Steel Life (Cape High Series Book 25), page 7
“Oh, we have to make sure Taurus doesn’t see this,” Prisma says, breaking into a smile. “You look beautiful, Firefly. Are you nervous?”
“I am Firefly,” Liz says, “I face danger with a smile! A wedding is--”
“She’s nervous,” Summer says, turning and gathering a bouquet that features dwarf sunflowers together. It doesn’t quite suit the island theme, but the look on Liz’s face makes it worth it.
“My flowers,” Liz says, smiling widely with shimmering eyes. “These are what Taurus gave me when he proposed. I’m pretty sure that he got them from my nephew, though.”
“Of course he did,” Summer says with a laugh. “You can’t expect Taurus to produce dwarf sunflowers out of nowhere. But all sunflowers symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity, so they’re an excellent choice for a personal flower. May your wedding be rich with all three.”
“Don’t you DARE make me cry,” Liz says as she hugs her.
“I think I should go check on the groom now,” Prisma says, hugging Liz once she’s let go of Summer. “Congratulations, Firefly. The entire world is so happy for you, right now, I know I am!”
“Thank you,” Liz says.
***
*Inside Sparky’s Room*
“This is ridiculous,” Sparky mutters, glaring at the walls where the electric outlets should be. Superior hadn’t been lying, there is no electricity in the entire building, but she still senses machines being used—lots of them. That doesn’t make any sense. It has something to do with Nico, of course, but with all the machines spread out like they are, there’s no way he’s the one operating them all. “Besides, who builds a massive place like this for a stupid wedding? It’s not like it’s going to last. Super weddings NEVER last.”
She’s pacing back and forth, wondering if she’s even going to hear back from her boss. Honestly, she’d been hoping to make it something a bit more intimate than a boss/employee relationship. He is a very sexy man, especially how he’s outwitted the Hall over and over again. Oh, sure, her work as a thief for hire is extremely profitable, but it’s also really lonely. A girl has needs, after all. A need for companionship, a need for someone to get her out of the Hall’s focus once this is all over. If they realize what’s going on—
‘What IS going on?’ a voice whispers in her mind. It’s subtle, and she’s positive that it was her questioning herself. She’s questioned herself several times about this, already. The pay had been too tempting, as had the chance to really stick it to the jerks that had tossed her aside for absolutely no reason. She had only been trying to get Liz to awaken her powers! She had held back on her hits! It was SPARRING! That’s how you teach a child! If Liz had just stopped with the whining and woman’ed up, things would have been different!
She shoves vague memories of the ‘training’ out of her mind and looks at where the door should be. They should be getting ready for the wedding now, and then it would be time for her big show.
‘The big show is what I’ve been waiting for,’ her voice whispers in her mind.
“Hell yeah, it is!” she says aloud. “I can’t wait to see their faces!” Then she stops herself, cursing inwardly, because she knows for a fact that they can hear things like that. Superior could always hear things, even from miles away. And then he’d always race off to ‘save the day’ even though they both knew how much he hated normal people. Ha, what would the world say if they knew Superior, their biggest hero, actually hated them with a passion? She isn’t sure why, though, because his precious Tatiana hadn’t been killed by humans, it’d been some other freaky super. The details don’t matter, that had been the best day of her life, back in the past. Now she wishes the witch had lived. Then she wouldn’t be stuck in this cell.
She shrugs it off and heads for her bag, digging out clean clothes and getting ready. She has to at least look the part of a loving mother for this to work. Of course her dress is wrinkled, but, well, she can work with it.
Outside of the room Max scowls, looking at his watch and realizing that he needs to get dressed in his formal uniform. If he’s not dressed on time, Zoe will kill him. He’ll just have to stop whatever’s planned from happening when it happens.
But what he’d learned worries him. What sort of boss is she working for? Someone that’s outwitted the—
He almost curses out loud as he connects the dots.
