Free Jinx by Jennifer Estep Page A

ubervillain.
    Hot Stuff, an ubervillain who thought she was, well, hot stuff, threw Molotov cocktails at Wynter from her perch on top of the Bigtime Public Library. But the superhero used her ice-based powers to shield herself from the worst of the explosions.
    And finally, there was the Mintilator, the villain devoted to making the world a germ-free, minty-fresh place. He was trying rather unsuccessfully to fend off Halitosis Hal and his horrid breath over next to the entrance to the marina.
    Sheesh. Didn’t these people have real lives? Wives and husbands to go home to? Kids to take care of? Elderly parents to visit? Apparently not.
    After a few more unwanted hero and villain sightings, I reached the house. The light above the front door burned, but the rest of the mansion was dark. I’d called Grandfather hours ago and told him not to wait up. Looked like he’d taken my advice. That, or he hadn’t come home yet. He’d told me he had a date with his lady friend and might be late.
    I’d asked him once again who he was going out with, but Grandfather had been his usual cagey self. He still hadn’t introduced me to his lady friend, something I was going to rectify, even if I had to start following him when he left the house. Maybe I could get Lulu Lo to put some sort of tracking device in his silver angel cuff links. She was good at that sort of thing. The best, actually. With her computer skills and shady contacts, Lulu could find out anything about anyone. Lulu was like a sixth member of the Fearless Five, even though she didn’t have any official superpowers. She’d been let in on the group’s secret identities when she’d started dating Henry Harris.
    I fished my keys out of my purse and got out of my Benz. It had been a hectic, stressful day, and I was completely exhausted. I needed a hot shower before climbing into bed—
    POP!
    Debonair puffed into view on the hood of my car. Surprised, I screamed and stepped back, slamming my butt into the driver’s side door. Despite my love of pasta and potatoes, my ass wasn’t that big, but the metal still caved in with a screech, forming a dent about two feet wide and a foot deep.
    “Well, that wasn’t exactly the reaction I was hoping for,” Debonair said in his low, seductive voice.
    I rubbed my butt until it quit throbbing. Then, I balled up my fist, focused on the car door, and smacked my hand against it. The massive imprint popped right back out. This wasn’t the first time I’d put a dent in my car—or taken one out. Things like this were rather routine in my life, along with odd items like air conditioners falling from the sky and almost hitting me in the head. I didn’t even flinch anymore when that happened. I just kept walking.
    “How are you tonight, Bella?” Debonair asked, lounging on the hood like some lingerie model.
    “I was fine, until you showed up,” I muttered, trying to pretend the thief didn’t look as sexy as ever in his leather costume. Blue-black leather was not attractive. The same color in cashmere? Maybe. Leather? No. Definitely not.
    “Well, I didn’t want to teleport into your car. That’s how accidents happen.”
    I crossed my arms over my chest. “What are you saying? That you’ve been following me around town tonight? Why?”
    So, I hadn’t been imagining him lurking around these past few days. I wondered why he was following me. And how many times he’d seen me explode or shatter or destroy something. I might have been cursed with bad luck, but what I really hated was for other people to see the messes I made. I couldn’t stand the thought of other people laughing at me. If Debonair had been following me around, he would have seen and done both. Many, many times.
    “Well, I couldn’t exactly talk to you at the museum. Arthur Anders tends to get a little upset whenever he sees me. Did you know the even-tempered curator actually has a shotgun in his office with my name engraved on it?”
    “I can’t imagine why,”