A Karma Girl Christmas (6 page)

SCREECH!

The door was torn off its hinges. A second later, Fiera strode inside in all her flaming, orange-red spandex glory, followed by Hermit and Mr. Sage. Fiera, who was holding the door with one hand, casually tossed it across the warehouse like the heavy metal weighed no more than a paper clip. To her, it didn’t.
 

Fiera marched over to me and stopped, staring at the unconscious forms of the Mintilator and Caveman Stan. Then, she looked at me. “Aw, you’ve had all the fun already. You should have at least left me one ubervillain to take down.”

“Yeah,” I wheezed, still trying to get my breath back. “I had that very thought while I was
dodging balls of acid
.”

Fiera sniffed and tossed her hair over her shoulders. “Rookies,” she muttered.

I closed my eyes and resisted the urge to wrap the chains hanging off my body around Fiera’s neck.
 

Teammates. Can’t live with them, can’t choke them unconscious.

#

Using her superstrength, fire-based powers, and some explosives from Jasper that Lulu had stashed in her backpack, Fiera was able to blast the solidium chains off me. Meanwhile, Mr. Sage arranged for the police to transport the still-unconscious Mintilator and Caveman Stan to a secure ubervillain prison. Which, of course, they would no doubt escape from in a few months. But at least they wouldn’t be bothering anyone else—at least not before New Year’s.

But all I could do was stand there and look at the toy tree. The sun had come up while we were getting everything squared away, and it was now past seven in the morning. Oodles o’ Stuff was supposed to open at nine sharp so the kids and their families could get their Christmas presents and other goodies.

“How are we supposed to get the toys all the way across town in time for the store’s opening?” I asked, a sick feeling filling my stomach, eating at me like the Mintilator’s acid had him. “Not to mention the tree? All those kids and their parents. They’re going to be so disappointed, so heartbroken, and it’s my fault—all my fault.”

Mr. Sage put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault the tree got stolen, Karma Girl. Don’t worry. We’ll get everything back in time. I have a good feeling about this.”
 

I eyed him. “Is that what your psychic powers are telling you—”

The air whirled violently through the warehouse, drowning out the rest of my words and causing the remaining toys on the Christmas tree to sway back and forth. My head snapped right and then left as I wondered once again what new ubervillain had come out of the woodwork to wreak havoc on my holiday, but it wasn’t an ubervillain at all.
 

One second, there was only empty air in front of me. The next, Swifte was there, striking a cocky pose in his shimmering, opalescent costume. He stood like that for a second, making sure that we all got an eyeful of him in all his shimmering glory. Then, the speedy superhero turned to me and grinned.

“Karma Girl,” he chirped in a cheery tone. “You’re looking well, all things considered. Love the silver spandex, by the way. Have you been working out?”

Well, at least someone noticed my efforts. I started to ask Swifte why he was here, but my inner voice whispered, and I realized exactly who had called him. I looked at Lulu, who shrugged.
 

“Once I saw how many toys the villains had taken off the tree, I put out a citywide call to the other superheroes,” Lulu said. “I figured we’d need all the help we could get.”

“And naturally,
I
was the first one here,” Swifte said, striking another heroic pose, despite the fact that there weren’t any cameras around to capture him strutting his stuff. “Good thing too, because those toys aren’t even close to where they’re supposed to be.”

I shook my head. “Even you’re not that fast—or strong enough to carry everything across town in time for Oodles’s opening.”

Swifte just grinned at me. “Nope, but my friends are—and they should be getting here any second now.”

He turned toward the open warehouse door, and sure enough, one by one, they started trickling inside.
 

Granny Cane. Black Samba. Halitosis Hal. Pistol Pete. Wynter. The Invisible Ingénues. Okay, so I couldn’t exactly
see
the Ingénues, since they were, well, invisible, but they called out a cheery hello so I knew they were here.
 

Practically every superhero in Bigtime walked through the warehouse door. Even Debonair
popped!
in using his teleportation superpower. In minutes, I had an army of heroes standing before me, ready to make sure the kids of Bigtime and their families got the Christmas they deserved.

