Arabella Read online

  “You act as though I’m some sort of monster,” I snapped back. “Is that what you think of me, Father? That I’m nothing more than a monster? Because if so, let me remind you that I didn’t ask for any of this. This? All of this was your doing.”

  Without shooting another glance in his direction, I slid my legs from off his desk and stood from the chair. Anger rolled throughout my body, and it took everything in me to rein it all in.

  The downside to being a superhuman? Everything became enhanced, especially emotions. And emotions were already a pain in the ass as they were.

  “When you come to your senses, be sure to find Cole. I’ve instructed Mara to give him the instructions for your next mission,” his voice filled the tense air as I made my way towards the door.

  “I’m glad that’s what you are concerned about,” I muttered, slamming the door shut behind me.

  How the heck had this become my life?

  Sometimes I couldn’t help but to wonder what would have become of my life had my mother stuck around. It seemed as though everything had gone downhill after she left. It was something I tried not to think about too often, knowing that contemplating the what-if’s never helped to make reality any easier to cope with. But it was hard to deny the possibilities when anything was better than the hand I had been dealt.

  I pulled a shock disc out of my back pocket and tossed it back and forth between my hands, trying to distract myself, when I heard Cole approaching behind me. “Must you always take advantage of my powers?” I groaned.

  “It’s one of the perks of the job.” He tossed his arm around my shoulder and reached for the shock disc. “You probably shouldn’t be wasting these since I’m quite sure you’re going to need them tonight.”

  “It’s only wasting them if you activate them,” I countered. “And I’m not stupid enough to activate a shock disc just to toy around with it.”

  “Your father?” he asked, his voice suddenly serious.

  “Yes, but we’re not going to discuss that right now.”

  He was the last thing I wanted to discuss. Talking about how much he’d ticked me off would only result in flaring up my temper all over again, and I wasn’t in the mood to waste any more energy on him.

  “Okay, if we’re not going to talk about him, then maybe we should discuss the mission. Mara brought me the details earlier. It looks like the usual – a hard-drive retrieval – but it looks like Soule will be making an appearance.”

  “Soule?” I turned to face Cole, not bothering to hide my surprise. “What the hell does he want with the hard-drive?”

  “I don’t ask questions, Arabella. I simply do as asked, knowing that it’s in our best interest.”

  I rolled my eyes at him and yanked his arm from around my shoulder. Sometimes, for the briefest of moments, it felt like I had finally gotten through to Cole. But those moments had always been fleeting.

  Unfortunately, he was my father’s puppy dog, willing to do whatever it was that had been asked of him. It was pathetic. And it annoyed me to no end, but that was Cole.

  He was the rational half of our team, and even though he annoyed me a majority of the time, I wasn’t sure I could picture my life without him.

  “Aw, you do have a compassionate side,” he teased.

  “Personal boundaries, Cole. Learn them, please.”

  “I’ll work on it.” He tossed the shock disc back in my direction. “I’m going to get ready for tonight. I’ll meet you in Mara’s office.”

  “Do we have to go tonight?”

  Cole smirked. “Yes, we do.”

  “Fine, but don’t text me whining when I show up late.”

  “You know I still will,” he answered. And I knew it was true, still, I had to try. I turned to face the hallway leading to my living quarters, ignoring the feel of Cole’s eyes still locked on me as I walked away.

  But that ended up being hard when he called for me. “Bell?”

  I glanced back at him over my shoulder. “You’re just going to make me even later, Cole.”

  He shrugged it off. “I am not exactly worried about that right now.”

  “So you say.”

  He paused for a moment, his brows furrowed as he mustered over his words before finally he finally managed to say, “I just wanted you to know that, for what it’s worth, you’re not a monster.”

  I froze, unsure how to respond to that. My eyes locked on his and he offered a reassuring smile before escaping into his living quarters, leaving me alone in the hallway.

  At least one of us was sure.

  Good Intentions

  Later that night...

  Luke Soule had been a thorn in my side for some years now, even more so than my father and Mara. He was one of my father’s earliest projects, the only one that he’d allowed to leave Bilson Corporations without issue, a fact that had never sat well with me.

  “I still don’t know what he wants with the hard-drives,” I said, glancing down the dark alleyway for any sign of my oh-so-favorite battle partner. He liked to consider himself a villain, but the guy lacked the ability to be exceptionally threatening.

  Still, he was annoying enough to make retrieving the hard-drive more frustrating than it needed to be.

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Cole answered. “Whatever is on that thing, it’s clearly important to plenty of people.”

  I knew it had something to do with us, but that was all of the information we’d ever been given. Clearly, whatever it was that was hidden on those hard-drives, it was important to my father.

  And I had my guesses as to why.

  But guesses were not enough to go against my father.

  I needed to be certain.

  I reached inside my top and pulled the write up Mara had given Cole out from underneath my bra strap and carefully unfolded it. I caught Cole staring as I flattened the sheet on my thigh. “What?”

  “Did you seriously store that in your bra?” he asked, arching a brow at me.

  I shrugged it off. “Actually, I tucked it underneath my bra strap, but yes. It’s not like I have many storage options on this suit,” I reminded him. My utility belt had been full, and my phone had taken up my only pants pocket.

