Chapter 5
Hughie had barely settled back inside the store when a voice came from empty air.
"Who are you?"
Hughie jerked up from behind the counter.
"The fuck?"
There was no one in front of him.
"Right here," the voice said. "You thought I would not find this thing?"
Something small dropped onto the counter.
The bug.
Hughie's face went pale.
"Hughie," the invisible man said.
Then the air in front of him moved.
Something hit him in the chest and threw him against the counter. His back struck the edge hard enough to make him gasp. He looked around quickly, but there was no one there.
Then another blow came from empty air.
Hughie stumbled between the broken display racks, breathing fast.
"What the hell?" he shouted.
No one answered.
A hand he could not see grabbed his shirt and slammed him sideways. A few boxed speakers fell from a shelf. Hughie hit the floor and tried to crawl back, but the invisible force followed him.
Across the street, Adam saw it happen from the roof.
The air inside the shop bent around a moving shape. He could not see Translucent clearly, but his senses caught the pressure around the invisible body. He also saw Hughie jerk whenever the attacks landed.
Then the front of the store exploded inward.
A black car crashed straight through the glass and metal frame. Shards flew across the floor. The car hit something invisible and threw it backward into the store.
Butcher had arrived.
Adam did not move yet.
He watched as Butcher got out of the car and stepped over broken glass like this was normal for him. Hughie was on the floor, staring at everything with wide eyes.
Butcher raised a crowbar.
"Hughie, get out!" he shouted.
The fight started hard.
At first, Butcher had the upper hand. He swung the crowbar at the bloody outline that had appeared in the air. Every hit made the invisible body shift. Translucent was strong, but Butcher moved like a man who had done ugly work before.
For a moment, it almost looked like he could handle it.
Then Translucent changed the flow.
The crowbar was ripped aside. Butcher was hit in the face and thrown back against a broken shelf. He tried to stand, but another strike dropped him to one knee.
Adam's eyes narrowed.
This was the moment.
He stepped back from the roof edge and jumped.
The fall turned into a short burst of flight. He landed on the street and ran toward the shop. He reached the broken front in only a few seconds.
Then he slowed down.
He could not rush in like he had been waiting on the roof the whole time. If he looked too ready, Butcher would notice. Hughie would notice too.
So Adam walked in through the broken entrance, breathing a little harder on purpose.
Inside, Butcher was on the floor.
Hughie stood behind Translucent with a live wire in his hands. He looked terrified, but he was still trying to move closer.
Translucent noticed him.
The bloody outline of his head turned toward Hughie. The invisible supe was about to move, and Butcher was just starting to lift his leg from the floor.
Before Butcher could kick him, Adam stepped in front of him.
Translucent had started to turn back toward Butcher when Adam's fist hit his face.
Adam held back as much as he could.
He did not want Butcher to see real strength. He did not want Hughie to think he was a Supe. He only used enough force to make the hit look like a lucky, hard punch.
Even that was enough.
The invisible body snapped sideways. Translucent crashed into the broken display area near the back of the shop. A shelf bent under the impact, and something heavy fell with a sharp crack.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Translucent's body slid down and stayed still.
Butcher stared from the floor.
Hughie stared too.
Adam lowered his fist slowly and looked at both of them like he had no idea what he had just walked into.
Hughie's eyes widened.
"You?" he said. "What are you doing here?"
Butcher's gaze moved at once from Hughie to Adam.
That one word told him enough.
Hughie knew this guy.
Butcher pushed himself up, still breathing hard. He looked like he wanted to ask something, but Adam pointed toward the half-visible body on the floor first.
"What is this?" Adam asked. "I knew your day was bad, Hughie, but why is one of the Seven after you? And who is he?"
Hughie's mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Adam kept his face confused.
That was the role he needed to play.
He was not the guy who had watched from a roof. He was just someone who had come back at the wrong time and seen a nightmare inside the shop.
Butcher watched him for another second.
"We'll talk later," Butcher said. "First, get him in the car."
Hughie turned to him. "In the car?"
"The boot," Butcher said.
"No," Hughie said quickly. "No, call your FBI people. Just call them and clear this up. He attacked us. You saw that."
Butcher's face tightened for a moment.
"About that," he said. "I worked with them before. I am not exactly FBI right now."
Hughie froze.
"What?"
Adam looked between them like the answer had made everything worse.
Then he crouched near Translucent and reached for the supe's arm.
Butcher's eyes sharpened.
"You can see him?"
Adam stopped for half a second.
"What? No," he said. "There is blood on him. I can see the outline a little."
Butcher did not look fully convinced.
Adam ignored that and grabbed Translucent's arm properly. The body was heavier and harder than it should have been, but Adam lifted carefully, using less strength than he wanted to. He kept his grip low so it looked normal.
Butcher took the legs.
Together, they dragged Translucent toward the car. Hughie stood there for a moment, pale and stiff, before moving after them.
They shoved Translucent into the trunk.
Hughie looked like he wanted to run, but he still got into the car.
Adam slid into the back seat a moment later.
Butcher started the engine.
The damaged car pulled away from the broken shop and disappeared down the street.