Discovery (8 page)

She tried to push him away again and, when her mouth was finally free, she screamed, “No!”

But Gregory was in his own trance and was not listening to her. He kept coming at her, groping her.

Grace pushed him harder. “I said no!” she screamed even louder and pushed both hands against his chest with all her might.

Her screams must have torn through Gregory's trance because his hand fell down leaving the top of her dress pushed to one side, her naked breast exposed to the night. He released her finally and stepped back as the redness of his eyes disappeared, replaced once again by his green twinkles.

“I guess I got carried away,” he said without emotion.

“Yeah. I'm not ready for that right now,” Grace replied, still panting from the force of her push out of Gregory's arms.

“Of course,” Gregory said, his emerald eyes unashamed. “I'll call you tomorrow.” He abruptly turned and disappeared into the night.

Grace stood there in shock, her breast hanging out of her halter dress and tears falling on her nakedness. How could her first kiss with Gregory have gone so wrong?

• • •

Ben sat in his dark car and covertly watched the scene at Grace's front door play out like some B–grade horror movie. The Council had specifically told him not to interfere, that they did not want the Anti-Powers knowing how close they actually were to Grace. They instructed him only to watch her discreetly from a distance, unless her safety was at risk. But that was like asking a mother rabbit to watch a fox attack her baby. When he saw Gregory's hand move down Grace's neck, Ben gripped the steering wheel tighter, his strength inadvertently bending it into a narrow upright oval. From Ben's viewpoint, he could not see where Gregory's hand landed on the front of Grace's dress, but his assumptions were confirmed when he saw her struggling out of Gregory's grasp.

“Forget the Council and their stupid instructions,” Ben said to himself as he started to get out of his car. His fist grabbed the door handle just as Gregory stepped back from Grace and walked away. With Gregory gone, Ben released his clutch on the now-mangled door handle and decided to remain in his car. He sat in the dark, watching Grace's tears fall down her face and land on her naked breast, until she turned and was safely in her apartment.

“I can't take this anymore,” Ben sighed as he bent the steering wheel back into its original form.

• • •

Jamison and Andrew Reich were in the study when they heard the front door open and close.

“Gregory?” Mr. Reich called.

“Yes, sir.” Gregory entered the study and sat down across from his father.

“Well? How did her test go?” Mr. Reich leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms.

“She's got more willpower than we expected.”

“Really?” Mr. Reich raised his eyebrows.

“Yes, sir. I was able to manipulate her emotions the whole night. You know, one minute I made her nervous, the next minute totally calm. But when I went in to cop a feel, she fell out of my control and tried to push me away.”

“You copped a feel?” Andrew interrupted, quickly tossing aside the book he was reading. “Way to go little brother.”

“Yeah. I was having a good time until her stupid willpower got in the way.”

“How was it?” Andrew pressed.

“Great breast,” Gregory smirked. “Best mission I've been on in a while.”

“Boys,” Mr. Reich interrupted. “Can we get back to the task at hand?”

Both boys grinned and looked at their father.

“Gregory,” Mr. Reich continued. “I'm glad you enjoyed yourself tonight but do you think Grace passed your test?”

“No, sir,” Gregory sat up straighter. “I don't understand it. I am able to control her emotions but it looks like when I get close to challenging her goodie-two-shoes principles, she has some pretty intense pushback. Her willpower is unreal. I've never seen anything like it.”

“Good to know.” Mr. Reich smiled and turned to Andrew. “Call Doc tomorrow and have him put together a little birthday drink for Grace. Tell him we just need her dazed at her party. We don't want her dead – at least not yet.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Andrew.

“Father,” Gregory said. “I really don't think that will be necessary. I can handle her. I just need a little more practice before her party. I promise. I can do this.”

Mr. Reich looked hard at his youngest son. “Gregory, like me, you have many powers but your ability to manipulate the mind will be one of your greatest when it is fully developed. If you think more practice will get it to the level we need for the party, well then, you better start practicing.” He then turned back to Andrew. “But you still need to call Doc. I am leaving nothing to chance that night.”

