Beguiled damsel book 5, p.15
Beguiled (Damsel Book 5), page 15
It wasn’t a bad idea, actually.
“We should do that for this side of things as well. We can put it up on the net. People will want to see things out there, I bet. If that’s allowed. It is going the other way, but you should ask after that for us? We don’t want to presume anything. You’re the ones with all the cool alien stuff, after all.”
“Heh! I was just thinking that about you. I should see the wilderness here… I’m afraid, of course. Should I risk it? I don’t have abilities like Chris does.”
Hannah nodded.
“You should. We won’t be in the wilderness, just a camp site. A private one that we’re renting, so it won’t be opened to the public. You’ll know a lot of the people there. Oh, did Lara get with you about our friend, Candice?”
“No? Should I contact her? What is this in regards to?” He sounded a bit tentative, suddenly.
“Drugs. The same kind of treatment that Lara had. Candice might not want that though. She has powers, and has been, um, doing the same kind of work Chris does, only her powers aren’t that great and there are some other problems. We’re afraid she’s going to be hurt, if she keeps going the way she has been. Really, we should wait for her to come to us. She has to be feeling pushed around now. She probably won’t come this weekend, given that.”
That didn’t get a response at all. What the alien man was thinking, she couldn’t tell.
“Maybe if I just visit for a day? While it’s light out?”
“Sure! That sounds great. Maybe Monday? That will give everyone a few days to get used to being there. That will be fun.”
They chatted for a while, after that, but not about anything too important. Mainly language lessons. When they hung up, Hannah went and changed, wearing sweats and a t-shirt, a leather belt with a knife sheath and her side arm, and a pair of pink running shoes. Those were new enough to look cute without being a statement about how much she’d spent on them. Meaning, she looked like most women going to a work out.
Only strapped and ready to fight.
Which was over the top for a friendly training session. Hannah was thinking of that as she teleported to the front door of the house, holding the next move ready, constantly, planning to teleport to where the chair had been the day before, in the yard, if she was ambushed.
She dodged, first, as she was fired upon. It was paintballs, again, at least. She shifted quickly enough. There was laughing, coming from the bushes, near the door.
“Okay, we’re sending you a weapon and a sleep mask. There are five of us. You can’t leave the grounds, or hide in the house. Everything else is fair game. Vidya is coming out with that gear.”
Dressed in gray work out clothing, which was tight fitting, Death Princess jogged over, and whispered as the mask was handed to her.
“Be careful. Patty is planning to cheat, from the very start. Oh, by the way…”
Hannah jumped back, the gun, which was like an awkward rifle, in her right hand, the mask in her left as Vidya shot a punch out at her solar plexus. The move was fast enough that she would have been hit if not for psychic powers being in use. The nice part of things was that, after missing, the woman just turned and ran off.
“Put the mask on, then… Get ready to fight!”
Blind, she had to trust in her ability to tell what was coming. It reminded her of fighting in the back of a van, for some reason. A thing that was a lot less pleasant than she would have thought it would be.
Chapter ten
The game had five women, all with powers of different sorts, put up against one lone Hannah, for some reason. The others were allowed to see as well. For her part, she was required to not only dodge the incoming fire, but to try and target each of the others, while running, teleporting away, flying and at one point, crawling through a bush that ripped the skin off of her face and hands.
She managed parts of it, of course. For instance, the part where she was clearly hit far more with the multi-colored paint than anyone else was a solid win for Hannah. A few times she accidently closed with the others, and had to grapple or fight with them, physically.
Each of those times she was tossed around and struck, if lightly, even as she tried to get out of the way, knowing what was coming. Mainly because they never came at her one at a time. Three on one was the most popular trick for the women. One that worked really well. Each time, in order to simply survive the game, she’d had to teleport away. Holding to the inside of the wall of the estate.
On the nice side, less than an hour after they’d started, the game changed for her a little. At first, she thought it might be that she, finally, was getting better at telling what was about to take place, but that wasn’t the truth. No, it was that everyone else was being rendered blind by the night.
