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Darby
As I drove home, I called Genova to see if I could come by. She readily agreed, and I promised I’d be over after I changed clothes.
I hummed the whole way home. Will seemed...nice, unlike so many of the other superhuman men I’d met in the SHS.
Of course, most of the superhuman men in the SHS openly scorned my abilities. My genetic mutation was unique, and there was some discussion I wasn’t a true super, which was fed even more by the fact the DSHA had pushed to have me declassified as superhuman mere weeks before they’d brazenly kidnapped me.
It appalled me—as well as my two super friends, Genova and Holly—that other supers, who had been subject to extreme persecution barely a half-century earlier, would be so hostile to me. Genova and Holly were both highly respected by others in the SHS, but they couldn’t get others to come around.
Will held no open hostility. Of course, he hadn’t had a chance to be poisoned by others in the Kansas City & Midwest SHS branches.
But a meeting was this week. If he went and mentioned my name, he’d either get spat upon, or informed of how “un-super” I really was.
Once I’d put on a summer dress at home, I headed over to Genova’s.
“It’s open!” Genova hollered when I rang the bell nearly an hour after leaving HQ. “I’m in the kitchen!”
“You’re lucky I’m a cop,” I called back. Still, I had to laugh. We went round and round about her lax security. I dropped my purse on the floor next to the door, then secured the deadbolt and security system. “Do you really want anyone walking in?”
She chuckled. “Here, have some food. You’ve got to be half-starved.” She shoved a Thai take-home box into my hands, then wrapped me in a hug. “So, a case, huh?”
I nodded, then pulled the plate of food out and snagged a stool at the high-top side of the counter. Then I spied the open bottle of rosé. “Wine chilled?”
“Help yourself.” She retrieved a small wine glass. “Who died?”
I gave her a quick rundown of what little we knew, minus the victim’s name: there were still family members to inform, after all. “Victim worked for the DSHA.”
“Interesting.” She raised an eyebrow, indicating it was more interesting than she was going to let on.
I frowned into my meal as I thought about the potential for turmoil in the days ahead. “I think Mark’s worried I won’t be able to handle it.”
She coughed, the bottle shaking in her hand. How many glasses had she already had? “He should be. They did some terrible things to you, wanted to do worse. Didn’t I warn you when I met you?”
She poured a half-glass of the rosé, then pushed it at me.
“You did.” I took a big bite of Pad Thai, and my eyes crossed. Oh my, the food was good. This was just what the doctor had ordered. Good food, good company, good wine. “A coworker was the one who called it in. She wouldn’t state anything about what the victim was working on, but something about her told me she knew. She kept eyeing me suspiciously. She wasn’t talking because I’d been assigned to the case. I’m sure of it.”
Genova brushed at her fluorescent pink hair. She rarely had the same color twice.
“Are you aware of anything the DSHA could be working on they wouldn’t want me specifically to know?” I took another bite, then washed it down with a sip of wine.
“Not really. But then, they keep things pretty quiet.”
“No scuttlebutt? Not even from the Hill?”
She shook her head. “Nothing I can think of. But let’s face it, Darb. Bureaucrats are always trying to regulate something or someone. The DSHA is no different.”
“What if it’s related to the murder of one of their own?”
“I doubt they’d come out and say something to any non-federal bureau, especially one who has the most unique superhuman on staff.”
I tapped the prongs of my fork against my lips. “Do you have any idea how to break through the wall tomorrow?”
“Patience. And maybe a court order.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
I directed the conversation away from the case, and fairly soon we were joking around. It was nice to relax and pretend like I didn’t have a care in the world.
“I met another super tonight,” I said after we’d retreated to her living room. She’d turned on some jazz music, and it bubbled from invisible speakers around the room. “He’s new at Bendex.”
“He? Wow, Darby.” Genny grinned and raised a knowing eyebrow. “Handsome?”
I opened my eyes emphatically. “Yes. We nearly knocked each other over when I was leaving.”
She laughed. “What’s his name?”
“William Young. Said he was new in town, transferred from...somewhere I can’t remember. Atlanta? Miami? Said he was a psychologist.”
“Interesting.” She drew out the word. “So, what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know.” I bowed my head to my cup of decaf. “I barely did more than meet him.”
“Sweetie, that’s the difference between you and me. I’d have exchanged information, probably called him tonight.”
“We work in the same building, Genny!”
“Yes, I know. Is he single?”
“He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.”
“You should ask him out.”
“I couldn’t—”
“You can! Darby, look, I know you’re the traditional sort, but sometimes you have to take the bull by the horns. A guy isn’t going to always come to you, especially when you’ve got extraordinary powers. It can be intimidating.”
