Part 24 (1/2)

”Hey there yourself.” Sam pushed a lock of hair back over my shoulder. Heat flared to life inside me at his gentle touch.

I kissed him lightly on the mouth and scooted back. I slipped out of his grasp and moved around the room, picking up and putting on my discarded clothes.

”You know, you could stay here with me.” Sam patted the mattress. ”There's plenty of room.”

I eyed the thin sheet that just barely covered his fantastic body. It took all of my willpower not to shuck my clothes and throw myself on top of him. ”As much as I'd love to stay and let you show me some more of your superpowers , duty calls. You have to go to work, and I still have an ubervillain to track down.” Plus, I needed some s.p.a.ce, some time to think about what had happened.

I sat back down on the bed and pulled on my socks and shoes. Sam watched me run my fingers through my auburn hair in an effort to get some of the tangles out of it.

”Carmen, about last night-”

I put my fingers to his lips. ”Don't say anything. Last night was wonderful. One of the best nights of my life. Let's just leave it at that, okay?”

After a moment, he nodded. I kissed him once more, got to my feet, and opened the door.

KarmaGirl.

Fiona stood outside, her hand poised in midair as if to knock.

I froze. Uh-oh.

Sam came up behind me, a sheet wrapped around his lean waist. ”Carmen, what's the matter-”

Fiona's eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open. Her hair flamed to life. ”Are the two of you-are you- are you sleeping together?”

I grimaced at the high-pitched screech. My karmic retribution had come around already to bite me on the a.s.s. I should have known better.

”How could you do this, Sam? Are you insane?”

”Fiona-”

”No.” Her hair sparked and hissed. ”Don't you dare try to explain this. She's the one who exposed Tornado, who wanted to expose us all for no other reason than the fact that she wanted to. She killed him, Sam, just as surely as if she'd pushed him out that window. Or did you conveniently forget that when she was s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g your brains out?”

Sam's face paled. Guilt flashed in his eyes.

”I hope she was worth betraying us, Sam.”

Fiona stared at me so hard I thought my hair would catch fire. ”You b.l.o.o.d.y b.i.t.c.h,” she snarled. ”Wasn't it enough for you to find out who we all really are? Wasn't it enough for us to rescue you from Malefica? Wasn't it enough for us to bring you here? When will you be satisfied? When you've completely destroyed us?”

”Fiona-”

”And do you know what the worst part is? I almost felt sorry for you the other day when you told me your sob story about your fiance and best friend. What a fool I was. You expose Tornado, get us to rescue you and keep you safe, and now you've even seduced Sam. You're nothing but a manipulator.

You've done nothing but use us all from day one.”

”It's not like that-”

Her balled fists burst into flames. ”Don't you ever speak to me again, Carmen Cole. Don't even look at me. You're lucky I don't drop-kick your a.s.s all the way back to Bigtime. We should have let Malefica and Frost have your miserable, worthless, rotten hide. Saving you is a mistake I'll regret to my dying day.”

Sam stepped forward and held out his hand. ”Fiona, stop. That's enough. Quit attacking Carmen. We're both adults and what happened between us was perfectly mutual-”

”Shut up, Sam. It's obvious what part of your body you're thinking with at the moment. And it's definitely not your brain. I don't want to hear your sorry excuses.”

Fiona stomped away. The carpet smoldered with every hot step she took. Smoke poured off her body and blackened the walls.

”I'm sorry about that,” Sam said in a quiet voice. ”She's wrong, you know.”

”No,” I whispered. ”She's right. She's absolutely right. I did it. I exposed Travis because I was angry and hurt, and he killed himself because of it. Because of my need for revenge. Everyone knows it.

You're all just too kind to say it to my face.”

Sam gripped my shoulders and made me face him. ”Carmen, you're not responsible for Travis's death.

If anybody is, I am. He was my best friend. I should have known how troubled he was. I should have sensed something, anything. I'm the one who's to blame, not you.”

Guilt and pain and grief darkened Sam's silver eyes. The sight burned me more than Fiona's hot words KarmaGirl.

ever could. My heart cracked. I'd caused him so much pain. I'd caused them all so much pain.

I was such a sad cliche. A woman scorned who had to take everyone else down with her. Sam, Striker, had asked me once why I did what I did, why I'd exposed all those superheroes and ubervillains.

Spite. Jealousy. Anger. Revenge.

Those were the real reasons. Not because superheroes lied or ubervillains stole or even because of my own warped view of karma. No, I'd wanted revenge on Matt and Karen, and I'd used everyone else as my scapegoats. A man was dead as a result of my haughty, selfish actions, and his friends were grieving his loss. I'd hurt the wrong people. I'd hurt Sam, the one person I would never, ever want to bring harm to.

”Carmen, it's not your fault. It never was,” Sam said.

His words only increased my self-loathing. I'd made such a mess of everything. How could he stand to look at me? To touch me? I couldn't bear my own self. Sam might not blame me for Travis's death now, but one day he would. The newness would wear off our relations.h.i.+p, and he'd realize that he was so much better than me. That I didn't deserve him. He'd find someone else. Someone more suitable.

Another superrich superhero to share his life with. I couldn't bear that. I couldn't bear being tossed aside for someone else. Not again. Not from Sam.

I closed my eyes to try to shut out the image of Sam. But I couldn't. It was seared into my mind. My heart.

”This was a mistake, Sam. A huge mistake.”

”Carmen-”

I backed up. ”No, don't touch me. I just-I can't. I'm sorry.”

I turned and ran down the hall.

KarmaGirl.

21.

I took the elevator and ran back upstairs to my room. But I couldn't outrun the pain in Sam's eyes. The pain I'd caused.