“All right, everybody, listen up,” I said, a smile spreading across my face. “We’ve got some toys to deliver.”

#

With Swifte’s superspeed, Black Samba and Granny Cane commandeering several city buses, and everyone else’s assorted powers, we managed to get all the toys and decorations back over to Oodles o’ Stuff. Using his teleportation power, Debonair was even able to transport the solidium tree back into its spot inside the store.
 

Just before nine on Christmas morning, I once again found myself inside Oodles o’ Stuff. The Mintilator and Caveman Stan had managed to strip hundreds of items off the tree, and I was trying to put everything back where it belonged—but not having that much success, because all the superheroes kept talking at once, offering their suggestions.

“I think the tea set goes over here, dear,” Granny Cane said, pointing her cane at a spot on the tree.

Wynter shook her head and hefted the box in her hands. The motion made the giant snowflake pulse like a strobe light in the center of her ice-blue costume. “I don’t think so. That branch is too small for this big box.”

“I’d say put it a little higher on the tree,” Swifte chimed in, zipping around both of them.

And on and on it went, until my head was pounding just like it had been after Caveman Stan had hit me. I was just about to step in and tell them that it didn’t matter exactly where the tea set went, when Fiera shoved her elbow into my side.
 

“Incoming,” Fiera muttered under her breath.

I rubbed my side and turned around, wondering what she could possibly be talking about. A second later, I realized it wasn’t a
what
, so much as a
who
.
 

Abby Appleby marched over to me, a stony expression on her face. “Do you care to explain this—this
mess
, Karma Girl?”

I sighed. Abby had every right to be upset. Thanks to me, a couple of ubervillains had stolen the toy tree and almost ruined everything. Even as it was, the kids wouldn’t get the picture-perfect Christmas they were expecting. But Abby deserved an explanation, so I filled her in on everything that had happened.

I finished my story, and Abby looked around, her eyes going from the tree to the toys scattered around it to all the superheroes milling around. After a moment, her face softened.
 

“You did the best you could, Karma Girl,” she said. “The best anyone could do. You got the toys back here for the kids to enjoy. That’s the most important thing.”

Her features hardened once more. “But I’ll not have them digging through this disaster area. Swifte! Get your scrawny ass over here! Debonair! You too! Now! Now! Now!”

Abby’s voice roared through the store. The event planner started barking orders at the superheroes, telling them where she wanted the toys, the clothes, the decorations, and everything else to go.

Swifte raced around the store, stringing up lights and ribbons, while Debonair used his teleportation power to
pop!
things into place. Mr. Sage used his telekinesis to lift the heavier toys back where they were supposed to be, and the rest of the superheroes pitched in to help as well.

At nine o’clock sharp, the front doors opened, and the kids and their parents streamed inside Oodles o’ Stuff. For a moment, they all stood there, staring up at the toy tree, expressions of absolute wonder on the kids’ faces, and gratitude and more mingled together with the tears on the parents’ faces. Then, everyone started clapping, yelling, and jumping up and down in glee and sheer excitement.

The cheers made me smile—and I knew it would be the perfect Christmas after all.

#

The kids spent the next hour playing with the toys, trying on the clothes, and checking out the school supplies and other goodies while their parents watched. Then, everyone headed over to the store’s food court to dine on the ham, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pies, and other holiday fixings that had been provided by Quicke’s restaurant.

No one noticed when Karma Girl slipped away from the crowd—or that Carmen Cole took her place a few minutes later to cover the event for
The Exposé
. And I wasn’t the only reporter in attendance. Kelly Caleb with SNN, the Superhero News Network, was on the scene to film a piece for the evening broadcast.

I talked to half a dozen kids and their parents, getting quotes for my story. I also made sure to interview Abby, because I wanted to highlight all of the hard work and long hours she’d put into the event. Finally, I talked to the superheroes who pitched in to help at the last minute.

