Darkest Day (StrikeForce #3) Read online

  “Well. I think ‘lucky’ is pushing it a bit, don’t you?” I asked, grinning up at him. “I bet your next partner won’t get you in trouble for breaking buildings.”

  “I like when you break shit, though,” he said, looking down at me with that warm look in his eyes, a slight smile on his lips. “And then when you start swearing at assholes. That’s always fun.”

  I laughed. And then I glanced away, and we stood there for a couple of seconds.

  “No more good coffee for me in the mornings,” I said wistfully, not knowing what else to say.

  “Get a damn coffee maker. I’ll tell you what brand of beans I buy. Don’t start drinking that moldy shit from the dining hall again,” he said, and the disgust in his voice made me laugh.

  “I’ll probably do that. I think you’ve spoiled me for anything else.”

  He didn’t answer, and when I looked back at him, he was watching me. He glanced away.

  “If she sticks me with the shapeshifter, I am going to kick her ass,” I said, and he laughed. “Creepy ass powers.”

  He shook his head and started walking toward the elevator. “Catch you later,” he said over his shoulder.

  I smiled, then unlocked my door and stepped into my suite.

  “Well, that sucked,” I said to my empty suite after I closed the door behind me.

  A couple of hours later, after we grabbed a quick lunch, Jenson walked with me to the flight deck. As we walked, it struck me that how the hell were we supposed to fly on patrol now, because I sure the hell couldn't fly one of the mini jets? I’d look forward to pointing this little detail out to Portia, I thought with a smile.

  “Try not to scare whoever it is on the first day, huh?” Jenson said as we walked onto the flight deck.

  I didn’t answer. I glanced toward the mini jet that had just landed to see Ryan climb out of the driver’s seat. A slim hand came up out of the back passenger seat, and I watched as Ryan took it and helped his new partner down.

  Ah. So he’d gotten the firestarter. She’d been one of the people in the equipment department. Lindsey, I think. Tall, curvy, with long silky-looking dark brown hair. Reminded me a little bit of Angelina Jolie, actually. She didn’t have a code name yet, as far as I knew.

  “She stuck me with the damn shape shifter,” I muttered, still watching Ryan. Lindsey hopped down out of the jet and said something to Ryan with a light, tinkling laugh. Ryan nodded, and then he looked my way. He said something to Lindsey, then walked over to me and Jenson.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey. How’d it go?”

  He gave a small nod. “Well. It went,” he said after a second, and I smiled. “So you have the shape shifter, huh?”

  “Apparently.”

  Lindsey came up to us, and Ryan introduced us.

  “It’s so nice to finally actually meet you. I mean, I’ve seen you around but we haven’t actually met,” Linsey said.

  “Nice to meet you too. I understand that you’re the one to thank for the fact that these uniforms are fireproof,” I said, and she smiled.

  “I just helped test them. The brains figured out how to prevent them from burning.”

  I nodded.

  Ryan was watching the doors to the flight bay, and I glanced up when he seemed to tense a bit. I turned around to see Portia walking through with my new partner. He was probably around my age. Not super tall, maybe a couple of inches taller than me. He was very husky, kind of barrel chested. Dark blond hair and a short beard.

  “Yep. You got Monster,” Jenson said. “He’s a good guy. For a shape shifter,” she added. “You’ll like him. He likes fighting almost as much as you do.”

  Portia and Monster reached us. “Daystar, please meet your new partner, Monster.”

  I stuck my hand out, and Monster shook it firmly in his large hand. “Pleasure to be working with you, Daystar,” he said in a deep voice that matched his appearance. Like me, he wore a full mask, which he pulled on as we stood there. I couldn’t remember if I’d ever seen him around. If I had, I didn’t remember it. “I’ll try not to be too much of a pain in the ass,” he said.

  “Thanks,” I said wryly. And then I turned to Portia. “Except I think you forgot something,” I said to her.

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yep. I can’t fly one of these things,” I said, gesturing to the planes.

  “Oh. Well, Monster can. He’s been on the flight crew for years. Is there anything else?” she asked sweetly.

