“What’s wrong?” Lily wondered, turning toward her.
Freya just shook her head, feeling shaken by the implications.
Lily reached out to touch her shoulder, gently rubbing up and down her arm. She then smiled gently. “Want to clean up the mess you made?” she asked playfully. “And then after that, I probably need to eat too. I’m really hungry now.”
Freya looked at her in surprise, before smiling warmly. “Sure,” she agreed, reaching out for Lily’s arm so she could begin licking the small amount of blood off. At the same time, she began prodding at Lily’s ribs, sending her into a fit of giggles from the sensation.
Yet, despite Freya’s attempt to cheer herself up listening to the sound of Lily laughing from being tickled, she still felt shaken. Lily could heal now – that was enough to flip her world upside down on its own. In fact, that alone would affect her, because it changed everything.
But if Lily somehow had Sam’s power, then what might this mean for him?
❖ ❖ ❖
Sam Archer
April 10, 2735 – Current Day – Late Morning
Despite the fact that Lexi grabbed my arm, and made the guys gawk by doing so, she didn’t hold on long, letting go the moment we passed the two guys up, gesturing to the others around the table.
“This here is Yosef,” she said, pointing to a guy with tan skin, black hair, and brown eyes. “He can create an invisible wall that he basically uses as a shield.”
“What’s up?” the guy said as a simple greeting, gesturing with his fork before taking another bite of cake from the small paper plate he was holding.
“And this is Jack,” she continued, gesturing to a guy with blonde hair and gray eyes. “He’s one example of a Cinderblock, strong and durable.”
“And proud to be one,” he said with a grin. “We’re the core of the CDS. Can’t have a proper building without a solid foundation.”
The guy next to Jack, a dude with dark skin and short curly hair, automatically nodded at me, speaking up in a deep voice. “And I’m Tyrone. I can see and manipulate certain forms of radiation, like x-rays, microwaves, and normal light.”
Lexi nodded. “We work together a lot. Usually, if I can give him a good idea of where the enemy is located, then he can blind them from a distance. It can help reduce casualties.”
“Blind them?” I repeated.
Instantly, the world went dark, and with Liz’s shield still around, filling the whole building and beyond, my second-sight was blurry. Otherwise I would have been fine.
Instead, I was far from fine.
My claustrophobia began rearing its ugly head in full force.
My hand shot out, grabbing Lexi’s arm in a near panic.
“Stop!” she yelled at him, the moment she realized what was going on.
Just as fast as the world disappeared, it reappeared. And much to my surprise, Tyrone seemed sincerely concerned. I quickly tried to collect myself, my heart still racing. Lexi had her hand on my wrist, prompting me to loosen my grip on her arm in case I was hurting her, but still keeping a hold on her.
“Sorry man,” he said, sounding genuinely apologetic. “Didn’t think it’d freak you out that much. I can basically just block the light waves from entering your eyes. Most people just assume the lights went out.”
The problem was, the lights never went out for me. Even in the dark, my second-sight let me see. I could only nod in response, trying to respond verbally, when unexpectedly someone opened a door to our right, an office space clearly visible through the doorway.
A tall guy with a lean muscular build, as well as black hair and green eyes, took one look in our direction, only to go from calm to enraged in half a second.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing grabbing onto Lexi like that?” he snapped, his face turning red.
My eyes widened in surprise, glancing down at her questioningly, only for her to snap right back at him, sounding just as pissed.
“It’s none of your business, Radley. If I didn’t want him to touch me, then I would have zapped him.”
The guy looked even more pissed.
Now, part of me wanted to be an ass and let go of Lexi briefly so I could wrap my arm around her shoulders. But the truth was, she wasn’t my woman, and I was physically fine now, my panic having calmed down. Not to mention, while this guy obviously seemed to have some kind of unrequested overprotectiveness going on, I could totally understand him being upset that some random stranger was holding Lexi’s arm how I was. Because, superficially, it didn’t look friendly.
Shit, if I saw some guy at my old office holding onto Nancy like this, one of the women I used to work with, I’d probably assume the worst and speak up too.
Thus, I let go, prompting a disappointed look from Lexi, as if she wanted me to stake a claim.
Surprisingly, Tyrone took up my defense. “Hey man, chill out. He just freaked out a little when I turned out the lights without warning.”
Radley scoffed, ignoring him. “So, you’re the new hotshot, huh? Just what we need, another prick who thinks he’s invincible.”
I tried not to smile, with Lexi rolling her eyes again, angling toward me as she introduced him with an annoyed tone. “This is Radley. He’s a Cinderblock, but also has Mathematical Intuition, which has the practical application of making him one of the best shots alive.”
Oh great, so a nerd then.
A super nerd.
“Damn straight,” he scoffed in response to Lexi’s comment, puffing out his chest a little. “I wield the heaviest rifle ever designed. The kick alone would probably break your shoulder and throw you back twenty feet.”
Yep, definitely a nerd.
“He’s also an arrogant asshole,” Lexi added, only to glare at him. “And you don’t even know what his superpowers are,” she added.
Radley’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, I bet I’m stronger than him.”
His statement was ironic, because I was physically much
