Chapter Twelve

:: Max ::

"Thank you, Max. If I can't have Phoebe, you're the next best thing."

"You will never tell anyone about this ever."

"Nope, never."

Max didn't believe her for a second. He glanced at the timer on his watch.

"Ten seconds."

The porcelain of the tub made for an uncomfortable seat. In his mind's eye, he pictured Phoebe there, chatting a mile a minute and making it seem like just a normal Phoeberry (he was bad at the couple name mashing thing) moment.

It made a lot more sense than him sitting a step away from a peed on stick, counting down until they could look at it.

"I'm going to throw up," Cherry moaned.

"Doesn't that typically come later for you non-supes? That whole nine month baking time ordeal?"

"Baking time?"

Before he could explain, the timer went off. Cherry shoved his shoulder, almost pushing him backwards into the tub.

"You check."

Max snorted. "I'm not doing that."

"Cheeeeccckk," Cherry whined. "Phoebe would."

"Of course she would! She'd break her neck for you. Wait, she almost did that already. I mean—"

Cherry sniffled. Max saw the first tear of round two.

"Arrrrrrgh, let's just get this over with," he growled, pushing up from the cold sweaty tub lip and picking the stick up from the edge of the sink. He stared down.

"Well?"

Max had a really good line about the end of civilization as they knew it on the tip of his tongue. He was so close to letting it out, but then he glanced at her smudgy face and her big wide eyes. Scared eyes.

"It's positive."

She clamped her hands over her mouth. He caught her before she fell backwards. She pressed her hands into his shoulders.

"What am I going to do?" she panicked.

Not ask me to go to the doctor's with you, he thought to himself.

"You'll be fine. This happens every day. Probably more than once a day. Actually for sure more than once a day. The world's a huge place and—"

"I mean me! How could I have been so stupid?"

Max rubbed his neck. More insults came to mind. She was making it too easy.

"You'll be fine," he said again. He really had no clue what to tell her and he didn't want to know the backstory of how this had all come to be. "You have Phoebe...and me."

Ugh, I can't believe I just said that, he thought.

"Oh, Max! Why can't all guys be like you? You've turned into a really great guy," she shook his shoulders. "Thank you."

He let out an oomph! as she squeezed him. He awkwardly patted her head. Her hair felt really similar to Colosso's fur.

"Well, I should get going," he said. Cherry made a face and he was sure she was going to beg him to stay. Her lower lip quivered.

"Can you tell Pheebs to call me?"

"Sure," Max said quickly. The sooner he passed Cherry back to Phoebe the better. He had a nightmarish thought of Cherry calling at all hours of the night to go fetch ice cream and tacos for her and her pregnancy cravings. Or her asking him to tie her shoes because she couldn't see her toes.

After promising two more times to let Phoebe know, declining a ride home, and tripping over a giant stuffed panda sitting in the middle of Cherry's kitchenette, Max finally stepped outside. Freedom.

It was raining lightly. Max weighed his options. He could walk home. He could go check on Oostergooster. He could go get a drink at the bar around the corner.

He opted for a walk in the direction of home. Oostergooster would have to wait until morning. He flipped his collar up and shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and took off at a casual pace. He didn't mind a little rain.

Hiddenville was a great place to walk. "The City of 1000 Parks" wasn't kidding about being, well, "The City of 1000 Parks". Some were barely big enough for three trees. Others provided awesome biking trails. Max cut through one that made the trip home shorter, Shadow Park. The trail lamps were spread out a little too far and the trees fell in front of the light just enough to create overarching shadows all around. He had just rounded the bend at a giant weeping willow when he heard his name.

"Max."

They had prepared him for encountering her, but Max had thought it would take longer and the location would be different, like Oostergooster's house. From the glow of a weak light, Twilight Inferno strolled up to him, her light yellow dress clinging to her from the dampness of the drizzle, her shoes dangling from her fingers. He took in the sight of her bare legs before traveling back to the face.

"What are you doing out here, Pheebs?"

It was an odd feeling calling someone he knew wasn't her by her name. The feeling was muddied even more because of how much she looked like her.

