Maddening (Cursed Superheroes #2)(4)

He stares at me for an unnerving amount of time before pushing away from the bars and crossing his arms. “How long have you been locked up?”

“No. I’m not answering any of your questions until you answer mine first.” I kneel up in my cage and put my hands on my hips. “Did you do something to my sister?”

“And what if I did?” He places both his palms against the front of my cage, his amusement doubling. “Would you reach through the bars and touch me?”

I swiftly shake my head. “No… No matter what you did, no one deserves that punishment.”

His pierced brow cocks. “And what kind of punishment is that?”

I shrug. “You’ll probably think I’m crazy if I tell you.”

“Try me.”

“Well, according to my parents, my touch will cause something worse than death. I’m not sure if that will happen or not, but it’s not like I’m going to try to touch someone to find out.”

“Hmmm…”

“Hmmm… As in you think I’m crazy?” I ask. “Or hmmm… That’s a very interesting story. I definitely won’t be touching you right now.”

“Hmmm… as in Hmmm…” He grips the bars of my cage as he leans in close. “Although, there’s something definitely crazy about you. Or I guess, I should say maddening.”

I frown, feeling silly. “See, I told you you’d think I was crazy.”

“I didn’t say you were crazy. I just said that there’s something crazy about you, which you’ll understand eventually.”

“You make no sense. But that’s okay. I don’t really care if you believe me or not. I just want to know what you did to my sister.”

He deliberates something with his gaze fixed on me. “What if I said I killed her?”

I swallow the painful lump in my throat. “Did you?”

His gaze never wavers from mine. “I’m not going to answer that question until you answer mine. What would you do if I told you I killed your sister? Would you try to hurt me? Try to touch me and find out if your touch is truly terrible?”

“No,” I whisper hoarsely, tears stinging at my eyes. My answer feels twistedly wrong, but nonetheless true. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

His eyes narrow. “Liar.”

I wipe away a tear that manages to escape. “I’m telling the truth… My touch… It’s supposed to do awful things and that’s why I won’t ever touch anyone.”

“So you’re saying you’ve never touched anyone in your entire life?” he questions with cynicism.

I shake my head, more tears pouring out of my eyes. “I did up until I was three. Then my parents found out about my curse. They didn’t know when it would happen, though, so I’ve never touched another human or otherworldly since that day to avoid risking someone getting hurt.”

He steps back and crosses his arms. “And you just accepted what they told you? You didn’t question them?”

“No… Why would I? They’re my parents.”

He stands in front of my cage with his arms folded, a series of emotions flickering across his face. But mainly pity fills his eyes. Then he promptly shakes his head, squares his shoulders while lowering his hands to his sides. “You shouldn’t trust people. Most are liars.”

“My parents weren’t.”

“If you say so.”

I ball my hands into fists at my side, getting frustrated. But before I can work up a good comeback, he steps toward the door to my cage.

“But since you answered my question, I’ll answer yours,” he says. “I didn’t kill your sister. No one was home upstairs when I walked in.”

“How did you get in then? Wasn’t the door locked by some magical charm? That’s what my parents always told me?”

He shrugs. “It was, but I asked the door to open.”

My brows dip. “What does that mean?”

He smirks. “I bet you’d like to know, wouldn’t you?”

I nod eagerly. “I really would… I can tell you’re not human, but I don’t know how I know that. And I don’t know much about otherworldly creatures except for what I’ve read in books. But books don’t really help when it comes to running into one in real life. Well, maybe they would if I lived in real life and actually saw otherworldly creatures on a daily basis. But since I live in here,” I shrug, “You’re the first anything I’ve met outside of my family in a really long time.”

“How long?”

“Fifteen years. Since my parents first found out what I’d become.”

His smirk makes a grand appearance again, and I can’t decide if I hate it or love it. “You really shouldn’t have trusted them.”

My lips curve into a hurt frown. “I wish you’d stop saying that.”

“Fine, don’t believe me. I’ll prove it to you.” Then without warning, he slips his arm through the bars and grabs onto my arm.

Panic flares up my throat and I let out a deadly scream, knowing when the noise ends, I’ll be consumed by the guilt of hurting someone.





Chapter 4