Chapter 186

Under Surveillance

Alexander checked his reflection in the elevator’s mirrored wall. Dark slacks, button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms. Casual enough, but presentable. The pair of rings were his only adornments.

The elevator descended smoothly. When the doors opened, he stepped into the lobby and headed for the exit.

The ESA liaison sat in the lounge area just off the main entrance, magazine open in his lap. Their eyes met.

The magazine snapped shut. Khalid stood and crossed the floor.

“Mr. Rooke,” he said, falling into step. “Heading out for the evening?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Wonderful. I’d be happy to arrange a driver for you. Where would you like to go?”

Alexander kept his pace toward the entrance. “Appreciate the offer, but I’m going to fly. It’s way more fun.”

The liaison swallowed. “But sir, I really should—”

“I’m pretty sure none of the rules forbid me from seeing the city on my own.”

“Of course not, sir, it’s just that—”

“Great. Then you can wait here until I get back. Besides, I’m sure at least one of your supers will keep an eye on me.”

Khalid slowed. “Very well, sir.”

Doors swung open as Alexander approached. He stepped out from under the building’s overhang and lifted into the air.

The city spread below him as he climbed. He rotated midair, scanning the rooftops until he found what he was looking for.

It was the same superhero from the airport. Closer this time, just a couple of buildings over, facing the side of the hotel where his suite was located. Alexander could make out details now. A woman in a plain white combat suit with a black half-cape fluttering behind her. Hair pulled into a tight bun.

She stood on the edge of the rooftop.

Alexander waved.

She gave him a nod.

Then another copy of her tore free from the original. The surface rippled and bulged outward as a second body pulled itself free with a wet sound that carried even at this distance. The first woman sat back down and reached for a drink, sipping from a straw as if nothing had happened. Then the duplicate rose into the air and began following at a polite distance.

Alexander turned and headed toward the address Julia had given him.

The rooftop garden came into view minutes later. He descended, touching down. Planters lined the edges, greenery spilling over the sides. A few benches faced outward toward the city.

He took a seat on one.

Night had fallen completely. Dubai’s skyline stretched before him, the Burj Khalifa cutting upward like a blade. The tower dominated everything around it, surrounded by buildings designed to complement rather than compete. LED arrays painted the structures in blues and greens. Sheikh Zayed Road cut through it all, a river of headlights.

New York’s skyline had been different. Dense, but organically formed. Buildings packed shoulder to shoulder, different architectural eras fighting for attention. It had felt historical.

Dubai felt engineered. As if someone had set out to build a showcase and succeeded.

Both views were impressive. They just had different philosophies.

The stairwell door opened behind him.

Alexander turned, surprised. His senses had detected nothing.

Julia stepped onto the roof.

Except it wasn’t flesh-and-blood Julia. The figure was made entirely of ice. Translucent, crystalline, reflecting the city lights in fractured patterns across its surface. Same in almost every way, just frozen solid.

Then the ice cracked. Fractured. Shattered apart as she approached, the form melting away in seconds.

Julia emerged grinning. “Surprise.”

Alexander returned her smile and stood. They met halfway across the rooftop.

She pressed into him as they embraced. He cupped her face, finding it a little chilly, and kissed her. Her hands found his forearms, fingers squeezing. The kiss deepened for a moment before they broke apart.

“I didn’t sense anything.”

She smirked. “I know.”

They made their way to the bench, his arm around her shoulder, and sat down. Julia turned toward him, settling against his side.

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“So,” Alexander said. “Are you going to share the trick with your captive audience?”

Julia tilted her head, considering. “I’m not sure you deserve an explanation. ‘Being careful’ doesn’t usually include a six billion credit heist.” She smacked his leg.

Alexander laughed before he could stop himself.

She just stared at him.

He cleared his throat and searched her expression. “Are you actually mad at me?”

“I don’t know.” Julia sighed and shook her head. “Not really. But did you at least have a good reason for it?”

Alexander bit back the quick answer. Rested against the back of the bench, and looked up at the night sky.

Julia waited while he organized his thoughts.

“The answer is more complicated than I want it to be,” Alexander said, “but it wasn’t all strictly necessary, no.”

She studied his face.

“I was just going to grab a bike for Talia. Could have afforded it, but with what’s coming, I didn’t want to spend any credits we didn’t need to. But once I started thinking about everything, I realized we’d need more than just the one for Talia. We’re expanding with the goal of setting up operations globally so we’re as prepared as we can be to respond to whatever’s going to happen…”

Alexander took a breath. “And it just snowballed.” He glanced at her. “I won’t pretend I didn’t have a lot of fun orchestrating it, or that my ego didn’t play a large role in how big it became.”

Julia snorted. “Good, I wouldn’t have believed you otherwise.”

He smiled. “The bottom line is that the vault was necessary. It will cut my manufacturing timeline down to a fraction of what it would have been. The quantum supercomputers and the fabricators, too.” Then he shrugged. “I admit I may have gone a little overboard on the hover vehicles.”

