“We’re rescuing you,” Zephyr said from the driver’s seat. Next to her, Shadow’s head bobbed to the music.
“Rescuing me?” My eyes widened in understanding. This was Madman’s doing; he must’ve had a vision of my capture as well as my escape. “No—no, no, no, no. I need to get back.”
“Angel, you can’t fix the guy,” Zephyr said, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.
How did she know that exact thought had run through my head only moments ago?
My eyes moved back to Madman. Because he’s seen that too.
“You need to let me go,” I said more insistently, struggling against Aries. He didn’t loosen his grip.
After a few moments, I stopped fighting; I couldn’t possibly overpower the guy with inhuman strength.
“Weeeeee!” Madman said. One side of his mouth curved up and his eyes were glazed over, lost in another one of his episodes.
“The Executioner’s not going to do anything to me,” I insisted to the rest of the car.
“How can you be so sure?” Aries said.
“He can’t kill me.”
Sir Mix-a-Lot’s voice and the growl of an approaching car were the only sounds that punctuated the silence.
Finally, “Shiiit,” Aries drawled. He glanced over at Madman accusingly. “You didn’t tell us that.”
Madman cackled.
“That’s why you guys need to let me go,” I said. “I’m the only one that can deal with him.”
“Deal with him?” Zephyr said. “What does that mean? That you’ll bang him to death? Cause, honey, we all know you aren’t going to pop a cap in his ass.”
I glared at the back of Zephyr’s head. Behind us the sound of an engine rose, getting louder as it neared.
“Face it, Angel,” Shadow said, “your strength is saving, not killing.”
“What makes you think the Executioner can’t be saved?” I asked.
“Some people are beyond saving,” Aries said, his tone harsh.
Zephyr glanced at the rearview mirror. “Some asshole is riding our tail.”
Madman put his hands in the air, and Zephyr’s gaze flicked to him. “What are you—?”
I registered the roar of the tailgater’s engine a split second before it rammed into ours. Metal crunched, Aries and I toppled over the center console.
Heavy dude on my back. Can’t breathe.
“Aries,” I wheezed, “get off … of me.”
Just as he began to, the car rammed us again, and Aries slid forward, crushing me further.
The car veered off the road and we began to bounce over the rough terrain. But we weren’t slowing.
I looked up and caught sight of a guardrail, and beyond that … nothing.
“Thing’s lost traction,” Zephyr said. “Fuck, we’re going to go over!”
That was all the warning we got. With a sickening screech, the front of our car hit the guardrail. The metal barrier gave way, and then we were airborne.
As we flew through the air, Aries shrieked. If we all survive, he’s never living that down. Behind us, Madman was laughing like this was the funniest thing in the world, and Sir Mix-a-Lot was still aggressively campaigning the perks of big booties.
We plummeted over the edge of the mountain. The earth seemed to rise up to meet us, and I braced myself for the next moment of impact. As soon as the car connected with the ground, Aries and I—who hadn’t been wearing seatbelts—were flung through the car’s front window.
I screamed as we broke through the windshield. Shards of glass sliced my skin, and then rocks replaced glass as we tumbled onto the ground. The car continued to roll down the hill, the metal crumpling in on itself and the rest of the team.
I crawled to Aries, blinking away blood from a head wound as my injuries healed themselves. Blood covered his face and body, and one of his arms was bent funny. I reached over and touched his face.
His eyes pinched shut and he gritted his teeth while his arm reset itself and his cuts began to seal. From somewhere on the street above us, our pursuer’s engine cut out.
The Executioner. It had to be him.
“Your boyfriend … is a dick,” Aries gasped out, sweat beading along his brow.
Guess I wasn’t the only person to put two and two together.
When I’d decided Aries’s broken bone had fully fused back together, I let go of him and dusted myself off.
Above us a car door opened.
“Aries, I’m going to help the others. If the Executioner comes for me, don’t try to stop him.”
Aries groaned as he sat up. “Like hell I won’t. That bastard just tried to kill us. He will kill us.”
My eyes flicked up the mountain. I heard a car door slam shut. “He won’t kill me,” I murmured. And then I ran to the wreckage below.
Executioner
I should murder them all just to prove she can never leave me.
Even before I had come across my abandoned Lotus, I’d caught sight of the Red Rider, one of L.A.S.D.’s ridiculous cars, winding further down the mountain road. I’d easily put together what must’ve happened.
Angel’s quaint little justice league had tried to pull off a rescue mission.
And now they all would pay for trying to cross me.
I exited the car and stepped up to the broken guardrail.
Superheroes were scattered like confetti down the mountainside. Closest to me was Aries, the muscle of the group. And right now he was squaring off with me, waiting for me to make the first move.
Because he can’t kill me, but I can kill him.
Beyond Aries, Angel crouched next to the crumpled wreckage, reaching her hands inside the Red Rider. She kept throwing furtive glances over her shoulder. When she noticed me staring, she froze.
“You can’t have her, Executioner.”
My gaze flicked back to Aries. Killing him would set Angel and me back a bit, but after the day I’d had, I was tempted.