  I felt Cole’s eyes run up and down my body as a grin tugged at the corners of his lips. “Well, leather isn’t always practical.”

  “Maybe not, but judging by that grin on your face, it looks good.”

  “I’m not blind, Bell.”

  “Good to know, Cole. Now, how about taking your eyes off of me and focusing them on the alleyway while I go over this list?” I teased.

  I glanced over the information that Mara had typed up for Cole, eager to get the mission over with. You are to retrieve the hard-drive....without drawing attention to yourselves. Remember, you need to retrieve the hard-drive in order to protect your existence. Failure to do so could put not just your lives in danger, but those close to you.

  It was all the same old bullshit.

  Always the same spiel.

  “Do you know how many other Supers they sent out tonight?” I folded the note back up and slid it back underneath my bra strap, knowing it was the safest place to store it.

  “I believe Mara said they were sending out four teams tonight.”

  “Four? That’s the most they’ve sent out in months,” I replied. Two teams per night were more the norm. So to double up? That seemed a bit much. “I’m beginning to wonder if Mara and my father aren’t just selling the hard-drives themselves.”

  “I doubt that, Bell.”

  “Hey, you never know with Bilson Corporations.”

  Cole went to speak but stopped when he took note of a quick movement near the edge of the alleyway. “He’s here.”

  “Let’s get this party started then, shall we?”

  I went to grab a shock disc from my utility belt, only to decide against it. Luke would be expecting as much from me. And while he wasn’t a huge threat, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with his crap, so I
opted for my blaster instead. It held enough power to stop the idiot from dragging things out for too long.

  “I should know better by now than to question why you’re more concerned about binge watching your television shows on Netflix than you are with the mission, but still, really, Bell?”

  “They just added a bunch of new shows for me to watch; you’re crazy if you think I wouldn’t be thinking about my date nights with my couch – mission or not.” I slipped on my black leather gloves and readied the blaster in my hand.

  “And now I kind of see why you want a life,” Cole joked.

  “I thought I heard the two of you.” Luke moved in front of us, his brown locks hanging loosely around his face, highlighting his bright blue eyes – which although stunning, were creepy as hell when you understood why they were so damn bright. “Arabella, you’re looking extra stunning today.”

  I rolled my eyes as I tried to contain the laugh that was building up inside of me. It was a shame really, because Luke was attractive, but he was the biggest pain in the ass. “What do you want, Luke?”

  “I’m afraid if I answer that honestly, I might piss off your little boyfriend over here.”

  “I don’t have a boyfriend, not that it’s any of your business.”

  An arrogant grin spread upon his lips, and I had to stop myself from punching him.

  How the hell could one person be so damn annoying?

  “So then you’re single, that’s good to know.”

  “Again, not that it’s any of your business, but just because I don’t have a boyfriend it doesn’t mean that I’m single.”

  Shock covered his face as he processed my words. “Huh.”

  “Can I please hit him now?” Cole groaned impatiently.

  “Be my guest, the sooner we deal with him, the sooner we can get the hard-drive and get the hell out of here.”

  Cole shot forward, taking full advantage of my speed, and wrapped his arm around Luke’s throat. “Give it up, Luke. You’re not going to get the hard-drive.”

  “Not going to happen, bud. I’m here for the hard-drive, and I’m not leaving without it.” He broke free of Cole’s hold and turned to face him, his eyes electric as power coursed throughout his body.

  “Arabella, now!” At the sound of Cole’s voice, I moved forward, careful to keep out of arm’s length of Luke and pointed the blaster at his chest. He went to reach for it, to harbor the electricity housed inside of the weapon, but I pulled back on the trigger before he could.

  His body shook as he cried out in pain before crashing to the ground.

  “How long do you think that’ll keep him down?” I asked.

  “Long enough for us to get what we came for and make it back to Bilson Corporations.”

  More Than a Weapon

  Back at the Horde facility...

  “You are willing to suffer to protect your father’s secrets?” He had pulled his mask back down, concealing his identity.

  I glanced up at the man, at the way his mouth moved underneath the mask and bit down on my lower lip as he struck me with the baton again. Each blow threw my body forward as I screamed out in agony.

  “I never said I wanted to protect my father’s secrets,” I countered, my words rushed as I struggled to compose myself. “I have no reason to protect his secrets.”

  “So then, why fight? Why not work with us?”

  “Because I’m nobody's weapon.”

  The Horde man circled around me, dragging the baton down my arm slowly as he did so. I had really come to regret not destroying the dang thing when I’d had the chance.

  “You need to relax,” Cole’s voice was hushed beside me. “Control the pain; don’t allow it to control you.”

  I tried to conjure up some sort of smart-ass remark, but I was in far too much pain to come up with one, so for once, I decided to listen to what Cole had to say.

  “Well, that’d be a first,” he teased.

  “I occasionally listen,” I said.

  “Yeah, no you don’t.”

  A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I turned to face Cole. I could still fell the baton pressed against the inside of my wrist, but I no longer took note of the pain.

