King Of Bad [Super Villian Academy Book 1] (17 page)

“Not exactly.
When you’re done eating, I have one more
surprise.”

“Oh joy!” Jeff
tried to channel the spirit of some old goody toe-shoes character, like
Opie
Taylor from the Andy Griffith Show.

Mystic rolled
her eyes and watched Glenda bustle around the kitchen.

He suspected
his last surprise was Source, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment by
guessing. He looked forward to seeing him again. This whole time, he’d pictured
Source in a dungeon somewhere being forced to work for evil people in horrible
circumstances. But this place was quite nice actually. Maybe things hadn’t been
bad for Source after all.

Chapter 22

Mystic strode
down another long hallway with her arm linked through Jeff’s. “After the attack
you survived I know you have a strong heart. I hope it is strong enough to withstand
this surprise.”

Jeff smiled
politely, wondering why she was making such a big deal out of this. He’d be
happy to see Source, but not that happy and certainly not that surprised.

The hall they
walked down had more of an administrative feel. Gleaming wood floors, paneled
walls, framed certificates and display cases crowded with awards. Jeff guessed
these doors opened to offices instead of posh dorm rooms. They walked to the
very end of the hall and into a small office with a tidy desk occupied by a
bespectacled, nerdy, man. He tapped away on a keyboard and pushed his glasses
up his nose when they entered. As soon as he saw Jeff, he popped out of his
chair and bowed. “Welcome, sir.”

Jeff frowned.

“How’s it
hanging, Hans?” Mystic said.

Hans glowed as
red as one of Jeff’s ignited fingertips, but didn’t reply. He walked over to a
door, opposite the one Jeff and Mystic had entered through. It stood ajar and
Hans stuck his head through and said, “He’s here, sir.”

He pushed the
door open and gestured for Mystic and Jeff to enter. Mystic ruffled his hair as
she passed and he turned purple from embarrassment.

Mystic stepped
aside, turned halfway, and said, “Polar, I’d like to introduce the president of
Future Villains of America.”

Jeff’s stomach
plummeted to the floor and his head spun. For a split second he realized that
Mystic was right to have wondered if his heart was strong enough, because its
sudden acceleration seemed life threatening.

“Hello, my
boy!”
His happy, casual, surfer-dude father, complete with
loud Hawaiian shirt, walked out from behind a large cherry wood desk.
“Surprise!”

Was this whole
thing a practical joke, Jeff wondered? Was this really a school for villains or
the corporate offices of a bike shop?
“Dad?”

Frank slapped
him on the back. “Good to see you, boy! Have a seat, have a seat.”

Jeff felt his
dad steer him to a leather armchair that faced the big desk and he sat down
automatically. A burst of air burped out from the seat in a sound that
ordinarily would have embarrassed Jeff, but that he barely registered.

“Mystic, thank
you for all your work securing my son. You can go for now. I think Jeff
deserves an explanation.”

Mystic bowed
formally to Frank, freaking Jeff out even more. He’d never seen her well
behaved. When she turned to leave, she winked at Jeff and he felt better.

Jeff turned his
attention back to the man in front of him. Though it was definitely his goofy
dad that stood there, something was different about him. There seemed to be a
hardness or coldness that Jeff had never noticed. Had he missed it before or
did Dad usually mask it better?

Frank walked
back around the desk and sat in the high backed chair. He folded his hands
together on the desk. “Jeff, I never told you I was an S.V. because I didn’t
know which route you’d take. I was pleased beyond words when you were recruited
by Super Villain Academy.
Almost told you right then and
there.
Considered offering a place for you here at my
school.
I’m not sure why I didn’t, but turns out it was a good thing
after all.

“Certainly Tubs
and I know of each other from having run in the same circles all these years.
What I hadn’t expected was…well…let me back up a bit.”

Jeff watched
his dad in growing confusion. Frank was all business. No casual, surfer-dude
personality now. For the first time in Jeff’s life, the Hawaiian shirt seemed
inappropriate.