Once I was done gathering material for my story, I stood off to one side, watching the kids, parents, and superheroes mingle, along with volunteers like Piper Perez and Roberto Bulluci who’d come to help with the event. Even Jasper, Lulu’s bomb-making friend, was here, along with Joanne James. Apparently, they’d both donated their time and money to the charity drive.

Johnny Bulluci, Fiona’s fiancé, had also shown up to lend a hand. Johnny was keeping his distance from Fiona while she was still in her Fiera costume, but the two of them exchanged more than one lingering look. And Fiona thought Sam and I were still in the honeymoon phase. Please. It was a wonder Johnny didn’t spontaneously combust with the hot glances she was sending his way.

I was happy that everyone was enjoying their Christmas—really, I was—but I couldn’t help but miss Sam and wish that he was here with me. It would make the day that much more perfect. With everything that had been going on, I hadn’t had a chance to call him, but Sam had left a message on my voice mail saying that the merger had taken longer to wrap up than he’d thought. My heart ached at the idea of spending the holiday without him, but it looked like that was what was going to happen—

A pair of arms snaked around my waist, and a low, sexy voice murmured in my ear. “Guess who?”

My breath caught in my throat, and I whirled around. “Sam! You’re home!”

My husband grinned at me. “I told you I’d make it.”

“But how?” I asked. “In the message I got, you said your meetings had gone too long, and there was no way you could fly back in time for Christmas.”

He jerked his head at Debonair, who was standing next to Bella Bulluci. The two of them were showing a little boy how to mix the paints in the art set he’d gotten.
 

“When I realized I wasn’t going to make it back to Bigtime by plane, I called in a favor with Debonair,” Sam said.

“I didn’t know he could teleport so far,” I murmured. “But it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you’re here with me now.”

All around us, the kids and their parents smiled and laughed, while the superheroes and volunteers watched. But I had eyes only for Sam, and him for me.

“Merry Christmas, Carmen,” Sam said.

“Merry Christmas, Sam,” I whispered back before I pulled his lips down to mine.

EXCERPTS

Read on for excerpts from KARMA GIRL,
 

HOT MAMA, and JINX
 

in the
Bigtime paranormal romance series
 

by
Jennifer Estep

Excerpt from KARMA GIRL,
 

Book One in the
Bigtime paranormal romance series

PART ONE—BEGINNINGS

Chapter One

My wedding day.
 

It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. A time of joy and celebration and new beginnings. The day every girl dreams of from the time she’s old enough to play dress-up in her mother’s clothes.

It wasn’t that sort of day at all.

I stalked up and down the narrow hotel room. My hellish high-heeled shoes poked holes in the thick carpet and rubbed hot blisters on my aching feet. My white tulle dress rustled with every step I took.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.
 

I’d had the feeling for weeks now that something just wasn’t quite right between myself and my fiancé, Matt Marion. He’d been distant lately, distracted. We’d been together over two years now, and I loved Matt with all my heart. But his odd behavior was enough to make the most trusting woman suspicious. I’d asked Matt many times if anything was wrong, if he had cold feet and wanted to postpone the wedding, but he’d assured me repeatedly that everything was fine.

Matt had been working lots of overtime at his construction job and had all sorts of unexplained bruises and scratches on his body. He’d blamed his frequent absences and injuries on work, but I couldn’t quite shake this feeling, this cold sense of dread deep down in my stomach. Doubts whispered in my mind. I’d learned long ago to listen to my inner voice. Following my instincts was the reason I’d become the top investigative reporter at the
Beginnings Bugle
, the town newspaper.
 

I wasn’t about to ignore my instincts now. I couldn’t get married with this doubt hanging over me. I had to ask Matt one more time what was bothering him.
 

I slipped out of my hotel room and made my way to the elevator. It had been Matt’s idea to get married at Forever Inn, the most romantic hotel in all of Beginnings, Tennessee. Weddings took place on a daily basis at the four-star hotel, and no one batted an eye when I crowded into the elevator in my billowing dress and sparkling diamond tiara.