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Me, I’m getting annoyed. “I risked my life, Kyle. I was completely alone with Morris. No army. No help. No—”
“You have superhuman strength. You have powers.”
“Yeah, and so does Morris. Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.
“We didn’t know he’d made progress with his formula.”
“Fine. Whatever. That’s not the point,” I argue. “I have no training for this kind of stuff. Eight months ago, I was still living with Mom and Dad, getting ready to leave home for the first time.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that the mission was a failure.”
“You know what? Fuck you, Kyle. I’m not in law enforcement or the military. I’m just a guy who fell into a super-Slurpy and came out with big muscles, incredible speed, and a monster cock.”
“You just had to throw the cock thing in my face, didn’t you?” he sneers.
“First, I would never throw my dick in your face. You’re my brother. Seems a little wrong. Second, you’re not hearing me. I’m still the same old Huff on the inside, but you sent me to save an entire city and kill some guy.”
Now that I’m saying it out loud, I don’t know why I agreed to it in the first place.Stupid plan.I guess I wanted to prove to myself I could be the hero everyone thinks I am.
“I have no business running around playing Superman, Kyle.”
“Well,” he snaps, “that’s the problem. You think this is all just one big role-playing game.” He takes a long pause. “Being a hero isn’t a costume or a job or a title, Huff. It’s just something good people do when they’re in a position to help.”
The guilt of his words slam into my stomach. The day Joy died—beaten to death in the girls’ locker room—I was just down the hall. River came running, saying something was going down, but instead of bolting to the gym to help Joy, I just stood there arguing with River. I told her she was worrying for nothing, and that Joy could handle herself when really I was too cowardly to confront Joy’s attackers—some girls on the cheerleading team. I worried that their boyfriends would kick my wimpy ass, because they’d done it before.
I gave in to my own fear instead of taking action, and it’s a decision I’ll regret for the rest of my life, even though I don’t know if I could’ve changed the outcome. The point is that I never even tried. I sat on my skinny hands.Never again.
“I know how to step up and help, Kyle. When River was attacked at her sorority house, I stopped the guy, and I nearly lost my life for it. I also stepped up when the roof of that hospital collapsed and left a bunch of people trapped inside.” It was during a hurricane near my old campus. “I have no problem helping others. But you sent me to kill a person, and there is a big difference between helping and killing.”
“Except when there’s not.”
This is typical Kyle. Nothing’s ever good enough for him. “Golly gee, Kyle. Sorry I didn’t plunge my hand into Morris’s chest and rip out his beating heart to present to you.”
“This isn’t a joke.”
“I get that, but tell me this: Where’s Morris now? What happened to Paris?” Because I gave Morris what he wanted. Crisis averted.
“Yes, Morris sent us a message saying everyone’s safe. For now,” Kyle admits begrudgingly. “But he left the Eiffel Tower on fire.”
That must be some chemistry trick. “Well, at least it looks hella cool.”
Kyle narrows his eyes. “No. Not cool. Morris said the Eiffel Tower is a reminder not to fuck with him. And now that he has your powers—”
“Temporary powers.”
“It’s only a matter of time before he makes them permanent. And then what, Huff? What happens the next time Morris wants something? He’ll just hold another city hostage. Or what happens when he figures out how to make more Huffs?”
Shiiit.Kyle is right. One hundred percent. But he wasn’t there. It’s not easy to look a person in the face and then end their life. Also, Kyle isn’t afraid of needles.
I swallow hard. I have a string to pull on that might lead to a solution. How? I’m not sure just yet.
“I know that look on your face. What aren’t you telling me?” he barks.
“Morris thinks we’re going to be friends.”
“Excuse me?”
“I gave him my blood, so now he thinks we’re buddies. And he promised to give me a dose of the formula once he perfects it so I can give it to River.”