Still, in the second hour, panting, out of ammunition and having to use telekinesis to fight, since doing it physically was leaving her rather bruised, even with everyone taking it easy on her, Hannah managed to hold her own. Sort of. The whole thing turned into a game of ambush hide and seek, with her doing a better job of knowing where attacks were going to come from and the others all beating her in every other way. In the end she was caught and held down, by Veronica and Vidya, as Kate and Devya both stood there, touching her lightly, changing the location information of her attempted escape, constantly. Locking her in place. She was doing it right, but wasn’t powerful enough to overcome what they were bringing into being, which was, simply enough, an instruction that said she was there.
Finally, she had to laugh. It was that or make a pitiful moaning sound.
“Well! That works. I surrender?” She half expected Patty to beat her for that, but was let up, with Vidya giving her a hug.
“That wasn’t bad! Next time I’ll be the defender? Next week?”
Hannah shook her head.
“Three days? We can use it for entertainment one of the nights for the campout? Though, we should probably give you a partner for that. Who are you selecting to mentor, out of the new crew? Before you grab the obvious one, Todd is already working with Heline from Ryhh.”
Pulling the blindfold off, she could see the other faces there, meaning she understood that she was suddenly annoying Death Princess with her demands. At least she figured it would be that, as a reason for the scowling.
When she spoke, the idea changed a lot.
“I thought I was doing training for all of them?”
Surprised, Hannah managed to nod. That hadn’t been what she was thinking at all. She smiled anyway.
“Duh. Of course, you are. You also get an intern to set things up for you and run errands. Maybe Don? He’s decent with a gun and knife, and his ability to turn off everyone’s powers means he probably needs to be pushed that way. No special physical powers, but he can take that kind of thing off the playing field.”
Instead of telling her to fuck off, since mentoring anyone sounded like an annoyance, Vidya simply glared into the dark for a moment, then gave a slow nod.
“That works. There’s also that boy Kevin? He’s fat and out of shape, but one of your game bro’s? Who is he going to be placed with?”
She had no clue on that one at all. He had a new power, but no one else had anything that similar. He could build things, or she supposed, cut them up using lines of invisible force. Her silence on the topic invited Kate to chime in, with a playful grin.
“How about Terry? She’s doing better on working out herself, and…” There was a shrug, since it wasn’t really that great of a match. Also, the woman wasn’t one of the super types. Then, Heline wasn’t either.
So, thinking a bit, she shook her head.
“Agreed they should meet, but we need someone a bit meaner to work with Kevin. He can be lazy, if someone isn’t looking out for him. Terry is doing better, but I don’t want to put a bad influence in with her like that, first thing. Really, we need to get Robin Loxy in for it. I just have no idea why he’d bother. Then, I don’t know how I tricked you into working with Reese full time, Kate.”
The woman, who had a few splotches of paint on her, since Hannah hadn’t totally failed, nodded.
“Probably like that. I’m a mentor now? I thought we were going to abuse The Society for that part of things?”
Veronica, cute and seeming almost exactly like Patricia, especially in the dark, seemed to get the idea there first.
“He has time powers. We don’t have anyone who can do that, anyway. At the same time, you look like her. Being around you all the time will only help him let things go. Sendra…” She didn’t explain more. Everyone nodded, getting it.
Tentatively, they agreed on that one, though lacking the ability to get Robin Loxy in for Kevin, Vidya decided the next best person would be Luther. Even if he was already in on training for everyone, too.
“Everyone else is going to be too soft, I bet. Good. That doesn’t give us everyone, but we can make assignments for the others and pretend it’s part of their duties?” Vidya winked at her, which seemed too cute for a woman who was known to enjoy maiming people who annoyed her. “Who’s going to work with Gregory? He’s… A bit of a handful. Not a bad kid, but driven by more hormones than anyone I’ve ever met before.”
