Rocky Road (Cape High Series Book 18) Read online

  ROCKY ROAD

  by

  R. J. Ross

  Rocky Road

  Amazon Edition

  Published by Book Candy Publishing

  Copyright © 2017 by R. J. Ross

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover design by Leslie Zielinski

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ~Other works by R.J. Ross~

  The Winstead Files Series

  Courting the Beast * Snow White, Snow White

  Seasons of the Fae Series

  Raven's Return * Death of a Dryad * Water Wielder

  Cape High Series

  Super Villain Dad * America's Grandson * Hello Kitty * Don't Know Jack * Daddy's Girl * Aces Wild * Steampunk Time * Fire Hazard * Ditto Ditto * Sunny Daze * Life Light * Guitar Hero * Super Girls * Shadow Boy * Super Villain Grandpa * Mic Drop * Coyote’s Howl * Rocky Road

  Cape High Side Stories

  Cape High Christmas: A Side Story

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER ONE

  The sound of women laughing is rapidly becoming a familiar one to Superior. He doesn’t mind that they’re laughing, he thinks as he kicks his feet up on the ice footstool, he’s just getting bored of it. In fact, he’s been pretty bored of almost everything, lately. Sure, Friday night brawls are fun, especially when they can talk Cosmic into coming over, and he’s taken to going over to Santa’s place just to tinker with their toys, but he keeps getting thrown out. That Toodles girl has it out for him, he swears. He sighs and flips on the wall, logging into the game his son made.

  After a second of using his “powers,” he stops and breaks into a grin.

  “Clifford! I will be going into the town for the bead order!” Tatiana says, sticking her head into the room. “You will be doing the watching of Marie, yes?” She stops, seeing what he’s doing. “Marie, you will have to be moving in here with your work. He is playing the game again.”

  “I can’t exactly move this dress, Tatia,” Marie says, sounding a bit frustrated. “If I move it too much I might undo some of the more delicate work that I’m doing. Also, I’m due for my weekly video chat with Marvin today, so I need to work fast to get my work done. He was looking a bit tired last week. Do you think we could get them to send in a healer, again?”

  “Clifford?” Tatiana says.

  Absently, Superior waves a hand, opening the wall between their front room and the dress-making room where Marie is working. “There. Now everyone’s happy… well, everyone except Herold,” he says. “Okay, Sandra, how long do I have you?”

  “Mornin’, Superior,” Sandra says from the speakers on the wall. “I only got a little while, I’m supposed to be starting class this morning.”

  “You are going to school?” Tatiana says excitedly, clearly distracted from her errand. “I am so proud of you!”

  “Yeah, yeah, bet I’ll terrify any of the kids that don’t live in the dorms,” Sandra mutters. “If you hear them screaming all the way up there, you’ll know why. But Nico said something about training my first hour.”

  “Training?” Superior says.

  “Yeah, I don’t know what—he’ll probably have me staring at rocks for an hour, trying to communicate,” she says.

  “Tatiana, weren’t you going somewhere?” Superior says.

  “Oh, yes, of course,” Tatiana says. “I will be back in a bit! Marie, behave yourself!”

  Marie waves a hand, rolling her eyes slightly before going back to the delicate bead work that covers Summer’s wedding dress.

  “Clifford, you behave yourself, as well,” Tatiana says warningly before leaving. It makes Sandra laugh.

  “So you’re finally going to start your training, huh?” Superior says. He likes Sandra. She’s the granddaughter of Avalanche, which means she’s never going to fly, but she’s still a wonder in the super world. Not only that, he enjoys the girl’s rough, straight-forward attitude. “My kid’s going to do it.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” she says. On the screen, her character is heading for her secret mountain base, which only opens when she waves a hand. His character follows her into the tunnel, looking around.

  “Nice walls,” he says.

  “It’s the strangest thing,” she says. “I figured out how to call these crystals out of the ground. Pretty, huh? It sort of reminds me of the Liberty’s spare bedroom.”

  “Their spare bedroom?” he asks.

  “Yeah,” she says as her character starts for the back of the base. “They’re thinking of adopting.”

  “Adopting you,” he says.

  “They’ll realize how stupid that is, soon enough,” she says, her character turning and looking at him. “No matter what you old guys say, I’m still never going to be pretty enough to be a Liberty girl. Can you picture me wearing sequins? It’s scary.” She turns back to a table, pulling open her sack and unloading a pile of gold nuggets onto the table. “I found a gold deposit last night. I need more, but my bag was full.”

  “Why?” he asks. “What do you need funding for?”

  “Zoe’s set up a shop,” Sandra says, grinning wickedly. “I’m going to get a teleportation watch. I’ll have to turn it off or something when I’m at one of Nico’s bases, but it’ll help me move around a lot easier.”

  “A teleportation watch, huh?” Superior says. “Can she make them in real life?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” she says. “But that’s real life. It’s not like I’m out to take Nico down in real life.”

  “I can’t make one, not unless I see theirs,” he says, thoughtfully. “And even then, it might not work properly.”