“I gave up
villainy the day I met your mother. She took my breath away the moment I saw
her and I realized that to commit to a relationship, I would have to quit my
thieving and conspiracy and live a somewhat upstanding life. That’s when I
opened this place with the bike shop as my cover.”

Frank looked at
Jeff as though expecting him to say something, or ask a question. Jeff only
blinked at him. Frank
steepled
his fingers together
and pressed them to his lips. Then he sucked in a deep breath and pressed his
palms onto the desk as though fortifying himself.

“We came to
visit you at the fake school on the family weekend. Everything was fine. I was
even impressed with the sham.
Tubs does
a good job.
But Source’s mom recognized your mom.”

“What?” Jeff interrupted.
“How do you know about Source?
Recognized Mother?”

“Source’s mom
is an S.V. I went to academy with her. His dad was a couple years ahead of us.
Source’s mom was involved in a bank heist about five years ago. The white hats
got wind of it and showed up.” Jeff’s dad bowed his head as if at a funeral.
“Your mom was one of them.”

“Huh? Mother’s
a super hero?
A good guy?
Mother
?”
Jeff jumped out of his chair and paced.
Raked his hands
through his hair.
“Mother.
The
cold one.”

His dad gave
him a warning look. “Tenet,
Cource’s
mom, told Tubs,
Tubs told me. After some investigation, I confirmed it. Not only is Sarah an
S.H. She’s one of
the
S.H.’s Seems
your lines are even more royal than even I’d thought.”

Jeff stopped
pacing. “What does that mean?”

“Well,” Jeff’s
dad puffed up in his chair, looking more like his usual self, “my side comes
from a long line of successful and respected S.V.’s. If there were royalty
among us, our family would qualify.”

“That explains
why everyone here treats me differently, but why didn’t anyone at school?”

“Oh, yeah, um…I
changed my name before I married your mom. Just in case, you know? So I changed
my name to Frank Mean. Now I understand why your mom was so hesitant to take my
name when we got married.”

“What’s our
real name?” Jeff asked.

“
Tohler
.
They call me Chill.”

“Why Chill?”

“I have the
ability to relax people.
Even to the point of cooling their
bodies or slowing their heart.”
Frank shrugged. “I make people not care
that I’m doing bad things around them.”

“
Kinda
funny that you’re Chill and I’m Polar, even if mine
isn’t the ‘cold’ definition everyone thinks of first.
Though
I don’t really like being Polar
Tohler
.”

Frank snorted.
“Hadn’t thought of that; that’s funny.”

“Dad!”

“Sorry, son.”

“What about
Source? Where is he?”

“Oh! I don’t
know where he is. Is he missing?”

Jeff started
pacing again. “Yeah, he’s missing. The same kind of group of intruders that
showed up for me, complete with blue fire, came in and snatched him right out
from the middle of a gym full of super villains. Nobody even cared. The only
kids to fight were the ones who just wanted a good fight.”

His dad
growled. “Son, you really need to stop those kinds of thoughts right in their
tracks.”

“What kind of
thoughts?”

“Nice ones
about saving people and stuff. I heard about your good side. That’s why I
snatched you out of S.V.A. I didn’t want your good side to develop in the
middle of an academy of super villains. At least here I can help you squash
it.”

Jeff gnawed on
his inner cheek and considered what his dad had said. “Why can’t I just be who
I’m supposed to be?”

“Jeff,
obviously you’re supposed to be a villain.” His dad came around the desk.
“Don’t worry, son, you’ll be a darn fine villain, once you’re no longer good,
that is.”

Frank slapped
Jeff on the back a couple times. “You go explore your new school. Don’t worry
about anything now that you’re here. You’ll have the run of the place.”

Jeff let his
dad usher him out of the office, past Hans who popped out of his chair and
bowed his head, and into the paneled hallway.

“Go enjoy your
day. We’ll let you take today to get acclimated. You can start classes
tomorrow.”

“Um, Dad?”

“Yeah, son?”

“What about
Pucker?”

“Who?”

“My fish.
She’s back at S.V.A.”

