Authors: Corrina Lawson
“This is nice,” Al said between bites.
She smiled. “Yes, it is.”
“I’m glad you stayed.”
“You just like the regular sex.”
He grinned again. “Hell, yeah.”
After dinner, Al cleared off the pizza box, picked the big manila folder up off the floor and set it on the table. He stared at it for a few seconds.
“What’s in there that’s scaring you?” she asked.
“Some stuff I thought you might want to see. Ranges from bad to good news.”
“I thought I was done with bad news.”
“This is more like bringing up bad memories.” He pulled a copy of a photo from the folder. “We found this in Jill’s notes. It’s a picture of the two of them before Jill started experimenting.”
She took the photo and studied it. Jill looked younger but the same. “Wow.”
Jack towered over his twin. Yet he looked…normal. Well, somewhat normal. His face was misshapen, his brow too big, his jaw too large to be normal. But his body was in proportion.
“She made him worse.”
“Yeah, possibly, although I’m told gigantism can get worse over time. She certainly made him more volatile and crazy.” Al took the photo back. “He let her try to fix him because it was important to her. I wonder if it was as important to him, especially at the start.”
She leaned over the table, took Al’s face in her hands and kissed him. He kissed her back, and for a moment, she forgot about anything else. It was just the feel of his lips against hers, the smell of the city on his shirt and the flip-flop in her stomach as she realized he cared as much as she did.
“What was that for?” he asked as he drew back.
“Because if that’s the bad news, I really want to see the good news.”
“This part is not so much news as information.” He pulled out a business card. “Doc Leslie said to give you this. He said he asked around and that you’re not the only, um,
unusual
person out there. He said these people are worth trying. He said they might be able to help you with the invisibility issue.”
The card said “Phoenix Institute”. It contained only a name, Beth Nakamora, and a phone number. She put it on the table. “I’ll think about it.” Other people like her? Invisible people? Or people who were freaks? She just might be curious enough to call.
“What else you got, Al?”
He tapped the folder against the table. “Let me ask you a question first. Have you figured out what you want to do with your life yet?”
She moved from the chair to sit next to him. She put her head on his shoulder. “In a week? Are you trying to get rid of me already?”
“Never.” He set the folder down and pulled her into his lap. He nuzzled her neck. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him, drawing this one out for a long time. After he broke the kiss, he caressed her face. Her stomach settled. She felt bubbly, happy.
“So, humor me, Noir. Tell me what you’d like to do with your life beyond sexing me up.”
“I liked doing what we did to catch Jill.”
“You liked getting shot and risking your life?”
“I liked preventing other people from getting hurt. I got jazzed from it, but not just that, I felt like I’d accomplished something. I mean, I’m invisible but I wasn’t invisible. I mattered.”
She slid off his lap. “You have to know what I mean. Your hand is messed up. But you’re not planning to quit. The paper says you’re due for a promotion.”
Al was silent a long moment. “Helping people is a good thing.”
“You said we were partners. I liked that too.”
He nodded. “I can’t see a way to get you on the force. But unofficially, if you want to keep helping…”
He brushed her cheek with his finger. And he did it by instinct. He might not see what she looked like, but he saw her just the same.
“That’s not good enough, though, even if I’m selfish enough to think it’s perfect for me. You want a normal life; it can’t all revolve around me. You have to find a thing of your own.”
“You want me to go?”
“Hell, no, Noir.” He stared at her, intent. She’d never seen him more serious.
“Don’t I keep asking you to stay? But maybe you can study art or something. Most cop work is boring. It won’t keep you occupied enough.”
She nodded. “I’ll think about it. Try to put a plan together.” She sighed. “I suppose I should look for where I came from at some point. But I don’t know where to start.”
“Luckily, I’m a cop, and I do know where to start.” Al flipped open the folder. It was a missing persons report. She caught one name, “Lucy”, before her eyes misted over.
“This is a missing persons report filed five years ago. Your missing persons report.” Al’s voice was hoarse and thick.
“My real name is
Lucy
?” Her own throat was closed up. She rubbed tears out of her eyes. ““How did you—?”
“I had your approximate age, a geographic area where you vanished and a rough idea of how long you’ve been missing. So I tracked you down.”
He held up a photo. It showed a teenager with unruly dark hair, large brown eyes and a smile full of mischief. She took the photo from Al. Her hand trembled. This was Lucy. This was her. She looked normal. She looked happy. Had she been happy or was the smile a lie?
“Do I want to read what the report says?” She blinked back tears. Maybe she’d come from a lousy place. Maybe she’d forgotten her life because it had sucked. That was almost easier to accept than knowing she’d been torn from a good home and from people who loved her. That would mean she’d lost everything.
Al set the report on the coffee table. “You need to read this. I talked to the detective in Queen City who caught the case years back. You were loved, Noir. You disappeared when you were nineteen and your parents never stopped looking. They’re still looking. They still hope to find you.”
“My parents?” Her voice broke.
“The Queen City detective said your parents call every few months asking for news. Your mom’s a teacher. Your dad runs a construction business. You’re their only child.”
Tears streamed down her face. She had parents. They
loved
her. “But how can I go to them like this? How can I explain? I don’t remember…” But now that she saw herself, bits and pieces came back. Sitting on the lap of a big, gruff man with a hardhat while he looked over blueprints. Her father.
Dad.
A quiet voice from over her shoulder, asking her if she liked the book she was reading. Her mother.
