Schmidt moved closer to The Terror, nudging him with a booted foot. His voice was cold and metallic, muffled by the armor. “Who are you? Why are you here?”
The Black Terror struggled to his feet, well aware that both of his enemies were tensed for battle. “Because I’ve been looking for McIness. He and I have some things in common… things that need to stay out of the hands of men like you.”
Schmidt’s face couldn’t be seen but his body language betrayed his interest. “You’re like him, aren’t you?”
“Yes. And we need to remain the only two. All of the others went insane. With our power levels, that’s dangerous. I know you think you can control all of this, Schmidt, but you can’t. It’s bigger than you are.”
“You know nothing about me. Nothing!” Schmidt’s voice became louder and tiny flames began to dance around his gloved fingers. “And when I wear this suit, you’ll call me Prometheus!”
“The guy who was chained to a rock so the birds could eat his insides?”
“The man who stole fire from the gods and shared it with humanity.” Prometheus reached forward and placed his fingertips against The Black Terror’s head. “I can engulf you in flames right now… but I’m willing to spare you if you answer my questions.”
“I’m The Black Terror. And like I said, I’m here to talk to McIness.”
“How did you find us?”
“When the group that created me… went away… I started going through their files. I discovered that one of their earlier agents wasn’t euthanized. He escaped. So I started tracking him. Eventually I learned that he’d hooked up with a wealthy German with a taste for the occult: Maxwell Schmidt. Nothing I’d read said you liked playing dress up, though.”
“You have a strange sense of humor for someone who uses a name like The Black Terror and dresses like a cross between a pirate and a circus performer.”
“We can insult each other all day but it won’t change anything,” The Black Terror said. “You’re headed to South America to find out the secrets of making more people like McIness and myself. I’m not going to let that happen.”
“Let me kill him and be done with it,” McIness whispered, though there was a trace of doubt in his voice. Prometheus didn’t seem to have caught it but The Black Terror did.
The Black Terror turned to McIness, hoping to drive a larger wedge between the villains but Prometheus made that impossible. He released a fireball that struck The Black Terror directly in the face and soon spread over his entire body. Pain flooded Bob’s brain and he fell to the ground, writhing in agony.
McIness watched the scene with wide eyes. “What now?” he asked, obviously seeking direction. He’d never considered what would happen when he met someone like himself.
Prometheus stepped around the flailing Black Terror and grabbed Inga by her long blonde hair. She yelped, tears streaming down her face. He set her on her feet and turned to McIness. “We head out of the country. Now.”
Jake was known as the best demolitions man in Sovereign. The vast majority of the jobs he took were under the table, usually as part of an insurance scam. But he’d also been involved in three murders over the years, each time carefully setting off explosions that took innocent lives.
Normally, he would have avoided anything like the current gig. But Maxwell Schmidt paid very, very well and he usually sweetened the deal by supplying Jake with prostitutes when the job was properly done. Considering that Jake was a rather homely man, that last bit was quite worth the dangers that sometimes came with the employment.
This current affair was perhaps the most challenging of his career, however. Robeson Avenue was well-known for being the home to Assistance Unlimited and it was rumored that the street was under constant surveillance. Jake had spent a good half hour looking over the area before making his move and he’d seen absolutely nothing: no sign of sentries, no stray dogs or cats and no cars. If it wasn’t for the illuminated windows of the Assistance Unlimited building itself, Jake would have thought that the entire block was abandoned.
Maybe, he mused, the rumors were a little overblown. Lazarus Gray and company probably spread the lies themselves to help with security — but they hadn’t counted on a man like Jake and the powerful need for money and sex that drove him.
Jake had slung a heavy bag filled with dynamite, tape, and a set of matches over his shoulder and slunk through the shadows, approaching the site. He wanted to plant explosives at several key places around the building, using his knowledge of demolition to ensure that the entire place would implode at the right moment.
After about twenty minutes, he’d inserted enough dynamite around the side of the building to virtually destroy it, but he needed more to insure that the job was done right. He was busily picturing what sort of girl — or girls — Schmidt might reward him with when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He froze in place, crouched over a stack of dynamite.
Slowly, he turned his head, his eyes widening before a fist crashed into his nose. Blood spurted from both nostrils and he fell over, knocking the dynamite askew.
Eun Jiwon stood over Jake, cracking his knuckles. Just behind him was Samantha Grace, looking somehow both beautiful and dangerous.
“We’ve been watching you,” the young Korean said. “The only reason we waited this long was because we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. What kind of idiot comes to our street and tries something like this?”
“I’m not an idiot,” Jake muttered. His eyes darted about, trying to find some avenue of escape. He couldn’t afford to go to jail. Even in Sovereign, where the judicial system was as corrupt as they came, there was such a thing as going to the well once too often. He was a repeat offender with a long history — the D.A. would throw the book at him, making it look like he was ‘tough on crime.’
Eun reached down and grabbed the thug by the collar, yanking him to his feet. “You sure could have fooled me. You know who we are and I bet you’ve heard the stories about our security system — so are you crazy or desperate? You’ve got to be one or the other to try something like this.”
Samantha spoke up, her soft voice carrying an edge of steel. “If you tell us everything, we’re willing to put in a good word for you with the police. But if you want to play rough, Eun’s going to force the truth out of you.”
Jake saw from Eun’s expression which way the Korean was hoping things would go. Swallowing hard, he said, “I was hired to blow up your building. I don’t know if he wanted you dead or if it was just meant to keep you busy. That’s all I know.”
“We need a name,” Eun said, disappointment evident on his face. He’d been looking forward to thrashing this guy. “Who do you work for?”
“Maxwell Schmidt. He owns a business called Omega Solutions. I don’t know what they do there.”
Eun looked over at Samantha. “Isn’t that the name of the guy that the crazy old witch works for?”
Samantha nodded. Though Greta had refused to give up her employer’s name, Abby had managed to find out his identity. The young Southern had taken obvious pride in the fact that she hadn’t used her magical abilities to do it, either — she’d discovered the answer through old-fashioned detective work. The last time that Greta had been picked up for vagrancy, she’d been released into the custody of a German named Maxwell Schmidt. In fact, Lazarus was headed over to Omega Solutions right now, with Morgan, Abby and Jakob in tow.