  Thank you, I thought. He nodded his head, understanding crossing his face.

  “I don’t know what the two of you have planned but let it be known that the Horde is ready to ensure you do not escape.”

  “See, I have a tiny problem with that.” I forced myself to focus, pulling forth as much strength as possible, to snap the cuffs that bound my wrists. “I’m not very good at taking orders, especially from freaks like yourself.”

  “You may fight all you’d like, but we’ve studied everything about you. We know all of your moves, your abilities, your weaknesses. There’s no way you’ll be able to successfully get through us.”

  “The worst thing that you can do is underestimate someone,” I said.

  “We shall see about that.”

  A menacing grin pulled at the corners of my mouth as I looked up at the Horde member. I knew that the odds were stacked against us, I knew that before I’d decided to walk into the Horde’s trap, but there was no way that I was going down without a fight. I had far too much pride for that.

  Are you ready? I kept my attention on the Horde jerk, not wanting to draw any attention to Cole and I. Out of the corner of my eye, I could just barely see him nod his head in response. Good. Go ahead, take care of the others. I’ll deal with this jerk.

  Cole wasted no time taking to his feet. Just as he prepared to lunge forward, the leader of the bunch, who had taken his attention off of me for once, leapt forward to try and pull him back before he had a chance to run. But it was no use.

  The one good thing about Cole being able to copy my abilities when near me? It made it so that I didn’t need to worry about him in battle because I knew he could easily get away. Super speed was a wonderful thing to have when you faced death on a daily basis.

  “For someone that has apparently studied us, you seemed to miss that opportunity,” I sneered, taking full pride in the anger that radiated off of him.

  “One minor mishap will not alter the outcome. You will either serve as the weapon you were designed to be or you will welcome your death.”

  I went to reach for a shock disc, hoping to take him down temporarily, but before I could, he slammed the baton into my chest. “No,” I screamed out, trying to overcome the pain.

  “Arabella!” I heard Cole’s screams from across the room, as my face smacked against the cold tile floor.

  Part Three:

  Rude Awakening

  Recovery

  The next day, back at Bilson Corporations...

  Mara had stopped by once I’d finally woken up to tell me that Cole had managed to retrieve the hard-drive successfully before rushing me back to Bilson Corporations.

  Unfortunately, he hadn’t succeeded in taking down many of the Horde members. From what I had been told, he made a mad dash out of there as soon as he was able to do so. A smart move, one that I knew he should have never had to have made.

  “Your father will want to speak with you after you’ve healed,” she’d said, as though I hadn’t known. There was no way he would miss a chance to inform me how I’d managed to screw up yet again.

  “As far as I am concerned, I have no interest in speaking with him.”

  “You know as well as I do, what you want, Ms. Bilson, does not matter. You have a duty to this company and as a Super. Do not forget that.”

  “Are we done here, Mara? Because, quite frankly, I’m not in the mood for this.”

  “It would do you some good to learn to have manners, Arabella.” She turned away from me and started to make her way over to the door when I stopped her.

  “Mara, if you’re going to scold me for my wrongdoings, you should consider taking a look in the mirror.”

  Needless to say, I knew that I was due for a chewing out when the doctor released me. But I didn’t give a cra
p. Not after learning the truth.

  All of these years, they’d been sending us out to retrieve the hard-drives, insisting that it was the only way to protect our existence. But that had been nothing more than bullshit.

  Retrieving the hard-drives had not been for our safety. Yes, if people got a hold of them, they could easily create their own versions of Supers. But I wasn’t sure how realistic that was, given that my father and Mara sold the hard-drives among a small black market, only to send their Supers in to retrieve them shortly after.

  It was a game of death and riches as far as my father had been concerned, and us? We were purely disposable, as evident by the creation of the cloned Supers, those that had undergone the same exact experiments as us, to ensure Bilson Corporations always had a variety of Supers on hand. Something that I assumed was important when one treated their employees as disposable weapons.

  A knock sounded at the door as Cole made his way inside.

  “Well, I can honestly say I’ve never been happier to see you,” I said laughing, which hadn’t exactly been the smartest move, as it felt as though someone had taken a sledgehammer to my chest.

  “How are you holding up?” He lowered himself beside me on my hospital bed.

  “To put it simply, I feel like a truck just drove over me.”

  “That bad, huh?” He grinned although the concern was still visible in his eyes.

  “You have no idea.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” he argued. And I immediately regretted my words. I wanted to ask him exactly what happened after I’d blacked out, but I stopped myself. As much as I wanted to know, I knew that certain discussions were best saved for a later time.

  “Thank you,” I finally managed to say.

  Cole shrugged it off. “You don’t need to thank me, Bell.”

  “Cole, love, when I say thank you? Don’t argue with me, it pains me to say such words, and you know this. So accept it and appreciate it. Okay?” I punched him in his arm playfully, eager to get him to smile.

  It was funny how much life could change a person. Looking at Cole, I couldn’t help but to wonder what kind of life he would have led outside of Bilson Corporations – and far away from me. I felt like a toxin, one that was slowly poisoning him, and would eventually lead to his demise, which sucked, because he was the most important person in my life.