Aries stepped forward. “You’re going to have to go through me to get to her.”
I stepped over the remains of the guardrail, my clothes snapping in the night air. No one would keep me from Angel. Not my colleagues, not my enemies, and not this man in front of me.
I strode down the hill towards him. I’d seen footage of this superhero lifting cars like they were sacks of groceries. That inhuman strength wouldn’t save him. Not from me.
I could see Angel starting to panic from where she crouched, her head moving between the two of us.
I began to work a glove off as I neared Aries. Today I’d already seen my fair share of blood, but there was always room for more.
Angel
I looked up from my arm, which Madman, Zephyr and Shadow held onto, back to Aries and the Executioner.
He was going to kill Aries. I could see it in the Executioner’s eyes.
“Stop!” I screamed, my heart thundering in my chest.
The Executioner glanced up. He was only mere feet from Aries.
“Time to let go of Angel,” Madman said to the others in the car. They released my arm, and I pushed away from the car.
“The only way you’re getting me out of here,” I said to the Executioner, “is if you leave my friends untouched.”
“You really think that, Angel?” His voice carried clearly on the night air. “I could take them all out—them and every other person that might stand between you and me.”
What was to stop him? He was a gun for hire. He probably killed people even when he didn’t mean to. Ridding Los Angeles of its superheroes would be nothing to him, and now I gave him an extra reason to do it.
I began to climb up the hill, towards both him and Aries, the latter who shifted his weight between his feet. I stumbled a little as I went. The Executioner noticed, and I saw him frown.
Behind me, I could hear the grunts and moans of the rest of my friends as they began to extricate themselves from the Red Rider.
Right now there was an uneasy standoff, but I couldn
’t delude myself: the balance of power was wholly tipped in the Executioner’s favor.
“I will go back with you,” I said to him. “I won’t fight it. Just—don’t touch any of my friends.”
He gave me a look that sent shivers down my back. For the life of me I had no idea what was going on in his head, but I did know that despite his reputation, he wouldn’t hurt me.
Aries snagged my arm as I approached the Executioner. “Don’t be an idiot,” he hissed into my ear. “We don’t give into villains’ demands. Not now, not ever.” He glanced at the Executioner as he spoke, but his words were lost on the man. The Executioner hadn’t looked away from me since I’d spoken. And his hands.
Clench … unclench.
“Today is the exception,” I said, my skin prickling from how close Aries still was to that lethal touch.
“Angel,” he pleaded softly.
I pulled my arm out of his grip. “Go get our friends and get out of here.”
The Executioner stepped forward and held out a hand to me. His chin was tilted up; he commanded with his presence.
I stared at that hand. “Don’t hurt my friends,” I warned him.
He said nothing, but inclined his head ever so slightly.
I took a step forward. Then another.
Aries made a grab for my wrist. “Angel, don’t.”
I shrugged off his arm. “I’ll be fine. Help the others.” My gaze never wavered from the Executioner’s. “And don’t come for me again.”
Ahead of me, the Executioner gave me a grim smile. I reached out and grasped his bare hand. The moment I did so, his grip clamped down, as if he thought I might still run.
I heard Aries suck in air and somewhere down the hill, a couple gasps. And then, when I didn’t start screaming, I heard my team’s murmurs.
“Fuck. He really can’t hurt Angel.”
“What’s he going to do to her?”
“What do you think genius?”
I suppressed a cringe at that last line. The Executioner’s grim smile grew a little bigger; I guess he’d heard the line as well.
“This changes things,” he said to me.
“It changes nothing.”
His eyes narrowed. “Just remember that you came willingly.”
Chapter 13
Angel
The Executioner rubbed his raw wrists as he drove us back to his suburban fortress. The drive was quiet. Tense.
“You are going to sleep in my bed, tonight.”
“True, I am going to sleep in your bed tonight. But you aren’t going to be in it.”
His hands squeezed the steering wheel. “You are to listen to me—”
“Gah, your people skills suck balls. I’m not sleeping with you, nor am I sleeping in the same room as you because—in case you forgot—you just tried to kill my friends after imprisoning me in a goddamn room for an entire day.”
This was what I got for helping others. A psycho supervillain who badly wanted to get laid.
The Executioner’s jaw tightened. “We will discuss this when we get home.”
His words rang in my ears.
Home. Said as though the house were ours.
Out on the streets, I had a reputation. Sweet as sugar when unprovoked, but if you pissed me off, my retribution would rain down on you. Gang members who’d accidently clipped me, as well as a few idiots who’d purposefully attacked me, could vouch for this.
I grabbed the handle above my seat and hoisted myself up.
The Executioner swiveled to face me. “What are you—”
My foot snapped out, connecting with his temple. He grunted as his skull cracked against the window. The car jerked, veering close to the edge of the road.
He roared. “Woman, you are mad!”
I swung onto his lap, squeezing myself between his body and the steering wheel. “You’re only just figuring this out?” As I spoke I cocked my arm back, and then I slammed it forward.
The Executioner caught my fist before I could land the blow, trapping it in his much larger hand.
