Chapter 18
Mike made it home in time to take a quick shower. He had to rush a bit, but he was clean and dressed in a pair of light wash jeans and a long-sleeve white Henley, with the leather glove on his right hand when the knock sounded at his door.
Mike crossed the living room and opened the door. Aiden waited on the other side, looking effortlessly beautiful. His long, ebony hair was in a loose braid over his shoulder and he’d dressed casually in a dark green sweater with a deep V that showed off his elegant collarbones, black jeans, and boots. He held a big takeout bag, a delicious smell wafting from it to tease Mike’s nose.
“Come in,” Mike said as he stepped to the side.
Aiden walked into his small but neat apartment.
“Hi.” Aiden greeted him with a small smile, his eyes warm and bright.
“Hello.”
Mike led the way back to his kitchen, where he’d already set out plates, silverware and glasses on the dinette table.
“How was work?”
Mike shrugged. “It was fine. My day got better when I heard from you.”
“I’m glad I could help cheer you up.”
“Well, you promised me food and I’ve been thinking about it all day. What did you bring?”
“Dinner from my favorite diner,” Aiden answered as he unpacked the to go containers and began plating the food.
He’d brought big, juicy burgers on buttery toasted buns. The cheese was hot and melted, the lettuce cool and crisp. The bacon and thin sliced tomatoes looked mouth-wateringly good. And they both had a heap of fries that were perfectly cut and salted.
Mike got them drinks then sat down across from his dinner date. “This looks amazing,” Mike said as he eyed his plate full of food.
“Try it. I guarantee it’s the best cheeseburger you’ve ever tasted.”
Mike picked up his burger and took a bite. That was all it took for him to agree with Aiden’s guarantee. The burger was full of flavor, and it tasted even better than it looked. He gave Aiden a thumbs up while he chewed. “Perfect,” he said after he swallowed.
Aiden smiled and picked up his own burger. “Good. I’m glad you like it.”
Mike couldn’t answer. He’d already taken another bite.
They were mostly quiet as they ate, but once they were half-way through the meal Aiden spoke.
“While we’re eating, you know what I would like to hear?”
“What?”
“Your origin story. How did you get your powers?”
Mike hesitated. He hadn’t told the full story of how he’d come about his powers to anyone outside of the military. When he remained silent, Aiden prodded him.
“I’ll tell you how I got mine.”
Since he wanted to know more about his partner and now lover, Mike gave in to the light bribe, speaking in between bites. “The story of how I got my powers ties back to my injuries. I told you that we were sent to Montana. Our mission was to bring in a cell of domestic terrorists. Somewhere there was an intel breakdown. They had an enhanced individual that we were unaware of. We were already on the ground by the time we learned that this woman could spit a venom-type substance that ate through our gear and uniforms. A few of our soldiers were hit. Some of our team drew her away while I went in to retrieve the wounded. But she came back before I could get them out. She attacked again and I covered one of the downed soldiers with my body to protect them. That’s when I was hit.” Mike frowned. Telling the story brought back the putrid smell of the venom and the viscous feel of it on his skin.
“I was injured severely enough that I could have received a medical discharge. But the military was all I knew and I didn’t want to leave. When I told them I preferred to remain enlisted, they pulled me from my unit and gave me a new placement. I was assigned to be on staff as a grunt for an experimental team in the Arctic where they were studying the Northern Lights, trying to find a way to harness that power.”
“Like wind farms or solar energy?”
“Yes. But they probably didn’t plan to use it for anything as benign as electricity for suburbia. One night they had the machine geared up for its first test run. It appeared to be working. And then everything went to hell.” Mike stopped, remembering the explosion of green light. The control panel smoking and spitting sparks. Rushing in to manually shut off the machine because no one else could or would. Standing there frozen, his hand somehow magnetized to the switch as energy rolled through him in overwhelming and sickening pulses.
Shaking off the worst of the memories, Mike continued.
