The Last Hero (Villains & Monsters #2)

Chapter 15

For reference, this is COGW chapters 30-31. A bit of violence and abuse mention.

Early June, 2045 (Eleven months ago)

Lionel had given him plenty of different tips to help with anger. Jamie's favorite was using humor to release some of the tension.

However, there was no way to find humor in a situation he hated so much. As he drove his car to the library, half-listening to Daija talk about how much she hates spiders, he tried hard to push what happened at the base out of his head. All he could hear was her moans and Simon's teasing voice.

Then the bastard winked at him. Winked, for fuck's sake. Jamie had no doubt that the henchman that whispered to Simon said that he went inside the base, then walked out quickly.

Like the asshole he was, he found it amusing, and the wink was more than likely to let him know that he wasn't going anywhere and neither was Daija.

Jamie bit the side of his mouth once his thoughts started getting the best of him. I'm overthinking this, he thought. I'm overthinking and it's driving me crazy. I just need her to be fucking honest and things will be better.

But deep down, he knew he couldn't get upset about her dishonesty, given the fact that she still believes that he had nothing to do with a child's murder. The mere thought of it made his stomach twist.

Once they arrived at the library, Jamie said hi to Tony at the front desk, then led Daija to a quiet room. She sat down across from him, and now that they were in the light, he got a good look at her. Her jacket was zipped up all the way, and there was a tiny, barely noticeable smudge of concealer on the edge of it.

Jamie thought back to when Simon winked at him, then made a small connection. He wanted the heroes to find out about what was happening. What better way to find out than through hickies?

"Do you know what I love most about this room?" he eventually asked.

"What?"

"It's comfortable, and no one really knows about it, and there's no cameras," he said as he crossed his arms. "So, we can talk."

"Talk about what?"

He met her gaze head on. "You tell me."

Daija raised a brow. The only sign she'd show that something was off. Then, she sighed. "I need to know more about these powers, and honestly, I think Aniya is keeping way more secrets than we thought."

Jamie squeezed a fist. Not THAT kind of talk. The talk where you admit that you're screwing Simon. It was getting difficult to keep this up. He cared about her a lot, but he hated that this was happening. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"You said that there are plenty of people with powers, known and unknown, yet me, Simon and Ian are the most powerful. Why is that? What's different about the three of us? Also, how is Simon able to manipulate fire and stop time? How is it possible to have more than one ability?" She paused before saying, "You already told me that you've looked into this. I know you have theories, Jamie. I want to hear all of them."

Jamie didn't know what to think at first. She was putting him on the spot instead of the other way around. Outside of her discreet hatred for Aniya, she knows that something's off about everything, and she knows that he's been trying to figure out what Aniya's hiding.

He did have theories, and maybe if he told her his, she would tell him hers. "All of them?" he asked.

"All of them," she repeated back to him.