Day

  Hero Society

  Day

  Jessica Florence

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events, and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of those terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  Jessica Florence© 2018

  Editing by LibrumArtis Editorial Services

  Proofreading by Judy’s Proofreading

  Cover by Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations©

  Prologue

  Leon

  2005

  “Tonight you’re going to get the big score,” Romy moaned into my ear as I grabbed my helmet from the bench. From her tone, I knew I was going to get a piece of her at Richie’s after game party tonight. Two big, double D handfuls. I grinned and left without acknowledging her statement. I just had to win the game tonight, and then it would be off to celebrate with Romy, and by the look her cheerleader friend is giving me, my night might turn into a ménage.

  Football.

  The only thing in my life that was stable, besides my grandparents, who were screaming their heads off for me in the stands.

  I loved the smell of the freshly painted field, and the gleam of the bright lights as they shone down on us. It was the best heaven I could think of. Football and sex—the two things I couldn’t get enough of.

  I stretched my legs out as I made it to the huddle. My body had been aching like I’d been hit by a truck all day, which was weird for a sixteen-year-old. But I did put my body through hell with training for football.

  My eyes found each of my teammates, and I gave them the best pregame speech I had. It was simple.

  “Kick ass, get some ass, and let’s play ball!” They hooted and then I told them our first play. We had scouts in the crowd tonight watching us, so I wanted to give each of the guys a play that would show off their skills. Tonight we were playing the Benders, our rival team from the south of Seahill. They sucked, though, so we would beat them into the ground easily.

  “Good luck,” Charles, my best friend, whispered as he walked by me. He was the best tight end I’d ever seen. He and I made a pact that we would always be on the same football team—college and the pros.

  “Jaybird forty-three. Jaybird forty-three. Hut. Hut!” I called out to the line, reading the blitz the other team was going to try. Once the ball was tossed back to me, it was game time. Even though my wrist was killing me, I threw the perfect spiral pass to Charles, who made the first down.

  We moved quickly on down the field, and time flew. The first half of the game was almost over.

  My head started pounding, but I pushed through.

  We had to win the game. My body taking a dump on me would have to wait.

  The ball was in my hands, and the pocket was closing in. I had to try for the win. I gripped the ball tight against my body and took off for a quarterback sneak, running as fast as I could, dodging the other team’s poor tackles.

  Charles was about to block the safety, who would have been the one to stop me, when all of a sudden my vision became blurry, and I felt my feet move faster than ever before.

  I was out of control, and moved like a bullet—right into Charles and the safety.

  A loud crack echoed in my head, and I was scared shitless that I’d hurt someone. With my distorted sight, I watched as people came running out into the field, checking to see if everyone was okay.

  When my vision cleared, they were trying to get the guys to stand up. One was fine.

  But Charles.

  He was trying so hard, but his legs weren’t moving.

  Chapter One

  Present Day

  Leon

  A hot burger, a shower, and a full night’s rest: the perfect picture of heaven for me. I’d been on the ship for a month, and all I could think about was having a big, fat burger from that chain fast food restaurant.

  I gave the guys on the boat a nod goodbye as I grabbed my bag that held a month’s worth of my life and walked off the big crab boat. They’d made a show about us once, something about it being the most dangerous job in the world. It was definitely that and then some.

  But it paid what I needed, and most things that would kill a guy on the boat wouldn’t end me.

  The marina was mostly quiet, only the little waves hitting the sea wall could be heard around.

  Just the way I liked it.

  A small smirk graced my lips when my girl came into view.

  Lily Blue.

  My forty-foot sailboat.

  I’d been living there since I turned twenty, ten years ago. She looked like she could use a little elbow grease to clean her up since I’d been gone. Barnacles were growing on her underside. I groaned, thinking about going under to clean her.

  “Another day,” I told myself. They could wait. They could always wait. After I showered, my main goal was a burger then I’d take her out into open water. She needed a break from the dock.

  I opened the door to see nothing had changed. The marina manager, Tony, kept an eye on her and had a key to air out the inside here and there, making sure nothing was off.

  Obviously everything was good in my absence.

  Lily Blue was my only girl, and all I needed. She had a small kitchen with all the appliances, a dining area behind it, and a long bench seat with blue cushions to match the booth ones.

  I’d set up a small flat screen to the side so I could watch TV from anywhere in the small living quarters.

  I walked into the bedroom in the back and set my bag on the bed, the only furniture in the room besides a small table and shelf to the right of it. I grabbed a towel from the closet to the left of the bed and peeled off my clothes, adding a trip to the marina laundromat to my list of things to do after food.

  .

  My shower was big enough for my six-three frame to move around freely. I’d given up extra closet space to have it that way. I turned on the faucet and waited for the water to warm. Thankfully my heater was still working well. I jumped in and closed the shower door behind me.