Hannah had that one, so grinned.
“Aliza. Hyper-Gamma. She actually understands what he’s going through, mentally. Apparently, he isn’t really any worse than most guys, mentally, it’s just that he has impulse control issues. Plus, she isn’t that old, so if they started to date in a few years, we can just pretend it’s normal.”
Fast Kid wasn’t that charming, and while slightly better looking than average, when dressed properly, he wasn’t so special that way that it was a real danger. Interestingly enough, everyone there just kind of nodded, as if putting the speedster with a telepath made some kind of sense at all. In a way it would work, of course.
“She can tell if he’s going to go off the rails, before he does it and practicing monitoring him at a distance will be good for her. She has some mental blocks to get over, power wise.”
~True. She’s already doing a lot better. I’ve learned a few things working with her, too. So, who do I get?~
Hannah thought for a moment, no one coming to mind at all, for some reason. Alistair, more than anyone in The Trainees, except Don, was an adult to her mind. The man had a good command of his power, worked hard and trained on his own and was bright enough not to run into a fist fight, when what was needed was coordination of others at a distance.
Still, having an adult pal for him wouldn’t hurt, even if it wasn’t strictly needed for training.
If they were just doing that, then anyone they knew would be a good fit, probably. After a second, a few things occurring to her, she shrugged.
“Honestly, you should work with Linear. You trust him to be ethical, right? Even if it’s hard. You also need someone you can confide all of the garbage you hear in, who can act on what’s needed for you. You’re already good, morally speaking. Now we need to corrupt you enough that it isn’t handicapping you constantly.”
She realized that not everyone else had heard the voice in their heads. Interestingly, Vidya nodded, but Kate and Devya didn’t respond at all. Patty just looked interested.
“Is this your telepathic friend, Albert?”
Vidya grinned.
“Alistair. He was asking who we should get for him. Linear… He doesn’t even have any powers, does he?” She paused then, realizing that had to sound a bit elitist. “I meant to say, if he’s already doing our kind of work, we should get him something, Hannah. Put him forward with your committee?”
That made enough sense that she blinked, feeling stupid for not having him in the first round already.
“Maybe a healing power? That won’t help fight crime instantly, but having people who can do that here on Earth would have made a giant difference a few times.”
Those words had Veronica chiming in.
“If he can heal himself, as well as others? That one, being able to fix damage fast, it can help in a fight and isn’t going to damage anyone else, too easily. Plus, that fits him better than shooting death beams would.” She shrugged, her own skin free of paint. Mainly because she’d been covered by liquid diamond armor before, instead of having avoided the wrath of Hannah the whole time.
Paintballs against diamond made a distinctive thump, so Hannah was certain she’d scored a few points that way. Patricia was in the same boat, except that, instead of a flimsy flesh colored one piece, she’d gotten back into her clothing already.
Hannah tilted her head, then winked.
“Sure? We can put in for that, for him. It might not thrill him, but I can see the use of that kind of ability, so maybe he can be talked into it? I’m meeting with Neary in the morning for language lessons, so I can bring it up then, possibly? That still doesn’t get him to work with Al, of course.”
It also didn’t mean that Alistair Marks was going to loosen up in regards to how he managed his power, either. Which, she realized, wasn’t her place in things to make happen or even suggest. There had been times when it was easier to work with Aliza, for instance, due to her not having the same rules, but that didn’t mean that what Hannah wanted done was the best thing, all the time.
Patty looking around, smiled.
“Can I learn to talk to Alistair, too? It would be like having an imaginary friend, who wasn’t a sign of my impending psychological breakdown, due to isolation. I mean, if that’s allowed?” The poor woman, who was lovely and clearly lonely, seemed sad for a moment.
~Hi, Patty! Sure. Pleased to meet you.~
There was no gleeful screaming, but the woman seemed pretty happy to have a voice in her head, suddenly.
Vidya, being bossy and in charge constantly, waved at Hannah.