Tom was still up when Ben returned home.

“Is your shift over already?” he asked. Tom sounded more concerned than surprised.

“I got someone else from the team to cover for me the rest of tonight. I had to get out of there.” Ben purposefully avoided Tom's eyes as he fell down into his recliner.

Tom turned off the television and shifted around on the couch to face Ben. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” Ben did not look up.

“Ben, did something go wrong?” Tom pressed.

“No. I said nothing happened. Grace is fine. Safe and sound in her apartment.”

“And?”

“And nothing. I'm just sick of spying on her and her boyfriend. That's all. All that kissing and stuff. It's disgusting.” Ben stared down at his jacket's zipper.

“But that's your job. You are Grace's Guardian and part of that job means you have to take a shift or two to watch her, even when she is with her boyfriend.” Tom's voice grew stern. “You're not falling for her again, are you? Because we've been over this a thousand times. You are not the Chosen One. I am. When the time comes, it's my job to be with Grace, not yours. So no feelings for her, remember?”

“Yeah. I remember.” Ben's fingers were now nervously fumbling with his jacket zipper. If Ben looked up, Tom's powers might allow him to see his younger brother's true feelings reflected in Ben's eyes. Tom's reading gift was one of his stronger powers and had always been a pain in the butt for Ben. One strategic look into someone's eyes and Tom knew a person's soul and the source of their emotions. Ben knew his propensity for breaking furniture had always bugged Tom, but it was nothing compared to living with someone who could discover all your secrets. Through the years, Ben had learned to fake his emotions when he needed to around Tom. But faking took more self-control than Ben had right now so he continued to stare down at his hands when he said, “I think Grace really likes this Gregory guy.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I don't know. The way she kissed him. The way she didn't slap his face off when he groped her. She just pushed him away.”

“He groped her? Where were they?”

“At her front door. Gregory went in for a little more than a good night kiss. Luckily, Grace stopped him.”

“How could she stop him? I thought he was some Anti-Power with all this strength.” Tom's eyes narrowed. “Did you interfere?”

“No. Grace's willpower must be getting stronger than we thought. All I know is he just left her standing alone at her front door.” Ben was finally in control enough to look up at his older brother. “She was crying.”

“So. Remember she's just a job. If she cries, that's part of being human and you can't worry about her feelings. You just need to keep her alive until her twenty-second birthday. The Council will take it from there.”

“The Council? What do they know?” Ben was tired of listening to the Council.

“Everything,” reminded Tom.

“No, really, Tom. What do they know? We don't even know who is on the Council. To be honest, I really don't think we know anything at all! All we know is that we have to live by their rules just because they are the governing body of the Powers, the so-called old superheroes.”

“I hate that term,” Tom interrupted.

“Whatever. Okay, instead of superheroes, let's just say those of us with
special powers
,” Ben smirked.

“Better,” Tom inserted.

“Anyway, this great, all-knowing Council determines how those of us with special powers can live our lives and yet we don't know anything about them. We just get these random messages about discharging our duty and how do we know it's real? How do we know the Council is real, Tom?”

“Because Mom and Dad told us.”

“Mom and Dad are dead because of the Council.” Ben's words were coming out of his mouth faster than his brain could filter them.

“No, they're dead because of the Anti-Powers. The Council tried to save them. You know that. You and I would be dead too if not for the Council.”

“Right,” said Ben, rolling his eyes. “Sometimes I think I'd rather be dead.”

“Ben, calm down.”

“No,” Ben vented at his brother. “This is too much. The Council groomed me to be Grace's Guardian just like they groomed you to be the Chosen One. Did anyone ask us if we wanted these jobs? No. They just threw them to us and told us to handle it. Well, what if I don't want to
handle it
anymore?”

“Then the Council will assign someone else to protect Grace and you'll never see her again,” Tom stated bluntly.