***
“You have five minutes to be in uniform,” Nico’s voice comes over every single watch on the island. All of the kids stop the search, looking up and around as they recall what this day is really about. Even Lance pauses in his coyote form, sitting down and scratching his ear for a moment before letting out a short yap. He’d found a scent trail… but if he keeps following it, he’ll be late for the wedding, right? And he can’t be late for the wedding, because Liz is pretty awesome, and Taurus is his favorite teacher. So…
He looks around, hesitating for a few more minutes before reluctantly loping towards the resort. He has a full, formal uniform that’s meant to signify his future as the Coyote. His grandfather had insisted on it. The uniform is a lot more complex than the simple body suit thing he’d been stuck in during their tour to find the healers.
Behind him, the tiny Capuchin monkey watches the coyote leave, having barely managed to keep from shrieking and throwing things, as his instincts prompted him. Oh, sure, he’s smart. Capuchin monkeys are smart to begin with, but thanks to the stuff Colleck had done to him, he’s even smarter now. It’s just being in this jungle speaks to his more primitive instincts.
He pulls the chunk of ham he’d stolen the night before from a hole in the tree and starts chewing on it. If Colleck was lucid and knew what he was eating, he would throw a fit. Ham is TERRIBLE for animals. He gnaws for a little bit longer and then heads deeper into the trees. That coyote had scared him. He had been almost positive that there were no other animals on this island, other than silly birds that have their wings clipped, and can’t fly. It looks like he was wrong.
***
Nico looks at the formal uniform he’s wearing, sighing inwardly. It had been this or beach wear, and as much as he’d like to be running around in shorts, only, this is his little sister’s wedding, and HE is going to walk her down the aisle, regardless of what his dad says. Superior can’t be caught on film for that long. Nico will just change into the shorts after the wedding is over, he decides.
“Nico,” Superior says, as if summoned by Nico’s thoughts of him. “You can get Sparky, I’ll go wait for Liz to finish.”
Nico opens the door, staring at him. “Which one of us is the one she hates most, Pop?” he asks.
“That… could be a tie, actually,” Superior says after a moment of thought.
“Besides, I’ll be walking Liz down the aisle, not you,” Nico says. “We can’t risk having you streamed for that long. My illusions are good, sure, but there are others that can do amazing things with film.”
“She’s my daughter. It’s the right of the father to walk their daughter down the aisle,” Superior says. The two glare at each other, neither wanting to back down, until Mastermental clears his throat. They turn, seeing him standing there with Max.
“As her Hall leader, I am perfectly in my rights to offer my hand for the job,” Mastermental says.
“Let Liz decide,” Max says. “We have a bigger problem on our hands.”
The others look like they want to disagree. On the big day, this is definitely the biggest problem—at least it is until Max says, “I think Sparky is working for Herold.”
There’s a long moment of silence before Nico and Superior let out a curse.
“And she has told you this?” Mastermental asks.
“No, but she was thinking about a boss that’s outsmarted the Hall several times, already,” Max says, “and Jack and Aubrey both saw a monkey on the beach last night.”
“It’s a jungle, monkeys come with the territory,” Nico says.
“It’s a man-made jungle, built only a few months ago, and we brought all of the animals in from your wife’s little jungle on the campus,” Superior says. “Coyote’s daughter keeps rescuing birds who have outlived their cute period, so we thought we’d offer the spare space.”
“So… in other words, they’re all birds?” Max offers.
“For the meantime, yes,” Superior says. “Tatiana was planning to get some monkeys, but that’s more red tape than I want to bother with, without outright stealing them.”
“I’ll make you some monkeys,” Nico says. “I already have the blueprint. So you think Herold is still using Colleck’s island as a safe house? I checked it after Morgan told us about her chat with the planet in her head. There was no sign of him.”
“That doesn’t mean he couldn’t have taken a single monkey along with him,” Max says. “Or even a few of them. They’re not normal monkeys. I’m sort of astonished you left them there.”