“And the yacht?” she asked with a pointed look.

Alexander met her gaze directly. “Oh, no. I remained aboard the whole time. Droney and I were rocking out.”

Julia gave him an icy look that might have killed a normal man.

She tsked and slapped his arm, but the corner of her mouth betrayed her amusement.

He continued. “But the underlying reason, besides simple convenience, ambition, and ego, is that it was an efficient way to put Grimnir in the spotlight that didn’t involve killing anyone.”

Julia frowned. “Why does that matter? You were already pretty well known for going up against Gabriel Santiago.”

“That was mostly local. Small time.” Alexander shook his head. “No, with the information we’re going to release, alongside burning Santiago Systems, not to mention the legitimacy we’ll need as a serious guild when everything goes wrong, the heist was necessary. Or something like it, but anything else would have just been more complicated.”

She thought about that for a moment. “You could have always tried heroics.”

Alexander laughed. “We’re a bit late to that party.”

Julia smiled. “Not to mention less fun than becoming one of the most infamous supervillains overnight, I’m sure.”

“That too.”

She leaned in and kissed him on the jaw. “Alright, I’m only a little mad, then.” Then whispered, “Besides, my boyfriend being the big bad supervillain who single-handedly pulled off the biggest robbery in history is a little hot.”

“Does that mean you’ll tell me how you bypassed my senses?”

“Nope,” she said playfully. “Still a little mad, too, so you’re going to have to figure it out on your own.”

Alexander leaned in and pressed his head against hers. They shared a comfortable silence for a minute, watching the lights from the city.

“I assume that’s your monitor?” Julia asked, breaking the moment.

She was looking at the short-caped superhero watching them from a surprisingly respectful distance.

“Yeah. Though I’m sure she’ll tag someone else in at some point.” Alexander turned back to Julia. “You should have seen it. That’s a copy.” He frowned. “At least, I think that’s the copy. She tore herself apart somehow and became two identical selves.”

She looked at the distant hero with interest. “Do you think she’ll follow us into the show?”

Alexander gave her a mischievous smile. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Julia grinned, returning the look.

***

Felix banked left, catching a thermal updraft rising from the limestone cliffs below. He spread his wings wider, feeling the currents push against primary feathers.

The warm air lifted him higher with barely a wingbeat required.

It was the first time he’d used this form. The Eurasian eagle-owl. Augustus had helped him acquire it during a nighttime excursion to the zoo, along with several others. Grabbing living animals without hurting them, or them hurting him, required skills Felix didn’t have. Augustus’s magic made it simple.

The desert stretched out beneath him in shades of silver and shadow under the stars. His vision cut through the darkness with startling clarity. Every rock, every ripple in the sand, every subtle variation in the terrain stood out in sharp detail. The only downside was the limited palette of colors, picking out only black and white, grays and silvers.

The thermal weakened. Felix adjusted, angling toward another rising column of warm air near a different section of cliff face.

He’d learned a lot about his powers over the past few months. The limitations mostly. He couldn’t transform into anything smaller than the Scarlet Macaw in mass. That had been disappointing at first, cutting off entire categories of useful forms. Rats. Mice. Most snakes. Insects. Arachnids. Anything that could slip through tight spaces unnoticed.

But the Beastworld creatures had been a different problem entirely.

Talia had collected specimens for him after the fight. Flesh, blood, and bone from several species. She’d been careful about it, methodical. Stored them properly so they wouldn’t degrade. Gave them to him on the journey back to Earth, but quietly. Without pressure.

Felix had been hesitant to try. The memory of Dr. Miller’s experiments still haunted him. The scientist’s work had revealed how his power functioned. He could absorb forms directly from a living creature via touch. Or indirectly. Requiring biological samples forced beneath his skin.

The elephant that waited at the back of his mind, bonded to the stolen Metallokinesis, was the first such form taken indirectly. The pain had been extraordinary. His immune system fighting the foreign material. Infection spreading through his body while the transformation took hold. He’d screamed until his voice gave out.

Still, under Talia’s medical care, he’d attempted it with a sample from the Beastworld. In the end, it had been pointless suffering. His power didn’t work on beings with higher intelligence, and clearly the System classified the creatures of the Beastworld as sapient.

That just meant he had to learn to use what he had smarter. Alexander’s words. Practical encouragement. So he’d focused on working within his limits instead of against them.

It helped. But Felix still wanted his new family to know he could be relied upon. For anything. That the limitations didn’t make him less useful.

Movement below drew his attention.

Felix’s head snapped toward the cliff face. His eyes tracked the motion automatically.

Part of the limestone wall rippled. Shifted. Split apart. Then melted away as if it had never been solid at all.

Two men stepped out of the opening. One of them lit up a cigar, waving a hand animatedly while talking to the other.

Felix banked back toward where Augustus and Annie were waiting.

They’d found their first potential targets.

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