Page 97 of Greed
A small gasp from the peanut gallery. It was Lilo. The instant he made the connection, his hold on his power wobbled.
“Interesting,” Parker noted. “Distraction weakens you. Do you need your hands out to lift it?”
“It helps me focus, but I guess not.”
As if that were their cue to tear him down, Parker shot a look at his siblings and they attacked. One by one, they launched toward Griffin, and he defended by any means possible. Liza round-housed him. He jumped to avoid her swiping leg. Tony jabbed, and Griffin used his bo-staff to block. When Evan joined in, Griffin had no choice but to divert some of his power from the floating dumpster to his staff and use it to swing against Evan while his hands blocked the other two. Like a flurry of steel and leather, all four of them battled in a fast paced exchange of fists and boots.
Griffin held them at bay, until Evan got past his defense and locked his hand around Griffin’s wrist. Electricity soared through him, seizing, cramping, tingling his teeth. His bones vibrated, and the dumpster shot meters into the sky. Griffin screamed in agony as his molecules tore apart, but Evan wouldn’t release. The electricity did something to him—like being plugged into a power socket—he amped up. Got stronger.
“Three Tesla!” Parker barked. “Don’t let go, Evan.”
But just as quickly as the power rushed, it collapsed. Unable to speak from the torment, Griffin dropped to one knee, a horrendous crash sounded, and Lilo’s distant voice screamed for them to stop, Evan let go.
White dots swam before his eyes. Everything hurt. His body felt like he’d been fried in a lightning storm. Griffin didn’t realize he’d fallen until faces peered over him, blocking the blue sky in his vision.
“Griffin?” Grace waved her hand in front of his face. Pressure at his neck told him she checked his pulse. “Good lord, his heart is racing—200 bps.”
“Griff?” Lilo was there.
He still couldn’t speak. Could hardly swallow.
“You good, bro?” That was Evan.
He tried to nod. Must have worked because a collective sigh of relief surrounded him.
“Pulse is dropping.”
He groaned. “That hurt.”
Mary and Flint had jogged over.
“What happened, Parker?” Mary asked.
“My guess is Evan gave too much. Griffin’s body couldn’t handle it.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m fine.” He tried to sit, but only managed to prop himself up on his elbows. Lilo sat behind him and rested his head on her thighs.
Parker rubbed his stubbled jaw, a frown on his face. “I think it’s best we avoid powering you up with Evan in the future. You might be fine this time, but the next, it could kill you.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
In his small apartment, Donald had been accosted by Falcon and a handsome man in his fifties, wearing a suit. From the way he ordered Falcon around, it became apparent the tall man was her superior.
“Tell him what happened to you earlier,” Falcon ordered Donald as she crowded him, edging him toward his ruined Chesterfield.
“I was taken and tortured by the Deadly Seven,” he answered, sitting down. “Those bastards kept me in a locked room and threw water at my face, over and over until I answered their questions.”
“Yet here you are. What were their questions?” The boss’s voice was deep, thick and smooth as he loomed over Donald. It was the kind of voice that never wasted or minced words. He was a man people listened to. Reminded Donald of his asshole Senator brother. He hated him already. Fuck him.
“They asked how I was able to sense the sin of greed. They asked where I got my temporary strength, and they asked something about a syndicate.”
That last word stilled the man until Donald thought perhaps he was a cardboard cutout, and nothing more.
“So they’re finally catching up.” His voice was cold and dissonant. He left Donald and moved to the window overlooking the city.
Falcon followed. “I don’t know why you haven’t just killed them all. We know where they are, we know who they are. Get rid of them and be done with it.”
