Boom (Aces and Knaves, #2) Read online

  Boom

  Aces and Knaves, Volume 2

  Helene Gadot

  Published by Helene Gadot, 2018.

  BOOM

  A Supernatural Reverse Harem

  Helene Gadot

  © 2018

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  BOOM

  First edition. September 26, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Helene Gadot.

  Written by Helene Gadot.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1 | Ridley

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  To Marvel, for making superheroes cool again

  Chapter 1

  Ridley

  MORNING SUNLIGHT STREAMED through the window of Ridley and Malia’s office, making Ridley squint in confusion. When did the sun come up? The scent of coffee wafted from the door behind her, making Ridley spin in her office chair away from the desk.

  Malia frowned from her spot in the doorway, holding two coffees from their favorite shop. “You spent all night looking over that file again?”

  Ridley grimaced and avoided Malia’s eyes. “Maybe.” Sleep was illusive and painful for her anyway, nothing waiting for her there but ghosts.

  “Don’t you have it memorized by now?” Malia shook her head and set Ridley’s coffee on the desk in the middle of all the papers spread out across the surface.

  “Pretty much. I keep hoping for more information, but the investigation seems like it was light as hell.” Ridley rubbed her stinging eyes and leaned back in the chair with a sigh.

  The fucking Legion. Maddox had spent years searching for answers the Legion should have found for him in months, but they didn’t even try to figure out who killed his brother, Tony.

  Malia perched on the edge of the desk, eyeing Ridley with concern. “Not surprising. Maddox’s brother wasn’t a Legion member, and there were no signs a big-time knave was involved, so why would they care?”

  “Yeah. Still. It seems shitty. Even for them.”

  “You should call Maddox and see what info he has. He’s been investigating it for years.”

  Ridley had considered it, since she was possibly going over the same thing he and his team had already looked through. “I wanted to look at it without his hopes and opinions coloring it.”

  Malia snorted. “Uh huh. Well, you’ve looked at it as much as you possibly can, so maybe it’s time to call and see what he has.”

  Ridley shook her head. “I’m still waiting to hear from a couple contacts about marvels with poison generation powers. I’m hoping they have something for me I can take to Maddox.”

  Malia glared over her coffee cup. “You don’t have to have new information to call him with. Hell, you don’t even need investigating his brother’s death as an excuse. Just call him and ask him to grab a beer with you. Or call any of them and invite them out.”

  “It’s not about that. I told him I’d help him find his brother’s killer and I want to keep my word.” Ridley sipped at her coffee, savoring the taste of macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Damn, she loved this stuff.

  “I don’t think he meant it like this. I think he wanted you to actually work with them on it. Not investigate on your own.”

  “It’s better if I keep my distance.”

  Malia groaned and hopped from the desk. “It’s been two months and you’re still singing that song?”

  “They haven’t called me either.” No contact in two months.

  “Because they wanted you to join them and you disappeared instead of using your words like a big girl.”

  Ridley scowled. “Because it was all or nothing with them. Either join or apparently we were done.” She wasn’t able to do that and had tried to make them understand, but they refused.

  She would find what information she could on Maddox’s brother’s death, hand it over, and she could move on from the four shitheads she was having trouble banishing from her mind.

  “True. But maybe if you had talked to them before packing and disappearing while they weren’t there, they would have been a little more willing to listen.”

  Ridley shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Malia huffed a loud sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re being a stubborn ass. And you know it.”

  Ridley shrugged again and repeated herself. “Maybe.”

  “Moving on.” Malia gave up with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “I came across something today I think will get you out of your self-pitying funk party.”

  “Self-pitying funk party?” Humor twitched at the corners of Ridley’s mouth. That was a new one.

  “That’s what I said.” Malia sniffed, her nose in the air.

  “What exactly is that?”

  “You know what I mean. Anyway. There’s a parkour tournament this weekend for marvels. It’s raising money for domestic abuse. Thought you might be interested.”

  Ridley grinned over at her friend. “I already signed us up last week.”

  Malia snorted with a shake of her head. “Of course, you did. I’m glad I decided to talk to you first before I registered today.”

  “I kept forgetting to mention it.”

  Malia shot Ridley a disapproving frown. “Right. Probably because your mind is too full and focused on that file in front of you, you barely remember to eat.”

  “I eat. And I work. And I exercise.” And that was basically all she did.

  “Sure. You have buried yourself in your mission and the garage and that damn file. But you aren’t living. When’s the last time you went to grab beer and onion rings at Jerry’s?”

  Ridley winced, remembering the last time. The attempted robbery. When Reese was with them. “Two months ago.”

  “Exactly. You used to barely make it two days before you were back in there. You’ve turned into a sad hermit. I’m going to buy you six cats since clearly you’ve given up on any relationships other than ours.”

