King Of Bad [Super Villian Academy Book 1] (18 page)

“I thought
Source was going to be the surprise.”

Mystic said,
“Who?”

Jeff huffed and
closed his eyes.

“Oh, I
remember. Why would you think he was here?” Mystic asked.

“The blue flame thing.
I assumed it was the same people
who’d come to get him,” Jeff said.

“No, I taught
them that when I got back. Though, I didn’t realize you’d gotten so good at it.
You really did a number on a couple people with that super powered stuff.”

Jeff ignored
her. “Who could have taken him?”

“Well, I would
think one of the academies in Mexico,” Mystic said.

“Why do you say
that?”

“Because they spoke Spanish.”

“Drop the
sarcasm, please. I figured they spoke Spanish to communicate with Detainee.”

“Actually it’s
the other way around. Detainee’s native language is Nigerian.”

Jeff gawked at
Mystic. She’d known this all these months and hadn’t mentioned it once.

“I thought you
knew,” she said and shrugged. She pushed away from him and stood. “You want a
tour of the place?”

“No, I want to
figure this out. Which academies are in Mexico?”

Mystic rolled
her eyes. “I don’t know. There’s one in Mexicali and one in Puerto Vallarta, I
think.”

“Only two?
That should be easy enough for us to scope out
then.”

“What do you
mean, scope out? You think you can just walk in and ask if they’ve abducted
anyone?”

“Well, maybe
not that blatantly. I could pretend to be checking out the school.”

“Do you speak
Spanish?”

Jeff shook his
head.

“Then why would
you check out a school in Mexico? You can’t just walk into an academy of
villains and not be under suspicion. Heck, we’d set up my arrival at S.V.A. and
they still went into major lock down mode.”

“How am I going
to find Source then?”

“Why is he so
important to you?”

“I don’t know.
It’s just the way I am. Heck, I don’t even like you that much, but I’d still
try to help if something happened to you.”

Mystic laughed.
“That almost sounded like a true villain, Polar.
Almost.”

She sat back
down. “Tell you what. I’ll help you. We’ll go investigate the academies and see
if we find anything out. I think I’ll be able to get you a student interview
which will at least get you into the schools.”

“Thanks,
Mystic.”

“Stop with the
charm already!” she said and laughed. “Now do you want a tour?”

“Sure, that’d
be great.”

Chapter 23

The week
dragged to an end. The only kids that gave Jeff the time of day were suck-ups
and opportunists. He didn’t even have his trusty sidekick to talk to. She was
still at S.V.A. probably starving to death. Jeff was no less lonely at F.V.A.
than at S.V.A. At last it was time for Mystic and Jeff to sneak off to Mexico.
Mystic had managed to set up an interview for Jeff at each of the academies
under the guise that he’d been tossed out of too many schools in the states and
was looking to relocate.

“Remember, you
need to show off your blue fire. Make it a big deal like no one else has it.
That way, they will be likely to brag if they already do.” Mystic went over the
student interview scenario for the sixth time on the plane ride down. They were
on a red eye flight and most of the other passengers were asleep.

Jeff’s first
interview was at the academy in Puerto Vallarta on Saturday morning. Their
flight touched down two hours before the interview, leaving them just enough
time to get a taxi to a remote location and a quick two-mile sprint to the
gates. Covered in dust from their run, they rang the bell and waited to be let
in.

“Water would be
nice,” Mystic said to the young woman who led them into the school.

“Agua,
por
favor,” Jeff said and pantomimed drinking from a glass.

The woman spun
around and glared at him. He flashed his crooked grin at her and shrugged. She
smiled back, her whole body relaxing.

“
Sí
,” she said and led
the way again.

Mystic shot a
warning look at Jeff.

He grimaced and
pretended to hit his forehead.

The woman
brought in a large pitcher of water and two glasses. She smiled at Jeff a lot,
rubbed up against him and ignored Mystic completely. Finally she left them
alone to wait for the dean of the school.

“Buenos
dias
.” A handsome man swept into the room.

Mystic stood
and extended her hand. The man took it and kissed the back of it. His lips
lingered as they leered at each other.