  “What do you need a teleportation watch for?” she says. “You can fly, right?”

  “Sure I can,” he says. “But I’m supposed to be dead, remember?” He looks around the room, thoughtfully, his eyes falling on Marie, who’s beading away. The woman had taken to Tatiana’s hobbies quickly, to the point where they’d even negotiated with the council to allow her a weekly trip to the YMCA for classes. Once they’d heard the news that Nico and Summer were getting married, they’d jumped at the idea of making the dresses. That was all well and good, Superior thinks, but he’s the one that has to live with them. Women obsessed with marriage were… obsessive.

  An idea occurs to him. “I’ll be right back, Sandra,” he says, minimizing the game and bringing up Santa’s personal line. “Kris—” he starts out, only to inwardly groan as he sees Toodles looking at him. “Toodles.”

  “Clifford,” the elf says, her tone matching his. “Santa is busy right now. Can I help you?”

  “The real question is, WILL you help me?” he says.

  “I don’t know where you get the idea that I dislike you,” she says primly.
“We are merely on a schedule, here, that you have the bad habit of interrupting. I can’t allow that—your interruption could mean an unhappy child in the future.”

  “Sure, sure,” he says, realizing that he can use this to his advantage. “How would you like it if I didn’t come over so often?”

  “What’s the catch?”

  “I need one tiny little favor that a great magical animal controller could pull off with no problem,” he says. “Loan me a guard.”

  “A guard,” she repeats flatly.

  “Something that could stop Marie from running off and getting herself killed,” he sums up.

  “I hardly have time to run off!” Marie says, irritably. “The wedding is coming up!”

  “See? Wouldn’t even have to be one of your big ones,” Superior tells Toodles with a smile. She just stares at him, clearly not impressed.

  “Why would you need a guard animal?” she demands.

  “Because Tatiana is out and I have an unexpected errand to run,” he says, innocently. “It shouldn’t take but half an hour, or so. So what sort of animal can I borrow? You have anything impressive? An ice dragon. Do you have an ice dragon?”

  “I don’t have an ice dragon,” she says.

  “How about a gryphon? A gryphon would be good.”

  “We don’t have gryphons at the north pole,” she says, looking even more irritated. “You can borrow a few of the elves and a Yeti.”

  “A Yeti,” he repeats.

  “Or I could always send over one of the reindeer.”

  “No, I don’t want a reindeer,” Superior says, sighing. “Fine, send a decent level elf and a Yeti.”

  “You will not! Those stinky things will get fur on the dresses!” Marie says. “Send a reindeer and you can leave it outside. I won’t escape; I’ve got too much work to do. OR you could just wait until Tatiana gets back—”

  “I’ll give you ten seconds to get them over here,” Superior says. “Tatiana will be back in twenty.”

  “And you won’t come over until invited?”

  “For the next… two weeks,” Superior agrees.

  “Deal.”

  The screen goes black and Superior stands up.

  “The elf is fine, but leave the Yeti outside,” Marie says. “Put him right at the door, if you have to, but keep him away from the dresses.”

  “Fine,” Superior says, heading out the door. He sees Toodles outside with a tall man and a Yeti walking behind her. “Yeti, you stay outside. Don’t let the woman inside leave,” Superior says to the elf and the Yeti. “If you do, I’ll shave you both bald, got it?”

  “You don’t have to threaten them!” Toodles says, offended. “Byron, you know what to do,” she says to the elf before turning to the Yeti. “Boyd, keep an eye on the mountain, okay?” The Yeti nods, looking at Superior worriedly. “He shouldn’t be gone too long, isn’t that right, Superior?”

  “My wife will get back soon,” Superior says, not answering that. “Don’t try to fight her, okay? She might think you’re trying to play.”

  Boyd makes a low sound of confusion, but Superior takes to the air without explaining.

  Toodles looks up at the mountain, and then at the two guards. “Just stay here,” she says. “I’ll be back to get you in half an hour.”

  ***

  “We’d all like to welcome a… semi-newcomer into our ranks, today,” Nico says as I join the group on the outskirts of the large metal field. “Most of you already know her. For those of you who don’t, Sandra is a tank. She’ll eventually be joining the fighters using the Apocalypse field.” I feel their eyes on me. I had to close my game for this, I think irritably. Superior never did come back.

  “She doesn’t look like a fighter,” I hear one girl whisper. “She looks our age.”

  “Maybe she’s got some sort of shifting ability?” the girl next to her asks.

  “Olivia, Elidee, if you have any questions, feel free to come up and ask her, yourself,” Nico says. I feel a heavy arm drape over my shoulder and look up, a bit surprised. Trent is right next to me, with a smile that looks a lot like his dad’s.

  “Sandra, would you like to train against me, first?” he asks. “I’d love to help you get used to your skills.”

  “Aren’t you a hero?” I say. “I’m not sure what side I’m going to be on… but I’m pretty sure I can’t beat you, yet.” Which is irritating, I mean, I don’t really LIKE being an ugly gargoyle tank, but at least I feel somewhat confident that I’m tough! That’s sort of blown when I face the prospect of going up against him.

