The Best Intentions

Chapter Twenty

"Long time, no see, Coldfront," a sickeningly sweet voice called from above. I looked up to see a girl in bright blue spandex jump down from the rooftop. She had a cheeky grin on her face. "You still owe me money."

I slowly looked over at Coldfront. He kept his composure as he said, "You tried to sell info on me to the cops. Why would I ever pay you back?"

Head Rush glanced at me, then turned to Dare for answers. He shook his head and shrugged before focusing on Coldfront.

"How much does he owe you?" Head Rush asked. Wind knocked his hood down. He grumbled and fixed it as he waited for a response.

"Six thousand," she said casually, crossing her arms. "I'm Oleander. You must be Head Rush. Is it true that you're a villain now?"

"No," Head Rush bit out. "Why does everyone keep assuming that?"

Oleander sighed. "Too bad my guess was wrong. Then is it true Dark Skies replacing Night as the new hero organization?"

"I'm not a hero," Red Wave snarled. "Call me one again and see what happens. We're temporary allies working together. That's it."

Oleander rolled her eyes. "Well, that's boring."

Aphrodite tilted her head. "I haven't heard of you before. How long have you been a..."

"Vigilante," Oleander filled in. "How could you not have heard of me? Coldfront and I use to work-"

Aphrodite held her hand up, silencing Oleander. "We need to get back to patrolling the city."

"I'm not leaving until I get my money. Do you know how hard it is to track Coldfront down?" Oleander scoffed. "It's not like you guys ever take the same routes when patrolling."

"You aren't getting any money today," Coldfront said.

Oleander stalked forward. I backed up some, pulling Head Rush with me. This wasn't my fight, not yet at least.

She tried to kick Coldfront in the face, but was more focused on pulling her gloves off, causing her to miss. She threw them down and threw a punch. Coldfront immediately ducked and shouted, "I need help. She can kill people through skin contact!"

Dare teleported beside Oleander, gripping her by the waist before teleporting her a safe distance away from Coldfront. Teleporting back, he grabbed Coldfront before he could protest and teleported away.

I was going to pretend that I wasn't pissed Dare cared more about Coldfront than the rest of us. It was probably a good thing he got him away.

Red Wave wasn't bothered by the threat of being poisoned. She cartwheeled to Oleander, kicking the girl in the face as she did. Oleander yelped and tried to smack Red Wave, but the redhead caught her wrist with a glowing red hand. Oleander screeched, then used her other hand to slap Red Wave.

Red Wave let go, stumbling back. Her eyes glazed over with pain. She reached for her cheek but thought better of it, letting her hands cool down. Aphrodite ran towards her and dragged her away from Oleander as Dare reappeared.

"Get her into a healing pod," Aphrodite ordered as Red Wave started to scream in agony. Dare didn't need to be told twice.

I was going to try to incapacitate Oleander when Aphrodite held up her hand. Her eyes were dark as she looked over at me. "I'll handle it."

I managed to nod, watching Aphrodite. She radiated glee as she stared at Oleander, and I realized quickly she was manipulating her emotions.

"Are you in love with me?" Aphrodite asked. Oleander nodded, unable to speak. She looked ready to drool. "Then drop to your knees."

Oleander immediately did as Aphrodite asked, lust filling her eyes. Aphrodite walked forward slowly, keeping her eyes trained on Oleander. When she was in range, she kicked Oleander under the jaw. I gasped as her head snapped back, wondering if Aphrodite kicked her hard enough to break her neck.

Aphrodite turned to Head Rush. "Run her to the police station. Make sure to tell someone what her power is."

Head Rush nodded, darting off with Oleander before I could blink.

I turned back to Aphrodite. "Good job."

Aphrodite snorted. "Hardly."

***

I held my arms out to keep my balance as I walked across the roof. Kieran followed behind me. I slowly lowered myself down, my eyes trained on the sun as it hit the horizon. An orange glow fell over us as Kieran spoke.

"I think I can smell the ocean from here."

I nodded before glancing over my shoulder. The clear sky started to turn gray in the distance. "Me too. I can see Kit's territory from here."

"I guess it's our territory now too. You know...sometimes I wish we weren't in Dark Skies," Kieran confessed. "I miss Night. I didn't get to know Green Light for long, but I miss her. I miss the twins too."

I sighed quietly. "I wonder where they are. I feel guilty. If we never went after Mendoza, she wouldn't have chased them out of Iron Beach. I wonder why she hasn't tried to blackmail us yet." The wind picked up, sending my hair flying into my face.

Kieran shuddered. "She's probably planning something. At least we have Kit and the others on our side now."

"It still hurts," I said quietly. "That Aubrey is a villain and never told me. Or, rather, was a villain. I thought we were closer than that. Plus...Well, I don't even know what we should call everyone now. They still call themselves villains."

"People seem to think we're villains now too, even though all we're doing is helping. It just seems like no matter what we do, we'll never be the good guys." Kieran looked over at me. "Sometimes it hurts when I think about it too. I can forgive Kit, but it doesn't take away the pain. I don't know if I'll ever forgive Samantha."

I pulled Kieran into a hug. "At least we have each other."

"Yeah. At least we have each other." He fell quiet for a moment. "Hey, Sabrina? Do you think they really are villains? I know that they're technically all criminals, but...they really aren't bad people."

I had never seen him look so conflicted. It made me want to pull him into another hug, but I refrained. "I know they're not, even though they claim they are." Attempting to lighten the mood, I said, "Well, maybe Samantha is."

Kieran sighed lightly. "I wish I had never met her."

I tilted my head. "You wouldn't be here today if you hadn't."

"That's true." Kieran nodded. "I guess I take that back then. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"How did you two start dating?" I asked.

Kieran shrugged. "She asked me out one day. We had always been friends, but we weren't that close, even when we were dating. When I found out she was Red Wave...It hurt a lot. Not that she was working for Mendoza, but the fact that she lied to me about it, even when she knew I was Head Rush. What hurt even more was that Kit knew and he hid it from me too."

I squeezed Kieran's hand. "I'm sorry, Kieran. You're my best friend, and I hate that you had to feel so betrayed."

"You're my best friend too, BB." Kieran smiled softly, looking down at me. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed our proximity. He started to lean down, but then his eyes flashed and he pulled away some.

I looked away. We were both cowards, too afraid to make a move in case it ruined our friendship. I took Kieran's hand in mine. It wasn't something I wanted to risk. Our friendship meant too much to me, and if I lost him...

Kieran looked back at the sunrise. "Tomorrow will be a new day, Sabrina. Tomorrow we can do better."