All the King's Men Read online

  This is exactly why I avoided leaving my room. Socializing is hard.

  “Oh, sorry!” The perfect eyebrows over her purple eyes shot up. Poor thing was riddled with nerves so much that it could be heard in her trembling voice. “I’m Callie—I-I just said that, didn’t I—Um, I assist with a lot of the tech around here, for Frost, but I do more assisting for the Major. I pick up a lot of the tasks around here, actually. Like the doors. I’ve been helping with the development of the new door system.”

  “Nice.” Danika could see that the girl meant well, despite her overbearing introduction, so she smiled as she commended her. The portal system for the doors was a genius way to keep the intruders out, since the building they were attached to weren’t doors into that building, but another base located a few blocks or sometimes miles away. Since it was still a new system, Danika figured glitches would be worked out in time, but they seemed like a pain in the ass to operate.

  “…other than that, I’ve seen you stop by here and there, but you’d always be gone before I had a chance to introduce myself.”

  Danika huffed. The old drop-in-drop-out maneuver was her specialty.

  She was a bubbly one, Callie. She had short blond hair, almost gray with the platinum and lavender mix to match her purple eyes. It was tousled but styled. Danika couldn’t tell if those were contact lenses or her actual irises—but she didn’t bother to ask. The girl’s fashion sense was a little eccentric, but Danika could already tell it suited her personality.

  “Right.” Truth be told, she felt terrible that she hadn’t already gotten to know Callie since she’d been Morgan’s assistant for some time. Already, Danika could see why she was a nice balance for Morgan: Callie seemed like a nice girl, one who was sugary sweet, inside and out. It wasn’t intolerable per se, but she decided Callista would be the ‘small doses’ sort of colleague. “What else do you do?”

  Callie narrowed her eyes at first, because she wasn’t prepared to delve into the section of introductory protocol and the implications that came off Danika as she stared at her. “Oh! I’m a psychic…er, not a psychic-psychic, like, I don’t do tarot cards or palm reading. It’s a little different than just hearing thoughts or anything like that. It’s more like intuition. I can understand intent, or a possible outcome a few steps before it’s carried out. Like, how uncomfortable we’re making you since you don’t quite like socializing…or how Olivia’s walking up here, I’m sure she’s going to introduce herself.”

  Strange, but interesting… If there was a bit more to her ability, she would have to wait to ask, since she turned just in time to see the other woman approaching.

  “Olivia Renois.” Olivia laughed as she patted Callista on the shoulder. “I’m sure anyone could see that one coming, Cal, but an A for your efforts.” She had a drawl to her voice, easily recognized as from the south. Louisiana area, she assumed, with the French surname.

  “Danika Car…Carlisle.” Danika reached out her hand to shake, giving a smile to brush off her stutter.

  “A pleasure.” Olivia grinned.

  “Sounds like an introduction at Powered Anonymous in here.”

  Callie almost snorted and Olivia stifled a laugh as well.

  Danika shifted her stance to get a good look at the redhead, who seemed to be the more confident one of the two. “Well… what are you in for?” She angled her question as if they’d been imprisoned, incarcerated for having abilities. It sure felt like a prison with the dull, outdated décor of the bunker.

  Olivia tilted her head and shrugged. “My abilities, if that’s what you’re looking for, allow me to change form.”

  “Shapeshifting?” Danika asked. “Frost kinda gave me the Cliff’s notes on that but we didn’t have much time to go into detail.”

  “R&D called it morphing, or something of the sort.” Olivia shrugged, with a grin. “Normally there’s only one phase, transforming into something else, but with me, it’s a little trickier.”

  “What do you mean?” Danika asked.

  “I can change myself, or even just part of myself, into a glamour shift—trust me, I didn’t name this shit—but I can appear as someone else entirely.” Olivia shrugged. “Body parts, hair, eyes, stuff like that.”

  “Jealous already.” Danika smirked. She had a deep appreciation for the strength she possessed and the powers that came with it, but Olivia’s was similar to the power given to her sister, and that one came in handy.