“You do that part with the aliens and I’ll see if we can bring Linear and the others in for this mentoring thing. They’re expected to go to the training this week? To see to their charges?”
She shook her head.
“Nope. You, Carl, Max and Lorax can see to that. Maybe Devastator and Acid? We can set Don to managing their powers, as a training device.”
That got a chuckle.
“Nice. I’ll make the calls needed then. See you tomorrow, at HQ? We’re teleporting into the location?”
“Nope. We’re teleporting everyone to your headquarters, and then taking a bus out. It’s a seven-hour drive, too, so we’re setting up in the dark. We need bonding stuff for the trip. Everyone be there at one, so we won’t be late?”
No one said anything, so Hannah teleported away. Slowly, taking about half a minute, even after all her practice. She’d gotten sidetracked and forgotten to hold the right conditions up for a sudden move. Worse, she hadn’t even been ready to dodge if anyone had gotten cute and thrown something at her.
Her end location was on point, being her own shower. She started out with her clothing on, under the on demand hot water, and stripped when the water at her feet ran mainly clear. Then she rung everything out, carefully, and hung it over the shower door, to dry. It wasn’t perfect, but she had to admit, it was better than a sodden pile on the floor of her large shower space.
Then she scrubbed for a while, and padded to her bedroom, to find clothing for the night. There would need to be laundry done, as well, but she wasn’t walking out into her living room naked. Not with a house guest being there already. That part was annoying, of course. Not that she loved streaking around in the nude constantly, but having to manage her life, like a normal person, and consider others was a pain. One she grinned at. Even when she’d been at her most entitled, Hannah hadn’t been that lazy about it.
Oh, some people had been flashed, over the years, but it was, even if she’d pretended differently at the time, always on purpose. In the moment, being more considerate than that was a hardship, but one that would pass in about ten seconds. As soon as she pulled her clothing on and made certain her weapons were in order. Then she grabbed her damp clothing and put them in the washing machine, on hot, just mixing the colors.
Alistair wasn’t out and about, but it was nearing mid-night. The next day wasn’t going to be an early one for him, but camping wasn’t that interesting in the middle of the night. Not most of the time. Being asleep when it was dark would be the better part of common sense. As long as no demons or she supposed, Bigfoot, attacked. If that happened, then the nights might be pretty lively.
It occurred to her that they needed more girls for their new team. She didn't really know any though. As it stood, Kara and Cynthia were probably going to be fought over by the guys there, if politely. It wasn’t until she sat in the dark for a while that something occurred to her, though. There had been a young woman who she’d met, who had powers already and was in the right age range.
Being a horrible person, Hannah sat up in the dark of her bedroom, grabbed her phone and dialed a person who she’d called all of once before in her entire life. The Moore.
It was way too late to be calling, unless a booty call was in the offing. Even then, it was about twelve-thirty, which was pushing things. Not that she wouldn’t have been willing to pay off that way. The man, who looked a little older, was fit and kind of hot. Immortal, too, so looking fifty was a lie. He was at least thousands of years old.
“Greetings. To whom am I speaking?” His voice was rich and relaxed.
“Moore? It’s Hannah de Peyser.”
“Ah? Is there an emergency that I am needed for?”
“Nope. I’m just rude and a horrible friend, calling this late. I don’t even know your schedule, so this is pretty bad of me. You remember Molly? Portal?”
“Certainly. I have been working with her, for the last half year or so. Do you have need of her abilities?” He sounded concerned, for the first time. As if Hannah might be making a mistake.
“Not exactly. The Society accidently ran with my plan to train some kids in various matters. Kind of a combination of superhero stuff and an office internship? Our first big training event starts tomorrow at two and will last the week. It’s late to ask, but do you think she wants in? If so, we’ll get her a mentor and there are some pretty awesome guys for her to meet. If she’s interested in things like that.” Not everyone was, and most of them wouldn’t tell an immortal man if that was the case, she knew.
