Free Screwing the Superhero by Rebecca Royce

looking down. Was it going to drop her? She closed her eyes and prayed it wouldn’t, then remembered Carl’s beheading and decided it might be preferable to fall to the ground.

Chapter Six
    Draco stood in front of the giant view screen Ace had installed in the vault the year before. Behind him, Colt, Mandala, and Zee watched the video Draco had seen four times and which was now permanently seared into his memory like an infected wound. He turned around to regard his team of heroes, glad to see they were just as upset as he had been the first time he watched it. If they’d been blasé, he would know things had gone terribly wrong at Powers, Inc.
    “This can’t be allowed to stand,” Zee shouted and Draco couldn’t blame her. She was, out of all of his employees, the most vocal about her needs and wants. Standing almost six foot four inches tall, she looked straight in his eyes. Her skin, the color of desert sand, spoke of a Middle Eastern heritage, although if asked what she called herself, she’d answer an ‘American mutt’ and refused to elaborate.
    “I agree.” He nodded as he looked around the room, making eye contact with all of them. They were still waiting on the other twenty-four Superheroes to arrive—he hoped Wendy had called them— including Ace, who was, not surprisingly, taking his sweet time.
    Every Superhero in his employ knew the code to get into the vault. It was a closely guarded secret. Most of the administrative staff in the building didn’t even know there was a vault, except the Handlers, and it was in their mandatory contracts they should never disclose the location. The Handlers, however, didn’t know how to gain entrance.
    “I don’t know if all the Handlers are in danger or just mine. You’ll note that the writing at the end of the thing claims my weakness is my attachment to my employees.
    It may be they have weaknesses set up for all of us or maybe they’re just after me.”
    Colt swore. “If they come after you, they come after all of us. I’m not going to let them come after Wendy, even if she’s not mine anymore since you stole her from me.”
    The last part was spoken without a hint of amusement. The hero had never quite forgiven Draco for poaching Wendy when he needed an experienced, competent Handler to replace his former one. The fact she applied for the job didn’t seem to matter one bit to Colt. Like Draco, Colt knew she was irreplaceable.
    “New Handler not working out?”
    “Sharon?” Colt shrugged. “She’s fine, but she’s not Wendy. She doesn’t anticipate what I need before I need it.”
    That was a good way to put what it was Wendy did. He very rarely had to ask for anything. Chewing on his lip, he looked at his watch and hoped Ace wasn’t giving her a hard time about coming in.
    Above his head, he heard shouts and screams.
    “What the hell?” Zee looked upward as they all stared in confusion.
    Mandala, the quietest of all his Superheroes, looked at Draco questioningly, his black eyes giving away no emotion. He was impossible to read. “What’s going on?”
    Whirling around, Draco looked at the monitors. “Nothing is showing up.” A sick feeling started in his stomach. What the hell could have made the monitors turn off?
    “Get the fucking door open!”
    Zee and Colt ran forward, each punching in their codes. The door, slow because of its heavy weight, had never seemed more frustrating to him. He fisted his hands at his side. He’d left Wendy alone up there. Powers, Inc. had been built to withstand bombs. It would take a lot to make the system shut down. Whatever was happening, she had to be terrified.
    Finally, the door swung open and he ran, pushing past the others. He flew outward into the hallway leading to the elevator. For at least a few seconds, he would have to make do with the elevator. It was the only way in and out of the secret vault.
    Pressing the button, he and the others moved inside. The elevator started its fast ascent toward