  “Plus, I can… well…” Olivia set her binder down on the table and started to walk towards the wall. It was painted an ugly olive green that Morgan thought would be more appropriate for an underground military-style bunker. Danika thought it resembled old vomit, or that someone smeared mashed peas on the wall. But as Olivia casually strolled toward the bricks, with her curvy hips swaying with each step, something beautiful happened. Tracing in towards her core from her head and feet, her skin started to shimmer, until she became translucent. Olivia was one with the wall, completely invisible.

  “Well hot damn.” Danika uttered under her breath.

  “Like a fly on the wall…” Callie was mesmerized by it as well, her purple eyes in awe at the sight.

  “Something like that.” Not even the traces of her mouth could be seen moving; even her teeth were completely blended. Olivia walked over toward the counter, and then the couch. She reappeared suddenly, morphing her skin to visible once more. Olivia wore a proud smile as she sat there with her legs crossed and arms folded. However, she didn’t look the same when she came back into view: She had brown hair, a very different brow ridge, and noticeably bigger boobs than before.

  “Jesus.” Danika breathed out. “And all I got was this stupid t-shirt.”

  Olivia cackled as she shook her head and shifted back into the woman Danika had seen initially, sun-kissed caramel colored skin, beautiful hazel-green eyes and long, fiery red hair that looked like it was pulled straight out of a shampoo ad.

  “Frost also told me about your visits with Walter. I’m sorry.” Danika shuddered at the thought. “Maybe you should turn into a guy before you head in, he won’t get as frisky.” More chills rolled through at the thought of the old perv.

  “Guy creeps me the hell out.” Callie added.

  Olivia laughed and waved her hand as if it were no big deal. “Nah, that old man’s harmless.”

  “You must not have a sense of smell.” Danika groaned.

  They laughed.

  “Well harmless in the sense that I put that old pervert in his place, so he doesn’t try and “accidentally” poke me ever again.” Olivia confessed.

  “Good.” Danika nodded, impressed. “So, other than having cool morphing abilities, what do you do, anyway?”

  “I’m a teacher.” Olivia leaned against the arm of the couch and crossed her legs. “I guess I should say, my day-job is: I teach down at West Harbor Elementary. Third grade.”

  Danika shook her head, “No, I mean what do you do here? I know Morgan has you around for more than just some spy games, right?”

  Or eye-candy.

  Olivia chuckled. “Oh. I don’t spy. Mostly because there hasn’t really been much to spy on as of late. My ex-husband was a friend of Morgan’s. When he found me on the registry, he asked me for help. So, I decided to do something better with my time than sit there and plot my piece-of-shit ex-husband’s death and here I am.”

  Callie and Danika exchanged looks, and then turned back to Olivia who was already laughing.

  “I’m kidding. But only sort of.” Olivia winked. “Other than sitting as the advisor to Morgan on his team, I teach here as well. And assist Callie here as she assesses the bios of each inbound Powered and try to get them to learn what they can do. Gain their wings, so to speak. Morgan said I have the patience of a saint.”

  “Makes sense.” Danika tilted her head, a slow grin forming as she admitted that she rather liked Olivia. “And honestly if you can put up with my uncle, you must have the patience of the holy mother herself.”

>   The girls laughed. Danika didn’t have many friends, and among that rarity, having friends who were girls was an even smaller percentage. She knew she’d need to spend a little more time with them before she could judge them, and she may do better to keep them at arm’s length until she knew that she could trust them. Still, she couldn’t deny that the moment felt right, even though brief and somewhat forced at first.

  They had a balanced group there, Callie being the youngest and by observation, ostensibly more innocent compared to the dark-humored Olivia and Danika. Yet, there was a good contrast between Danika and Olivia. The southern sweetheart had a bit of an edge to her, but also the rest of the package deal to her advantage. She was gorgeous, even in her normal form, which was strange to say… Olivia could be anyone and blend with anything. Danika had her cynicism and no-nonsense sort of attitude going for her so that was her contribution to their little band of misfits.