“He has his own powers. How intimidating could mine be?”
Genova laughed and shook her head. “You dunce. You raise the dead. Why do you think you get so much flack at the SHS?”
I set my half-drunk coffee aside, well out of reach of her ragdoll cat Hercules, who was stretched out on the couch between us. I rolled him into my arms and cuddled him. He relaxed, watching me through sleepy eyes. My fingers digging into his soft fur urged a throaty purr to life. “I can’t help that.”
“Staying away from the group doesn’t help matters. You’re not giving them a chance to see the person I know. They think you’re aloof.”
“I know.”
“So, William. Do you know what his powers are?”
“No, he didn’t say.”
“Working in the psychology department, it’s possible he’s a full-on empath.” Genova, like most superhumans, had a primary and a secondary power. Her primary was seeing through walls and objects, unless they were lead lined. Her secondary was empathic. She could sense my feelings, and we’d recently been working on a technique where she could probe my thoughts.
I’d never met a super whose primary power was empathic.
“I can tell you want to see him again,” Genova said.
I blushed. “Yeah, well, he flattered me.”
“So, uh, what will Mark say if you do see William outside of work?”
“Why should he care?”
Genova gave me a look. “You are so dense.”
“So you keep telling me.” I scooped the cat up and raised him above my head. He stared down at me and kept purring. I put him back down on the cushion next to me and seized my cup.
“Got a clue for you—no guy is perfect.”
“I don’t expect perfection.”
“It’s been over a year since Trent died.”
“Every time I get involved with a normal, they have an ulterior motive! And none of the supers will have me!”
She snorted. “I can assure you Mark doesn’t have ulterior motives, other than maybe wanting to sleep with you. He’s definitely not Trent.”
I frowned. No, Mark definitely wasn’t my ex-boyfriend who had murdered my childhood best friend in an attempt to save her life. Mark was...Mark was something else. Partner...close friend...occasional confidant. When I thought of how I’d screwed things over with him, I cringed. He hadn’t deserved what I’d done.
I should have been eating barbecue with Mark, trying to work things out with him. At the very least so our partnership could be saved.
Maybe our friendship couldn’t. Maybe that ship had sailed with the secret I’d kept from him. But I couldn’t imagine anyone else being my partner in spite of it.
Though maybe I’d done too much damage on that front, too.
“Darb.” Genny broke my brief reverie as she came over and put her hands on my shoulders. “You’re being awfully picky.”
“I’m not looking for a one night stand, Gen. All I want is one guy who’s not going to take advantage of my powers, who will help keep me safe from those who will, and who will love me the rest of our lives. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
She sighed. “And Mark’s not that guy?”
I bit my lip. No one but him and me knew about the electricity between us. No one but me knew that his touch was, seven out of ten times, painful for me. How could I be with him when it hurt just to touch?
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Things are...complicated on that front. I don’t think he wants what I want.”
Genova leaned her arm on the back of the couch, digging her slender fingers into her hair. “Have you asked him what he wants?”
“Look, you said it yourself. Mark wants someone who will sleep with him. For me, that’s out of the question, not without a commitment at least.”
She frowned. “Maybe he’s not perfect, but I can almost guarantee you: he’s a man looking to settle down.”
I rolled my eyes. Mark? Really? “Genny, why are you so hot-to-trot about this tonight? I haven’t seen you for a couple weeks, and we’ve spent half the night talking about my partner? If you think he’s as fabulous as all that, why don’t you two make something happen?”
She stared at me for a long moment. “He and I, we’re not...we want different things.”
It was my turn to stare. “Wait a sec...You. Have a thing. For my partner.”
She got up and strode away, hand to her lower back, her opposite hand rubbing the back of her neck. “I used to,” she finally admitted. “He’s fun. Sexy. Knows how to make you laugh. And compared to some of the guys I’ve seen, a lot less complicated.”
A tiny knot of jealousy burbled to the surface. I tamped it down. “Then why are we having this conversation?”
She turned back and gave a tight smile. “I can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that he is not into me.”
“I’ve seen you guys flirt.”
She ran her tongue around her teeth. “Trust me. I know what I’m talking about, Darb. That man doesn’t have eyes for any other woman but you.”
“I’m not—”
“Yeah, you’ve said it. You don’t love him. Are you so sure? Are you positive in that logical brain of yours that tucked behind the iron gates surrounding your heart, one tiny fiber of your being doesn’t hold a flame for him?”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
“Because if you do, you’d better figure it out quick. He can only wait so long for you to come around, and he’s been waiting a while now. I’d hate to see you miss out on a lifetime of happiness just because you were too scared and too stubborn.”