King Of Bad [Super Villian Academy Book 1] (21 page)

“I haven’t seen any evidence of your still
being bad,” Sandra said.

“Look under the table,” Jeff said.

Sandra lay sideways on the bench seat and
scooted under the table. “Oh.”

She pulled herself back into a sitting
position, most of her hair falling to one side of her head, giving her an odd,
unbalanced appearance. “How did you do that?”

Jeff lifted his hand from his lap. His
pointer finger glowed poker red. Sandra arched her eyebrows at his burning
fingertip. Jeff blew frost and extinguished his finger and Sandra’s mouth fell
open. “I see.”

“What did he do?” Source asked. He shifted
sideways, trying to see under the table, but his head hit the wall and his hip
slid into Jeff.

“I can’t actually repeat the words he wrote,”
Sandra said.

Source scowled at Jeff.

Jeff shrugged. “You can’t erase a lifetime of
hard work. You said yourself,
Sandra,
I was the king
of bad.”

“But Jeff, you can’t go back to Dad’s
school.”

Sandra was right and she didn’t even know the
half of it. If Prince
Tohler
showed up and saved some
cocky villain from himself or apologized to the teacher for scorching their rug
or worse, made someone else apologize, he’d be attacked in his sleep.

“No, I can’t go to dad’s school. I no longer
have to find Source.” He nodded at Source who grinned back. “I’m a boy without
a home who is too bad to attend your school and too good to attend mine.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Chapter 25

Jeff spent many nights in the old barn he
used to hide in. He’d sneak in late at night and leave late in the morning. The
dog curled up next to him most nights and served as Jeff’s personal space
heater.

One morning, Jeff splashed water from a rain
barrel on his face, when the hairs on the back of his neck rose. He snuck over
to the corner of the building and peaked around the side of the barn. Two men
stood perfectly still.
Listening.
Jeff’s heart
immediately kicked into overtime. One of the men cocked his head, but this time
Jeff knew how to cloak himself. He took a slow, calming breath and focused his
breathing so that his heart rate dropped to normal instantly. With more
concentration, the heart dropped to an even slower rate that would not be
deciphered as human to someone who was listening.

“Damn, I thought I heard him, but now there’s
nothing. He must have spotted us,” the man said to his partner. He pointed
toward the barn. “But I think it was over there.”

Jeff cursed silently. He looked down at the
dog who stared up at him, smiling and wagging his tail. Jeff motioned for the
dog to go away and mouthed, “Shoo.” The dog panted ignorantly up at Jeff.
Flailing his arms, Jeff lunged at the animal. The dog finally trotted away.
Jeff peered around the corner.

“Hunter, look.” The other man pointed to the
dog that had just jogged into view.

Hunter made a face and swore. He stared at
the dog for awhile before he said, “Let’s go. There’s no one around here, now.
He must have gotten away.”

Later while Jeff, Sandra and Source ate at
their favorite old diner Jeff asked, “Who do you suppose those guys were?”

“Dad’s pretty distraught over your
disappearance, Jeff. I’d guess they were Dad’s guys.”

Jeff put his hamburger down. “He’s upset?”

“Yeah.
The worst part is that he can’t talk to Mom
and me about it because he doesn’t know that I know and Mom still doesn’t know
that he’s a baddy. But he mopes and stresses and tries to pretend like
everything’s okay. I almost spilled the beans at dinner the other night. I
really feel bad for him.”

“Maybe I should get word to him somehow,”
Jeff said.

“Remember, Polar,” Source said, “they have
ways of tracking the message back to the sender. If they already have an idea
of where you are staying, that would be like handing yourself over.”

“It’s my dad!”

“It’s your dad who wants you to be 100%
villain,” Sandra reminded.

Jeff sighed. “Why does this have to be so
hard?”

Jeff looked out the plate glass window of the
diner.

“What the…” he cried. He jumped out of the
booth and dashed out the door.

“Jeff, wait!” Source called too late.

Jeff barreled into Mystic, scooping her into
a hug and spinning around with her.

“Put me the hell down!” She beat
ineffectively on his shoulders.

Jeff laughed. “What are you doing here?”

Impassive to Jeff’s sudden appearance, Mystic
replied, “I missed you.”

She planted her velvety soft lips directly on
Jeff’s. Her intoxicating spicy, sweet breath caught him by surprise and he was
momentarily
suaved
to stupidity. A heavy object
crashed down on the back of his head and a starburst flooded his mind and his
knees buckled. He squinted up at Mystic’s pleased expression and his thought
was, “I don’t think she’s a good guy.” Then the world went black.

Jeff woke up with a throbbing headache. He
gingerly touched his head to find it wrapped in gauze.

“Never trust a delicate head to a strong
man,” Mystic said.

Jeff opened one eye and spikes of pain wedged
deep into his brain as if he wore a crown of thorns under his skull. He shut
his eye again.

“I’ve requested they steal a healer for you.
It might take a bit longer, but we’ll get someone in here.”

Afraid of the pain that might accompany
speech, Jeff whispered, “What do you want with me?”

Mystic chuckled. The sound was like diamonds
pinging together in a velvet purse. Jeff wished she’d keep chuckling because it
felt so soothing to his head.

“Jeff
Tohler
, son
of the king of bad and the queen of good. I want all you’re worth.”

Jeff’s eyes sprang open. “You’re
gonna
ransom me?”

The outburst cost him dearly. Moaning, he
cradled his head with both hands as if it were an egg.

Mystic pointed to herself.
“Bad
guy!”

“But you’ve helped me. You tried to find
Source with me.”