  Ridley spluttered. “I signed us up for the parkour thing. That’s new and fun.”

  “Would you have if it wasn’t making money for abuse victims?” Malia asked with a raised brow.

  “Maybe.” Probably not. It wouldn’t have even crossed her radar otherwise. She’d only heard about it because the shelter she and Malia worked with had posted about it on their website.

  Malia clenched her jaw. “If you say maybe one more time, I will trap you in a force field and make you listen to old Backstreet Boys songs. I swear I’ll do it.”

  Ridley held up her hands in surrender. “All right. Okay. Sorry. Calm your tits, dude.”

  Malia stomped her foot. She actually stomped it like a toddler in the middle of a tantrum. “I will not. Things have been quieter on the web and we haven’t had many victims needing our help lately. Let’s e
njoy the lull and go get some greasy food and good beer tonight, eh?”

  “Fine.” Ridley didn’t like the reminder of how few women had gotten in touch with them over the last few weeks.

  They used to have several women to save a month, sometimes a week. And they finally had the money to actually help more than before. Lani Gregory hadn’t forgotten them once her dirtbag bastard of a husband was locked up and his funds were released to her. She’d given them a huge thank you check.

  Malia tapped the side of her cup. “Speaking of, I found a couple decent options for a safe house. And each one will fit at least eight people if they double up. More, if we pay to have the basements finished.”

  Ridley perked up, excitement helping the coffee wake her a little more. “When do you want to go look at them?”

  Ever since they’d gotten Lani’s check, they’d been looking into houses they could turn into a safe place for women to hide while she and Malia dealt with their abusers.

  Malia pulled out her phone and scrolled through her calendar. “Next week, maybe Tuesday? It’s always our slowest day, so we can close as long as nothing big comes in Monday.”

  Ridley grinned. “Send me the links to the houses and I’ll check them out and make appointments with the realtor.”

  Malia pulled her phone from her back pocket and poked at it for a moment. “Done.”

  Ridley’s phone chimed, signaling the arrival of the information. “Thanks.”

  “You know...” Malia trailed off with a frown.

  Ridley looked up at her friend. “What?”

  Malia sighed and spit it out. “You’re looking into safe houses nicer than what you live in. You could use some of the money to fix up your own place.”

  Ridley scowled. Not this again. “Nope.”

  “If not that, at least use the money from Lani for your... uh charity work and save the money you make here and keep for yourself. You need to build your savings back up. Just in case.”

  “I know.” Ridley used to have tens of thousands saved in case she needed to run again, but some of it went into opening the garage and the rest steadily disappeared as she and Malia helped women escape the assholes who hurt them.

  Ridley and Malia were the last shot survivors made after the cops and Legion and lawyers did nothing. They rarely had any money left, sometimes they only had the clothes on their backs.

  Clothes, new identification, plane tickets -—all costed money. A lot of it. The donation from Lani was a huge weight off of Ridley’s back.

  “Do you think your guys will be at the parkour tournament?”

  Ridley glared at Malia. “They aren’t my guys.”

  Malia rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say.”

  “And, I have no idea if they’ll be there or not. It’s likely since it’s a marvel race, but I’ll be illusioned, so they won’t know it’s me. I’ll illusion you too.” They couldn’t take the chance someone could decide to look into them.

  Malia forehead creased with concern. “Won’t that be too much power?”

  Ridley shook her head. She’d been experimenting with her power lately. She could handle it. “Nope. And it’s the only safe way for us to take part. There will be way too many Legion eyes at this thing and neither one of us can afford to get on their radar.”

  “What names did you register us under? And what powers?”

  “Jane Stultz and Tammy Revis. Fog generation for me and for you, I kept force fields since it’s pretty common.”

  “Nice. Though nothing about my perfect ass is common.”

  Ridley laughed. “True.”

  “You look like shit. We only have two easy repairs today, so go to your shitty apartment and get some sleep while I handle the rest.”

  Ridley shook her head, her eyes back on the papers in front of her. “I’m fine.”

  “Bullshit. Go. Now. I’ll come get you if I need any help and be ready by six to go to Jerry’s."

  Chapter 2

  Ridley

  THE STREETS BRIMMED with marvels, the early autumn air still warm and tasting of salt and sunscreen. Tourists and regulars with wide eyes lined the sidewalks behind the barricades, excitement bouncing through them at getting to see marvel powers in real life.

  Ridley and Malia stuck to the edge of the crowd, safe in the illusions of two white blond girls, blending perfectly with the other ones peppered throughout the marvels waiting to begin the race.

  Ridley searched the teaming bodies for a sign of the guys, but the horde was too thick. Malia shot Ridley a knowing look that she ignored. She was just curious if they’d show. It seemed like the sort of thing they’d enjoy. They were all competitive as hell and liked games.