  Fuck.

  “No, I guess that’s it.”

  I noticed Ryan inspecting Monster while Portia and I talked. His face mask was a balaclava style mask, covering everything except for his eyes.

  “If there’s even a hint of a problem, you’ll call for back up, right?” Jenson asked.

  “Of course.”

  “Who’s gonna mess with us? Anyone dumb enough to try to attack Daystar is too stupid to live,” Monster pointed out. “But yeah. We’ll watch it,” he said, mostly to Ryan who was still watching him in stony silence.

  “Okay. Well let’s get going,” I said.

  “Have fun. Try not to break anything,” Jenson called as I walked toward the mini jet, and I flipped her the bird over my shoulder. I was rewarded with her laughing, and I shook my head. I climbed up into the plane, the passenger seat, again. Monster settled himself into the pilot’s seat and started the takeoff procedure.

  “Portia said it was up to the two of us whether we wanted to keep going with code names or real names,” he said as he went through the steps I’d watched Ryan perform dozens of times.

  “You probably already know my name,” I said.

  “Actually, I don’t,” he said. “Surprisingly enough, we don’t talk much to the rest of the SF people. The flight crew is kind of its own thing,” he said with a shrug.

  “Jolene,” I said after a moment.

  “Max. Nice to meet you,” he said, glancing back over his shoulder. “So we have New Center today,” he said.

  “Let’s do it then,” I said, and we flew off into the sky, toward the New Center area. We patrolled around a bit, stopping twice to check to see if we were needed at accidents on the freeway. I pulled a car off of another car so we could get the driver out, but it didn’t take long and I hurried Max out of there because the second I showed up, traffic stopped and the fucking phones were out, capturing it all. I’m getting better, I think. For the most part, I just keep my mouth shut and do my job. Every once in a while, I just can’t help myself, but for the most part I try to tune it all out and move on as quickly as humanly possible. Or superhumanly possible, I guess.

  “Let’s go,” I muttered to Max, who was waving at the assembled crowds.

  “Daystar! Was there a falling out between you and Caine? We noticed him with a new partner this morning as well. Daystar?” a persistent voice called at me.

  “Did your temper finally get to him?”

  “Did he request the change, or did you?”

  I glanced at Max, who was looking toward the reporters who seemed to find me no matter what the situation.

  “Now,” I snarled at him, and we got back into the jet, which he’d landed (quite expertly, actually) on the grass embankment of the freeway off-ramp.

  “Daystar!” I heard again, and then Max closed the cockpit door and it was all blissfully silent again.

  Max took us back up again. “For fucks’ sake, is it always like that?” he rumbled.

  “Pretty much.”

  “That Detroit Unpowered guy is a big part of that shit, bet you any money,” he said. Detroit UnPowered. Our city’s very own, very vocal, blogger and live streamer. And he hated us with a passion. At least a few times per week, we got to hear about what a bunch of screw-ups we are from a guy hiding out somewhere wearing a ski mask.

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s his problem anyway? He bitches about the rest of them but you’re like a special project of his.”

  “He’s sticking with what works,
” I said with a shrug. “He started getting more attention once he started talking about me. He’s not going to stop now.”

  “Unbelievable,” he muttered.

  “It’s going to be a pretty regular thing. Warning you in advance,” I said with a small laugh.

  “Worth it,” he said, shaking his head. “I get to work with motherfuckin’ Daystar!”

  I laughed.

  “Man, you don’t even know,” he said, veering us back around again. “The day you yanked control of the team away from Alpha? Pretty much the whole fuckin’ flight crew went out and got drunk as hell to celebrate.”

  “So you weren’t a fan?”

  “Hell, no. You know how he got most of us on the team? At least the ones who have powers?”

  “I’m guessing he didn’t just ask nicely and then walk away?” I guessed.

  He made a growly noise in his throat, and I wondered if that was part of the shape shifter thing. “Hell no. He did ask at first. And I said no. I was happy where I was. Worked out at Selfridge.”

