The Super Jerk Trilogy (Now 3-in-1)

19. How Long Will I Love You

{Sarah}

"I still don't understand how this will help," says Cam's mom for the third time since we picked her up and turned straight back around towards downtown, without any explanation. "I haven't seen Geoff for years..."

   "Ms. Bower–" Kitty starts, leaning forward from the back seat.

   "Raina, please," she says, cutting Kitty off.

   "Raina," Kitty tries again. "We know how hard this must be for you. Sarah and I know what it's like to love a super, though, and that's why we think this'll work, because you do too. I mean...Sarah's dated two of them."

   "Not relevant." I catch her eyes in the rearview mirror.

   She shakes her head, rolling them at me. "Look...it might be hard to believe, but we know how susceptible supers are to powerful emotions like love and hate. Hammerhead...as Mayor Green, he wreaked so much havoc on so many people's lives."

   "Your point?" Raina says, still not looking convinced.

   "We know the Red Knight was good once." I shrug. "And from what we've managed to piece together, we know that he was capable of loving someone other than himself."

   "You mean me," she says, her voice heavy and sad.

   "Yeah," I answer through a sigh. "Mayor Green...I don't know if he'll ever think about anyone other than himself, honestly. He's too caught up in destroying the city. But the Red Knight...Geoff...he seems different. Able to be good again."

   "I did love him," she says, and when I look over, I see a tear emerging. "I never stopped. Even when he left me..."

   "Look out!" Kitty cries suddenly, and my eyes snap to the front. A silver blur, just off to our right. I pull the wheel hard to the left to avoid it, hitting the brake at the same time. The tires squeal across the pavement, and I jerk the wheel again, so we won't go flying up over the sidewalk.

   Fortunately, we manage to avoid both the curb and whatever that was, and when I get out, poking my head over the roof of the car, I'm surprised to find myself looking into Silver Bullet's eyes.

   "Silver Bullet?" I manage, unable to get out anything else. I hadn't expected her to stay here, after the scene in the super-cave.

   "Sarah," she says, visibly relaxing. "I'm glad I found you, I–"

   There's no time to finish. An explosion further down the street rocks the ground underneath us, making the car tilt dangerously. The axles squeak, making Kitty and Raina clamber out in a hurry.

   "What's happening?" I ask, just as there's another one, closer this time.

   "We'll have to take shelter, and then I'll explain," she says, jumping down and peering down the street. "You'll have to leave the car, I'm afraid. That all right?"

   A third, even closer than the last two. The pavement cracks, sending deep rifts headed straight towards us. And if I know anything about what's underneath these streets, it's likely we'd get hurt a lot faster out here.

   "Yeah," I say. "Lead the way."

≈≈

We find ourselves huddled behind a deli counter. The ground continues to shake with distant explosions, making the lights flicker. Most of them are fizzing and hanging from the ceiling already, probably from the initial attack. The food's strewn all over the floor, trampled by stampeding feet.

   "Where is everyone anyway?" I ask after a tense silence between us.

   "We tried to get them out before the force field went up," Silver Bullet says, her voice tight. "The rest we got underground. That wasn't easy."