“They deserved the chance to become normal monkeys,” Nico says. “I hate the idea of sticking them in an electric cage when they have a perfectly good island to live on.”
“Why don’t your mother and I take them after this is over?” Superior offers. “I have plenty of space and jungle for them. It’ll make her happy.”
“They know how to use guns, Pop,” Nico says.
“Even more entertaining.”
“Should we do something about Sparky?” Max asks, sounding just slightly frustrated by how they keep changing the subject.
Nico and Superior look at Mastermental, who sighs. “Really, must I? I should be honest, I think, and mention that I never have liked the woman.”
Nico looks down as there’s a ding from his watch, and lets out a little groan. “What?” Superior asks.
“The Hall leaders have shown up at the Hall. They expect me to send someone to get them.”
“Cutting it a bit close, aren’t they?” Superior complains.
“They can’t all skip out at once for two days,” Nico says, tapping on his earbud. “Alyssa, kiddo, you’ve got a teleportation watch and Aubrey’s busy right now. Do you think you could do me a favor?”
“Sure,” she says. “If you tell Sandra that you have to wear a dress to a wedding, not a bright green Zoot suit!”
“Honestly, I have no problem with the Zoot suit if she wants to wear it,” Nico says. “I don’t believe in forcing my kids into skirts. Just make sure everyone has their masks on. But right now I need you to go to the Hall and escort the Hall leaders here; do you think you can do it before the wedding starts? You’ll be perfectly safe, since all of the Hall Leaders will be there.”
“I need to get out of the security field,” she replies.
“There’s a neutral spot where you first showed up that I’ll activate when you tell me you’ve reached it,” he says.
“Ah, and Alyssa, my dear,” Mastermental interrupts, “do not allow them to sway you with pretty words. If they desire a healer of your ability, they need to play a bit of… ‘hard ball’ with me, first.” They hear her laugh before she says, “I’m here.”
“Activating neutralization, tell me once you’re ready to come back,” Nico says, and nods a second later. “Well, that’s taken care of.” He waves a hand, apparently turning off the neutralizing.
“So, about Sparky?” Max prompts.
“I will keep an eye on her. I cannot sit with her, because I must sit with the Hall Leaders, but a small distance will cause no problems,” Mastermental says with a sigh. “If she chooses to make a scene, it will be taken care of.”
“And the monkey?” Max asks, looking at Nico.
“We’re going to have to deal with that after the wedding,” Nico says. “It’s not like it can get off the island.”
“Unless you wish for me to open a hole in your wall, I suggest you come with me, Superior,” Mastermental says. “It would be quite a shame to ruin this lovely resort. It will make a good retreat for vacationing supers.”
“I should charge you for what you’re planning right now,” Superior says as he reluctantly walks off with him.
Nico claps his hands and pulls them apart, creating a hologram screen. “Where are you, Herold, and why have you come to the surface now?”
“Nico?” he hears his sister say over the comm, “can you come here?”
“Yeah, I’m coming,” he says, clapping his hands again and heading for the dressing room with a wicked little smile on his face. Obviously Liz has chosen who’s going to walk her down the aisle. But just in case, he thinks, tapping on the air, it won’t hurt to try out his new anti-technopath security measures. If Herold IS using this as a distraction…
He almost hopes the man is arrogant enough to attack here, he thinks with a vicious expression, one that disappears as he knocks on Liz’s door. “You called?” he asks.
“Oh, good,” she says. “Will you walk me down the aisle?”
“I would be happy to,” he says.
CHAPTER SIX
“Okay, we have the benches, the flowers, and the flower altar,” Aubrey says, already in her flowery dress and no-sole sandals. Her hair is up, but Emily is chasing her around to add the flowers Sunny grew to match her to it. Aubrey barely even notices. She’s too busy forcing Jack and Sunny to work. Waking Sunny up for this had taken a while, but it was worth it. The benches are made of metal that’s cleverly hidden by vines that Sunny grew. Flowers cascade down the sides in an appropriately dramatic fashion. The altar is of the same design, an arch made of vines and flowers. Ken looks it over, nodding after a moment. He’s wearing a white studded jump suit with lots of fringe, just like Liz had wanted. He’s even got a black pompadour wig on.