Those words immediately silenced Ben's rage. He already knew them to be true but he had never felt their reality more than he felt them at that moment. In the middle of his madness, Ben knew one thing. He could not lose Grace. He loved her too much. He just hoped no one else knew how he felt or he really would never see her again.

“If that's my only option, to stay or to quit, I better shut up and suck it up because I'm not quitting this job. I have too much time invested in it.” Ben tried to sound firm on the subject and hoped Tom bought his bogus excuse.

“Good,” said Tom. “You just need to hold it together a little longer. Once Grace turns twenty-two, the Council will take her in and your job will be over.”

“And your job will begin,” mumbled Ben.

“Look, Bro. I'm sorry I'm the Chosen One. Like you said, I didn't ask for this. The Council decided this a long time ago. And I'm sorry Grace is the last survivor of the Family. It's not my fault your best friend is the only human remaining on earth with the DNA needed by the Council to survive.”

“Needed by the Council
and
the Anti-Powers,” said Ben.

“Exactly,” said Tom. “And once she turns twenty-two, if the Anti-Powers get her, Grace's life is over.”

“Her life, our lives, the Council — ”

“But you won't let that happen, right?” reminded Tom.

“Right,” sighed Ben.

“So let's just keep her alive until she turns twenty-two and her DNA is ready for the Council and then you can take a nice, long vacation.”

“Sure,” replied Ben.
A nice, long, miserable vacation without Grace
, he thought.

“Thanks for agreeing to see me,” said Gregory.

“You need to be thanking Annie. She's the one who convinced me to give you a second chance,” Grace said. They sat on the couch in Grace's living room. Annie had quickly exited the apartment upon Gregory's arrival so Grace could be alone with him. Annie said she and Gregory needed to hash out the front door incident, as they were now calling it, but the minute Gregory appeared at the door, Grace knew there would be no “hashing” tonight. Grace's memory of the incident started fading as soon as he sat down beside her.

“So?” Grace was trying to stand her ground but her faux tough girl act was hard to maintain with Gregory's green twinkles staring back at her.

“So … I'm sorry.” Gregory reached over and took Grace's hand. The electricity was back. “I'm really sorry. I would never take advantage of you like that. I guess kissing you was a little more than I anticipated and my hands had a mind of their own. Do you forgive me? Can we start over?”

Once again, Grace felt an unnatural calmness fall over her. Her head felt woozy and Gregory's words sailed around her mind and enveloped it just as Gregory's fingers intertwined with hers. He pulled her hand to his lips and began kissing each finger.

“Please?” asked Gregory, looking at her over his kisses.

Grace sighed. “Don't let that happen again.” She paused. “At least not until I'm ready.”

“I promise.” Gregory smiled. “Perhaps we could try another kiss now that I promise to be a good boy?” Gregory moved closer to Grace on the couch.

“Sure,” said Grace hesitantly. She had not asked Gregory about his red eyes from the front door incident but she had earlier rationalized it must have been her porch light playing tricks on her mind. Her nerves' protective blanket returned with Gregory's presence tonight and the minute she felt his breath on her cheek any remaining fear she had over Gregory's red pupils disappeared completely.

“I promise to be good,” Gregory whispered just as he drew her face toward him. His lips lightly brushed hers as his hands held Grace's face in place against his. His kisses were delicate but Grace felt a need for more than Gregory's delicacy. For some reason, her confidence was in overdrive and she reached up to place both arms around his neck, pulling him against her. His hands immediately left her face and wrapped around her body. Electric tingles flew over her skin as they clutched each other on the couch and pressed their lips together in coercive motion. They kissed for what seemed like a long while until Grace finally had to come up for air.

“Wow,” she said, pulling her lips away from Gregory's grasp.

“Was that better?”

“You could say that.” Grace was lightheaded and Gregory's kiss confirmed what she thought all along. He was her own personal drug. And Grace was addicted.