Page 32 of Seductive Architect
I couldn’t ask without offering to answer. In the power lottery, I had gotten lucky. I loved my powers and what they allowed me to do. If given the chance, I’m not sure there was anything out there I’d trade in its place.
“I can see the gears turning.”
Strength? Nah. Speed? I’d be bored with the rest of the world. Flight? I catalogued the power of every hero and villain in Vanguard. I knew every power and most of their weaknesses. There wasn’t?—
“Empath.”
Hudson leaned back in his chair. His eyes were wide with disbelief. “Not what I expected.”
After hearing Hudson’s answer, I dropped the guise of research. I complained humans were complicated and didn’t say what they meant. I owed him that. Honesty deserved honesty.
“If you haven’t noticed…” I folded my arms over my chest, growing more uncomfortable by the moment. “I’m not great with people.”
“You’re great with me.”
I avoided saying, “But you’re a machine.” At this point, I didn’t know if Hudson understood his own origins. If he rallied against his creators, it’d explain why they stuck him in the mailroom instead of dedicating an entire lab to studying him.
“As a kid, I loved video games. They had rules. You could do this or not. As I got older, I fell in love with coding.” I neglected to include the late-night conversations and furious debates with our family computer. “I get machines. They have parameters. People don’t follow rules. It makes them… difficult to read.” Had I confessed enough? I glanced over my shoulder, measuring the time it’d take me to bolt for the door.
“So, you’d go the other extreme?”
It sounded like a form of torture. Feelings. This stir of physical reactions based on chemical interactions would drive me insane. And yet, I’d finally be able to understand the most complicated machines on the planet.
“It’d be nice to know what people are feeling.”
Hudson pulled his chair closer before sliding his hand across the table. When I didn’t respond, his fingers made a grabbing motion. Oh. This would have been one of those moments when being an empath would be helpful.
I laid my hand on his. “Feelings.” He cleared his throat. “I feel like pizza might be the best food on earth.” No lies detected. “I feel like I’m bad at video games.” Yup, still telling the truth. “But I’ll keep playing if it’s with you.”
His middle finger moved between our hands, rubbing a straight line back and forth against my palm. The metal chair had a dent in the seat, making it uneven. A video game known for slaughtering its players screamed victory as it decimated a group of teenagers. I let my mind wander, anywhere but the tightening of the muscles across my chest. If I let my mind focus on the here and now, I might very well tear up.
My phone dinged with a dozen text messages, interrupting the moment. I fished it out of my pocket, flashing the screen at Hudson. “It’s a work emergency. I need to run.” I got to my feet. “We should do this again.” Throwing down enough money, I left enough for a tip three times the bill. “I’m so sorry.”
I bolted toward the door. As soon as I got outside, I ducked into an alley, hyperventilating. I stared at the empty text messages, thanking my phone for providing an escape. It earned a thorough cleaning when I got home. I’d needtime to process, to make sense of the overwhelming heaving inside my chest.
I hadn’t felt this since I fell for a man disguised as a dwarf. Something about that terrified me. Not to mention, I could feel myself developing emotions for Hudson—a machine—and my mark.
10
I programmedmy helmet to read me his texts using his voice. Hearing Hudson piped into my ear made me smile. I almost didn’t mind Solaris trying to melt the flesh from my bones. Almost.
Shooting into the air, I had a moment to take inventory. Supervillain with the ability to superheat whatever she touched. It should have been an easy thwart and report, but she decided to wreak havoc on the Vanguard bridge during the evening rush. She had thrown up barriers of molten rock, bringing traffic to a stop. Great… victims.
“Supreme!” I pointed at the car about to teeter off the side of the bridge. “Go get ‘em.”
While our heavy hitter zipped along the bridge, the car fell. He’d make the catch without a problem. Wyatt had become known for last-minute rescues. The family insidewould be hoarse from screaming and need therapy, but they’d be alive.
“Swatch.” I cringed at the name. “Sorry, buddy, we need to go back to workshopping your?—”
I darted out of the way as Solaris hurled fistfuls of magma. Much to Janet’s dismay, we were taking too long duking it out with villains. She envisioned us being stealthy, swooping in and eliminating the threat and vanishing before the authorities arrived. Apparently, she hadn’t seen Wyatt. Nothing about our operation involved stealth.
“Drew, burning car. Need a passenger rescue.”
“On it.” As quickly as I gave the order, he ran along the bridge, sliding across car hoods and leaping over their roofs. He might not have the most impressive powers, but his time at the gym had given him some serious moves. When he tore off the passenger door, I let out a low whistle.
Now for Solaris.
Hudson: When can we do that again?