  “You can’t just toss her up against a Liberty boy on her first day!” I hear an older, pale looking teen protest. “She doesn’t…” he stops, and I look at him curiously as he stares at me for a moment. “An illusion?”

  “She’s one of the proud owners of an illusion watch,” Nico says. “But I guess I can’t trick you, huh, Ace?”

  The tall, pasty looking Goth boy walks around me, looking a bit amazed. “Not bad for a watch,” he says. “Can you turn it off?”

  My hand covers my rocky bracelet protectively.

  “Sandra, no one will think a thing—most of them have already seen you,” Trent whispers next to my ear. I sigh and tap on my bracelet, letting the illusion fade.

  “Oh, thank GOD,” Elidee says a bit too loudly. The entire school turns and stares at her. “What? I seriously thought he was going to throw someone my age into the brawls!”

  “She’s only a little older than you,” Nico says.

  “Well, sure, but she’s a LOT tougher looking,” she says, waving at me. “No offense.”

  I stare at her, crossing my huge arms over my chest when she doesn’t seem to get the point. She’s way too pretty for her own good, which already has me disliking her. I’m distracted when Ace grabs my hand, looking at it with a hint of wonder. “Hey, no groping,” I say, jerking my hand away.

  “Oh, sorry, I was just—” He frowns and looks pointedly at Trent’s arm. It’s still over my shoulder. “Are you two… something?”

  “She’s going to be his little sister!” a little redhead says, popping into existence next to me. “You’re looking at my future fellow Liberty girl!”

  “Why don’t we take a moment to introduce Sandra to everyone, and then we’ll get to our training—” Nico starts out, only to stop and look at the entrance of the school campus. It’s at the top of the canyon that we’re in. We all follow his line of sight, and my eyes widen as Superior steps through the security field. “I don’t recall inviting you down, old man,” Nico says.

  “Invitations are over-rated,” Superior says. He drops down in front of the group, only to laugh as Zoe, Emily, and Aubrey throw themselves at him. “Hello, girls. Hey, Sunny! Where’s my hug?” he demands.

  The kid sleeping at the edge of the group jerks awake—no, there’s no jerking involved, I think as I watch him get to his feet, walk over, and hug Superior with a loud yawn. “Still not a morning person, huh?” Superior says, ruffling his hair before turning and looking straight at me. “Sandra.”

  “Superior,” I say, raising a hand in greeting.

  “What are you doing here, Dad?” Nico demands.

  “I want a teleportation watch—not one of those pod things like you gave Skye, I want the watch,” Superior says. “I’m going to come down here and help with training your kids.” Nico stares at him. “Otherwise I’ll be flying down here, daily, and who knows who might see me?”

  I choke, looking away before I start to laugh. You know, he might be the most famous hero in all of history, but he’s really a pain in the neck. I picked up on that around the second hour of playing the game with him. I just happen to find it funny.

  “So you come out here to demand a teleportation watch… because you want to train Sandra, don’t you.” It’s not a question. Nico obviously knows exactly how much of a pain his dad is.

  “I do,” Superior says. “I’ll take on a few others, too, while I’m at it.”

 
“Fine, I’ll get you one tomorrow. Today is Sandra’s first day.”

  “So you’re just going to throw her into a fight without teaching her anything?” Superior asks.

  “She’s a rock mimic. All she needs to know is how to aim, but no, I’m not,” Nico says. “Did Mom just let you come down here all alone?”

  “She was on an errand at the time.”

  “And what about ‘Mother’?” Nico asks, his expression going serious.

  “She’s busy doing bead work on the wedding dresses. But I called up Toodles, there’s a Yeti and an elf guarding her.”

  “You left her being guarded by a Yeti.”

  “And an elf, but Tatiana should be back by now.”

  “Go home, Superior,” Nico says. “I’ll have your teleportation watch tomorrow, IF Mom is home when you come.”

  “Fine,” Superior says, only to walk over to me. “Sandra,” he says. “You should have come out of your room when I was living here.”

  “You came all this way here to yell at me for that?” I demand.

  “You also gave me a good idea,” he says. “Good job.”

  “Go home, Dad,” Nico repeats.

  “Call your mom, she’ll tell you that everything is fine,” Superior says. “I came all this way. I might as well see how you train the girl.”

  “I’ll do that,” Nico says, waving a hand. A hologram appears behind him, and we all blink at the sight of a silver haired woman glaring at us.

  “Where have you been? You should be back by now!”

  “Isn’t Tatiana there, yet?” Superior asks.

  “She called and said she’d be a little late because the delivery hasn’t gotten in, yet!” she says. She stops as a little beep comes from the wall behind her and it lights up with an image of Tatiana. She’s soaking wet.

  “The ship sunk,” Tatiana says, shoving her hair out of her face. “I had to drag it up from the sea. It is not even stormy today!” she complains. “Where is Clifford?”

  “He’s down in Missouri,” Marie says, pointing at our group. “He left me with a hairball as a guard.”