After dinner, we walked back to the building, and up to her door on the third floor.

  She said softly, “Will you come in for a while, I’m not quite ready for the night to end yet.”

  I nodded, and I held back the clingy joke on the tip of my tongue, when I saw her heart in her eyes. I also knew she wasn’t inviting me in for physical intimacies, there was still fear in her eyes too, a remnant of mistrust from her past. Perhaps stirred up by the deep need and desire for me to stay with her longer, another step of trust to placate the past. In short, she just wanted my company.

  “I’d love to.”

  She opened the door, and we walked into her apartment. It was small and cozy like mine, same size, even the same beige walls. She had an off-white leather couch and love seat, a flat screen on the wall, and a small plug-in fridge in the corner. The coffee table was round, glass with a silver frame, as were her two end tables.

  As last time, there were pictures of her family on the walls, a nice landscape painting of the ocean and beach, and a lot of knickknacks and candles on every surface.

  “Sit, something to drink? I have water, iced tea, or soda.”

  “Tea.”

  She opened the fridge, and she tossed me a Snapple as I sat down on the large couch, then reached in again and pulled out a Coke. She walked over with a nervous smile and sat close to me on the couch, not quite in my personal space, but there were also tons of room on her other side.

  She smelled like cinnamon apples, and I had to resist the urge to lean forward and sniff. Yeah, I had it bad.

  “Everything alright?”

  She blew out a breath, “Have you ever heard of Hecate?”

  I nodded slowly, “Greek goddess of witchcraft, magic.”

  She smiled, “Exactly. I was fascinated by the idea of magic when I was younger, and a large fan of some of the mages and witches out there, the supers that quickened in that way. I read a lot of about it, and I became fascinated with Hecate. Sometimes in fiction she was shown as a selfish manipulator, evil even, and in other stories she was the guardian and protector of witches and magic. I think I must’ve read everything I could get my hands on.”

  She shrugged, “I think that’s why I’m so strong. Have you ever wondered about that? Power, not just abilities. Everyone seems to focus on the abilities, but I wonder if our subconscious mind, what we crave, can effect power as well as ability when we quicken.”

  I nodded, “So you’re saying you’re so powerful, because you didn’t dream of being a witch, you dreamt of being a goddess of magic.”

  She blushed, “In essence, yes. Have you ever noticed all A-Class supers are about as powerful? I think that’s because of expectations. People grow up to expect that level of things, and when they quicken their subconscious minds make it happen. I think it’s why only S-Classes get more powerful, because they’re the rare ones thinking outside the box.”

  I replied, “I agree with you.”

  She frowned, “Sorry, I’m nervous.”

  I asked, “Why?”

  She blushed, “I wanted to tell you about my quickening, but I seem to be babbling. I’ve never told anyone before. Well, not since my best friend stabbed me in the back. At least she didn’t share that story, but she did out me. I trust you, more than anyone else on this world, but…” she trailed off.

  “But you trusted your best friend too, and we’ve only known each other for a handful of days. I want to hear it, but I won’t push you, and if you want to wait a while longer that’s okay too.”

  She asked wide-eyed, “Why do you want to hear it?”

  I smiled, and I took her hand. She looked a bit startled as I held it, but she didn’t pull away.

  “Isn’t that obvious? I want to know everything there is to know about you. Even the hard stuff, because it’s a part of who you are. I care about you, Alyssa. At the risk of oversharing, you brighten my day.”

  She bit her lip, and squeezed my hand as she softly said, “I care about you too, Daniel. More than even makes sense.”

  I said, “Hostage situation.”

  She tilted her head, and when I entwined my fingers with hers, she squeezed. It was so odd, such a simple thing, holding hands. Yet, it felt so intimate as I looked into her eyes, and my heart raced in excitement. She was so stunningly beautiful, inside and out, so sexy, vivacious, and just plain lovely beyond belief. There was a deep longing on her face, shocked joy too as she read the feelings that echoed her own on my face, along with that fear in her eyes that told me that was as far as I could take it.

  I was sure there were thorns on the rose, there always were, but that was fine too, I’d enjoy that part too when it came out. No one was perfect after all, even if in that moment I saw her that way.

  Of course, she also looked a little confused by my seemingly nonsensical two words.

  “A hostage situation, in a bank. It was one of those rare supervillain and normal crook working together situations. The super was the muscle, but the other three had guns. Things got a little crazy, when the heroes and cops showed up. One of the other customers died at the start of it, had his neck snapped, and he was tossed from the bank doors by the super, to slam into one of the cop cars.

  “A warning perhaps, to back off I supposed at the time, but I think the guy just enjoyed killing. Maybe that’s why he was working with a normal armed thief, other supervillains probably wouldn’t play with him anymore.”

  I paused for a second.

  “The second victim, or example if you will, was my mother. You see, we’d been in there that day to pick up a cashier’s check for the next semester’s college tuition. I felt helpless, horrified, and impotent, when that piece of trash snapped her neck, and tossed her out the door like yesterday’s garbage.”

  Alyssa put a hand on my arm.

