Free Super Villain Grandpa (Cape High Series Book 15) by R.J. Ross

specifically.”
    “That sucks,” I say. “I want to instill fear into people just by walking down the street!” I declare, trying to match steps with him. It’s impossible—for every one step he takes I have to take two or three. When I do try to lengthen my stride I wind up bouncing as I walk. That’s got to look stupid.
    “Sorry, baby girl, I don’t foresee that in your future,” he says with a grin. “You will get stares, though. You’re already beautiful, you’re going to be a stunner when you’re full grown.”
    I blush, giving him a shy little smile, which just as quickly turns into a frown. “That’s so sexist,” I declare, startling a laugh out of him. “A woman shouldn’t be judged by her face!” I declare, putting my hands on my hips. “She should be judged by her actions first, and abilities second! The face shouldn’t even come into the story!”
    “You are definitely a Falconess,” he says. “Although your grandma tended to bait people by dressing like she did and THEN giving that speech,” he adds with a grin.
    “There’s nothing wrong with dressing how you like!” I declare.
    “Mmmhmm, but if you ever dress like your grandma did I’ll have to ground you,” he says.
    I glare at him. “You MARRIED her when she dressed like that.”
    “Which is why I understand just how powerful it is!” he teases me. His hand comes up, messing up my hair. “Just make sure people can focus more on your actions and abilities than whatever you wear, sweetheart. High heels look good but it takes a lot of practice before you can fight crime properly in them, or so your Grandma told me. I never tried it.”
    “Heels or fighting crime?”
    “Either.” He looks up and grabs my arm, pulling me into a shadow, his attention on the sky. I look up, watching as a purple and orange clad superhero flies overhead. We stay there, hidden in the shadows long after he’s gone past. “Voltdrain,” he says, “a very dangerous man to have as an enemy.”
    “His daughter goes to school with me,” I say. “I think her name is Jimmi. I’ve never actually talked to her.” Then again, I’ve never actually talked to most of the people at school. I can’t admit that to Grandpa—he’ll realize how unpopular I am.
    “Does she have his powers?” he asks, still watching the sky.
    “Part of them? I don’t know if she can fly. I think she’s dating Vinny, or at least she’s trying to. I like Vinny’s dad, Tony. He’s our janitor!” I say, thinking of one of the friends I DO have. “He’s a norm, but he’s really smart and nice.”
    “Yeah? Do you like that Vinny guy, too?” he asks as we slowly step out into the light again.
    “Vinny’s weird,” I say. “I mean, he’s got the ability to light up like a torch, right? But for the most part he’s always reading cooking magazines. He cooks for the dorms—they’ve brought in black suits to do it for him a couple of times, but I think he WANTS to do the cooking. He’s already a working hero and everything, too. It’s stupid, right?”
    “Stupid to want to do something outside of being a cape?” Grandpa asks. “Do you really think that?”
    “Well… being a super takes a lot of time and effort, right? Shouldn’t you… I don’t know, relax? Cooking for so many people has got to be a lot of hard work, right?”
    “Not if you love it,” he says. “Well, no, it’d still be hard work, but if he likes to do it, maybe he’s willing to put the hard work in. I used to mess around with machines all the time when I wasn’t working. I was an inventor.”
    “Yeah, but inventing is, like, a big part of being a super villain, right?”
    “I wasn’t inventing machines of destruction,” he says, “I was inventing useful things. That boat we sunk? It was supposed to be all-terrain. The military was working on them at the time, too, but I wanted to make my own. I lived on a tiny series of islands that I converted into secret bases. I wanted an easy