Those legs.

"I just felt like a walk. You?"

"Same. But I'm heading home now...after my walk."

He sounded like an idiot. Real Phoebe would have teased him. Inferno just smiled and walked closer.

She's been reprogrammed, he reminded himself. No need to panic...

Except he thought President Kickbutt had mentioned maximum protection. He had assumed that meant another agent assigned specifically to make sure Inferno didn't get too close to the family or their friends. Max was sure she could pull off being Phoebe for a little while, but an entire conversation with someone they were close to would surely uncover the truth. No one could be Phoebe as well as Phoebe could. So if that was true and an agent was keeping things under wraps, how come she was walking around in the dark?

"...so lonely."

"What?" Max blinked in confusion. She had gotten closer. Really close. So close he could feel her body heat.

"I hate seeing you so lonely."

"I'm not. Lonely, I mean."

"Max," her voice was so soothing. She played with his upturned collar. Max felt sleepy all of a sudden. "You don't have to lie to me. I know you."

His Thundersense tingled. Something was wrong...so wrong. Her hand lowered to press against his chest and her fingers dug sensuously into his shirt. She tilted her head and smiled. She leaned even closer. His heart thudded.

"Close your eyes," she whispered. "We both know what we want."

He longed to obey. His eyes felt so extremely heavy. It wouldn't hurt to close his eyes…

He was at a full squint, a second away from shutting the world away and letting her continue to slide her hand around his chest, when he saw the sneaker sticking out of the bushes. A torrent of cold fear washed over him.

Maximum protection.

"No!"

The moment the word was out and he saw the look of pure hatred slide across her face, he knew the memory wipe had failed. He jumped back and ducked a stream of fire that flew out of her mouth so fast that it seemed incredible she had been throwing herself at him a second before. He attempted a freeze breath as he tried to shake off the lasting threads of exhaustion, but he failed. She just laughed.

"You can run, but you can't escape," she said. "It's the only way you'll ever have her."

He froze. "What?"

She took the moment to send another torrent of flame at him. He ducked, but her comment and their previous skin to skin contact had made him sluggish. He hissed in pain as the heat burned into his jacket, searing his skin.

Her fingers played with the thin shoulder straps of her dress. "Don't think I don't know your dirty little secret, Maxy T."

Struggling past the rising terror he felt, he forced himself to concentrate. She was trying to get into his mind and mess with his psyche. As she strutted forward, the simple slide of his hand sent her airborne and she slammed into the closest tree. The force should have knocked her out. Instead, she just laughed like he had tickled her.

Max knew he wasn't going to win this fight. He turned and started to run, but she was fast and unphased at the previous attempts to bring her down. She tackled him around the legs and they crashed to the ground.

It was like the struggle at the tower and plant all over again. He hadn't told President Kickbutt, Phoebe, or anyone else, but the moment Inferno had him pinned, he lost all fight. His mind went carnal. He thought about the nights he would do anything for a chance to relive again. There hadn't been many.

But they had been great.

"Let's play, handsome," she purred, pinning him for the third time in a week and running her hand through his soggy hair. She grabbed at the strands roughly, exposing his face and throat to the rain.

Her body pressed closer than ever. Her face seemed to blur around the edges. Her lips parted and Max fought weakly not to mimic the motion. Seconds ticked by and he felt himself fading. He felt her lips brush his and he waited for the sparks, but they didn't come. Instead, a horrifying image of the most hideous monster he had ever seen unfurled in his brain as an indescribable sensation ripped through his body. He hated it, but he had no choice. She was in control and he was the pawn.

"Not him, you bitch! He's mine!"

The monstrous image remained suspended in his mind even after the sensation faded and the weight of her body was flung from him. Max blinked rapidly, urging his mind to clear. He sat up as two horrible screams filled the air. One was pained. One was just pissed.

His field of vision sharpened. When it did, his eyes locked on her and didn't stray. He knew he needed to jump up and help. It was so good to see her. A rush of adrenaline filled his body, but he needed to take just one more second...

After all, Phoebe had just called him hers.