Free Of Heroes And Villains (Book 4) by Julius St. Clair Page A

up. Mason turned his attention to him. “You’ll know in a couple days. And since you’re so angry about it, that’s even less of a reason for me to show you anything. If you get intimidated, the last thing I need is for you to try beating me up when I’m not looking—just to one up me.”
    “No need to hide,” he snapped. “I’m not intimidated! I can take you head on.”
    “No. You can’t,” Bastion said with assurance. “And it’s safer for you not to know what I can do. I don’t want to take any chances with hurting you too badly.”
    “I like him,” Fern decided. Daisy and Kent just laughed, but the rest weren’t that amused.
    “You talk big, but it won’t stay that way. Wait until we get to the Academy. You have no idea what’s in store for you.”
    “I doubt it,” Bastion replied, and Mason made an attempt to hit him. Daisy caught the fist.
    “Mason, you’re as pathetic as a grown man with the common cold. Give it a rest.”
    “You think you can protect him?” Mason scoffed. “Are you serious?”
    “Just let this go,” she pleaded with him. “It’s getting old.”
    “Get out of my way, or you’ll become a problem too.”
    “Wouldn’t be the first time,” she said sweetly. Mason took a deep breath and glared at her. From the middle of his palm, the tip of his eidolon began to emerge, but Daisy was fully aware. She unsheathed her eidolon faster than anyone could blink and pressed it against Mason’s throat.
    “BACK OFF!” she screamed in his face. The tip of his blade slid back in.
    “Why are you defending this kid?” he asked, his voice trembling. “We’ve been friends for so long.”
    “Number one, you know that’s not true,” Daisy whispered. “And number two, I don’t care for you very much. You know you’re only here because of who your father is.”
    “Hey, Daisy,” Kent began. “Come on. That’s going too far.” Kent ran a hand through his only red patch of hair, taking up a corner on the back of his head. “You didn’t have to say that.”
    “We all know it’s true!” she shouted. “When are we going to stop walking on ice around this guy? Why do we even have him around? Are any of you really friends with him?”
    “I am,” Michael muttered from behind.
    “Shut up, Mike!” Daisy shouted back.
    “What are you saying?” Mason said to her. “You’re only friends with me because you’re afraid of what will happen if you turn me down? Is that all our friendship is?”
    “No, it’s…” her eyes began to water, but then she gained her composure and pressed the blade in further. “Don’t try to play off my kind heart, you snake!”
    “Geez,” Kent said, shaking his head. “Can someone go get an adult please?” Michael groaned as he climbed to his feet. He waved to them, signifying that he was the one to do it. He began walking off as Daisy began sweating.
    “Hey! We don’t need an adult to sort this out,” she called out to Michael, but he ignored her and kept walking.
    “I’ll know what he is by the end of the day,” Mason said coolly, leaning slightly forward, letting Daisy’s blade pierce through his first couple layers of skin. “There are no secrets here. You call it bullying. I call it full disclosure. He hurt Michael bad. With enough strength behind that hit, he could have killed him. So yeah, I think we should know what he is. So we’ll know how to best approach him in the future. What does he have to hide? What dignity will be lost? We’re all exposed.”
    “No, we’re not,” Daisy said through grit teeth. “Not all of us. I wish we all were.”
    “Get off me,” he whispered to her. Daisy’s eyes wavered as he waited. Fern and the others watched silently as she gently took the eidolon away from his neck. He reached out and rubbed it. Daisy let her eidolon disintegrate at will. “Thank you,” he said. “Now, I’m going to get out of here. Same time tomorrow, guys? We have to stand out from the crowd on opening