Mom.
“How will they even know I’m their daughter? They can’t even see me. How will they understand that?” Tears dripped down her face freely now.
“The same way you explained to me. They’ll understand.” Al kissed her cheek, brushing a tear away with his lips. “You’re crying.”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“You have to let them know you’re all right.”
“I’m not all right. I’m like this.” She pointed at herself.
“You’re Noir. You faced down the monster. You saved my life. And you’re luminous. You can handle being Lucy too. You can handle a happy ending.” Al handed her his cell phone. “Call, partner.”
She took a deep breath and stared at him, the tears fading. “I love you, Al,” she whispered.
He grinned. “Good, that’ll make it easier to explain to your parents that you’re with a guy a decade older.” He leaned over and kissed her. “I love you too.”
She started dialing.
About the Author
Corrina Lawson is a writer, mom, geek and superhero.
She’s a former newspaper reporter with a degree in journalism from Boston University. She turned to writing fiction after her twins were born (they were kids number three and four) to save her sanity. The twins are eleven now and she’s written eight books, all blends of romance with various genres.
Corrina is currently an editor of
www.GeekMom.com
, a core contributor to its brother site,
Geek Dad
on Wired.com (
www.wired.com/Geekdad
), and a co-author of the upcoming
The GeekMom Book
from Potter Craft Books, a division of Crown Publishing. She also writes for
Sequential Tart
(
www.sequentialtart.com
), a webzine about comics and pop culture written solely by women. Often you can find her hanging out on comic book writer
Gail Simone’s forum
on Jinxworld.
She has been a finalist in the national Golden Heart contest sponsored by the Romance Writers of America and is the winner of several regional RWA contests.
Look for these titles by Corrina Lawson
Now Available:
Freya’s Gift
Phoenix Institute
Phoenix Rising
Coming Soon:
Phoenix Institute
Phoenix Legacy
He was born to be a weapon. For her, he must learn to be a hero.
Phoenix Rising
© 2011 Corrina Lawson
The Phoenix Institute, Book 1
Since birth, Alec Farley has been trained to be a living weapon. His firestarter and telekinetic abilities have been honed to deadly perfection by the Resource, a shadowy anti-terrorist organization—the only family he has ever known. What the Resource didn’t teach him, though, is how to play well with others.
When psychologist Beth Nakamora meets Alec to help him work on his people skills, she’s hit with a double-barreled first impression. He’s hot in more ways than one. And her first instinct is to rescue him from his insular existence.
Her plan to kidnap and deprogram him goes awry when her latent telepathic ability flares, turning Alec’s powers off. Hoping close proximity will reignite his flame, she leads him by the hand through a world he’s never known. And something else flares: Alec’s anger over everything he’s been denied. Especially the passion that melds his mind and body with hers.
The Resource, however, isn’t going to let anything—or anyone—steal its prime investment. Alec needs to be reminded where his loyalties lie…starting with breaking his trust in the woman he’s come to love.
Enjoy the following excerpt for
Phoenix Rising:
“I’m sorry for staring. I’ve haven’t seen your equipment up close before.”
“Hah!” He sat in an easy chair to lace up his boots. “You know you can see my equipment anytime you ask.”
“Um, that’s not quite what I had in mind.” Alec had charmed her. Lansing had been right about that. She hadn’t counted on him being so genuinely interested in her.
At least she’d had the willpower not to touch Alec’s hand and risk that intense jolt of energy a second time. Just being around him was seductive enough.
Alec shrugged at her refusal, walked back to the bed and loaded a clip into his handgun. Some sort of pistol, though she had no idea exactly what kind. Philip would have known. Alec’s eyes narrowed as he double-checked the weapon. For a moment, he was completely the competent military officer.
Satisfied, he set it down and turned to face her. He frowned, on uncertain ground again.
“Did anyone ever show you a life without guns?”
He raised one of those perfect eyebrows, oozing more confidence than ten men. Who wouldn’t have that confidence, if fire literally danced to their command?
“You know, I thought Lansing agreed too quickly to send you. Did he want you to check up on me?”
“No.” But it would be like Lansing to say that he had.
“Hah. I think you’re a bad liar, counselor. A life without guns? That’s the kind of leading question that he uses to test me.”
“I’m not lying.” Not about that. “No, it’s the first time I’ve seen you prepare for a mission. It worries me.” She looked down at the dark carpet and scuffed her feet. “I have doubts about what you’re doing. I think you’re not seeing the big picture.”
Like how your foster father is using you to gain power and influence, at the risk of your life.
“You don’t have to put your gift to this use. There are so many other things you can do that don’t involve violence.”
Or the possibility of being killed.
Philip had been terrified at letting her walk into danger. Looking at Alec, she knew how Philip felt. Just how dangerous was this mission tonight?
“Only I can do what I can do,” Alec said.
“Which is all the more reason not to risk your life so recklessly.” She was pushing too hard, out of fear. No choice now. She’d run out of time.
“I’m not reckless,” he said. “I’m as careful as I can be.”
“With weapons and body armor? If you’re doing something careful, you don’t need them.”
He buckled on the body armor and walked over to her, so that they were only a few feet apart. He towered over her, even more than Lansing, but she didn’t feel the least bit afraid of him, not since their first meeting. He wouldn’t hurt her. Despite his work as a soldier, there was no meanness in him. She rubbed her arm, remembering Lansing’s anger. Alec wasn’t like him at all.