"I was wondering what kind of girl could have botched up a rescue attempt so badly. Now that I know it was you all along, everything makes sense."
"Go away."
Rome runs his nose down the side of my face, smiling at the way I shiver. "After all thes...
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RED AND BLUE LIGHTS ILLUMINATE THE WAREHOUSE CEILING. I watch the shadows of supervillian and his two brothers skirt across the wall as they're escorted away by one of the officers. Turning my head, I manage to get a glimpse of Genie. He meets my eyes, then looks away. The officer ducks Genie's head into the back of the police car.
I turn back and adjust my position.
Once the medical team arrived, they forced Rome and I to lie down on a pair of stretchers. Now we're waiting for a special expert injuries from Supers to come and examine us.
In my lap is Ruby, our family's guardian cat. The size of a miniature lioness, she licks the bruises on my knuckles ferociously. I stroke her fur with my other hand.
Besides me, Rome slurps on a chocolate shake that Gamma Ray got for him.
He catches me looking, "Nothing for you, I'm afraid."
"I don't want your drink," I snap, voice slurring because of my swollen tongue.
"Why are you staring?"
"I wasn't," I growl. "I happened to look at you at the same time you looked at me."
"How often do you look at me, Winifred?" Rome asks, his voice deadly sweet. I decide that I'm digging myself into a grave and turn away, shaking my head. You can never win in a conversation with Rome.
Still - I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. Bruises shadow his jaw, his arms and his legs, all because of me.
Because of Genie, I fought with Rome for two minutes. I managed to indicate that his bracelet was the thing controlling me by always using the same arm. After he realized that Genie was a supervillian, he took the bracelet and the hairpin off me while Gamma Ray captured the brothers. I hit him in the face and kicked him in the legs. Rome managed to dodge some of my blows, but not all.
And he never hit me back. Not once.
"Listen," I say. "I'm sorry about -"
Rome gives an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "I expected this to happen."
" - I know it's wasn't technically my fault but I still feel -"
"Now you're making me wish I had fought back, broken your nose or something along those lines," He says, as the straw stirs the drink. "That way I won't have to look at that miserable expression anymore."
"Rome -"
"Nope."
" - you're being -"
"Don't want to hear it."
I scowl.
"There," He points the straw at me. "That's much better."
I drop my head back on the stretcher. "Don't you have anything better to do tonight than stay here with me?"
