Reality Hero (6 page)

They walked over to his car. He opened the door for her and she got inside. When he was in the driver’s seat and the engine roared to life, he glanced at her.

“I’m sorry if you had other plans. I’ve really missed you.” He reached over and covered her hand with his. She jerked away as if he’d burned her. Zane frowned. “I’m not so heroic that I’m above extortion when it comes to your time, Dina.”

Her mouth curled to one side with annoyance and she looked out the window. When he said stuff like that, she crumbled inside. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, but that would be foolish, for both of them.

They drove for a few blocks in silence. “We’re almost there,” he said quietly.

There weren’t any restaurants close by. This area was all residential neighborhoods. She gave him a skeptical look and he grinned.

“Don’t worry. I plan to feed you.”

They’d endured their fair share of hunger. A statement like that might not mean the same thing it did to most people. The simple act of providing for each other had once meant so much between them. She held her breath and fought the primal response growing inside of her. She wanted to kiss him. The old feelings might be dormant when he was away, but the moment she was next to him, she was twenty again and madly in love. Sometimes she hated herself for not being able to let go.

There was a small park up ahead. She remembered it. They’d come here when they wanted to get away from the others. They’d eaten here many summer nights. He’d bring her a sandwich and they’d eat and talk. She loved the simple moments. Even if the park hadn’t been the safest place after dark, she’d never worried because her superman had her back. Even now, with the decaying park displaying deteriorating standards, she didn’t feel a single twinge of fear. Zane would protect her; he always took care of her.

She hated the way she felt. He made her so content. The only time she felt this whole was when he was with her. She’d tried to love other men, but they’d always left her feeling lost. Zane was like a trail of breadcrumbs. When she found him, she was home again.

Zane stopped the car with no restaurants in sight. Dina watched as he got out and went around to the trunk. Before she could open her door, he was gallantly helping her out of the car. She noticed he had a basket. Sandwiches. She hated how good it sounded to eat something so simple as long as she was with him. Food tasted better when he made it. The air smelled cleaner when he was with her. The whole, good-for-nothing world looked brighter when he was standing next to her. Dina wanted to slap herself, but she knew that would look really strange.

He grinned as if he knew what she was thinking. Her eyebrow rose. He shrugged. She suspected he could read minds, but he’d never come out and admitted it. He took her arm and led her to a picnic table. The thing showed obvious signs of recent repair. Their table, it was still there, and she suspected he was the one who’d done the recent patchwork. The effort he’d put into taking her out for supper touched her so deeply she hated herself even more.

Zane spread a cloth over the worn wood. She sat down on the top instead of the seat, just like she’d done in the old days. He sat down right next to her, grinning. “Good choice,” he said.

She shrugged. “Heck, feels like the thing to do.”

He opened the basket and handed her a sandwich. Ham and cheese, no crust, mayo on one side, butter on the other, the thing was perfect. This was so much like those long ago days that she shivered.

“Are you cold?”

“No,” she lied. She was cold, but it was on the inside not the outside. Her soul was frozen. The woman who loved him was trapped in a prison of ice that the woman who feared losing him had imprisoned her in.

She took a bite and chewed methodically. It might as well have been sawdust. Her mouth was dry. She couldn’t breathe right because he was so close.

“How is it?” he asked.

She detected a note of anxiety in his question, and it was adorable. Dina hated adorable, but it looked sexy on Zane. His hair had fallen into his beautiful eyes. In the dusk light, he looked like the most delicious thing on the menu. She wanted to taste something that wasn’t in the basket—him.

“Great. Thanks.” She was keeping it as simple as possible.
It’s the most delicious thing I’ve eaten all year because you made it for me. I want to kiss you right now. In fact, I think I’ll take you right here in this picnic table. Drop your drawers ’cause I’m planning to ride you all night.
Instead of saying that, she took another bite of her sandwich, but Zane gave her a smoldering look and a sexy grin. The man could make her wet with nothing but eye contact. He should come with a warning label. His grin widened. She looked away and kept eating.

He handed her some chips, the generic ones she loved, and a Coke. Every time she glanced at him, he was looking at her too. She forced herself to swallow.

“This is nice,” he murmured. She agreed, but couldn’t tell him her feelings..

“Sure. Okay, I’m full. Let’s go. She tossed her half eaten sandwich in a trash can as she ran to his car. She slammed the door and buckled up.

The hurt on his face only made the few bites she’d taken feel like a lump in her stomach. She hated doing this to him.

He cleaned up and put the basket back in his trunk. Zane drove her home without another word. She turned to him. There was a tick in his jaw. She wanted to say something, but the words caught in her throat.

“Go to bed, Dina,” he ordered, without looking at her.

Heat burned in her cheeks. She hated that she’d refused to reminisce with him. He had no idea just how much those old feelings still lived inside of her. She opened the door, this time he didn’t get it for her, and she ran up the stairs and into her building like the chicken she was. Her inner voice made clucking sounds the whole time she fled. Nothing terrified her quite like her longing for him. She wondered if he knew it and hoped he didn’t.

She’d never get any rest and she had a mountain of work so she sat down and started going over everything. There was a lot more to putting on good TV than just turning on a camera. The phone rang and she jumped. Her hand slapped around on top of all the papers on the desk until she found her cellphone buried under them. Her eyes were so blurry that she didn’t even bother to look at the caller ID.

“Hello,” Dina said.

“I’ve never been ashamed of you until today. Dina, how could you? You know Zane would never let you down. You used his feelings to abuse his good heart. I’m so angry with you that I don’t even know the right words to express it. If you needed something, why didn’t you talk to me first? I could’ve helped you. We could’ve come up with something different.”