“It looks wonderful,” Ken says.
“It needs lights,” Jack says.
“What? This is an—” Aubrey stops, groaning. “Of course it does,” she says a second later, “or at least some sort of electricity. Mom’s not exactly the flowers only type.”
“I’ll get Zoe,” Sunny says, picking himself up from the ground he’s been “recovering” on and yawning. He heads for the resort, walking right past Prisma, who’s filming all of this, and through a thatch of jungle, pausing as he hears a skittering sound. He looks up, curiously, and the palm tree literally moves a limb to reveal a monkey trying to hide. “Hey little guy,” he says, looking around for a second before plunging his hand into the earth. He makes a fist and pulls upwards. A banana plant sprouts up through the hole he’d created, growing at an astounding rate. Sunny watches it for a second and then plucks a few bananas off, peeling one and offering it up to the Capuchin. “Want a snack?”
The monkey stares at it, his little mind blown. He feels the branch he’s on lower, and he jumps off of it, instinctively. To his horror, he winds up caught by the sleepy looking teen. “Hey, little guy,” Sunny says. “Here’s your banana!”
The monkey takes the banana, because, well, it looks REALLY good. It’s a lot better than the ham was! He finds himself shifted to Sunny’s shoulder, but he’s too busy eating to notice as the teen grabs a bunch of bananas and then starts for the resort again.
“He caught the monkey!” Carla says as soon as he steps in.
“Huh?” Sunny asks.
Carla starts laughing, especially as he hands another banana to the monkey without a thought. “We need to tell Max,” she says, not bothered at all by the fact that Sunny has no clue what’s going on.
“Think Dad will let me keep him?” Sunny asks. “Oh, but Flora might get jealous.”
The monkey, who has been calmly eating his banana up until then, lets out a shriek and jumps off of Sunny’s shoulder, racing away as they hear the Technico system say, “Everyone take your places, the wedding will begin shortly.”
“Crap, I forgot I needed to find Zoe,” Sunny says, running into the resort and shouting for his sister.
“You could have just called over the comm?” Carla says, a bit confused by this, but she shrugs it off and runs for the beach where the wedding is about to take place. She wants to make sure she gets lots of pictures to show her family!
***
*Central Hall*
Century looks at his watch, again, and then lets out a sigh as the other Hall Leaders look at him. “Yes, I realize this is my fault,” he says before anyone else can. “I had some things that needed to be signed.”
“We all have things that need to be signed, Century,” Negatia says, looking quite beautiful, if a bit irritable, in a rose gold colored dress. They’re in the back part of the Hall, where they only get looks from the black suits, not bothered by the norms. It’s still irritating, when it’s not their Hall. Being stuck in Mastermental’s territory is annoying to every single one of them, even if it is for a good reason.
“I’m a bit astonished that you’re not wearing white,” Isotonic says to her.
“I am not so rude as to wear white to another woman’s wedding,” Negatia tells him. She looks over at Marigold, who’s wearing a peacock blue dress that actually complements her hair. She isn’t about to mention that they went dress shopping together for this.
“I just meant that it’s your signature color,” Isotonic says, looking slightly abashed at her snapping at him. He reaches up, tugging on the collar of his formal uniform and looking away, pretending to be studying the area.
“Yes, I do love the color, but it’s impolite.” She lets out a barely audible sigh of relief as there’s a “poof” and a girl appears. The black suits turn with their guns ready, only to lower them as she pulls out her ID and activates the hologram.
“Alyssa, honey!” Century says, breaking into a smile. “You’re looking beautiful today, sugar, what’s the big occasion?”
Alyssa looks at him and rolls her eyes at the joke, much to all of their amusement. The atmosphere seems to relax, just with that.
