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“Al…” Bernard’s paw covered my hand. “Anything we can do?”
I shook my head. “Just be careful out there.” I stared at Xander as I spoke, but the words were meant for Bernard as well. If the man in white had brought my insecurities to the surface and weaponized them, who knew what he could do to these two?
Before either responded, the coffee shop filled with alarms. I checked the screen, and the HeroApp™ flashed a proximity alert. Somewhere nearby, the villains were roaming about, and now we’d need to decide if the HideOut was safe enough to treat as our bunker while we waited for heroes to save the day.
“They’re down the street,” Griffin said.
Both Bernard and Xander got to their feet as the patrons grabbed their to-go cups and fled through the entrance. Nobody wanted to be trapped in the coffee shop if the villains ramped up their property damage.
“Bernard,” Xander jumped to his feet, “you stay with them. I’m going to get to the ambulance.”
“Me?” Bernard raised an eyebrow. “You keep an eye on them. The Centurions…”
They continued to argue about which should stay and protect Griffin and me, as if we were incapable of saving ourselves. Now I understood why women were angry about being labeled as damsels in distress. Hopefully, Xander backed down so Bernard could slip into his spandex and save the day. At any moment, they were about to slap one another.
Or they would have, except for the explosion.
18
“Mister, are you okay?”
The tiny voice barely broke through the ringing in my ears. I didn’t open my eyes as my stomach attempted to twist itself into knots. Any more sensory input and I’d hurl my breakfast down the front of my shirt.
We had fled, maybe? My brain struggled to recall the last few minutes. Chad pushed us out the back of the cafe while the Nocturnals slugged it out with heroes. An explosion. Yes, the windows had exploded as the fight grew close. I ran out the back, and then… I hurt, an ache that reached into the core of my bones.
“Is he even alive?”
Two tiny voices. They weren’t screaming. I’d take that as a good sign. It took a minute. Si. Chad ushered everybody out the back before the fight could find its way inside. Everything was hazy. I probably had a concussion.
“I think he’s dead.” The tiny voices were like waking up to a siren after a night of cheap booze. Children. I remembered. They were trapped in the alley. Everybody was running for safety when I spotted them running into a derelict building. Did I honestly run into a collapsing building to save children? I don’t even like children.
A finger poked my cheek.
Ireallydon’t like children.
“He’s alive,” said a young boy. He was anywhere from six to sixteen. Like I said, I’m not a fan of anybody too young to drink.
“Stop touching me,” I mumbled. I opened my eyes to narrow slits. The room didn’t spin any faster than before. I expected light to burn into my cornea, but wherever we were, it was almost pitch dark. I had grabbed them and ran into a freezer, but the details remained fuzzy.
“He’s mean.” The level of annoyance in her voice shouldn’t have been possible at that age. Nope, no thanks. No appreciation for nearly dying. I joked I liked men to ensure I never found out of accidental offspring. Instead of being thankful, I was mean.
“You two okay?” I coughed, as the dust in the air worked its way down my throat.
“I think so,” said the boy.
“Me too,” replied his companion. “We saved you, mister.”
“I’m pretty sure I did the saving.” I think? Between the adrenaline and explosions, there was a good chance I was dead. These two little misfits could be a personification of Heaven and Hell waging a war for my soul. I nearly laughed at the idea of getting into Heaven.
“Nuh-uh. We dragged you to safety. You almost got crushed by the wall.” She was mighty proud at the fact she had saved a grown-up. Perhaps she was the next generation of hero. Perhaps kids weren’t so bad after all.
“Crushed. Like the dead kind of crushed.”
I take it back. I still disliked the ankle biters. But she shone a flashlight toward an enormous chunk of cement, and I could see the lines in the dust. The disturbance led right to where a slab of concrete had landed on the floor. The little bastardoshadsaved me. I couldn’t let them see my appreciation. Kids are like sharks, a bit of affection, and they circle for the kill.
“How long was I out?”
“All the loud noises stopped.”
