Villain Complex [NOW A PUBLISHED BOOK] [2022 WATTYS WINNER]

Chapter Five

The city streets were even busier than Charlotte expected during her walk back to the apartment. As usual, she was admiring shop windows and plants growing on apartment balconies, but she was also on high alert. While none of the villains had made a move yet, that could change at any moment.

Instead of going straight back to the apartment, Charlotte took a different turn and headed to Dove Park. She wasn't ready to sit alone in her room all night. It would be nice to watch the people walking by for a while.

Dove Park—a small stretch of grass and trees nestled between two buildings—didn't attract many visitors, surprisingly. It offered a view of Beebalm Street at one end, while the other side was hidden away and strangely quiet. The park was also in the perfect place to be flooded with the afternoon sunlight that found its way in between buildings. It was too late for that now, but lights from surrounding windows kept Charlotte from feeling uneasy in the darkness.

As Charlotte sat on one of the benches, watching the last of the light fade from the sky, she couldn't help but think about Julian. It was crazy enough that she'd happen to run into him at both the cafe and the funeral. What were the chances of seeing him again?

She sighed and rested her chin in her hand, trying to convince herself she didn't care that much. She would have given that dollar to anyone who needed it. Admittedly, she'd already seen the guy reaching for his card, and he certainly didn't seem to need the money, but...

Damn it, she'd thought he was cute.

Unfortunately, Spencer figured that out pretty quickly when Charlotte told him the story after running into Julian at the funeral. Spencer insisted he looked like he'd walked right out of a shady organization in a spy movie. Charlotte couldn't really see it. At least Spencer eventually conceded that he was 'sort of pretty.'

What did Julian really think about Charlotte's change in appearance? He hadn't pressed the matter after she'd brushed off his question about her height, but there was no way he believed he'd simply misremembered her, right? Unless he really wasn't paying attention at the cafe.

Based on the fact that she'd broken the door off the microwave—leaving maintenance perplexed—and that carrying the stack of textbooks she'd accumulated felt like lifting a feather, Charlotte definitely had superhuman strength. But she hadn't been able to summon any of Storm Warning's other powers. What if she didn't have them, after all? Maybe whatever that orb was just gave people muscles.

Suddenly aware of how hungry she was, Charlotte stood up, stretched, and glanced up at the sky. The idea of picking up food somewhere was tempting, but she had leftovers to finish.

Ugh. Why had she wandered so far from the apartment? It would take fifteen minutes to get back the usual way.

Or she could cut through alleyways. She'd been too terrified to take them before, even during the day, but she could handle anyone she ran into now, right? The big villains weren't known for hanging out in back alleys.

Charlotte made it a couple of blocks without any trouble. Halfway through a particularly long alley, though, something moved above her. She halted and looked up.

A figure stood at the top of a fire escape. The cape, the mask—Charlotte's heart skipped a beat. "Citadel." Apparently, big villains did sometimes hang out in back alleys. Eyes narrowing, she lifted her fists, though he had to have heard the tremble in her voice. "What do you want?"

Citadel chuckled. He grabbed the railing and jumped over. A pillar of stone broke through the ground in front of Charlotte to catch him and bring him down to her level. "Bold of you to be walking around alone so soon after Storm Warning's death."