Big City Villain | BOOK ONE

Chapter Seventeen: Heroes Aren't Supposed to Blackmail.

I have long learned it's never wise to squirm or yell at a superhero while they are skyrocketing up past the tallest skyscrapers. Okay, so I know nothing would actually happen to me if I were to fall, but still, it's not the greatest way to get energy. I prefer to choose to jump than be forced.

And yes, I've been in this situation before, the burn in my shoulder is familiar to me as is the death grip on my wrist. The only difference is it's usually Storm taking me up into the sky because I've said something to anger her. She can be so emotional sometimes.

Eventually, Tights stopped. I looked down past my dangling legs and to the ribbon of light below me. That's a long way down, and it's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights. I know that flying is totally overrated and overused, but I kinda really want to be able to fly. Could you imagine how beautiful the stars would look this close?

"So what's your plan?" I shouted, shaking the hopeless dreams out of my head.

Tights raised his hand, making our eyes level. "You need to get energized."

"And then what?"

"I figured you'd be mad at me for dropping you without a heads up."

I rolled my eyes at his lame joke. Ben does not have one funny bone in his body. "Seriously, Ben, what's your-"

And then he released his grip on my wrist. It was almost like one of those cartoon moments when the villain runs out past a cliff and kind of just hangs there in midair for a split second, long enough for him to hold up a sign like 'oops' or 'help' and then tumbles down to the ground below.

Yeah, so that happened to me. Not as comical, though.

My stomach rushed up to my throat as the wind whipped my hair all around me. I hate to admit it, but there was a split second of panic that I experienced. Okay, concentrate Coal. I turned my body, shooting straight down headfirst. My speed increased incredibly as the city started to come rushing back to me, I was going faster than I usually do, probably breaking my unimpressive record speed. Odd. Either way, I am so incredibly grateful I decided to wear my mask today. Not only does it hide my good looks from the ladies, but it gives much-needed protection for my eyes.

I braced myself for the impact, ready to absorb the energy and get back at my brother for dropping me like this. How dare he, for all he knew I could have been having a power growing pain or overcome by some weird power stopping flu or something. Okay, now I'm just being dramatic and irritated, but you get my gist, right? Actually, don't answer that.

I flew past my favorite brick building and prepared myself to meet the ground. Except something, or rather someone crashed into me. The world spun around in a queasy circle, throwing off my sense of direction. Whoever it was had their arms tightly wrapped around my chest and suddenly tried pulling me up. Ben?

The white hair the wind whipped into my face answered my question. That is definitely not my brother.

"Storm, let me go!" I yelled, trying to squirm out of her arms.

"No! I am not letting you break your probation. You've come too far to break it now!" she screamed, holding me tighter and trying harder to break the force gravity was playing.

Her plan wasn't going to work though, I was going too fast, and she wasn't strong enough to break the fall. I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her closer to me, ready to absorb her shock as well as mine.

"Stop fighting it, Storm! I'll protect you," I said. Less than a moment was left before we made an impact, and it would be a messy landing if she didn't quit fidgeting.