EHJ along with Wesley, came striding in. His limp, which he got after fighting an alien invasion in our last big adventure, was barely noticeable. “What the hell is going on?” Seeing Mindy clicking away at the computer, he sighed. “Why are you the first on the scene?”
“Because I’m the fastest,” she retorted.
“You should be the last one on the scene. You shouldn’t be running into trouble right now, Mindy.”
“Paul, I had a transport gun.” Without looking up she raised the weapon, which I suppose would have sent me straight to jail had she fired it. Mindy and Paul, the resident scientists, were the ones responsible for all of the high-tech gadgets of the EHJ. That’s why she’s Tekgrrl. I remember her discussing the particular weapon back when the team lived with me.
“Besides,” she continued, straightening up to face him. “It’s just Fantazia.”
I frowned. “You don’t have to say that like I’m some homeless person you stepped over on the street.”
They both ignored me in favor of their argument. “You didn’t know it was just Fantazia when you ran in here,” Paul growled. “Where’s Toby? Where’s Selena?”
“Toby’s visiting Forrest in Washington today, and Selena’s handling a press conference. I’m still a hero, Paul.”
“A hero who’s heavily pregnant and doesn’t need to go running into danger. A hero who’s my wife.”
“This isn’t the 1950s, and I’m not some delicate flower!” Mindy blasted.
I interrupted. “While I’m enjoying this peek at wedded bliss, I didn’t come here to see all the reasons why I never got married. Where’s Wesley?”
Paul frowned. “That’s the eternal question. Never around when we need him.”
Mindy sighed. “Boy, you’re grouchy today. I’m the one with the hormone troubles, babe, not you.”
“I’m the one that has to live with you,” he replied with a smile.
“You’re so going to pay for that.” But she smiled, too, and there was no mistaking the glimmer in their eyes. I remembered long ago when someone used to look at me like that. No one ever realizes how impermanent love is until it’s gone.
“I’m leaving before you two end up either killing each other or screwing on the table,” I said, starting for the door. “I’ll look for him myself.”
“Good luck with that,” Mindy called as the door slithered shut behind me.
Stepping out into the hallway, I heard my name called and turned to see Lainey Livingston-Charles, also known as Phenomenal Girl 5, who was in a weird way my stepmother. She made her way toward me. “Was that you who set off the alarms?”
“Yeah, it was me. I hadn’t heard there was another attack,” I said. She hugged me, and I almost jumped in surprise. Ever since I started taking an active interest in her and Wesley’s daughter’s life, she’d gotten friendlier.
“Wes sent them to the DarkLands to live with the Dragon, but still, better safe than sorry,” she said. She gave me a curious look. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but . . . why are you here? You never leave home.”
“I left to fight your alien invasion,” I reminded her.
“Under duress, if I remember correctly. Is something wrong?”
She was right: I usually let people come to me. I very rarely set foot outside my pocket universe. I’d done so recently, but only to help the EHJ in a battle, and then only because Wesley nagged me until I gave in. I’m like Switzerland. I don’t take sides. Or hadn’t until I got pathetic and lonely.
I didn’t want to tell Lainey the real reason I was here, so I just said, “I just thought I’d see Emily. Is Wesley around?”