Rehab for SuperVillains (18+)-Chapter 284: Outside

Outside...

Liss paced.

Back and forth.

Back and forth, her boots kicking up small clouds of dust from the crater’s edge.

She waited. And waited.

And waited, her arms crossed tighter with each passing minute, impatience gnawing at her.

"Okay, what the hell."

She walked up to the cube of shadow, its surface smooth and impenetrable, looming like a black monolith.

Knocked once, her knuckles rapping sharply.

"Kael?"

Silence, thick and mocking.

She knocked harder, frustration building. "Lital? You done molesting him yet?"

Nothing—no response, no shift in the shadows.

Her brows furrowed, a flicker of genuine concern cutting through the annoyance.

Then she knocked harder still—no, punched it, her fist connecting with a solid thud.

Lightning flared around her knuckles as it struck the cube, blue arcs crackling across the surface.

A crack spiderwebbed outward, thin lines fracturing the darkness like glass under pressure.

Then—shatter.

The shadow box exploded into ribbons of black, dissolving into the air like smoke, harmless wisps fading into the breeze.

Liss staggered back a step, blinking against the sudden rush of light and dust.

Then froze, her blue eyes widening.

There was nothing there. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

No Kael, sprawled or standing.

No Lital, smirking in victory.

Only empty ground, the crater’s rubble undisturbed.

Only dust settling as if nothing had happened.

Liss’s heart skipped a beat, a cold dread sinking in.

Her pupils shrank, her breath catching.

She stood frozen, wide-eyed, the color draining from her face as the implications hit.

"...What the hell just happened?"

.

.

Liss was pissed.

Not just annoyed. Not just confused.

Pissed—raw, boiling anger that crackled along her nerves like her own lightning, sparks twitching at her knuckles as she clenched her fists tighter.

She had lost Kael.

And not just to anyone—to a demon in heels, a shadow-wielding force of nature who had emerged from the ashes of Tila’s fractured soul.

To Lital.

Kael was supposed to be under her watch. Her responsibility, damn it.

How the hell did this happen?

One minute, they were standing in the rubble, the next—poof.

Gone, swallowed by that impenetrable cube of shadow.

She was certain Lital wouldn’t do anything truly harmful to him.

Oh no.

Wait.

A correction.

She might do anything to him, but... she wouldn’t kill him.

Right?

The woman had merged from trauma and strength, not mindless destruction.

But certainty felt thin right now, like a frayed wire ready to snap.

"Ugh," Liss muttered, dragging a hand through her hair, strands sticking up from the static. "Shadows are a bitch."

She tried again to track them—reaching out with her senses, calling to the remnants in the air, the faint static echoes left behind, the subtle charge that lingered after a superpower’s use—but the shadows weren’t talking.

They scattered like whispers on the wind, danced mockingly just out of reach, eluding her grasp.

No clear trail. No signature lingering in the ether.

No Kael.

Liss’s blue eyes sparked with frustration, electricity arcing faintly between her fingers.

And in the blink of an eye, she was gone—vanishing with a burst of lightning crackle, the air popping in her wake.

She reappeared at the far end of the lot, scanning the horizon with narrowed eyes.

Then again, teleporting in a flash to another vantage point.

Then again, zipping across the premises in erratic bursts.

Circling the entire area like a pissed-off predator on a timer, her movements leaving scorched marks on the ground.

Nothing. Empty ruins, settling dust, the open sky mocking her with its vast indifference.

No Lital.

No Kael.

No scent, no echo, no anchor to pull her toward them.

"Where are you?" she muttered through gritted teeth, her voice low and venomous. "Where the hell did you take him?"

Her heart was thudding now. Not fear—rage. Possessive, primal, violent rage that made her want to shatter something, anything.

She grit her teeth, jaw aching from the tension.

What is she doing to him?

"I will fucking kill her."

_________

Meanwhile...

Kael clenched his mouth shut.

For the fifth time, sealing his lips against another advance.

This time, it worked—Lital didn’t try to force her way in again, her tongue halting its playful probe.

She pulled back, finally, the kiss breaking with a wet pop that echoed faintly in the enclosed space.

He gasped softly, lips raw and tingling from the prolonged contact, his chest heaving as he sucked in air.

"Hmm," she said, voice bright and casual, as if they’d just finished a light conversation. "You tired already? Want an energy drink or something?"

Kael wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, glaring in her general direction through the lingering haze of disorientation. "Stop this nonsense."

Lital tilted her head, her black eyes gleaming with amusement in the dim light. "Nonsense? What am I doing?"

"This." Kael gestured around vaguely, but he still couldn’t see much, the shadows clinging like a veil over his vision.

"All of this. Acting weird. Creepy. First of all, remove the shadows. They’re annoying."

"Don’t be rude," she said smoothly, her tone carrying a edge that was equal parts teasing and warning.

Kael paused, the words dying on his tongue.

He didn’t answer.

Something about her tone shut him up, a subtle shift that reminded him this wasn’t a game he could deflect easily.

He didn’t know what to say.

If this were Lila, he’d have deflected by now in a hundred different ways—teasing back, changing the subject, diffusing with humor.

But this wasn’t Lila.

This was Lital.

And she was unpredictable, her presence a blend of Tila’s fire and Lila’s calm, amplified into something wholly new and intimidating.

So he stayed quiet, his hazel eyes wary.

Lital leaned closer, and he could feel her breath again, warm against his skin, carrying that faint, intoxicating scent.

"Don’t you like it?" she asked, her voice dropping to a softer, more curious lilt.

Kael hesitated, his cheeks flushing slightly under her gaze, then mumbled, "It was... fine. For a few seconds. Then it got painful. Overwhelming."

She giggled lightly, not offended in the slightest, the sound light and genuine, like a release of pent-up energy.

"Sorry. I went a bit overboard. Couldn’t help myself—it’s been so long since I felt... whole."