  “Hey girls? Hate to break up this little pow-wow you got goin’ on, but maybe you should hear this.” Frost walked into the commons and raised the volume on the monitor in the corner, that had already been showing photos and footage of Alton King on the screen, but now featured something that was actually worthy of the ‘Breaking News’ headline.

  “…And it is after much prayer and great consideration, that I’ve decided to run for Mayor of Augusta…”

  A vacuum must have sucked the air out of the room, because everyone was stunned into silence, staring at the screen in disbelief.

  “Holy shit.” Frost raised his eyebrows.

  “No way.” Callie covered her mouth.

  Olivia nearly blew a raspberry. “Is he serious? Prayer? Give me a break.”

  “…I make a personal vow to keep the city’s best interest in mind and heart, and do right for the people living in it, not only for this generation, but for the generations to come.”

  Gag.

  Danika’s chagrin was evident. She was so tightly wound up, her arms crossed, and her hands curled into fists as she watched. Nobody in the room seemed to like what they were hearing, but she the only one was outwardly expressing her disgust. “They wanna elect this chump? Hope everyone’s got a doomsday bag ready.”

  Callie’s eyebrows pulled together, worriedly. “Let’s hope not.”

  “What’s your take on this?” Danika turned to the purple-eyed girl. She was inquiring because she knew Callista was a Powered psychic, wondering if she’d seen the future on this stunt.

  Those amethyst eyes blinked a few times, caught in headlights. “Honestly, I tried. I reported to Morgan that him even running for mayor was a possibility. All I get from here on out is a bad feeling. Nothing clear, nothing certain. It’s so… hazy.”

  “You think someone’s blocking you?” Danika asked. She didn’t mean to seem insensitive or ignorant, but she was not a hundred percent sure what her level of power was, or what sort of control she had over it, but it would be far too convenient to have all that knowledge on hand without barriers or blockades coming from other psychics or an anti-weapon.

  “Possibly.” Callie nervously bit her lip, though looked as if she hadn’t considered that obstacle.

  King’s path to taking over the city had already been in planning since he joined the council. Since then, he’d launched a series of events that were rather detrimental to the Powered community, but voters still had interest in keeping him in a seat of power. Masochists, Danika called them, were the sheep who wanted this man to win when his sole interest would be to rule and keep everybody in line. A dictatorship, malevolent to the core.

  “Well I’ve had enough of this shit to last me the next few months. How about we not watch this depressing little train wreck, hmm?” Danika rolled her eyes as she stood up straight to stretch, switching the volume down on the television. “Where’s Charlie?”

  “Oh, the boys took him to Level Two this afternoon.” Callie answered over her tablet as she vigorously tapped away at something on the screen that had her attention. “Haven’t seen them since. They’re probably still practicing.”

  “The boys? You mean Speedy McGee and Mount Tattoo? Are you kidding me?”

  Olivia rather liked the nicknames Danika had for Erik and Koa, and she snickered. “Remind me to tell Mo you are not in charge of naming everyone.”

  Callie’s chuckle at Olivia’s remark faded once she turned to Danika. “Um, yes. Well, Mr. Matthew’s abilities are rather breathtaking.”

  “Elaborate with a little less drool, Callie?” Danika was never known to pull punches and even though she’d barely met the resident fangirl who exuded innocence beyond all other, Danika didn’t see now as a time to make an exception.

  “Er, yeah. Let me show you…” Once the flush faded from her pale skin, Callie typed something onto her tablet and with her thin fingers swiped enlarged it on her screen. It was a chart of a man, like a diagram she’d seen in one of Aldo’s books in the Ward. The head of the anatomical outline was flashing, and the outer edge of the man, representing his ‘dermis’ was flashing blue. “This here,” Callie pointed at the flashing skin, “is an indicator that not only does he have a rather quick healing factor but this right here—” she pointed at his head, “Mr. Matthews is able to manipulate his senses.”

  “Manipulate… his… what?” Danika heard the words, but they were difficult to comprehend.

