Dashing Devil Omnibus 2: Books 4-6, page 32
“I’m not in the habit of lying,” Hope’s wings rustled together behind her—the equivalent of a harumph to those who knew her.
“I didn’t mean to imply that you were lying, Hopewing,” Kayla said brightly.
But then she turned to Boyd with a more serious expression. “What of Archangel’s other accusations?” Kayla spoke over the crowd as the reporters continued to whisper amongst themselves, likely much to the Blonde Buffoon’s biggest fan’s delight.
Boyd returned his gaze to Kayla’s inquisitive eyes and arched an eyebrow, “I’m afraid you’ll have to elaborate.”
He raised his right hand and made a vague grabbing ‘give me something here’ gesture. “I have, in fact, been on a media black-out since leaving Glorith on our training and team building rotation. I have no idea what accusations he might have made, other than apparently ‘trying to steal his woman’—which is silly and implies she is an object that can be stolen.”
“He claims that part of your Powerset is mental based, which allows you to control the thoughts and feelings of others,” the reporter replied.
Kayla’s shoulders set, something shifting. The firmness in her voice wasn’t faked, he could see that in her eyes.
“He claims that you have used this Power on Hopewing to force her to feel love for you. He also asserts that you have used it on others, including Silver and Kitsune.”
Boyd waited for a question that didn’t come, which gave him time to think. He used that time to figure out how to reply in a way that wouldn’t reveal too much, without setting off the Fact Checkers. His official standing orders were not to comment on anything related to his Enhancement Power. Royce had updated that in their pre-press briefing to be not commenting in a way that revealed his Enhancement Power.
It was a small but important difference.
His handler had also promised to take any heat that might arise. Boyd reminded himself to send Royce a nice bottle of bourbon because replying with ‘no comment’ to Archangel’s assertion as Kayla had reported it would be the worst possible thing.
Boyd decided on a course and began, “I can say with certainty that I have in no way influenced Hopewing through the use of my Power. I do have abilities that would allow me to do things along those lines, but one I do not use and the other only activates when things are, ahem, further along in a relationship.”
“So you do not deny that you have the ability to literally make women be attracted to you?” Kayla pressed, the firmness remaining.
Boyd understood then why she was pressing the issue; she worried she had unwittingly been subjected to his Power and that it could be influencing her decisions. She was throwing in with a devil, after all—against a pseudo-angel, no less.
“I do not,” Boyd shook his head, keeping his tone even and polite. “That is the Power that I do not use—often called an aura. It affects anyone within a certain radius of me, not just women. The effect is not subtle, you would know if it had affected you. It also doesn’t make people love me, it only elicits any latent physical attraction.”
“And the other?” she asked, her jaw relaxing a little after she glanced down to where the Fact Checker’s light was positioned near his feet. It remained unlit.
“I’m afraid I won’t go into details on that one.” Boyd shrugged. “It feels too much like kissing and telling. While keeping it safe for all viewers, I will reiterate that it only activates once a relationship has been established and add that, unfortunately, I cannot prevent the activation. Because of that, I operate under the strictest informed consent guidelines.”
“And Hopewing has never been affected by this Power?” Kayla asked.
“I wish,” the angel in question muttered, drawing chuckles from a few reporters and those on the stage.
“No, Miss Bailey, she has not.” Boyd gave a chagrined smile. “Were there any other accusations I should address?”
“After what I’ve learned here today, this reporter feels like the next accusation that should probably be addressed is a simple attempt at character assassination.” Kayla shook her head. “I hesitate to repeat it, but I feel like we should just put this whole thing to bed before we move on to our exciting announcement.”
“Well, lay it on me,” Boyd did the grabbing motion again, wondering what else the Blonde Buffoon had slandered him with.
“While appearing to be sensitive,” Kayla carefully began, “Archangel has stated that during your time at your PAC, you assaulted a girl sexually and she quit the Hero program as a result.”
Boyd’s tongue went dry as rage that he did his best to keep from his face filled him. Mindy had not been a dropout.
“Kuh-he!” the woman in question laughed as she stepped forward, coming up next to Boyd at the podium. She gently guided him to the side before taking his place and said, “I’ll take that question—as the girl in question, I feel uniquely qualified.”
“To clarify,” Kayla’s eyes lit up with glee, “you, Mind Witch, are stating that you are the girl Dashing Devil allegedly sexually assaulted in his youth.”
“I am,” Mindy stated clearly as Boyd took a position behind her and off to the side so as not to block the camera’s view of the others.
“It clearly wasn’t an assault, and I didn’t quit the Hero program. I was transferred to another PAC as our relationship had become serious, and they didn’t want us influencing each other.”
Mindy flashed him a rare public smile. “We’ve been working our way back towards each other ever since.”
“And once again, either the light is broken on this end, or you are telling the truth,” Kayla said with a bright tone.
“I am,” Mindy confirmed with a nod. “I’ll also take this moment to address another issue that Dashing Devil isn’t aware of. The three civilians who pressed assault charges against him are frauds, which will be revealed in their public hearings scheduled to begin tomorrow. Our Captain stepped in just as three men were about to harm a Changed civilian, successfully driving them away. The attackers were later caught by non-Powered officers and will be held accountable for their actions and justice will be served, to the full extent of the law.”
