CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE

Vigilante No More, Part 2

“With all the people he’s killed, Apex deserves to be incarcerated at the Crucible,” Warden Salvatore stated with a furrowed brow. “Honestly though, I wouldn’t wish that prison on even my worst enemy.”

While Warden Salvatore walked back to his seat on the other side of the plane’s tube-like interior, Thunder, who’d noticed Sam’s pouty face, elbowed him playfully in the shoulder. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“I…” Sam sighed. “I’m just not sure locking the guy up and throwing away the key is the right thing to do…”

“I know it doesn’t seem like he’ll get a fair shot at rehabilitation”—Thunder squeezed Sam’s hand—“but even if we’ve cut away the strings of his puppeteer and confiscated his indestructible fur, Apex is just too dangerous to leave anywhere else.”

“I know, I know… It’s just”—Sam turned away from Thunder so his gaze would fall on Apex’s coffin—“I wanted to save him…”

“You did save him.” She patted him on the shoulder. “You saved him from himself and from being an elder giant’s murder puppet.”

“I guess he can use his time in prison to do a bit of introspection… Maybe he can even change just like I did,” Sam said. He sounded hopeful.

“Speaking of change, are you actually going to go through with the assessment?” Thunder asked in a skeptical tone. “What about you-know-what?”

Thunder was discreetly referring to Triple-A, the secret hero training system she’d passed onto Sam that enabled his growth from a zeta-level healer into the gamma-level hero he currently was.

“You’re only going to get stronger,” she reminded him. “And it’ll be hard to explain how a zeta jumped to gamma level in under four months, won’t it?”

For an answer, Sam tapped on the side of his temple. “Our mutual friend told me it’ll be fine.”

Of course, it’ll be fine. I helped build the framework they use for the assessment. It’ll be easy as pie to tweak it and keep Triple-A under the radar, Chiron whispered into Sam’s head, which Sam repeated out loud for Thunder’s benefit.

“That centaur has his fingers dipped into every pot, doesn’t he?” Thunder mused.

Sam noticed that she seemed genuinely happy for him. Her pleased expression kind of gave her away. Truthfully, Thunder’s approval meant the world to Sam, but the fact that she had accepted his weak past self—relied on him even then—earned her an even more important place in Sam’s heart that had nothing to do with the fact they’d kissed recently.

Thinking about that blissful moment caused Sam to blush suddenly. It was a reddening of cheeks that both Thunder and Chiron noticed pretty quickly.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. While Chiron neighed in Sam’s ear. Loverboy’s got his head in the gutter again.

“Um, nothing,” Sam said, his face reddening even more so that his cheeks were now a colorful shade of apple. Should I just ask her if the kiss was a one-time thing?

It probably was, kid, Chiron teased.

Sam hadn’t meant for Chiron to hear that but it was sometimes challenging to distinguish between his mind and the telepathic link he shared with his centaur trainer. He couldn’t answer back though because Sam didn’t think Chiron was wrong. He assumed Thunder kissing him back was just her way of showing gratitude for healing her of the Blight and not that she liked him too.

Seriously, kid, no one’s that lucky, Chiron insisted, but on the off-chance that Thunder’s as into you as you obviously are with her, then it wouldn’t hurt to ask and set the record straight. Remember, lesson number eight…

Never lose hope, Sam restated.

Well, lessons one, two, seven, and thirty-five work in this case too, Chiron added as an afterthought.

It was surprisingly encouraging advice. One Sam didn’t often hear from the not-so-gentle centaur. Thanks, master…

Don’t thank me now and curse me if you crash and burn later.

I won’t.

With his resolve growing in his mind, Sam felt anxiety also bubble up in his chest. This was quickly followed by sweat suddenly coating his palms, which he hoped Thunder didn’t notice since her hand was brushing against his right at that moment.

“Um, Thunder,” Sam called.

She glanced his way. “Yeah, Herculean?”

Thunder was careful not to say his real name out loud while they were surrounded by law enforcement as Herculean’s identity remained a secret to everyone except for his teammates, Crow-Man, Marie, and Mr. Kim.

“About last night…” Sam began.