  “I didn’t quicken then, nope. Not for the woman that gave birth to me. I quickened a moment later, when he glared at me with a wicked grin, and promised that I was next, if they didn’t come through on their demands.”

  I’ll admit, my eyes were a little misty at that point, but all I saw in Alyssa’s was compassion.

  “I’d long been curious about meta-energy, I was a theoretical physicist, and wanted to be the first one to figure it out. Learn how to measure it, harness it, direct it. I was as I said, a science geek. My curiosity was especially strong about that, because it was only a day or two after the heroes lifted the alien ship to space, so it could leave our solar system and not destroy the world when its containment finally failed.

  “Point being, I quickened, and of course my power was to harness the energy and give it purpose, to control it on a limited scale, even if I still don’t really understand it. It defies the laws of both Einstein’s universe and quantum theory. Right, back to the point. I had a little over a half an hour left of life, which was plenty of time to fashion my first weapon.

  “I didn’t want to miss, and there were three men with guns, and I knew instinctively I wasn’t bulletproof. So I waited, both hoping the police would cave so I didn’t have to do it, and praying that they stood firm, so I could kill the bastard. I waited for him to come over when the time ran out, and pick me up, and I defended my life.

  “The bad guys were shocked, but beyond that, the dead supervillain with a hole through his heart made an excellent shield against bullets, while I took the other three down.”

  She frowned, “You took him down in one shot?”

  I nodded, “I’ve never told anyone that, and please don’t share it. The first weapon I made didn’t fire any kind of energy or matter from this universe. I’d made an enchantment, powered by meta-energy, that fired meta-energy. Not the loose radiation that we absorb which powers our abilities, but concentrated and organized into a beam weapon. I don’t think any super could defend from that. Point being, the only thing it was good for was killing, which is why I destroyed it less than a week later when I decided to become Adamantine, and I made more conventional energy and mass weapons for my suit, when I became a hero.”

  She tilted her head, and she brushed my face softly with her other hand.

  “There’s more, but you don’t have to tell me.”

  I frowned, “I don’t think I’m really an enchanter, I have the limited ability to form and give it purpose.”

  She narrowed her eyes, “What are you saying?”

  I said, “Think about it, every super does that, at least once, but only with their subconscious mind.”

  Her eyes widened, “Are you saying you can modify supers?”

  I shrugged, “A super is just a person with a complex weave and intent of meta-energy, just like an enchantment, only a million times more complicated. I’ve never tried, but I can feel your energy, and what configuration it’s in. So yes, I think so. I think I could modify people, or even take it away, perhaps even give it, although that last one would be far too complex for me in reality.”

  I added, “I also don’t think it would be moral, playing god like that. An accident of fate and the meta-energy in the core of our planet is one thing, but the other?”

  She slowly relaxed, and nodded, “I think you’re right, especially if it’s that complicated.”

  I nodded, “My enchantments are simplistic in comparison, I have about twenty on my suit right now, to do what it does, and I need a class four A.I. to make them all work in harmony. In a super, how it all works together is a part of it. It’s the difference between a single instrument and an orchestra with a conductor. I can’t play fifty instruments in my head at the same time, much less cover the conductor’s job to make it all work in harmony. Even if I managed to isolate a single part of it, and change it, I’d have no idea what that might do to the whole.”

  She thought that over, and then nodded in agreement.

  She asked, “But, you could take it away.”

  I nodded reluctantly, “That wouldn’t be complicated at all, but I’d rather leave that can of worms unopened.”

  She grinned, “Fine, and I won’t tell anyone.”

  “Thank you.”

  She asked, “Father?”

  I sighed, “Not speaking to me. Blames me for not popping sooner, and in having weird ass powers instead of something that could’ve saved her.”

  She hugged me, it felt so good to have her against me like that, comforting and intoxicating at the same time.

  My body started to have the inevitable reaction from having a beautiful woman in my arms, with a supple and petite, nubile, and perfectly proportioned body that I wanted to explore every inch of. She was so sexy, soft, and warm against me. Her scent was even more alluring, with my face in her hair, and my nose just above her neck. Her soft breaths near my ears were distracting as well. The emotions my quickening story had engendered was also a part of that, I longed to take her and drown out the sorrow in that way, but I knew that was just a bad idea. Last but not least, it was her compassion, caring, and how much I cared for her that brought up the physical desires in me. My initial attraction had been shallow, and easily ignored, but what I felt for her in that moment was powerful, and true, it wasn’t just lust, that much I was sure of.

  If it was too soon for love, but at the very least it was deep respect, affection, and a caring.

  That knowledge of where it all originated from didn’t stop the surge of lust or my body’s reaction though, there was no stopping it, I could only control what I did about it.

  She noticed the mood shift when I did and gave me a wistful look even as she pulled away slowly, regretfully, and sat back.

  She said, “Thanks for telling me that, it means a lot, and I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “It just seemed like the time.”

  She cleared her throat nervously.

  “You don’t have to reciprocate, not tonight, if you aren’t ready. I want to hear it, but I didn’t tell you to make you beholden to me.”

  She smiled gratefully, and squeezed my hand, which had found its way back to hers after our hug.

