Superhero Effects

21. BUT YOU ARE SPECIAL

He took his hands from his pockets and pulled something from the inside of his suit jacket—a baseball-sized green stone mixed with rough rock.

Lucinda stepped aside as he stepped toward me.

"Now," he said, "I've been doing my research thanks to my little band of Supers." My brows came together, confused, and Lucinda dropped her head when I glanced at her. "And a little birdie told me this stuff doesn't affect you." I looked to Lucinda again, quicker this time, and her head shot up, her mouth parting with surprise.

He couldn't see her as he stared me down, but I swear he could feel her surprise because his smile widened.

"In fact, I hear," he turned the rock and showed me the back where veins of red were running down the emerald green, "the red stuff throws you for a loop, and so this is something I found in Africa one summer, just kept it because it looked cool. And I think—"

He tossed the rock, so it landed in my lap, and I didn't have to fake a thing. It was like someone had set my legs on fire and that someone was beating them with a bat at the same time.

"—it will do the trick," Mack called over my scream as I writhed in the chair, trying to knock the thing off me.

Lucinda dropped all pretenses and lunged for me, but the door burst open, and I didn't see who burst in until they wrapped their arms around her to hold her back as the chair rocked from my thrashing.

It was Cooper.

Warm tears slid down my face as I went still, hanging my head as I sobbed.

Mack stepped up and grabbed the rock slowly. And slowly, the pain faded as Lucinda broke away from her captor and whipped around with her arms up, then froze as her mouth opened in shock.

"...Coop?" She shook her head as I sucked up a sob. "No, no. No-no-no-no!" She turned to Dr. Mack. "What did you do to him?" Her voice echoed around the chamber. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"Lucinda," Cooper tried gently.

"I," Dr. Mack snarled, stepping towards her. Cooper backed away from her, frowning, not intervening, "gave him a choice, Lucinda. It was you," he pointed my way, "or her, and guess which one he chose. You should be flattered." His expression calmed. "And congrats, you were right. He does really love you."

Lucinda went to lunge again, but Cooper caught her again.

"Take her out of here," Dr. Mack ordered.

"No!" Lucinda screamed, kicking her legs as he grabbed her in a bear hug from behind and lifted her. "No! Don't you touch her!"

"Oh shizballs," I croaked as Cooper overpowered her and dragged her backward.

"No! Tristan! No!" She was crying now, with frustration. And the last realization I had of my sister as she was dragged from the room and the door was closed in her face was that she really did care as she bent and bit the heck out of Cooper's arm.

Dr. Mack turned back to me. "A little birdie also told me you're a writer." My eyes slowly moved from the door where I could no longer hear Lucinda and to him. "Aaron, right?"
***
I cleared my throat, wiping my face dry with my shoulders before asking, "What do you want? From me?"

He tossed the rock from one hand to the other and circled my chair. Waves of aches passed through my body. "They seem to think you knew all that stuff because Lucinda did, that it's your twin connection, but I never told Lucinda anything about magic, didn't tell anyone. They found out what was in the drug by your book." He stopped in front of me. "I want you to tell me what you know about magic, the real thing."

The scream had my throat a little irritated. I cleared it again. "I'm sure you have the edits, sure you have all my material now and have poured over it multiple times. You know all I know."

He shook his head. "You want to know why you weren't affected by the drug, Tristan?" My face must have given something away because he smiled, satisfied. "It's because I only injected one baby... Yes, I knew Joss was pregnant with twins. I treated her, and you were both struggling to live. By the time I intervened because she was begging me to save her babies, you were already still, or so it appeared, so I only injected the seemingly living baby in vitro, Lucinda."

He lifted the rock and shook it lightly. "But you're mother was more than she appeared. Magical. A Seer, a magical know-it-all, and I'm willing to bet your aunt is as well...and so are you. This red stone naturally makes Magical sick and the Colors because their dose had more blood than the babies. You are not a Super, Tristan, but you are special."

My eyes were watering again. I couldn't help but remember what Lewis had said about his Dad and the cancer. "My mom...my mom only took that drug to-to try to save us. She wasn't a drug addict anymore?"

His face tightened. "Your mother was never a drug addict, and Lucinda is the reason she died. The Supers; all the mothers died in childbirth because the Super baby took more than they had to give. They're parasites. And your mother knew it; I warned her. But she didn't care; she wanted her girls to live even if she didn't."

My eyes widened. It took me a moment to absorb the information and my second realization of the night. "You loved her."

His fist closed over the rock, and his hand dropped to his side. "And you're proving my point. Where are the entries to the realms?"

I shook my head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh," he said softly, taking a step towards me, "but I believe it can come to you with the right trigger."