The Last Hero (Villains & Monsters #2)

Chapter 39

- Late June, 2045 - (Eleven months ago)

"Here," Jamie said as he handed Justin a bottle of water.

He smiled up at him. "Thanks, I appreciate it. Also, are you sure you're okay? What happened back there was a lot. Double also, great job for handling some of the victims and onlookers."

Jamie smiled at the memory of being there with the other heroes, assuring citizens that everything was going to be fine. They had all got a red alert earlier that morning about an attempted robbery. Apparently, the robbers had been holding innocent people hostage. While the three of them handled the majority of it, Jamie silently worked to get the people to a safer location each time Fiona teleported them outside.

He'd been spending a lot more time at the heroes' facility and less time at the coffee shop. It felt good being out and helping people. Though he was going against his and Daija's rule of refusing to help out the heroes, Jamie tried to make himself feel better by looking at it as helping the city instead.

Speaking of Daija, she'd be coming home today. The heroes won't be aware of her return like they spoke about, and he wondered how things were going to be going forward, but he was excited to finally see his best friend and finally talk things out in person. There was an unspoken agreement between the two of them that talking face-to-face would be much better.

But then there was the flashdrive from Base C. He didn't know how to talk about it with her. He knew it was going to crush her. Hell, it had crushed him and he wasn't the one being talked about. The best thing to do was be there with her when she watched the videos on it, and then comfort her after she finally learns the truth about her father that she'd been searching for.

Then there was also explaining a portion of his new plan to her. He had to leave out the gruesome details to make sure that she was on board, and he hoped that she would listen to him instead of thinking that he was crazy.

"I'm perfectly fine. Thanks for asking, though."

His phone chimed, and he cursed underneath his breath. He had to get to work. "Hey, I have to get going. I'll try stopping by later to check on you all."

"No problem."

He started to leave, but then Justin called out to him. "Jamie?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks again. Truly, we appreciate you. This last week has been hectic, but you've been such a big help."

He'd been doing that a lot lately, and Jamie would be lying if he said that he didn't like it. A little over a week ago, he had hated the idea of helping out. Now he felt stuck. He wanted to be more active and make more decisions that would benefit the city, but he didn't want it to be under Aniya's lead.

If things go well with the conversation he'll have with Daija, then there would be no way for him to fail. If Kunross deserved one thing, it was a better-managed team of heroes. Plus, with Daija's abilities, they'd stand a better chance against anyone who planned on forcefully taking the city.

"No problem," Jamie said.

Fiona teleported in, and she gave him a small smile. "Hey, I don't know if Justin told you or not, but there's another meeting with the Mayor. Once again saying that it'll be cool if you showed up."

"Going to have to decline again. I have to get to my other job."

"Alright. Also, have you seen Aniya? I really need to talk to her."

"She's wrapping something up in her office," Justin said, then he furrowed his brows as he checked her over. "Everything okay?"

Now that Jamie got a closer look at her, she looked tired, but also slightly overactive like she couldn't run out of energy. He knew that it was a side effect of the juice, and that she had been taking more than the others.