  The grime that came off my skin from the month-long trip swirled down the drain, and I just stood there, letting the water work its magic on my muscles. I dragged myself reluctantly out of the spray when it started to turn cold, and dressed in a pair of jeans and an old sweater. The weather was starting to chill, and it was always slightly cooler on the water. I looked at myself in the mirror before heading out. My blond hair needed a cut, and my beard a trim. But otherwise I looked like the normal, all-American man. My brown eyes looked tired, and if that wasn’t a clear sign that I needed a break then I didn’t know what was.

  I thought about my friend Charles, and decided to give him a call tonight and see if he wanted to go when I took Lily out to sea.

  Despite the fact that I paralyzed him from the waist down, he remained my closest friend. No giving up on life, or our friendship. I owed him everything. I worked hard and paid for all his medical expenses. He was all I had. Even my parents abandoned me after they found out what a freak their son was. No more pro-football future, in their eyes, spelled failure. I was nothing more to them than the disappointed promise of a life of luxury. My grandparents had taken me in for my last year of high school, and now they were retired by the beach in Florida. They deserved it, after everything.

  Charles always said I was better off without parents, and over time I’d finally swallowed that pill, accepting that it was their loss.

  I opened the window in the kitchen to air Lily Blue
out a little more, grabbed my wallet, climbed up the four steps then closed the door to the cabin. Tony must had taken a power washer to the deck, because she looked pretty clean. I passed the helm, and the small, three-person, cushioned bench and took the step off my boat to the dock.

  When I looked up from my boots, my gaze fell upon three people sitting at the picnic table closest to my boat. Two men and one woman. Odd. The blond man looked at me and held up a white bag with my preferred burger chain restaurant logo on the side. What the hell?

  “Care to join us?” he asked, and while the thought was tempting, I would just go get the burger myself. This was bizarre.

  “Pass,” I called out.

  The woman peered at me and smiled nicely. I felt myself walking toward her, and before I knew it I was standing in front of them. The need to talk to them was strong inside me.

  Slowly, I looked her over and found her beautiful. Her long lashes complemented her hazel eyes, and even that pink birthmark that extended over her right cheek added to her beauty.

  “Okay, watch how much you’re putting into him, Rose,” muttered the man who was sitting next to her, who had brown hair and a trimmed beard.

  Blush coated Rose’s cheeks, and she broke eye contact with me.

  Instantly the urge to talk with her was gone. I shook my head in confusion. What the hell just happened here?

  “Have a seat. We’ve got way more than we can eat, and we are here to talk with you.” The blond man sitting on the other side of Rose handed me the bag, and my mouth started to water thinking about that first bite into the juicy meat.

  “We just want to talk to you,” said Rose as she lightly touched my arm. I grabbed the bag then sat on the edge of the bench with the blond man.

  “I’m Rose; this is Phillip, my brother, and this is Draco. Thank you for sitting with us.” She smiled as she gestured to the two men beside her while introducing them.

  “What’s this about?” I opened the bag and grabbed a hold of the double burger I had been craving. Lucky guess.

  All heads turned to Phillip, who smiled like he knew all the secrets of the world. I guess I was so hungry that I didn’t feel the need to tell them to fuck off like I normally would have.

  “We are like you, Leon. We have special gifts,” Phillip announced.

  Gifts? I started eating and listening with my complete attention.

  “We have begun to build a society for people like us: the Hero Society. A place for those who have been cast out and have nowhere to go. A place where a special few can learn to protect mankind using their powers. Things are happening, Leon. Things that have been in the works for a long time, and we need you to consider joining us,” he added then looked around at his crew with an affectionate gaze.

  I stopped eating and tried to register what he said to me. A hero society? A place for the unwanted? Sounded too good to be true. Plus these powers of mine were not a gift, but a curse. I’d only hurt people. It’s what always happened.

  I was curious, though, as to what they could do.

  “I can see the future. Rose is an empath, meaning she deals with emotions. Draco is immortal, and AJ, who isn’t here right now, is a normal human but a super genius.” Phillip answered my mental question. I grabbed the rest of my burger and the bag, then stood up.

  “I’ll pass. Thanks for the nice emotions and my dinner, though.” I looked at Rose, and her cheeks blushed again. Yeah, they were better off without me joining their club. I walked back toward Lily Blue and gave them a fuck-you salute as I climbed down into my cabin.

  Chapter Two

  Leon

  I sat at the bar of the infamous Club V, thinking over the conversation I’d had with the four strangers this afternoon, as I got off the boat from a month-long trip.

  A society of heroes. Sounds like a load of crap.

  I ordered another round of good old Jack, and tried to erase any thoughts I’d had of considering their offer. I listened to the sound of the music while my mind took a turn toward the bitter memories that could help me with my decision.

