"Scribe," I corrected instantly.
He nodded. "Scribe. Right. You haven't been here the past few days, Nishelle. It's bad."
"I couldn't have guessed that from the state the city's in," I muttered.
"Don't be a smartass. Move back and give me a moment with this group. It must be an area of attack issue, not one directed at all of you. Otherwise, the two of you would have been caught, too."
It was a struggle not to kick him in the ass, but I did as I was asked to do. The color from whatever he was doing intensified until it took up most of the sidewalk. Izzy came around first, then Lexi and Adam. Slowly but surely, the group came out of the Dream without so much as Cassie breaking a sweat. She was the last and she hit her knees, head tipping back, staring at the sky above.
"You okay, honey?" her mother asked and I clenched my fists, only wanting to be the first thing she saw when she woke up.
The Dream wasn't exactly a comfortable place and who knew if she'd been there or if she'd only been defending against it? Her parents had a short conversation with her, then she squirmed away from them and came over to me, pressing her forehead against mine. "Got a problem, Emb."
"Yeah, I'd say we have a lot of problems right now."
She shook her head and smiled. "Don't think I'm just a Blitzer after all."
"Well, we always knew you were something else," I said, wrapping my arms around her.
My girl was a Psychic. Maybe she wasn't the strongest one in the field or even a very good one. I assumed that most Psychics had their Awakening like most of us did; right around puberty or maybe a bit before or a bit after. Generally not in their 30s.
Cassie nestled her cheek against my shoulder, slowly sinking against me. "Always wanted to be part of the family."
And then she passed out, right then and there, so utterly exhausted that she couldn't resist it. I whistled at Nate, who helped me pick her up and carry her the rest of the way to the apartment.
Chapter 16
I'd fallen asleep, passed out really, on the sidewalk but I woke up in a soft, warm bed surrounded by the people who cared so much about me. The sky outside showed the bright pink of the coming morning and my head threatened to split wide open.
I can't say enough about how bad it hurt to use so much Psychic energy. I wasn't used to it, wasn't ready for it, but I couldn't let Allison drag us back into the Dream again. I figured we'd had enough of that to last us the rest of our lives, however short they may be after today.
Perhaps the thing that bothered me the most, as I lay there, was how close my parents had been. It was if they'd been waiting on us to show back up. Why not take care of the situation themselves? They were more than capable of ruining Scribe's mind, but maybe there was another problem back at the Alliance building that we weren't yet aware of.
The problems never seemed to stay as simple as they once were. Some small part of me yearned for the quiet of punching a drug dealer on the face or bringing justice to your average terrorist psychopath trying to blow up a stadium full of people. This inside fighting thing sucked and I hoped, after we brought down Scribe, that it would be the end of it.
Something told me it wouldn't be. There were always the occasional superheroes who flipped villain on other members of their group, they just weren't so common as this seemed to be. Maybe I'd suggest we all put in for a transfer after this. We could be together somewhere else; somewhere quieter. A place that didn't have so much goddamn drama attached to it.
I slid out of bed and tried not to disturb the others. Mom sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in her hands. Another, fixed to my preferences, stood waiting for me in front of her. I frowned at her. "It's kinda creepy when you do that. Besides, don't you ever sleep?"
"Not when my little girl's in so much danger," she said. "Or when I'm so proud of her."
I plopped into the chair and picked up the mug, taking a sip. Perfection. "Since when?"
"You're a Psychic now, sweetheart. You don't have to go around punching people or brawling like some sort of commoner-"
"Mom, I like being a Blitzer. I've always -been- a Blitzer. I don't intend to change that now. Maybe I'll mix Psychic stuff and Blitzer power, but I don't intend to re-sign as a Psychic."
Her nose crinkled at me, in exactly the same way I did it. "I realize that it takes getting used to but the pay is so much better and you're at less of a risk if you turn up pregnant-"
"Whoa, whoa. Hold on now."
She beamed at me. "Sweetie, listen, I'm not one to judge. I certainly had my fun when I was your age-"
I wanted to clap my hands over my ears. No no no no.
"-but when you choose one of those lovely boys to settle down with and start having grandchildren your perception of superhero work changes a little. You can even go so far as to work into your third trimester as a Psychic, but a few good slams as a Blitzer and you might lose the baby. I'm only looking out for your health, that's all."
"Mom, if I want kids, I'll let you know. I promise," I said, my fingers tight on the mug handle. "But we have a long way ahead of us before anything like that happens. Particularly this