Mystic plopped on the side of Jeff’s bed, the
jarring motion making him quiver with pain. “Jeff, I did it all for me. Your
good side has served me very well, but it sure doesn’t serve you well. You’re
very gullible. That’s what’s wrong with all you white hats.
Far
too trusting.”

“I’m not a white hat,” Jeff said.

“You’re not a villain,” Mystic said. She
pushed off the bed, sending shooting pains through Jeff’s head again. “Regardless,
to me you are golden. If I play my cards right, I could become the new ruler of
the badlands. Papa bear will have to relinquish his title if he wants you in
one piece.”

She swung around and seared him with a steamy
stare. “Too bad you’re so flawed. We could rule together.”

She stepped uncomfortably close and bent over
him. Her long silky hair trailed over his arms and chest. Her lips trailed
along his neck.
“You and me, an unstoppable force.
Two beautiful and powerful bad guys.”

Jeff poked her bare arm with an ignited
fingertip. She squealed. The scent of burnt flesh filled Jeff’s nostrils. She
jumped away and glared at him menacingly.

Despite his
throbbing head, Jeff chuckled. “That is how I like you best, Mystic.
An arm’s length away.”

She stormed out of the room, slamming the
metal door loudly. The sound echoed through the barren room. Jeff’s vision
faded while glitter confetti twinkled and sparked. Then he passed out.

He fell in and out of consciousness in the windowless
room, leaving him with no sense of time. Sometimes he thought days had passed
while he slept. Other times he wondered if he’d only just fallen asleep. A meal
had been left for him while he was asleep. The gravy was congealed and the
mystery meat looked dried out. He thought he remembered a plate of chicken and
stuffing had been left at another time. Or had it been a hamburger and
french
fries? Jeff curled up on
his side with his back to the door.

At last the door opened and two girls
escorted a blustering, blindfolded man into the room. The group was followed by
Mystic and a big, beefy guy.

The girls tossed the man onto the floor like
a dirty rag.

Jeff eyed them through one eye; their
excessive noise wreaked havoc inside his head. The wiry little man struck Jeff
as inconsequential. He eyed Mystic warily and wondered what she was up to.

The man swung his head around like he might
be trying to hear where his captors were. He looked so vulnerable kneeling in
the center of the room with the blindfold wrapped over his eyes. “What is the
meaning of this? I’ll report you to the authorities.”

Jeff scoffed. “Oh, that’s
gonna
make them stop, dude.”

The man swung his head in Jeff’s direction
and stopped blathering.

“Oh, I see,” the man said.

“Funny, you look blindfolded to me,” Jeff
said.

“You’re hurt. That’s why they needed me.”

The statement unnerved Jeff. “How do you know
that? You can’t see me.”

“I smell it.”

“
Ew
,” everybody
said in unison.

“You should be me,” the man said.

Mystic stepped forward and pulled the blindfold
off the man. “Then do your thing.”

The man blinked up at her. Jeff recognized
the stupid, vacant expression as it stole across the man’s face.

“Mystic, let the guy do his thing and then
suave him all you want,” Jeff said.

She smirked at Jeff. “Jealous?”

“No, my head’s killing me.”

Mystic picked the little man up by the shirt
collar and set him on his feet. With a shove toward Jeff she said, “Meet your
fellow white hat.”

The young man stumbled to a stop just before
tumbling onto Jeff. He righted himself and looked back at Mystic, confused.
“He’s not a white hat.”

“I keep trying to tell her,” Jeff said.

“Well, he’s not a villain,” Mystic said. “Get
to work.”

The man turned toward Jeff. “My name is
Matthias. I am a healer, which is why they’ve abducted me apparently. Healing
powers only take effect on good guys, so I don’t think I can help you.”

“Well, you’ll be able to help me a little at
least. I’m
kinda
a hybrid,” Jeff whispered back. All
this talking and looking was more than his head could handle. He closed his
eyes and gently placed his head back on the pillow.

“I need ice,” Matthias said to Mystic.

Jeff thought Matthias was talking to him. As
carefully as he could manage, he drew a deep breath and blew a thick coat of
frost out.

Matthias startled, but quickly recovered and
held his fingers out to catch the frost. When they were completely coated he
said, “Thank you.”

He placed his cold fingers along Jeff’s
hairline. Closed his eyes and stood completely still.
For a
very long time.

The cold penetrated Jeff’s head. First it
seeped in through the skin. Then it snaked around until it sunk through the
skull. Fingers of cold pressed gently on his brain. They held steady, letting
the cold seep along the surface of the brain until it felt anesthetized. Jeff’s
ice stirred deep in his lungs. It snaked upward to mingle with the cold around
his brain.

Matthias’ eyes popped open in surprise.

“What on earth?” he mumbled.

“Something wrong?”
Mystic stepped forward. “Don’t damage the
goods, doc, or you won’t leave here alive.”

“Nothing’s wrong, miss,” Matthias said. “He’s
self anesthetizing. I’ve never seen such a thing.
Now
ssshhh
!”

Mystic growled, but stepped back again.

Matthias closed his eyes to refocus on the
healing.

Jeff became aware of a probe poking around in
his head. It found the injury from the inside and began to cauterize it. A
thick scab had grown over the outside of the wound, but the probe repaired the
still tender skin underneath the scab. Jeff’s fire stirred in his hands and he
fought to keep it there and to extinguish it. But it responded to the work the
probe performed and in the end Jeff couldn’t contain it. Fire licked upward
within his arms and danced delicately through his head until it met with the
probe and helped with the process of sealing the skin.

Matthias sucked in his breath, but this time
did not open his eyes or break concentration.

Mystic leaned forward her gaze bouncing
between Jeff and Matthias.