Part 7 (1/2)
The silence gathered around us once more. Striker stared at me with his piercing gray eyes. The dark current snapped and hummed around him like a live wire. The man oozed danger and sensuality. Every part of my body tingled and tightened in response. And in antic.i.p.ation of something I couldn't quite identify.
I dropped my eyes from his face. My gaze landed on his fantastic chest and slid down his rippling stomach to his . . . I snapped my head back up. My cheeks flamed.
”Look, I've had a really long day, and I'm tired. I would like nothing more than to take a shower and go to bed, plus my arm is starting to cramp from holding this gun. So, why don't you just tell me what you want? Who knows? I just might give it to you. You can be on your merry way, and I can get some sleep.”
”Why don't you put the gun down first, and then we'll talk.”
I chewed my lip. ”Might as well. I imagine you could take it away from me before I could blink if you wanted to.”
Suddenly, Striker moved. He sprang at me like a panther leaping upon a plump little bird. I blinked once before he pulled the gun out of my hand. I didn't even feel him do it. For a moment, he stood there in front of me, so close that his breath kissed my face, so close that I could see the flecks of electric blue in his hypnotic eyes. My heart slammed against my rib cage.
”I did just take your gun away. Quite easily. But hold on to it if it makes you feel better.”
He stepped back and tossed the weapon to me. Somehow, I managed to catch it.
”Well, there's no reason to get all c.o.c.ky about it,” I muttered, trying to hide my intense reaction to him.
I stumbled forward on shaky feet and put the gun on the coffee table. I sank down into the groove on the sofa, kicked off my sneakers, and propped my feet up on the trash bag. I tried to look tougher and stronger and calmer than I felt.
Striker leaned against the entertainment center. ”What's in the bag?”
KarmaGirl.
”Papers.”
”What sort of papers?”
My eyes flicked over the table. ”The sort of papers you've been going through, judging by the mess you've made.”
”More papers on me?” A hard edge crept into his voice. It cut me like a razor.
”Not exactly.”
”Then what sort of papers, exactly?”
”Papers on the Terrible Triad. Malefica, Frost, Scorpion, their various escapades.”
Striker c.o.c.ked his head to one side, listening to whatever his comrade said. ”My friend says you're telling the truth. That all you've been doing all night is making copies at the library. Why are you gathering information on the Triad? Given our . . . previous meeting, I thought I was the one you were after.”
”Not exactly.”
Striker jerked his head at the table. ”Those papers tell me otherwise. You've gathered quite a bit of information on me, and I saw you on top of that roof last night. I a.s.sume you weren't there to buy some drugs. Are you trying to uncover my ident.i.ty? Planning to expose me to the world?”
I hesitated. ”Not exactly.”
”Then what are you doing, exactly?”
”I don't have to tell you that.”
Striker's hands curled into fists. His gray eyes bored into mine. They glowed with barely suppressed anger.
I s.h.i.+vered under the intense scrutiny. I didn't think Striker would hurt me. The superhero code of ethics wouldn't allow him to. Then again, I hadn't thought Tornado would commit suicide either. Or that Matt would cheat on me. I wasn't the best judge of character when it came to superheroes.
”You wouldn't believe me if I told you,” I mumbled.
”Try me.”
I weighed the pros and cons. Oh, what the h.e.l.l? I'd probably never get another opportunity to talk face-to-face with Striker. I might as well lay my puzzle pieces on the table.
I rolled up my T-s.h.i.+rt. Two bruises colored my arms in angry purple and garish green. ”Your good friend Malefica paid me a visit a few nights ago. Or rather she made me pay her one. Two goons kidnapped me and drugged me.
When I woke up, I was in some kind of factory. Malefica was there with Frost and Scorpion.”
Striker's eyes bored into me like hot laser beams. My temperature shot up about ten degrees. ”I'm listening.”
”Frost had some animals that he'd done experiments on. They were . . . they were . . .” I took a deep breath to steady my shaky nerves. The memory of those poor creatures made me sick. I could still feel their pain and horror. ”He had changed them. Into monsters. Malefica told me that unless I discovered your ident.i.ty in a month's time and gave it to her, she would turn me over to Frost and let him do the same thing to me.”
”I see.”
Silence.
”But I have a plan,” I continued.
”A plan?”
KarmaGirl.
”Yes. I've been gathering information on you in hopes of uncovering your true ident.i.ty.”
”And what happens if you do? How does that help you, other than keep you out of Frost's grasp? Or perhaps get you back in the good graces of the editors at The Expose ?” Striker's voice could have frozen boiling lava.
”Simple.” I picked up a wayward Rubik's Cube and fiddled with it. ”I use you to lead me to Malefica. I uncover her real ident.i.ty and give it to you. You and the rest of the Fearless Five go after her, while I slip off into the sunset. You apprehend your greatest enemy, I don't get turned into a yeti, and we all go home happy, except for Malefica and her boys, who will hopefully get twenty-to-life in a secure facility for insane ubervillains.”
”I see. Why not just concentrate on Malefica? Why drag me into it?” His voice was quiet and calm, but I could hear the anger in it. Striker didn't approve of my master plan.
”Because I need you to lead me to Malefica. That's how it works. The superheroes always lead me to the ubervillains, not the other way around.” I slid a row of colors into place. My hands trembled, and I hoped Striker didn't notice how much he affected me.
”What makes you think I have anything to do with Malefica?”
I looked up at him. ”Karma.”
”Karma?”
”Karma.” I got up off the sofa and paced around. I couldn't sit still. Not when he stared at me like that.
”Good and evil always balance each other out. Superheroes and ubervillains are always connected in some way. They're like magnets, always attracting and repelling each other. It's fascinating. Malefica is somewhere in your life. She might be a friend, a girlfriend, a business partner, maybe even your wife.