  “I will always fear it, after that betrayal, but I want to tell you. I wanted to back at the restaurant. I wanted to the last two nights, but I kept chickening out.”

  She bit her lip, “I also lied to you earlier.”

  I tilted my head, “How so?”

  She sighed playfully, “I’m pretty sure, that I missed you more.”

  I laughed, and she blushed, but she didn’t look away as we got a little lost in each other’s eyes. I felt naked, and wondered what she saw in my eyes, as I saw her desire, need, excitement, caring, and enjoyment of me in hers.

  Chapter Fourteen

  She accused herself, “Enough stalling, Liss.”

  “Liss?”

  She blushed, “Nickname, from a long time ago. I think I’d like it if you used it, but not in public please.”

  She cleared her throat nervously, and this time I didn’t encourage or discourage her. After a few moments, her eyes looked very far away, and she started talking. Only her strong grip on my hand, and soft brushes with her thumb, convinced me she even knew I was there.

  “I’m rich. I don’t mean just the millions I’ve gotten as the White Witch, for branding deals and other things. My parents were billionaires, and I will be in three years, I fully inherit at twenty-one. Not that I need it, I’ve earned millions of my own in the last two years. I was a spoiled brat. I wouldn’t say I was mean, I was never that girl, I never lacked compassion, but I was definitely too self-absorbed, spoiled, and doted on to even notice other people most of the time when I was fifteen going on sixteen.”

  She turned her head and looked at me for a moment, and I could see relief mixed with satisfaction written there.

  “You really didn’t know, and don’t care at all, do you.”

  I shook my head, “The power and money, nothing at all to do with you. Nope, it’s all about your sexy body.”

  She giggled, “Liar, but don’t think I missed you looking,” she added smugly.

  “You’re right, it’s all about that sweet laugh, and your lovely brown eyes. The way your presence and personality light up the room and brings color into my life.”

  She blushed, “Stop that, for now. You can tell me more later. Back to the point.”

  I laughed, “Say on.”

  She snorted, and as she reordered her thoughts her smile fled.

  “I think it was a kidnapping gone wrong. That’s what the police concluded anyway, people looking to take what wasn’t theirs. It was right after my sixteenth birthday. My parents had always told me to be careful online. Never share my true name, or to give any indication where I lived. I knew better, I was sixteen, spoiled, had just gotten my first car, and I was an adult. I knew better, knew it all, and my parents were just ridiculously overprotective of their little girl. They always had been.

  “Anyway, I’d been flirting with a boy online, according to Facebook he was just a town away. He suckered me, invited me to a party, promised he’d pick me up and we’d have a good time. Of course, when I snuck out that evening, and made it down our driveway to the road, there was a forty-year-old balding man in the car. I was so shocked, I just stared, as his eyes roved over my body in a way that made my stomach turn. Hungry and wicked eyes, wrong eyes.”

  She was spaced out again, looking over my shoulder at the wall, eyes far away. I wanted to hold her, but I didn’t want to interrupt her story again. I could see how painful it was, and that she just wanted to get through it.

  She continued, “I turned to run, and then froze, as there were two more men right behind me, standing by the driveway gate and blocking my way. They must’ve been hiding behind the side hedges in front of the wall, so I didn’t see them on the way out. Stupid. They both came at me from the front and sides, trying to corner me against the car.

  “I may have been naïve, stupid, and full of myself, but as I told you I’ve always had this body, and this face, just with the normal complexion issues of a mid-teen. I ran, not forward, but to the side. The man on the right managed to touch my sleeve and I screamed, but I kept running along the wall. I made it to the corner of the property, and I risked a glance back as I turned down the side wall around my property. There was only one of them chasing me, but one was bad enough, so I kept running.

  “I leapt up and grabbed the tree branch. I’d done it a million times in my childhood, while sneaking back into the house to avoid the front gate cameras. I swung up and then shimmied a bit and slid over the top of the wall, and I dropped to my feet. Then I took off toward the house. I was about halfway there, when I noticed that creep’s car in the circular driveway, and my front door wide open. I froze again. I froze for the second time that night.

  “Maybe I should’ve run back to the gate, and then gone to a neighbor’s house. But I was never that girl, even when I was selfish and self-absorbed, I was horrified and worried for my parents. When I heard the man chasing me coming up behind me, and the creak of the branch, that energized me, and I ran for the house screaming a warning for my parents.

  “Of course, it was too late, when I ran inside they were in the living room, both the driver who looked enraged I’d ran I suppose, was pacing and cursing, and the second man had a gun to my mother’s head. That was the third time I froze in panic, fear, and uncertainty. The last time I ever froze in my life.”

  She paused for a second. She reached over with her free hand and grabbed the coke off the coffee table, and she took a sip. Her other hand gave me a squeeze.

  “Those guys looked up in shock, as the third guy finally caught up, and caught me in a bear hug from behind. I wigged out at that, and started to struggle, and the balding asshat stalked over and backhanded me, hard. I stopped struggling, he was too strong, and I figured I’d bide my time, but at the same time I glared at the man, who laughed in my face.