Page 18 of The Chosen Son

She squealed in genuine excitement, as if it was a done deal. “I’ll see you Sunday! Six pm, don’t be late.”

I was already regretting it.

Now, I know I should’ve just texted my brother to see if he was coming to dinner, but I’d never done things the easy way. Besides, this was going to be way more fun.

The silence was broken only by soft sobbing and the click of my shoes as I paced back and forth along the length of the bank’s marble floor. Not a single siren was to be heard. What was taking them so long?

I rounded my circuit and came back to where the bank manager was cowering in front of the counter. “Are you sure you called the police?”

He nodded fervently. “Y-Yes, just as you asked.” His entire body was quivering, and he peeked up at me, confused. “D-Don’t you w-want me to bag up the m-money?”

I grunted, my earlier enthusiasm at this plan flagging. “I guess. Sure, you do that.” I didn’t really need the money, but I had to make it look good.

At last, I heard the telltale sound of a police siren in the distance. They really needed to work on their response time. If I’d been a determined criminal, I would’ve had the entire vault cleared out by now and been halfway to Cancun.

The police did their thing outside, lining up a barricade, putting sharpshooters on rooftops. Meanwhile, I waited. I found myself with the tip of my thumb between my teeth as I gnawed on the nail. I thought I’d broken the habit when I was a kid, but all it took was a cute ass to make me revert to my younger self.

At long last, the bank’s landline rang. “Finally,” I groaned, swooping down and snatching up the receiver. “You guys sure took your sweet time!” I barked into the phone.

The man on the other end began with his standard negotiation spiel, but I was way too bored to listen to that shit today. “Look, I have hostages. This is my request: I want the so-called superhero Phobos down here ASAP. Can you manage that? Good.” And I hung up before they’d even had a chance to answer. “There, that should get some action.”

It was another half hour of twiddling my thumbs before the glass skylight came smashing in, the hostages shrieking in renewed panic (after I’dfinallymanaged to get them to stop their sniveling), and my brother came swooping down in his orange bodysuit and neon-blue tights, cape billowing. He landed in the middle of the bank with an almighty crash that echoed through the space, then struck a pose, fists on his hips. “Have no fear! It is I, Phobos, here to res—"

But then he saw it was me, and he dropped the smile, hands flopping to his sides. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Is that any way to greet your favorite brother?” I asked cheekily, shooting him a wide grin as I hopped up to sit on the counter. I was trying really hard to ignore the moony expressions on the hostages’ faces, as if he was their savior, when in fact, they’d been in zero danger this entire time. They were just a means to an end.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re myonlybrother, and I’m still not sure you’re even in the top five. What the hell do you think you’re doing? Robbing a bank, seriously?!” Ooh, he was seething mad. I gave myself a mental pat on the back for getting him riled up. He was usually so damn calm, it was annoying as hell.

I simply couldn’t resist giving him one more poke. “When are you going to give up this whole superhero nonsense. Seriously, who wants to be saved by the god of panic and retreat? It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” I tried to remind my dear brother of this fact every time I saw him.

“Well, they don’t know I’m actually a god,” he grumbled, before realizing that there were two dozen people currently listening to him. “Oh, I… I’m just kidding.” He laughed awkwardly, trying to play it off as a joke, before leaning in and whispering, “Would you mind, y’know…?” He wiggled his fingers at his forehead.

“Yeah, I got your back, Bro. Piece of cake. I’ll wipe the entire experience from their minds on their way out the door.”

He blew out a breath of relief. “Great, thanks.”

We stood there awkwardly until the bank manager came up with a bag of cash. He looked back and forth between us. “Um… do I give this to him?” he asked Phobos. This was clearly unlike any robbery he’d ever heard of.

“Nah, I’m good,” I said, waving him off. “Thanks, though.”

“You’re… welcome?” Phobos and I stared at him until he backed away, presumably to put the money back.

“So, did you get what you wanted?” Phobos asked, hopping up onto the counter beside me.

I frowned, not picking up whatever thread of conversation he’d jumped into the middle of. “What are you talking about? I didn’t want the money.”

“No, not the money. The pictures. I saw Zeek hanging around my house with a camera and a giant zoom lens. Why are you being so nosy?”

I sighed, shaking my head. That idiot, I told him to be discreet. “Would you believe he’s taken up a study of architecture? Your mansion really is quite the marvel, what with the walls and the… windows…”

Phobos didn’t say anything, his lips tightening at the corners. Well, my brother might’ve been stubborn enough to keep at this until I broke, but lucky for me, I could change topics like a boss. “Um, I can’t help but notice you’re flying solo tonight. Where’s your sidekick?”

“Oh, he’s… got book club.” Phobos bit down on his lip, and his eyes skittered off to the left.

“Book club.” I arched an eyebrow. “You are a horrible liar,” I informed him, as if he didn’t know. “Where is he really?”

A deep pink hue began to creep up his neck, coloring his cheeks in an emotion I couldn’t identify. Was he embarrassed? “None of your business,” he muttered, hopping off the counter and stalking across the room under the pretense of checking on the hostages.

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