“Good morning,”
Mystic said. “Certainly
you
aren’t Mr. Alvarez?”

“
Sí
, I am he.”

“You’re so
young to be dean,” Mystic purred.

Jeff stifled a
groan and looked everywhere but at the two other occupants of the room. Mystic
had her full suave pulsating.

Mr. Alvarez
arched an eyebrow.
“Psychic suave?
Such
a gift.
But unnecessary in one
so
beautiful as
you.”

Jeff cleared
his throat loudly.

Mystic smirked
at him. “Ah yes, the reason I’m here. Mr. Alvarez, let me introduce, Blaze
Binion
.”

After the
attention finally focused on Jeff, the interview went smoothly. Jeff showed off
some of his talents, stepping up to the finale of his blue fire. Mr. Alvarez
nearly turned inside out with excitement over it, thoroughly disappointing
Jeff. It was all he could do not to just walk out of the school. Mystic didn’t
seem in any sort of hurry to leave and kept asking needless questions.

Jeff grew
impatient and finally blurted, “Look, I don’t like it here, okay? It’s too
hot.”

“Ah, pity,”
Mystic said. She winked at Jeff, making him want to wrap his hands around her
throat.

She finally
said their goodbyes. Mr. Alvarez didn’t seem too upset that Jeff didn’t want to
attend his school, but he pouted when it came time to say goodbye to Mystic. He
tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and escorted them to the front gate.
They sprinted up the dusty road away from the school. Jeff took one last look
and saw Mr. Alvarez still staring after them.

They didn’t stop running until they arrived in Guadalajara.

Their
appointment with the school in Mexicali wasn’t until Monday morning, so they
rented a hotel room and went swimming before going out to dinner.

Jeff insisted
on sleeping on the floor that night. Mystic rolled her eyes before she turned
her back to him and grumbled, “Goodnight.”

The next day
they caught a plane up to Mexicali and checked into a hotel.

“Are you sure
this is the only other academy in Mexico?” Jeff asked.

“Yes, I’m
sure.”

Jeff was antsy
all evening.
Drumming his fingers, fidgeting, pacing.

“Calm down,
Polar!” Mystic yelled. “You are driving me crazy.”

“Sorry,” Jeff
said.

“That doesn’t
help,” Mystic mumbled.

“Oh, right,
sorry.”

Mystic groaned
and flounced out of the hotel room.

Jeff found her
sitting by the pool in the dark. “Hey, you ugly wench, got a problem with me?”

Mystic laughed.
“Not anymore.”

* * * *

The next
morning Jeff woke early and went for a run to burn off his excess energy. When
he got back to the hotel room, Mystic was sitting up in bed, her long hair an
attractive tumble spilling around her almost bare torso.

Jeff smirked.
“Damn. You are an amazing creature.”

“You don’t need
to resort to flattery, Polar. I’m yours whenever you want me.”

Jeff rolled his
eyes. “Why can’t I admire you without wanting you?”

“It isn’t
natural.” Mystic crawled from the bed. She wore only a white tank top and small
white panties. An opalescent sheen shimmered on her olive skin. The pristine
white of her cotton undergarments was a dramatic contrast.

“Neither are
you,” Jeff observed.

Mystic grabbed
her clothes and slammed the bathroom door behind her.

Jeff groaned.
He was sweaty from his run and now he’d have to sit in his only change of
clothes and wait for her to get out of the bathroom. He took off his shirt,
hoping to save it from becoming too rank, and flopped onto the bed. He hadn’t
slept well the last two nights, having been on the floor.

The next thing
he knew he was waking up. The clean scent of soap filled his nose. A warm hand
ran across his chest. Very warm lips blazed a trail up his throat and over his
jaw. He turned his mouth and captured Mystic’s lips with his own. She groaned
with pleasure and his body tingled in response. He rolled onto his side. His
hand closed on her waist and pulled her nearer. Her fingers tangled in his hair
and pressed his lips more firmly against her own. A long leg wrapped around
his. He ran his palm from her waist down her petal-soft thigh.