  I nodded. Selfridge was the Air Force base closest to Detroit. “Approached me all friendly, said he had a tip that I was something other than what I seemed.” He paused, focusing on the controls for a moment. “Said he had just the place for me, needed someone with flight experience. And I said no and tried to play it off like I didn’t have powers. So then he came back. Threatened to tell my sergeant. You know powereds aren’t allowed in the military?”

  I nodded.

  “And I told him to fuck off again.”

  “You weren’t worried about your boss finding out?”

  He laughed. “Nah. He had his own powered issued to deal with.”

  “What powers did he have?”

  He shook his head. “Not him. His wife. He wasn’t exactly going to be understanding toward anyone who tried to talk shit about powered people, you know?”

  “Good man,” I said, and he nodded.

  “So when that went nowhere, he came back again. And this time he had a photo of my daughter. Said that the best way I could protect her was by coming to work for him.”

  “What a bastard,” I said.

  “My ex and I talked it over. She told me to tell him to fuck himself. Thought he was bluffing, you know?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And then a week or so later there was an attack at her school. That Maddoc bastard. And Alpha just magically shows up to save the day. We didn’t know then how close he really was to Mayhem. I guess we do now, huh?”

  “Yeah. Shit.”

  “So I signed on. Moved my daughter and her mom the hell out of this state. When you took over, I thought about quitting finally. Trying to get my old life back. But it’s all gone now, and this isn’t really over. Not after what happened that day in the prison wing.”

  I didn’t answer.

  “You were smart. I wouldn’t have imagined that he would stoop so low. He just seemed like a pretty boy ego maniac,” I said finally, looking down on the city.

  “Greedy son of a bitch. And power hungry. Bad combination,” Max said, and I nodded.

  “Daystar, Monster,” Portia said over our comms.

  “Yeah,” I answered.

  “We have a possible Raider sighting in Bloomfield Hills. You want it?”

  “We’re on our way,” I said, and Max steered the plane north. I took a deep breath, trying to settle my thoughts, the adrenaline already running through my veins.

  “Daystar,” Portia came on again a few minutes later.

  “We’re almost there,” I said.

  “I know. Caine wants to know if you need back up.”

  I shook my head, “Tell him we’ve got it.”

  “Copy.”

  “Hey.” Now it was Ryan’s voice on my comm, and I heard Portia muttering in the background.

  “Hey. We’ll be fine.”

  “Be careful. I don’t like this. She’s never done a bank before, and now all of sudden she decides to hit one? Right when you’re on patrol and when nobody’s seen her since the stadium thing?”

  “I know,” I said quietly.

  “Fly in on your power. Not the jet. If she’s after you, use the element of surprise to your advantage,” he said. “Hit her before she can do anything.”

  “I’m not new at this,” I reminded him.

  I heard him blow out a breath. “I know.”

  “We’re almost there. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Copy,” he said, and I could tell from his tight tone that he wasn’t happy.

  “Land it now. We’ll fly in. You’re okay with that, right?“

  “Yes, ma’am,” Max said, and he brought the jet to a landing in the parking lot of a mall a couple of miles away from the bank. As soon as we were out, I grabbed him under his arms and took off, into the sky toward the bank where we’d gotten the alarm.

  There were police cars pulled up all over around the bank, lights flashing, officers standing with their guns out, pointed toward the bank.

  I landed and set Max down. “Is it just Raider?” I asked a nearby officer.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Walked in about twenty minutes ago, shot out the cameras and alarms, started freaking out at the tellers to give her the money.”

  I nodded. This wasn’t her thing at all. She wanted someone to come after her. Most likely, me.

  I turned to Max. “This is probably a trap of some kind. You should stay out here.”

  “Fuck, no. Besides the fact that we’re supposed to do this shit together, Caine would rip my spleen out if I let you go in there alone.”

  “You’re exaggerating,” I said as we walked toward the bank.

  “You two are friends. As long as I’ve been with StrikeForce, I don’t remember him ever actually choosing to be around someone. You look loner up in the dictionary, there’s Caine.”