“I see. Thank you, Mind Witch. I was going to get around to asking about them, too,” Kayla replied with a nod.
Boyd realized his love was probably growing impatient under the public eye, with all the reporter’s thoughts popping into her head, so she had likely pulled the next question out of Kayla’s head to get it out of the way.
Kayla looked squarely into the camera. “I will say that what we have learned here today paints a very different picture of Dashing Devil than the one Archangel has described.”
“I can’t—or rather, I won’t—speak on any of the lies he may have told,” Mindy replied while stepping back from the podium. “We aren’t in the habit of defaming other members of the Heroes,” she added as she returned to her place.
Boyd reveled in the ability to lay the fool low without having to say a single negative word about him. They had set him up so well, that he needn’t bother going after the buffoon personally. How could the narcissist watch this footage and not be driven into a fit of rage at having his lies exposed?
Which made the next part that much more delicious.
‘You handled our prior relationship being revealed remarkably well. That was the part I expected to be the roughest for you,’ his raven-haired love spoke into his mind. ‘I am glad that went so easy… it will let you enjoy this next part even more.’
“Well, that’s all I wanted to cover today, so unless you have anything you would like to add, I can show that clip before your announcement,” Kayla said brightly, clearly looking forward to the next part.
Attaching her name to the announcement of a Hero’s Duel that would garner this much attention would be a boon for her career nearly as large as reporting the slaying of the Last Dragon.
“I think we’ve summed everything up quite nicely,” Boyd nodded with a smile, “I’m sure your colleagues will cover anything we might have missed here shortly.”
Kayla’s smile somehow conveyed that she got the juicy bits and was perfectly content letting them have any scraps she might have missed, “Very well, then… some preamble. For those who witnessed the slaying of the Last Dragon, the last thing you witnessed was Dashing Devil calling for the feed to be cut. We will now be showing you what transpired in the moments immediately after he did so.”
Boyd had seen what Kayla had managed to slap together across about ten of the various drones’ footage she had access to. Apparently, one of Tinker’s programs had helped a lot—but the end result was perfect for their purposes.
They couldn’t show anything related to Stafford or even much of Victory Seeker, but by using multiple angles and a lot of cutting between their faces to make it look smooth, she was able to show almost the entire confrontation.
It showed Archangel attacking Boyd, who made fending him off look as easy as it had felt. Victory Seeker was only shown for a brief moment as he arrived and detained Archangel, from there on, Kayla had cut the conversation up to remove anything that might damage The Authority’s image.
Archangel had made himself fair game by trying to defame Boyd, as far as Davis was concerned.
She captured Archangel’s collapse with remarkable precision, portraying Boyd as the embodiment of a modern-day Dr. Jekyll to the blonde buffoon’s volatile Mr. Hyde. It was very much the exact opposite of what Archangel wanted the public to see. Once again, the fool had demolished himself.
Kayla flicked a pointed finger at Boyd as the live feed returned to him after the clip ended. “Comments, Devil?”
“As you just witnessed,” Boyd rumbled with a pleased smile, “while the date and location are not set, within thirty days Archangel and I will participate in a Heroes’ Duel. Should he win, I will be stepping down as a Hero. When I win, Hopewing will be leaving Eden’s Protectors and, if permitted, she will join The Devoted.”
He gave the camera his most confident grin while setting the public on his opponent so he would feel pressured to set a date sooner rather than later. “You’ll have to wait until Archangel sets the date before you mark your calendars, but look forward to future announcements.”
Boyd allowed himself to growl his eagerness with his last words, “I know I am.”
“This reporter is too!” Kayla grinned. “Dashing Devil versus Archangel, fighting over the fate of the angelic Hopewing. It’s almost like something out of the storybooks… heh.” Kayla ended with a grin and a short laugh.
‘Maybe an erotic fiction… kuh-he!’ his telepathic love laughed in Boyd’s head.
“We’ll open this up to questions for a few minutes and start letting your broadcast signals out, but we really shouldn’t be this far out in the Wild Lands for too much longer,” Kayla added as she turned to the crowd and the drone that was positioned behind her.
“As for News2, we’ll continue to show the conference live, but I’ll be signing off. This is Kayla Bailey, until our next report, stay vigilant.”
Chapter 33
They had decided that it would be best to let someone else address the elephant on the stage, namely the number of Changed and, most importantly, Boyd being some form of demon or devil. Kayla didn’t want to be associated with anything that might make her seem biased—either against the Changed or too squarely in their camp.
It was much better to let someone who was proudly prejudiced bring it up first.
They had also determined that the best moment to do so was during the transition period, when the various stations with personnel on-site were busy switching to their own equipment while their home station continued to piggyback off of the News2 feed. It would hopefully slow the response in the hard-nut cities when they cut the broadcast.
‘He will bring it up right away,’ Mindy assured Boyd, ‘if not with his first question, then as a follow-up.’
Boyd didn’t have to wonder about who the ‘he’ she was referring to was. Kayla’s fall guy had been easy to identify.
