Free One More Day by Colleen Vanderlinden Page A

treatment you receive here. The freedoms you’ll be granted.”
    He just kept looking at me. “You should be afraid, Daystar,” he said in that creepy calm voice. “So much to lose, am I right?”
    I clenched my fists. All of my focus was on keeping my expression blank, on not dropping my gaze, not allowing him even that small victory.
    “So afraid,” he repeated. “All of you are. That Caine asshole. I saw his fears that day, and he’s pathetic. Toxxin, afraid of being alone for the rest of her life because she can’t touch anybody,” he said with a laugh. “It was fun messing with her mind, making her see herself as an old woman, dying alone in squalor. Beta’s terrified of being alone with Alpha, you know that?” He paused, and then he grinned. “Of course, I know all of Dr. Death’s fears, too. Virus’s as well.”
    I kept my face blank again. Virus. Damian. My former burgling partner. He’d joined up with Mayhem after they’d approached him about forming a business relationship, one where he could make a lot more money than he made with me, since I refused to just take everything we could. We hadn’t been the best match in terms of business strategy, I guess. As far as I knew, none of them knew that the woman they’d seen once at Damian’s mansion, his former partner, was also the superhero known as Daystar. Of course, who knew what the hell Damian had told them?
    “I know their fears,” Daemon repeated quietly, still with that creepy little smile on his face. “It’s knowledge I’m willing to share. For a price.”
    “What’s your price?” Portia asked.
    He grinned wider. “My freedom. What else would I want?”
    Portia shook her head. “That’s just stupid. You know we’re not going to do that.”
    “Then you’re not really all that serious about ending Mayhem and bringing Dr. Death in now, are you? The lives of all those people he killed, they just don’t balance against my life. I should feel special, but mostly I’m disgusted by how pathetic you ‘superheroes’ are.”
    “My god do you ever stop talking?” I asked, and then regretted it when he looked at me again.
    “Why would I do that, when I’m so good at it? Look how I have all of you squirming, even though you’ve dampened my powers. So weak, so afraid. I don’t even need to manipulate you worthless bitches. You’re your own worst enemies, aren’t you?”
    I wanted to hit him. Hard. The thing that pissed me off the most, probably, was that he was right. I hated it when others pointed out my weaknesses. I knew them all too well without anyone spelling them out for me.
    “Telepaths are pretty much the worst,” Jenson said.
    “If you say so. Why don’t you tell me something, Jenson? That’s what you go by? I couldn’t detect a single thing you were afraid of. Why is that?”
    I glanced at Jenson, who, I had to admit, looked a lot calmer than anyone else in the room. She just shrugged. “Maybe you’re not as good as you thought you were.”
    We questioned him for a few more minutes, then gave up when all he gave us was a bunch of bullshit none of us especially wanted to hear. We filed out of his cell, and Portia stopped in the corridor outside. “We’ll keep working on both of them. In the meantime, we work harder to track Dr. Death down. He’s going to stick to the shadows now, which is never a good thing because every time he’s finally left the shadows, something bad has happened. We need to find him, like, yesterday.”
    “I need to meet with David, so I’ll fill him in,” Jenson said, then, without another word, she stepped into the elevator and left.
    “Get some rest. Go to the med wing and have your ribs looked at, Daystar,” Portia said as she headed toward the other elevator.
    “I’m fine,” I said.
    “Uh huh,” she said as she walked into the elevator. She turned and crossed her arms. “Go to the med wing,” she told me. The doors closed, and I rolled my eyes.
    “So are you going or