“I’m doomed,” Christian moaned. “Life as I know it is over.”

Liam clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Cheer up, Chris! You never know. That Nox guy seemed genuinely worried about you so I thought he was a fellow hero until you set me straight. It is pretty weird that someone you complain about all the time would bother to save your life so maybe he likes you! If he does he wouldn’t tell anyone your secret.”

Whose side was he on here? He kept flip flopping tossing out ideas! “…which do you think is actually the case? Be honest.”

“If I had to guess I would say scenario two. He didn’t say much but I got the impression he was fairly desperate to save you. Didn’t waste any time at all. What on earth did you do to make a villain like you that much?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

Did Nox truly think they had some bizarre form of friendship because they kept running into each other? Was all of that teasing meant to be friendly rather than mocking?

Christian wouldn’t know unless he asked. And that wasn’t going to happen for quite some time at this rate since he would be laid up for months. Again. He really should retire already before he got himself killed.

His powers really weren’t that impressive in terms of versatility. He could fly and had a sixth sense about trouble. He was stronger and faster than the average person but that was only because he had been unintentionally weightlifting since he was an infant since his mother didn’t want him to float away. He didn’t have supernatural strength or speed.

The reminder of his mother made him panic. “Do Mom and Dad know I’m in the hospital?!”

“Nope. Neither does Avery. You’re in for a world of hurt,” Liam said lightly.

Christian would have slapped his hand to his forehead if he had the strength to move his arm. He hadn’t thought of his girlfriend at all. He had been too busy freaking out about his secret identity being exposed to his worst enemy. Who may or may not be as much of a threat as he thought.

“Ugh, what am I going to tell her?”

His parents would see the news sooner or later and understand he had been hurt doing his secondary job—they were very proud of his heroism—but he couldn’t exactly tell Avery he got stabbed by a villain. That would be a dead giveaway.

Liam shrugged. “Say you got mugged or something. This is New York; she’ll probably believe it.”

“That’s actually a really good idea,” Christian said in surprise.

“Don’t be too shocked. I do have those sometimes, you know. I can tell Mom and Dad for you if you want. I’m sure they’ll come storming the hospital looking for you as soon as they find out, which is why I haven’t told them yet.”

He forced himself not to laugh because that would really hurt. His brother was right. They would storm the hospital…and so would Avery.

“I may as well get it over with. Let them all know I’m in the hospital, would you?” Christian requested.

Liam looked at him like he was stupid. “I don’t know Avery’s number.”

“I’ll give it to you.”

He would definitely still be in the hospital come Monday and didn’t want her to freak out when he didn’t show up and she was unable to contact him since he didn’t have his phone. She would probably be upset if he put off telling her until then, anyway.

Thirty minutes later his parents were there and fussing over him. Liam rolled his eyes but looked secretly relieved that Christian was okay. He felt a rare upsurge of affection for his brother.

“Chris, who brought you here? Were you able to thank them?” Brian asked after fifteen minutes of parental fretting.

“Someone I know,” he said wryly. “I haven’t had the chance yet.”

Christian had absolutely no idea what he would say to Nox when he inevitably saw him again. He had too many questions. The guy was a master of evasion and hardly answered anything he was asked so there was a good chance he wouldn’t be honest regardless.

His father was distracted from his line of questioning because Avery arrived. She seemed to be even more of a wreck than his mother and her violet eyes swam with tears as she unashamedly leaned over to kiss him.

She stroked his face with one hand and tightly gripped the hand that wasn’t hooked up to an IV with the other as she drank in the sight of him. It was as if she had forgotten anyone else was in the room.

“How are you feeling?” she asked tenderly.

Christian wasn’t sure he had ever been looked at so intensely in his entire life. “I’ve felt better.”

Avery let out a strangled sort of laugh before holding his hand against her cheek. “I’m sure you have. Are you going to be okay though?”

“He’ll be fine; the doctor said he’ll be out of here in less than a week,” Liam scoffed. “There’s no need for that sort of PDA. My mission here is accomplished so I’m heading home. Next time I come by I’ll bring your phone so you don’t go crazy in here, Chris.”

He had to stop himself from laughing again. Now that the danger had passed his brother was back to his usual self. He did care even if he wasn’t typically inclined to show it in conventional ways.

“I appreciate it.”

Liam left with a wave to his family members and Christian was suddenly very grateful Avery arrived when she did. If she came any earlier his parents would have been talking about things she couldn’t overhear. At least all that was out of the way now.

His parents promised to be back to visit and bring him some things to keep him entertained before tactfully heading out to give the two of them some privacy. They seemed to sense that his girlfriend had taken his injury even harder than they had, which was really saying something with how much they fussed.

As soon as they were gone she bent over so her forehead was on the bed next to him and shook with the force of her sobs. She barely managed to choke out what she wanted to say.

“I was so scared!”

Christian wanted to smack his brother. What terrible way had he worded things when he sent that text to Avery to make her this upset? Now he had to soothe her and he had never been very good at that, though his way of dealing with victims was far better than ice queen Frostine’s.

“Hey, it’s okay! I’m fine. This was a one-time deal; I have no plans to get stabbed again,” he told her.

He meant it. Getting stabbed was awful. Why did that stupid villain have to be a knife expert? He had gone thirty years without getting stabbed until he ran into her and nearly half of them had involved fighting criminals.

Avery let out another strangled laugh. “No one plans to get stabbed, Christian.”

She had a point. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond. No one planned to get stabbed…but the likelihood was increased in his line of work.

Two major injuries in the space of a single year! One of them was even life-threatening. He was losing his touch. At this rate it might be better to look more seriously into retirement before the next one was fatal.

Seeing his family upset was hard enough but they knew that if he died it would have been for a noble cause. Avery would have been left to mourn him never knowing what really happened.

Christian knew she loved him but seeing how upset she was drove the point home harder than ever before. As much as they may both claim they weren’t interested in permanency…he didn’t think she would be able to handle losing him.

Could he really prioritize a side career destined to end sooner or later anyway over someone he loved more than anything who felt the same way? Would it be worth it?

Looking at her paler than usual tear-stained face he wasn’t sure he could do it. He had time to think while he was laid up and could potentially get in touch with one of those power suppressor people to see what his options were. If it was possible to turn off his sixth sense but not flying he would do it in a heartbeat at this point.

“I’m sorry,” Christian said lamely.

Avery blinked at him in astonishment. “Why are you apologizing for getting stabbed?!”

“Because I scared you.”

“You didn’t scare me; you terrified me. You need to be more careful!”

“I know. Sorry.”

“Again with the apologies. You’re here, you’re alive, and you’re with me. That’s more than I could possibly ask for. So quit apologizing, okay?” she asked with a tiny smile on her face.

“Okay,” Christian said seriously. “But can you come here for a second? I want to kiss you again and I’m kind of stuck.”

Avery’s laugh was more genuine this time and she leaned forward to give him what he wanted. As he had hoped, his ploy to cheer her up had worked. Plus he truly had wanted to kiss her. She had been looking at him so lovingly even as she was scolding him. That sort of expression was impossible to resist.