  “His senses. Normally, we have the core five: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Of the two I have briefly monitored—his ocular and aural—he’s able to amplify them for clarity. Conversations that are far away, in other rooms and stuff, he can hear them. I’m talking whispers, breath, heartbeat… And his sight is literally off the charts. I even had to find something smaller than the standard Snellen to test him and he passed it.” Callie gushed. “Seriously, with flying colors. It was amazing.”

  “Drooling again…” Danika somewhat sang as she pursed her lips and folded her arms. It was remarkable, though. The Snellen chart was the bane of most of Danika’s family, but at least her vision hadn’t worsened in the last few years.

  Callie cleared her throat and continued. “Right. Well because of his senses, he’s able to move rather quickly. He can sense movements, shifts in the air which give him a notion of where to go, and what spots are left open—which gives him a chance to aim his attacks more efficiently, so that makes him prime candidate for fighter.”

  “Telegraphing.” Danika understood that, from her fight training. Her dad would always warn her about a big wind up. Still, she couldn’t help but gloat. “Sometimes. I pinned him at my place; he didn’t put up much of a fight.”

  Olivia raised an eyebrow, “Maybe he wanted to be pinned. You think about that?”

  Danika glared at the morpher, but she wasn’t serious, it was that she was amused with Olivia’s forwardness even though they were barely acquainted. That right there told her she would get along with Olivia just fine. Danika knew Charlie was decent at hand-to-hand, but then she considered him letting her win and it frustrated her. “He went in there with Erik for speed and Koa for strength. Smart. Or maybe stupid. I mean going up against someone who could run a 5k in ten minutes and the other one who could probably lift a car off the street, would be good training for someone Morgan wants on the team.”

  “There’s something else though…” Callie said, almost missed because it was fairly quiet.

  “Ahh, the but wait, there’s more. Hit me.” Danika folded her arms.

  “I-I haven’t been able to confirm, but it’s almost like he can obtain certain abilities. Not sure how it’s transmitted, but he said that one time, he could throw fire. It lasted maybe a day or two and then it never happened again.”

  “That’s…random.” Danika narrowed her eyes. It raised a ton of suspicion, since people didn’t just throw fire once and never again.

  “That’s what we thought too. It doesn’t fit his standard. Most of his stuff is passive. Internals. We notice that his touch sense is what helps him with injury.”

&n
bsp; “How so?” Danika shifted, the cogs in her brain shutting down briefly at the inbound explanation, “You know what, maybe a little too science-y for me, so I’ll pass. Glad he can heal up, though. Maybe relieve Aldo from all the overtime he’s putting on me.”

  “He’s agreed to let us test him further, and he’d even agreed to be subjected to Walter on a regular basis, which was Director Carlisle’s idea.” Callie was biting her lip, something Danika noticed she would do if she wasn’t supposed to divulge certain information.

  “Of course. It would be his idea to throw him to the wolves.” Danika narrowed her eyes. “You said they’re still down there?”

  Callie nodded.

  “Field trip time?” Olivia smiled.

  The girls decided to take a walk across the facility into Level Two. It gave Danika a chance to scope out the base again, even though it, for the most part, looked the same as when she’d lived here before. The bunker was mostly painted in drab greens and browns along the walls, fluorescent lights in the industrial black pendant lighting hanging in measured intervals on the strip up above. It was essentially Erik’s stomping grounds (quite literally), since he’d taken up the role as the physical trainer of the bunch due to his incredible physique and his job as the part time trainer at the local gym.

  As Callie had sensed and announced earlier, the boys were downstairs in the gym sparring. They could hear the grunts and thuds as their punches landed, and they hit the mats with enough force to echo through the entire room. Charlie was in a practice round for his spinning kicks with Erik. He seemed to nail the combination, but Erik used his speed as leverage to keep the spar going, to reset, and start again. Charlie didn’t miss a beat. He looked to be moving just as fast as Erik at times, which made Danika tilt her head—a clear indication that he’d piqued her interest for the moment.

  “Erik finally has someone his size to play with.” Olivia sounded amused, as she leaned forward on the railing, and the girls joined in beside her. Her comment led Danika to believe that he’d been going hand-to-hand with Kekoa on a regular basis, which might be an interesting bout to observe too.