With his other, he steered us to the side of the road. Once the car idled, he squinted at me. I breathed heavily, and I’m sure my eyes were dilated.
“You could’ve killed us,” he said, his voice still raised.
“I could’ve killed you,” I corrected. I’d already proved what happened to me when I got into a car accident.
The Executioner drew in a breath and stared at the fist he palmed, clearly still fascinated by the fact that he couldn’t hurt me.
I tried yanking my hand away. “Let. Me. Go.”
His lips twitched. “Then beg.”
“Fuck you, I will not beg.”
His grip on my hand transformed from punishing to tender. Rather than releasing me, he tugged on the hand, bringing me closer to him until my entire torso pressed flush against him.
His eyes trained on my mouth. “Beg.”
“No.”
He tilted his face down, and his nose brushed against mine. The contact brought out a smile on the Executioner’s face, transforming it from plain menacing to screw-me menacing. There was a difference, one my girly parts understood with perfect clarity.
“I can stay here all night,” he said.
“Not with that rager you can’t.” I looked pointedly down at where my legs straddled him. Someone was happy to see me.
“Are you going to let me go?” I tugged on my captive hand to emphasize my point.
“Now that I’ve got you where I want you?” he asked, his free hand settling against my waist. “Doubtful.” He grinned. I felt that grin all the way down to the base of my belly.
He’s a horrible, evil person. Don’t be one of those girls that forgives a guy his shitty personality just because he’s gorgeous.
But he’s broken. No one’s ever given him the chance. Also, I love fixing broken things.
The Executioner watched me the entire time. After his appraisal, he cocked his head. “You really are crazy, aren’t you?”
I swung my free hand at him, which he also caught. “Ah, ah, ah. Use your words.”
“Oh that’s real cute coming from you, Mr. I-Fry-People-for-a-Living.” I tried to jerk my fists from his hold. No success.
Not even my words could wipe away the Executioner’s perky mood. And I do mean perky.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said. “I’m feeling giving, so I’ll let you go on the condition that you sleep with me.”
I let out a laugh. The cojones of this man! “You let me go and I might not throat punch you.”
“Yes, because you had so much success with that already.” He squeezed my hands just to rub a little salt in the wound.
I growled out my frustration.
“Use your words,” he reminded me.
“You can take your words and shove them up—”
The Executioner was done talking. His lips crashed into mine, and my words died in my throat.
“Gah, you are so smug.” I stared daggers at the Executioner from the passenger seat. Eventually he’d let my hands go after we … discussed things a bit more. We’d come to an agreement of sorts. One that he thought benefitted him more than me.
A corner of his mouth lifted. So self-satisfied. I wanted to punt that smile off of his face.
“It’s been a good day in a sea of bad ones,” he said.
“You call this a good day?”
“I got to kiss an Angel—and she liked it.”
I raised an eyebrow. So I kissed him back. Again. Like I said before, the dude was a good kisser. “I pity you if you think this is a good day.”
He gave me a passing glance. “Unlike some people,” he turned the car towards his house, “my average day isn’t full of bunnies and free hugs.”
“My life isn’t full of bunnies.” I didn’t address the other part of his comment. I was a hugger.
He scoffed. Scoffed. Motherfucker was so getting payback. He’d better sleep with one eye open.
“It’s n
ot.”
The Executioner pulled into his garage and killed the engine. I followed him out of the car.
“I’m going to sleep well tonight because tonight, I’ll be getting one of those famous free hugs of yours.”
And that was the little agreement we came to. Same bed, no sex, lots of cuddling. Like I said, motherfucker better sleep with one eye open.
I narrowed my eyes at him. Even if he weren’t a supervillain, he’d still be the most infuriating man I’d met. At least the most infuriating man who’d insisted we keep in each other’s company.
We entered his house, and I found myself back in the confusing labyrinth of Mirage’s illusions. It didn’t help that five seconds after I entered the Executioner’s house, I rammed my hip against the sharp corner of some invisible object.
I cursed, holding my side as my body healed itself.
“Be careful,” the Executioner admonished, “that table’s over two hundred years old.”
Breathe in, breathe out. Don’t throttle him … yet.
“Next time I’ll make sure to get out of the invisible table’s way,” I gritted out.
“If you need help maneuvering my home, you only have to ask.” He took my hand, like the white knight he wasn’t, and led me down the hall.
He took us to his kitchen. “Hungry?” he asked, letting my hand go to head towards the fridge.
“Oh really Master? Feeding the slave, Master? How gracious of you!”
“You want to talk about slavery? How about this: I have lived my life enslaved to my power. I will not be so anymore.”
“So instead you kidnap me.”
He ran his hands through his hair. “Woman, you’re making this so difficult.”
“My. Name. Is. Not. Woman.”
He tore his hands from his face, his dark eyes stormy. “You can stay in my house as my captive or my girlfriend. You choose—”
I gasped. “Are you—are you asking me out?” I clasped my hands together. “I bet girls have just about died for the honor!”
The Executioner worked his jaw in annoyance. “Either way, you and I will get to know each other.”