“I feel as though it would be rude not to start with you, Mister Newsome, as the most followed anchor in New Eden.” Boyd kept both his tone and his smile open and welcoming as he nodded to the man who stood near the center of the crowd.
“Your consideration is appreciated,” Newsome didn’t quite thank Boyd in reply.
Chase Newsome spoke in a smooth baritone and as he continued, the persuasive cadence he was famous for soon became clear. “Let me start by thanking you on behalf of the citizens of New Eden for protecting our home. Evacuations were proceeding smoothly under Eden’s Protectors and Archangel’s guidance, but the loss of homes and property would have devastated many of our citizens.”
It took a discerning ear to detect the undercurrent of smugness the man’s voice contained.
“No thanks are needed, but they are certainly appreciated.” Boyd held his warm smile. “The Devoted are here to help.”
“Wait, I’m confused…” Silvie sounded confused, too.
Boyd could picture her brows drawn together cutely in her standard slightly vapid public mask. “How was Archangel guiding evacuations in New Eden when he was here intruding on a declared engagement zone and almost messing up our mission before attempting to murder another Hero in cold blood? Last I checked he wasn’t a duplicator… Is he a duplicator?”
Boyd turned to look as Hope answered the question that had evidently been directed at her.
With a disapproving frown aimed at Newsome, the angel replied, “No, he is not. Nor would his teleportation have been fast enough to have returned to New Eden and then come back here in the brief time between when he abandoned me to the dragon and then returned to attempt to steal The Devoted’s kill.”
“Eh-hem,” Newsome coughed, shying away from the angel’s piercing gaze. “He was… he was with us in spirit. I interviewed several evacuees during the process and they all agreed that they felt his protective presence watching over them.”
“Oh, look!” Kayla exclaimed from where she’d found a spot amongst the other reporters to enjoy the rest of the show. “The little light isn’t broken! I guess we have our first lie of the day, everyone.”
She mostly sounded pleased to discover her equipment was working properly, as she gestured at the light that was out of sight Boyd’s line of sight on the front of the stage, and did a little hop in place.
“Well, I personally knew he would keep us safe,” Newsome kept any frustration or embarrassment he might have felt from his face and smooth voice.
He clearly wasn’t used to working under the Fact Checker’s eye, although Boyd wasn’t entirely sure how New Eden’s News5 had evaded their attention up until now.
‘He isn’t used to much opposition or oversight at all,’ Mindy added her two cents. ‘Silvie speaking up totally threw him off. He thought some very unkind things about her… get him!’
“I’m glad you felt secure in the situation, but I’m afraid I can’t condone Archangel’s actions leading up to today. No matter how confident a Hero is that they will be able to protect them, a Hero should never encourage civilians to remain in harm’s way.” Boyd paused, frowning slightly. “The same applies to civilians—no matter how sure you are a Hero will protect you… please, never linger in a dangerous place if there is a path open to escape it—if for no other reason than to make our jobs a little easier,” Boyd rumbled in what Silvie called his coach’s voice—gentle but firm.
Newsome’s left eye twitched just a little, controlled just enough that Boyd didn’t think it would show up on camera. When the man spoke, it was with warm understanding, “I’ll try to keep that advice in mind, and so should the viewers. It is true that not all Heroes are infallible and that we, as civilians, should do our best to stay out of harm’s way so as not to make their jobs more difficult.”
He paused, and Boyd saw the shift, as he switched to attack mode in the set of his shoulders and jaw. “There is the chance that almost any Hero might fail us in our time of need. But few would argue that the chance is amplified in some more than others.”
His warm tone smoothly shifted to cutting in an instant, expertly cloaked in the polished veneer of a seasoned broadcaster. “There are those among the Heroes that pose a much greater risk to the public—those that might turn on those they are sworn to protect. Those like yourself, the Changed.”
“I would appreciate it if the rest of you kept your questions a little briefer,” Boyd chuckled as he scanned the rest of the crowd. “I’m confident in our ability to keep you all safe but, as we just established, we’re all being a little dumb by doing this out in the middle of the Wild Lands. Let’s try to act smarter by getting to your question a little faster than Mister Newsome here.”
“The question is,” Newsome had to speak up over the laugher Boyd elicited from the crowd, “how are we supposed to trust you—a Changed who looks like a demon… the embodiment of evil itself—to protect us? At any given moment you might go Primal and destroy whichever city is unfortunate enough to have you assigned to it from within.
“And from there,” he pressed on, the subtle note of condescension Boyd had detected in his voice growing to the point where even untrained civilians could pick it up if they were paying attention, “what is to stop you from becoming a threat to The Authority itself? Every member of your team has professed their love for you, so it isn’t like we can trust them to protect us from you. If anything, The Devoted are a ready-made league of Powered Criminals that could pose a bigger threat than Omega Ray.”
Boyd let his smile grow just a little bit as the man implied that either his loves or he were capable of committing atrocities on the level of Omega Ray. It was the best he could do while forcing down the rage that simmered inside him.
‘Steady now, being closer to your other self makes restraint a little harder than you are accustomed to, but you know how satisfying sticking to the plan will be,’ Mindy soothed him the best she could without touching him.