He only belatedly noticed it thanks to the screen showing the pale light of dawn peeking through the heavy clouds but a full day had passed since they first arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge in search of the enchanted grove that hid the Golden Fleece away from the world.

“What about it?” Thunder prompted.

“Well, after I healed you, um, do you remember that thing we did next?”

The sudden blush on Thunder’s pale cheeks was proof that she did indeed remember yesterday’s kiss. She didn’t shy away from him though. She even teased him about it. “Are you talking about your first time kissing a woman?”

“You aren’t my first kiss!” While feeling like he needed to defend his manhood, Sam had inadvertently said those words a little too loudly. Loud enough for the men and women in uniform around him to hear his confession.

A second of doubt flashed on their faces before consideration of the rom-com vibe around Sam and Thunder led to understanding, which was then followed by the dismay that Thunder might no longer be the pure goddess her fans believed her to be. Their despair was quickly replaced with jealousy, earning Sam several murderous glares from all directions. Funnily enough, Sam had been too flustered to notice them. While Thunder’s fit of giggles kept her from pointing the growing atmosphere of animosity out to him.

“Dude, I was being serious,” Sam sighed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Thunder wiped at a tear that pooled beneath her eyes. She’d giggled that hard. “I couldn’t help teasing you a little.”

She gave Sam a mischievous look, the kind that made his heart flutter.

“You were saying?” Thunder prompted.

Gods, she’s way too gorgeous… This thought popped into Sam’s brain while he gathered his courage for his big confession. “Th-thunder,” he cleared his throat, “Thunder, I—”

Sam’s confession got interrupted by the sound of an explosion that preceded the shockwave that rocked the aircraft.

“Holy Zeus!” he yelled.

As the turbulence intensified, Sam and Thunder grabbed onto each other while the rest of Apex’s security team looked on in alarm. Meanwhile, the blonde warden sitting beside Warden Salvatore was quick to encase Apex’s coffin in a glass-like bubble that Sam assumed was a manifestation of her gift.

“Everyone calm down.” Warden Salvatore ordered just before he put on the headset he picked up from the empty seat on his left. “What just happened, Captain?”

Whatever the pilot was reporting on the other line must not have been good because Warden Salvatore’s brow creased more and more the longer he listened. Before he could explain the situation to everyone, the blonde warden sitting next to him raised her hand and pointed a finger at one of the monitors lining the aircraft’s walls.

“What in Hades is that?!” she screamed.

Turning to the monitor above them, Sam and Thunder witnessed a glowing red column rising out of the crater of the volcano at the center of the island that was their intended destination. The red column soared up to the sky and disappeared within the folds of the thick gray clouds that seemed to have gathered exclusively above the island.

“Styx…” Sam’s gaze followed the tail end of the red column as it disappeared into the clouds. “What kind of trouble are we getting into now…?”

“How much further?” Thunder asked worriedly.

It took Warden Salvatore a moment more to confirm before he replied. “We’re five minutes out.”

“That’s close enough…” Thunder got up from her seat and then walked over to the tail-end of the transport. “I’m getting off here.”

Warden Salvatore followed after her, while Sam, who’d been watching the monitor for more developments, quickly jumped out of his seat after he heard Warden Salvatore explain that they would have to divert the aircraft away from the island.

“I’m sorry, but getting Apex to a safe location is my priority,” Warden Salvatore said.

“You go do that.” Thunder patted him gingerly on the shoulder before glancing toward Sam who had come up behind them. “I’ve got all the support I need.”

“Wait,” Sam’s brow furrowed, “support for what?”

In response, Thunder grabbed Sam’s arm and pulled him toward her. Meanwhile, Warden Salvatore hit the switch that opened the transport’s rear loading bay door.

“You guys want a parachute?” he asked.

Thunder shook her head. “We’ll manage.”

“Thunder… neither of us can fly,” Sam reminded her.

“Who said anything about flying.” Thunder’s arms wrapped tightly around Sam’s waist. “Hold on tight, Herculean. We’re going for a ride.”

“What ride—”

Sam’s words were lost in his throat because Thunder had just thrown them both out of the back of the transport and into a cloudy sky twenty-five thousand feet above the Pacific Ocean.