Page 41 of Breathless Recruiter

“A dancer?” I had never gone dancing. Earth Mom and I would listen to the radio while we read books but never danced.

“I should consider it.” He gave me a bump with his hips. “Though I’d most likely wind up being a stripper, but not a good one. I’d be the stripper at the Tuesday buffet.”

“Janet took me to see strippers once. That was… uncomfortable.”

“Men taking their clothes off and giving lap dances?”

“I liked that part.” I couldn’t help but laugh at Janet’s over-enthusiastic participation. “It’s when Janet got escorted out for taking off her top and pole dancing. Arthur forbade us from going again.”

“Arthur sounds like a smart man.”

“He’s the smartest. But don’t tell Orion, he’d argue.”

“Your office is far more interesting than Synergy. When I patrol there, it’s just a bunch of scientists in their labs—” I cringed. I must have tensed, tightening my grip on his hand. “You okay?”

“The L-word.”

He raised an eyebrow.

I shook my head, more to shake out the images of them standing over me. This close to Dustin, I didn’t want that clouding my mind. Yet another secret I couldn’t explain. I knew the rules of being a superhero, that I had to keep my secret identity safe for the sake of those around me. Did it matter when almost everybody around me had powers of their own?

“I had an unpleasant experience when I was younger.” A hint of the truth. Saying it out loud… I could feel the tension in my shoulders relax.

“In that case, I’ll make sure they stay on their floor.”

Dustin… protected… me? How many Halorians had their own personal protector? I didn’t know if they’d approve, but something about it warmed my belly. If he protected me, I’d have to return the favor. For Dustin, it wasn’t as scary as when I did it by myself.

“I wanted to plant things.”

“Like a farmer?”

I shrugged. “I like vegetables. Not peppers. Too spicy. I enjoy planting flowers, too. Mother always said I had a green thumb.” I eyed the thumb on my free hand. “My favorite time of year is when the flowers bloom.”

“I can see you in overalls and a big floppy hat. Hell, throw some dirt in the mix, and it’s downright sexy.”

I blushed. We walked in silence to the end of the block. Next block over, I spotted my apartment building. I thought about going the wrong way to prolong our time together. If that was an option, I’d walk with him right out of Vanguard and claim we had taken the scenic route.

“I wanted to talk to you about?—”

“Discord?” His grip tightened enough my knuckles hurt.

“What? No. I mean…” He spun about, facing me. “Mr. Supreme.”

My eyes widened. We entered a staring contest where the only thing that moved were our eyebrows. The last time somebody claimed to know my heroic occupation had been Arthur. I had denied it. It wasn’t until he caught me changing into my costume in the office bathroom that I had to admit the truth. I didn’t deny it to Dustin, but I had no idea how to proceed.

“When did you figure it out?”

I stuck my tongue out of the corner of my mouth and pointed to it. “Yourthocutewhenyoudoit.”

He shook his head. “I knew my cuteness would be my downfall.” He took off my glasses and poked his finger through where the lenses should be. “I suspected it when you didn’t know about the infamous hand turkey. Later, when I saw you in the sky, I couldn’t resist talking to you.”

The floodgates had opened. Secrets had poured out, but where did I draw the line? I had only known Dustin for a week. I needed Arthur or Kiki to help guide this new experience.

“How did you get your powers?”

“Blame Sampson. I was patrolling the Synergy la— offices. The mouse had gotten out of his cage, and I chased him into a room. Boom. A weird laser thing went off and made this unearthly noise. When I woke up… ta-da.”

I thought of Zaster’s experiment taking powers and transferring them to another person. Had there once been another banshee and his powers had been stolen? That wasn’t Dustin’s fault, but it made me wonder exactly what those white coats were up to.

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