  I rolled my eyes, and pulled the doors open. The bank was dark inside, lights shot out, some of them sparking.

  We looked around, but the bank seemed empty. “If this is Killjoy, you need to leave,” I said quietly. “Don’t argue. He’s mine.”

  “Daystar,” Max said, and I hushed him.

  “That StrikeForce bitch is in here somewhere,” I heard a voice I immediately recognized. Not Killjoy, unfortunately. Raider.

  “All the better. I want to spend some time alone with that one,” I heard a voice I didn’t recognize reply. “Takes Maddoc out like that? Bitch has some payback coming.” It was a harsh, cold voice, the kind that you would swear was born of nightmares.

  “Midnight, stay close,” Raider said, and I couldn’t tell if she was talking to her companion or someone else, maybe on a comm or phone. “We’re either coming out of here with that bitch or we’re going to need to get out quick.”

  “Activate your air filters, any protective measures your mask has,” I whispered to Max. “Bottom left button,” I said, showing him as I activated my own. I didn’t want to take any chances. I didn’t know Raider or whoever the hell this was well enough to know if they’d try some kind of gas or something like that.

  “I’m about to piss myself here,” Max muttered, and I nodded.

  I took a deep breath, crouched behind a desk, and watched the direction the voices had come from.

  “Daystar,” I heard Raider call, and I took a calming breath, forcing myself to focus, to be ready.

  Max glanced over at me and I gave a slight shake of my head, held my hand up, indicating that he should stay where he was. One of the doors from the back office area of the bank opened, and Raider and her companion, who I recognized as Render, the guy who’d murdered Monica and a few of our other people, came through.

  “She’s here. She wouldn’t ignore a challenge like this,” Raider said, and I stood up and sent two quick energy punches at them. Raider got knocked back and fell down. Render stumbled but kept coming, and I sent another one out at him, harder, aiming for his face.

  The second hit knocked him back and down onto his ass, and wh
ile I dealt with him, I heard a deafening roar and where my partner had once been, an enormous golden lion stood. It launched itself at Render, who started moving his hands in the same gesture I’d seen him use when he’d killed my teammates. I quickly sent a hard blast of power at him.

  “Don’t let him move his hands. That’s Render,” I shouted as I sent another punch toward Render, knocking him off balance enough for Max to leap and get the upper hand.

  I sent two more hard, fast punches at Raider, and she kept coming like some kind of robot or something, like she barely felt it even though I could see her nose and mouth bleeding.

  I sent another punch at her body, aiming for the ribs, then the stomach. Other than a small huff of air, she didn’t react.

  Just kept coming.

  “Come on, Daystar. You really think you can beat me?” she taunted. “Not when I have so much of the best Death had to offer.”

  The injection. She’d been one of the subjects, too. We’d assumed it was only Killjoy, but it fit him. He’d make sure he tested on guinea pigs first, in case it ended up killing them, or messing up their powers. Shit. “No reason we can’t have some fun before I take you back to the boss, though. He misses you, you know. Believe me, we hear it every ten fucking minutes,” she spat.

  “Aw. It burns, doesn’t it? Hearing how bad he wants me?” I taunted. Honestly, the idea of him wanting me made me want to rip his nuts off. Someday, I’d do that, maybe. But now, I wanted her pissed off and off-balance. More so than she already was, I mean.

  “As if I want him anymore,” Raider sneered. “What have you done with Maddoc?”

  I sent another blast at Render while Max bit down on the side of his neck.

  Then I hit out at Raider and she flew back. I stalked toward her and then hit out again.

  “We’re getting our asses kicked in here,” Render shouted, then squealed when Max bit down harder.

  “Where. Is. Maddoc?” Raider shouted, charging me, hitting me faster than I expected, sending me flying back against a bank of steel filing cabinets. What did they even keep in there? Wasn't all this shit paperless now? I wondered to myself as I picked myself up out of the twisted metal with a grimace. My ribs were killing me. I’d probably managed to undo any improvements my night of rest had given me. She was moving toward me, and I sent another blast of power out at her, sending her skidding back across the floor.