A Hero in Hiding (Vexing Villains Book 2)

A HERO IN HIDING VEXING VILLAINS BOOK 2 ALICE WINTERS Copyright © 2023 by Alice Winters All rights reserved. Edited by: Courtney Bassett Proofreading by: Lori Parks Cover: Cate Ashwood Designs No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. CONTENTS Chapter 1 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 Author’s Note: Acknowledgments About the Author Also by Alice Winters CHAPTER ONE LANDON “Hey, August… would you still love me if I accidentally, hypothetically threw a reporter into the river?” I ask as I hold the phone against my ear so I can talk to the world’s… no, the universe’s best human alive while the world’s best cat stands at my feet watching the splashing man. “Uh… I guess it depends. If it was truly an accident, did you help him out of the river?” I look over at the man splashing around in the river yelling something like “Help me! I’m so goddamn annoying that even Hell doesn’t want me!” “No… I haven’t… I mean, hypothetical me has not assisted the man at all, much like when I told him to get the camera out of my face and he refused to… I mean hypothetically,” I say. “So… let me get this straight… when a reporter annoyed you, you used your telekinesis to chuck him into the river?” August asks. “Hypothetically, that is correct.” “Uh-huh… um… I guess just as long as others don’t see and he doesn’t drown, I’m sure it’s fine.” I look over at the other reporters snapping pictures of me as well as the man in the river. They’re getting a good angle of both of us as I stand watching my victim. “So… throw the other reporters in too? Got it.” I aim my hand at the reporters and watch just how quickly they put their cameras away. One even whistles a cheery tune as he hurries over to his vehicle. “Maybe… we don’t throw them in,” August says as I use my telekinesis to lift the only reporter who thought that it was worth it to stay. “You sure?” I ask. “I mean, he’s already in the air.” “Positive. Put him down.” I shrug. “I mean… I guess dropping him would be a good warning as well.” “Wait, before you drop him, how high in the air is he?” August asks. I glance up at the man. “How high do you want him to be?” “Not high,” the reporter cries. “He said he wants to be super high,” I say. “I think three inches is a good threat.” I grumble because I’m positive three inches is not a good threat at all, but I dump him anyway before I head off. “Well, that was no fun.” Zacia (officially known as Balzac), my sphynx who is currently decked out in a T-shirt with one of those green alien heads on it that says “I wanna probe you,” meows at me. I’m pretty sure when I ordered the shirt the listing said “I wanna love you,” but this is better in my opinion. “Did you get the guy out of the river?” August asks. I stop walking and look over my shoulder. “I totally forgot about him.” “Landon!” I hurry over to the edge of the bridge and see that he’s doing a perfectly fine job of removing himself from the river, and I debate tossing him back in. Eh, it’s already taken up plenty of my time, so I resume walking. “I thought you had class today,” August says. “Oh, that stupid thing Valerie wanted me to attend about how to properly act in public? Yeah, I skipped that. I am not interested in being a hero. I am not a hero. You can do your little hero stuff and I will guard your ass and—” “Oh shit, I just got an alert that there’s a robbery in progress,” August says. “Can you help?” “Angrily,” I say with a grumble as I turn back to the wet reporter who is glowering at me. “Hey, pencil dick, I need you to drive me to a robbery.” “I’m not…” He must see the fury in my eyes because he nods and hurries over to his car. He even opens the passenger door for me like a kind gentleman. I get into the passenger seat as I rattle off the information August is giving me before grimacing. “God, you smell like a dead fish.” Even Zacia thinks he smells nasty judging by the way she’s sniffing the air in his direction. He shifts his narrowed eyes onto me. “And whose fault do you think that is?” I grab his water bottle out of the cupholder and shove it into his face. “Hey! Hey! Can you tell me what Chronobender is doing? Hey! Hey! Hey!” I continue to obnoxiously ram it into his face, pretending it’s the microphone he assaulted me with, until he turns to look at me. “I see.” I grin, proud of myself. “Yeah? You see how annoying it is?” He’s quiet for a moment. “Maybe.” I feel like that was a job well done. “You know what I wanted to do today?” “No.” “Take a nap. Read a book. Peruse my Augustine with my eyeballs, and instead, someone decided to rob a bank.” “Didn’t you use to rob banks?” he asks. “Did I ask you… Mr. Reporter?” “It’s Dave.” “Yeah? Dave? Huh? Did I ask you?” He grumbles something that he should probably be happy I don’t hear. I stretch and yawn. “I’m going to take a nap. Wake me when