“Hmmm, this is
nice,” Mystic murmured.

The sultry
voice had the effect of throwing cold water on him. The thought of cold water
reminded him of Oceanus. Slowly and carefully he pushed Mystic away. He untangled
her leg and sat up. She lay there panting.

“What?” she
spat.

“This isn’t
right. It isn’t fair to you.” Jeff grabbed his shirt and strode toward the
bathroom.

“Like I care if
it’s fair to me or not!”

“Well, I do.”
Jeff closed and locked the bathroom door.

He stood under
the stream of water, trying to drown his frustration and confusion. That was a
most unfortunate time to have an attack of conscience. After toweling off and
putting his clothes back on, he went back into the room. Mystic stood staring
out the window. When she turned to him, her usual control was replaced by an
uncharacteristic confusion.

“Polar, I’m
beginning to think your abilities extend beyond you.”

“I don’t
follow.”

“I haven’t had
a good thought in my life. Not for another person.
Except
now, for you.
Your ‘opposites’ seem to be catching. I think I feel
guilty for causing you conflict. Whatever it is I’m feeling, it’s making me sick
to my stomach and I don’t like it. Let’s find Source and get back home. You’re
not good for me.”

Jeff opened his
mouth to argue, but then clamped it shut. She was right. She was a villain and
being around him seemed to compromise her ability to do that well. That may end
up putting her in danger and Jeff didn’t want that. He ran his hand through his
damp
hair,
feeling conflicted over worrying about
Mystic. A villain wouldn’t care.

He looked at
her and nodded, grabbed his watch off the table and strapped it around his
wrist.

“Let’s get
going. The sooner you are done with me, the better.”

Mystic’s
expression crumpled and she opened her mouth as if to protest.

Jeff held up
his hand and shook his head. “Let’s go.”

Mystic closed
her eyes, drew a deep breath and then blew it out. When she opened her eyes
again her face was composed in her usual “got it under control” expression.
“Yep, let’s go.”

The school was
situated a few miles outside of town in an old warehouse. It was the only thing
for miles so Jeff and Mystic were spotted easily as they walked up. A beefy
guard stopped them at the gate.

“We have an
appointment with
Señora
Valdez,” Mystic told the man.

“
Sí
, she is expecting
you.” He gave them directions to her office and let them pass.

“Hmmm.
He’s an imprinter. I wonder why he’s wasting his
abilities at a school,” Mystic mumbled to Jeff.

“What’s an
imprinter?”

“It is like a
tracker. Now that he has met us, he’ll be able to find us anywhere if given the
directive to. An imprinter needs a mate who can direct his ability. Maybe he
hasn’t found his yet, though he’s
kinda
old.”

Mystic lifted
her hand to knock on the office door, but the door swung open before she could.

“Come in.” A
woman sat in one of three cushy armchairs across the room.

Jeff and Mystic
walked in cautiously. Jeff peaked behind the door, but no one else was in the
room. He shot a questioning glance at Mystic, but she was intently focused on
the woman.

“Defenses,”
Mystic whispered.

Just in time,
Jeff fortified his defenses. A stifling feeling, like a coat of crude oil,
rolled and spread over his wall of defenses. Though Jeff could breathe, it felt
as if he were drowning or suffocating. He stood completely still, afraid that
if he moved he’d somehow allow an opening for this invasiveness to slide through.

“You have the
touch of your companion on you,” the woman said. She stared at the fire
crackling in the fireplace. Jeff knew she spoke to him and wondered if she
could somehow see what had happened between him and Mystic that morning.

Mystic answered.
“His defenses are built by me. He had a pathetic excuse for his own. I enjoyed
the challenge of building them. I enjoy the power I control over them.”

Jeff glanced at
Mystic. She shook her head slightly and he knew he needed to keep quiet. He
looked back at the woman who still stared at the fire.

“You have
received decent training up until now, boy. I can feel the strength of your
abilities. Why have you been kicked out of so many schools if you listen enough
to learn? It does not make sense.”

Jeff panicked.
He didn’t know how to answer this.

Mystic smirked.
“He has a way with the ladies,
Señora
.”