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He cracks his neck and stands to his full height. “Bitch.”
Uh oh. This will be good.
Just as I get excited about the idea of seeing one of Crimson’s famous verbal smack downs, the man lifts his hands and snaps them apart, breaking the steel handcuffs as if they were paper mache. He shoves his hands into his pockets. Crimson lands a boot right in his chest in a blow that should knock him to the ground. He falls backwards only to pull his hands out of his pockets just in time to catch the ground and bounce right back up.
The fight ensues between the Heroes and a couple of the humans who are also strong enough to break their restraints. I know better than to engage at the moment since my Hero status is probationary.
Nyx’s back rises and falls as he crouches on the ground. I kneel next to him, only finally peeling my eyes away from Crimson’s exchange with the human to look at him when my hand touches his back. His power levels are normal. He’s completely fine. The reason he’s crouched on the ground is not because of his own injuries.
His borrowed K-9 lies sprawled out on the grass beneath Nyx’s body. Nyx’s fingers clutch around the dog’s neck, holding the crimson stained fur tightly, trying to stop the outpour blood. I know he knows the truth but he’s refusing to accept it.
The dog is dead.
Rage pulses through my body.
I spin around and attack the first human I see. There’s a kick. My mouth fills with the coppery taste of blood. Here’s the funny thing: it actually hurts. This man can’t possibly be a human; humans are not strong. Even with dedicated strength training, humans are weak. If I hadn’t seen firsthand what happens when a Super and human breed, I would have suspected that he was some kind of half-Super himself, but with the knowledge that humans don’t survive Super genes, I don’t have an explanation for what is in front of me.
Crimson and I take turns railing on him, a punch to the eye, a kick in the groin. It may be a low blow, but he deserves it. He doesn’t even flinch, so I do it again, ramming my knee into his abdomen while digging my thumbs in between his ribs.
He groans, twists and kicks Crimson in the jaw, sending bits of her broken teeth flying through the air.
I don’t know if it’s the protectiveness I feel over my best friend, or a vain desire to preserve my own dental records, but I completely lose my shit.
The T-shirt wearing prick rears back his fist, aiming straight for me. The only sound I hear is the click of my retriever hooks as they slip out of their place on my sleeve. Seconds before his right hook slams into my face, I stab a hook into his meaty bicep.
His body tenses, fist frozen in mid-air. I smile when his eyes roll back into his head and he collapses on the ground, my black retriever hook sticking out of his arm like a meat thermometer.
“Maci!” Crimson grabs my depowered arm, squeezing so tightly it hurts. “You can’t hook a human! Oh god, what if he dies?” Her eyes flicker nervously to the other Heroes who are still locked in battle with the unnaturally strong humans.
“He’s not a human,” I spit the words out of my mouth, making eye contact with the frozen man on the ground. “He’s a monster.”
Crimson curses under her breath and yanks on my arm. I follow her to Nyx where she orders him to scoop up the dead dog. She calls for more backup on her BEEPR and palms the entrance to the KAPOW. “I’ll take care of this,” she whispers. Her eyes glare at me in this way that I think is caring but also seems a little angry. “You take care of Nyx.”
She spins around, the doors slam shut and I am alone in the tunnels with a heartbroken Hero, a dead dog and one more black mark on my Hero record.
“What the hell happened back there?” Nyx glances up at my question, his silver hair covering his eyes more than usual. His shoulders answer me in a slight shrug, the tiny movement portraying his apathy. The dead furry officer in his arms wouldn’t weigh enough to restrict his movement.
“I know you’re upset, but you should talk to me.” Although our K-9 companion is no longer breathing, the KAPOW still moves at a snail-like pace to accompany his fragile body. We have nothing but time for now. He might as well talk.
“I was just visiting all the entrances, having Trigger check for Li’s scent.” He strokes the dog’s fur with his thumb. “I’d had some humans approach me at all the other entrances, usually more excited about Trigger than me. So I didn’t really pay attention when these guys came up at first. I mean who the hell expects to be attacked by a human?”
“They attacked you?” I ask incredulously. “Unprovoked?”
Nyx stares at me like I’ve just lost my mind. “Why the hell would I provoke a human?”
I shake my head. “This isn’t right. They were unnaturally strong.”
“You’re freaking telling me,” he mutters, flexing his wrist, bending it around the joint. “Assholes pulverized my wrist. They held me down, kicked my face in, and kept the fat one on my wrist so the bones couldn’t heal back. I did everything I could but I was overpowered.” He takes a deep breath and looks me dead in the eyes. “You know I can defeat a dozen humans without a problem. These weren’t humans.”
“Something is happening that we don’t know about. I don’t even think Central-” Nyx cuts me off with muted mumblings. “He wasn’t trained for this. He didn’t understand when I told him to stay away. Trigger just dove at them, biting their legs. He tried to protect me. And they killed him.”
“We’ll take him back to New York. Give him a proper police dog burial.”
“No.” Nyx’s eyes flicker. His irises are completely black. “Not until I have a more compelling answer for why I let Officer Garcia’s German Shepherd die on duty. Not until we have justice. I can’t bring him back now.”
I touch his arm, feeling his power pulsating through his body like a freight train. “Okay. We’ll go to my house.”
I never thought about it until now, but I don’t know anything about Hero Nyx’s home life. His family members aren’t in the Hero Brigade or surely I would have known them. Does he live with his parents? Alone? I shouldn’t even care but making him go home without knowing if he’d have a good support system doesn’t sit right with me. I’ll have to find out his living situation without making it seem like I’m worried about him. Maybe