  I’d been the king of high school. Football captain, ladies’ man, and was on a fast track to scoring a spot in the professional football league once I got into college a few years later. All-American man, I was deemed. Until the curse of my powers came. Yeah, it would have been easier to win at football if I could have unleashed my speed and run faster than traveling sound. But I couldn’t control them at the ripe age of sixteen. I’d messed up, and someone got hurt. And not just a bump on the head, but paralyzed.

  I wished hard that it would have stopped there, but it seemed I was doomed for more. I was in the hospital visiting Charles after the incident, when he asked me to tilt the TV over more for him to see. I knocked it clear off the wall and it smashed against the floor. I barely even touched it.

  Strength and speed—something most would love to have the ability to possess, but I was not one of them. I wanted my normal life back, and that feeling had never gone away.

  Leon Daniels, all-star football player, became the recluse, afraid to be close to anyone, out of fear for their safety, and then became a joke to everyone he once called friends.

  And now I had been given a choice to join a group of people like me, to use my powers for good.

  All my powers had ever done was cause chaos.

  I drank some more and turned my head around to look at all the people moving their bodies with the music on the dance floor.

  This club was pretty popular, and being a Friday night, the place was packed even more so than usual.

  If I’d stayed the course of normal human, I would have probably been out there with them. Wishful thinking. I wasn’t normal, no matter how hard I wished on a damn shooting star.

  I started to turn around when my eye caught the stare of one of the dancers in the hanging bird cage.

  Her eyes sparkled with trouble as she looked me over. A bright smile grew on her face, and I found myself staring at her lips.

  For a moment, as I watched her, I thought about what it would be like to walk over to her, pull the bars of her cage back with my strength, and let the girl have at what she was letting me know she wanted through her sensual stare.

  It would probably scare her.

  Once my thoughts started going down that avenue, there was no going back.

  Not even the taunting of her swaying hips and curling finger telling me to come to her could break my resolve.

  I looked into her eyes one more time before digging into my pocket and fishing out enough to pay the bill.

  Once upon a time, darling.

  I turned toward the door. Time to go back to my life of solace, and start tomorrow fresh. No thoughts of sexy club dancers, and definitely no “hero society” conversations in my future.

  I looked at my phone and knew Charles would be asleep by now, so my only option for the rest of the night was to head back home.

  The streets were buzzing with Seahill’s night life as I walked through the cityscape.

  Women were laughing; men were going on about the football game that had just finished.

  Everyone was surrounded by fun and happiness.

  Except me. I was alone and aimed to stay that way.

  I had managed to escape my thoughts from turning to the dark side with the attractive cage dancer, but now there was nothing to distract me as they came hurdling in.

  A gift. They called them gifts.

  I scoffed at the thought.

  Nothing really made me feel worse than thinking about my friend, who would never walk again because of me. No material items I’ve smashed, even on accident, could compare. I have my whole life to atone for that one night, and I didn’t even think a lifetime would be enough.

  I was slightly startled when the phone in my pocket started to vibrate and ring.

  It was past midnight, and I didn’t know anyone who would call me.

  But then I saw the name on the screen as I held it.

  “I’m not
asleep, asshole. Get your mopey ass over here,” Charles’s voice was one of jest, and suddenly my solemn mood improved. Was I tired as shit? Yep. But when Charles called, I was there.

  His apartment, the end unit in the complex, was fairly close by.

  With my hands in my pockets to keep the chill away, I walked in the opposite direction I had been heading, looking forward to seeing my friend.

  I could see the sign for his complex coming up when a guy got out of his car and looked at me with curious eyes.

  Looking the other way, I crossed the street so I could avoid the weird guy that was still staring at me.

  He was tall, and muscular, with dark skin and a shaved head. I sighed, not really wanting to get into a fight or accidentally hurt anyone else.

  “You got a problem?” I stopped and asked him, ready to just get it over with if he was going to try and mug me or something.

  “Not at all. Just seeing something,” he purred, and then got back in the fancy black Mercedes he had parked then sped off.

  “Okay.” I shook my head and walked on, not in the mood to deal with anymore weird people or strange shit. All I wanted was to see Charles, get even more drunk, and hit the sea tomorrow.

  Chapter Three

  Lilith

  That look in their eyes is what drives me to sway with every vibration of the music.

  The power.

  The control.

  Every single man that looks at me is caught under my spell.

  I own them.

  My hands wrapped around the bars of the cage as I leaned my chest into the metal, sliding my body down then back up the bars, as if they were the man that was staring at me like I was his personal goddess.

  They all felt that way, and I relished in the feeling of having that power over them.

  My smile grew wide as I let out a sinister laugh.

  They could never touch me.

  Only look.

  I danced around my cage the way I wanted, enjoying the music and being a tease.