There was a pause. Dina didn’t know what to say. It was a small relief when Ella continued.

“He hates the media, and now he’ll not only just be on your show, but the tabloids will eat him alive too. They’ll do all they can to find out his secret identity. You know the lies those rags print. This will start a feeding frenzy.”

Dina knew she deserved the tongue lashing, so she said nothing. She had no defense, because her twin was right.

“Call this off. Please, as my sister, do this for me and save the best man in the city from this horrible mistake. I know how you feel about him, and you know how I feel about him. We both know how he feels about you.”

There was another pause. Dina’s throat closed. She knew, and it tore at her heart.

“Are you still there?” Ella sounded annoyed.

“Yes,” Dina whispered brokenly.

“When you left, you ripped out his guts. Don’t destroy his life. He still loves you.”

“I know.” That was what made asking him to be on the show so damn hard.

“I don’t know why you turned your back on us, but you owe him. We all do. He’s the best of us. We’ve lost Aaron. Don’t take Zane away too. If he’s exposed, God only knows what will happen to him—us. Don’t do this, Dina.”

She bit her lip. She wanted to tell her sister she’d come to her senses, but it was too late.

“Ella, I’m so sorry. I hate myself, but it’s too late. They’re already airing the promos on the network, and the casting call went out. In the morning, I’m going to have dozens of women begging me to be on this show. Zane and I have been over for a very long time. We both know which one of us is in his life. You should be with him, not me. I’m his Achilles heel.”

“Being in his life isn’t the same as being in his heart, sis. He’s always loved you, and while we look alike, I’ll never be you. He wants you. I don’t know if it’s the hero or the man that loves you, but you’re the only woman he’s ever been interested in having. He’s never given me any hope he’ll change his mind.” She cleared her throat. Dina wondered if Ella was crying, but couldn’t make herself ask. “So that’s why you left? Achilles heel? You’re such an idiot.” Ella’s words were harsh, but her tone was sad. Dina felt more anger over the pity than the insult.

“You know my non-abilities put him at risk. I’d be a pawn for the bad guys if they ever found out about me.” She dropped her voice to the softest whisper. “I don’t have any abilities.” She paused. An idea hit her hard. The jolt of inspiration left butterflies in her stomach. “Come on the show as Rain. Be one of his dates and go out with him, force him to see that you’re a better match for him then any of us mere mortals. It’ll make fantastic television, and he’ll be forced to confront your feelings for him.” Ella and Zane together was the last thing she honestly wanted to happen, but it made sense. If he was happy, maybe then she could get on with her life.

Ella was quiet for a long time.

“Did you hang up? Hello, are you still there?”

“I’m still here. I’ll do the show. I hope to God I don’t regret this.” The weak reply on the other end sounded strange to Dina’s ears. She could hear terror mingling with joy. Her heart ached. She loved her sister and she loved Zane. If they were happy, she could find peace. The ugly past reared up, taking over her mind.

Dina was in the cage. It was always cold. The dungeon was clean, in a sterile way, but dank and dark. She could hear something dripping somewhere. She shivered. They’d been tortured daily for three years. Ella was so weak. Dina feared she was going to die. They’d brought her sister back this time, but the next time could be a different story.

She looked at Zane. He’d come to mean so much to her. They were fourteen. The other survivors were around their same age, except Ian. He was the only little kid that had survived. He was only eleven now. The six of them looked out for each other as best as they could, but most of the time they lived in their cages. They’d made up little games and tried to keep track of the months, but lately she couldn’t remember what the sky looked like. She was going to die in the pit.

Ella lay limply. One of the doctors—monsters—rushed in with his machine. He started taking her vitals. His assistant held a tape recorder out so that the doctor could dictate as he worked.

“Female subject B has developed ability. Remarkably, she was able to change the molecules in her body. Astounding. Female subject A has been unresponsive. We will intensify our focus and duplicate the experiments as both subjects share the same genetic abnormality our research is focusing on. We hypothesize that both girls will develop similar abilities. So far none of the other subjects have displayed any changes.”

Dina felt ill. She was female subject A. She didn’t know what they’d done to her sister, or what was abnormal about her, but she didn’t like the sound of the doctor’s frantic dictation.

He turned to look at her. For a moment, she made eye contact with the evil man. He regarded her with curiosity, but she detected no trace of empathy. He turned to his scrawny male assistant. “Prepare female subject A.”

Then he continued to monitor her sister. He’d scribble notes into her chart, but he showed her no courtesy or comfort, just clinical appraisal. Ella moaned and cried out as he turned her. Dina could see terrible bruises on her sister’s body.

The nerdy little man put down the tape recorder, gave her a strange smile, and approached her cage. Dina tried to move away, but she had little room to maneuver. He took out his keys and the lock clicked. She tried to kick him as he opened the door, but his cold hands grabbed her ankles and he pulled her out. She was so weak that she was no match for even such a slight man as he.

Zane rattled his door. She glanced at him, and the panic on his face only added to her fear. She was going to die this time. She was too weak to fight anymore.

They pulled her out. She heard Ella whimper. Two scientists flanked her and she shuffled along with them. She’d figured out long ago that they worked for the government, but the reason for the torment was still unclear. Her eyes went in and out of focus and the sound of their voices seemed to be coming from a long tunnel, even though they stood next to her.

The doors to their laboratory opened and she blinked against the light. It hurt her eyes. The bright, busy laboratory always surprised her because it was such a contrast to the room of cages where she spent most of her time recovering from the experiments.