  A pang of longing shot through her as she remembered their night of drinking, dancing, and games. It had been one of the enjoyable nights of her life and every time she remembered it, she missed the shitheads.

  Ridley shook it off, focusing on the race ahead. Whole streets and alleys had been cordoned off for this event. No real rules on how to get to the finish line, full use of powers was allowed as long as someone like Reese didn’t just fly there. They still had to get past obstacles however they could manage it. Flight, teleportation, and speedsters all had extra rules in place for them since their powers allowed them to completely skip over the course.

  Excited thrills slid up and down Ridley’s spine as she and Malia settled into position. They’d chosen places towards the back, not in it to win so much as to fuck with the Legion assholes puffed up like they already had this race won.

  Ridley and Malia exchanged a grin right before the shot boomed and they were off.

  Ridley focused on keeping the illusions wrapped around herself and Malia as they darted around bodies exploding with powers. They wanted to get a little farther down the course before they used theirs.

  Ridley leaped over a fallen marvel, using the side of a parked car to keep from falling as he grabbed at her ankles. The douche. She should have landed on his face.

  A pained grunt puffed from him as Malia’s foot dug into his ribs. Ridley grinned. Damn, she loved that woman.

  Malia pushed forward to Ridley’s side, raising her field behind them, blocking anyone from passing. Ridley glanced over her shoulder and snorted at the pile of marvels crumpled on the ground.

  Ridley nudged Malia and cast an illusion of a bike appearing right in the path of a douchey-looking dude right ahead of him. The guy tripped over air and slammed to his knees with a shout.

  “This is fun.”

  The two of them continued through the city, leaping over stairs, running up walls, sliding down rails, sending more and more Legion aces to the ground.

  Malia kept raising force fields and Ridley kept making them believe their pants were falling down, showing their asses to everyone.

  At the finish line, they were nowhere near the front, but it had been fun as hell. Just what Ridley needed after two months of nightmares and loneliness.

  They poured water down their throats, chests heaving, grins wide.

  A voice behind her wiped the grin right off Ridley’s face.

  “It’s been a long time, babe."

  Chapter 3

  Ridley

  AFTER SUCKING IN A sharp breath and squaring her shoulders, Ridley turned around, her expression calm and pleasant. How the hell did he know it was her? Gleaming green eyes met hers, somehow seeing past her illusions. Maddox always saw too much.

  “Hey. How have you been?” She fought a wince at the awkwardness of her reply, elbowing Malia at her snort.

  Before Maddox replied, the rest of the guys surrounded them. Shit, had they gotten taller? And hotter? They loomed above her, trapping her with muscles and way too much beauty.

  “It’s her?” Beckett asked.

  Maddox nodded, completely confident. “It’s her.”

  Beckett smiled. “I knew it.”

  Cormac snorted. “Of course, it’s her. You saw the bare asses throughout the entire race.”

&
nbsp; “It was awesome.” Beckett laughed.

  Reese remained silent and brooding, refusing to meet her eyes or join the conversation. Usually he would have plenty to say about her and Malia’s pranks.

  He was apparently still pissed at her. She heaved an internal sigh, searching for a way out of this conversation.

  Maddox gestured towards the edge of the crowd closer to the sidewalk. “We figured you’d be here, but we weren’t expecting the disguises.”

  Ridley shrugged as she followed him over, the others trailing behind them. “It’s safer that way.”

  “Right.” Maddox nodded. “So, how are things going with your mission?”

  Ridley pressed back into a palm tree, soaking in the shade, watching the rest of the marvels pick up their participation trophies and head out. “It’s fine.”

  Malia rolled her eyes and leaned her shoulder against the tree beside Ridley. “It’s been pretty slow lately actually. There’s been a surprising lack of damsels.”

  Ridley hated it when Malia called them that, even though she referred to herself the same way, claiming it was better than calling them victims.

  Beckett pursed his lips in thought. “It’s been a bit quiet for us lately as well. We just finished a pretty simple investigation.”

  Beckett’s words made Ridley frown in suspicion. It made her uneasy, like something was coming. Something big. Like it was the calm before the storm.

  She shook off the dread trying to climb up her back and refocused on the guys, trying to bury the awkwardness stiffening her shoulders. She was being ridiculous.

  But fuck, they were seriously hotter than she remembered. Even covered in sweat and mussed from the run.

  She was glad she was still hidden behind her illusions, not wanting them to see the dark circles under her eyes or her pale skin and dropped weight. She didn’t want them to think they were the reason. They weren’t. She’d just been busy. And haunted.

  “What are the two of you doing tomorrow?” Maddox asked, moving closer to her like he couldn’t help himself.