“Oh.” His dad
looked concerned, but not about the fish. Then he brightened. “We’ll get it
here, boy. Don’t give it another thought.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Maybe we drove
home those lessons on manners a bit too hard. Regardless…” Frank slapped Jeff
on the back one more time and then shut the door. Jeff stood alone in the hall,
dumbstruck by the turn of events. His dad was S.V. royalty and head of a school
for super villains. His mother was a tiara wearing white hat and actively
fighting against S.V.’s everywhere. Source was still missing and no one cared.
Jeff wasn’t sure he wanted his good side squashed. Now what was he going to do?

He wandered up
the
hall,
certain he’d never find his way back to his
room. What he did find was a cafeteria. Mystic lounged on a sofa by the fire,
sipping from a mug. The redhead sat on the floor in front of her, leaning
against the couch. Mystic played with a hank of the red hair. Jeff went over to
them and flopped down next to Mystic. The redhead scrambled to her feet and
stood with her eyes downcast and her hands folded together in front of her.

“Mary, give it
a rest. He’s cool. He’s not going to order you around or anything.” Mystic
said.

Jeff looked up
at Mary and asked, “Why are you treating me like this, Mary?”

Her eyes grew
wide, but she still didn’t look at him.
“Um, because you are
a
Tohler
, sir.”

“Mary, it
doesn’t matter if my name if
Tohler
or if it’s
Rockefeller. I’m still the same ignorant kid I was yesterday before even I knew
I was a
Tohler
. So, stop treating me like I’m someone
special.
’Cause, I
ain’t
.”

Mary’s eyes
flicked up to meet his. She smiled and then her eyes were downcast again and
she blushed. “Sir, you are very special.”

Mystic huffed.
“Polar, stop being so nice.
It’s killing Mary and it’s
killing me.”

Jeff looked at
her. “Oh, right, sorry.”

“Polar,” Mystic
grumbled.

“Oops,
sor
… Ah!” He slammed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples.
“Not being polite is hard. Mother would be so proud.”

“So how does it
feel to learn you’re a big shot?” Mystic asked.

Jeff grumbled.

Mystic
chuckled.

“How long have
you
known?” Jeff asked.

“That is why I
was sent to SVA,” Mystic said.
“To keep my eye on you.
I’m actually a recruiter. I graduated last year, but stayed to work.”

“Why you?”

“I was the
closest to the right age!” Mystic laughed.

“Wait, you
arrived when we got back from the family visit, right?”

“Yep, Chill
contacted us the first day of his visit when he learned about,” Mystic leaned
sideways and whispered in his ear, “your mother.”

Jeff shook his
head and shrugged. “So?”

Mystic lounged
against him so she could whisper to him. “Well, the way I understand it, Tubs
kept your dad apprised of your education and had told him of your tendency
toward manners and collecting
friends
. No one had to knock your dad over
the head when he learned what your mom was. Before even confirming it, he sent
for someone to enroll and keep an eye on you.”

“So you got
stuck babysitting, huh?” Jeff asked.

“I didn’t mind.
It gave me a chance to see inside another school.”

“That’s why you
were so quick to give me defense,” Jeff said. “By the way, how do I have it
again?”

“I put it back
together again while you were out cold.”

Mystic’s
breath
tickled Jeff’s ear. She smelled of fresh bread, olive
oil and thyme. Jeff found himself leaning against her and wanting to be closer.
He stiffened and sat straighter. Mystic’s presence confused him. He felt he was
betraying Oceanus by feeling an attraction to Mystic. But a true villain
wouldn’t feel any loyalty. Oceanus wouldn’t feel a loyalty to him. Perhaps he
should give in to his attraction to Mystic. He studied her always-bare legs,
one crossed over the other; their weight resting against him, felt warm and inviting.
He longed to run his hand along her thigh.

He raised his
gaze to meet her eyes and somehow was surprised to look into an ocean of amber
instead of a pool of turquoise. He snapped his head aside and silently
chastised himself. Practical or not, Oceanus was who mattered to him and he had
to stay true to his feelings. He sighed. He was doomed to have a nasty, little
good streak.