DISRUPTOR - A WIP Excerpt

My current work in progress is a superhero origin story. I've faced the fact that A Certain Movie Studio (coughMarvelcough) will never give fans the standalone movie about A Certain Female Superhero (coughBlackWidowcough) that we want. I'll get over it eventually, maybe, though to this day I still wish that there had been a Buffy spinoff about my favorite slayer, Faith Lehane. Alas. Since the Powers That Be won't give me the story about a badass female superhero on a quest for redemption as she saves lives and crushes the patriarchy takes down bad guys, I decided to write my own. Disruptor will be my superhero's eventual name, though it may not be the final name of the book. And of course with this being a work in progress, I haven't done any editing. But I do have a blurb I can share, and a scene that's one of my favorites in the book so far.

Blurb:

Runaway. Experiment. Hero?

The streets were the safest place for Dani, until the night she was caught by traffickers who sold her to a laboratory. She survived five years of experiments: biotech implants, gene therapy, and other things she could barely comprehend. The pain, though, that she understood. The lab pushed her body past its limits, drove her mind to its darkest corners, but somehow her spirit remained unbroken. She escaped, and sought refuge on the streets once again.

But this time she doesn’t run away from cries for help.

Now, she runs toward them.

Playboy. Dilettante. Sidekick?

Kevin Moynihan is the youngest son of Point Sable’s most wealthy and storied family. A permanent fixture in the society pages, he’s known for his good looks, his charm, and his aversion to an honest day’s work. His life is a whirlwind of fast women, faster cars, all night parties and endless champagne – until his latest drunk and disorderly charge lands him a stint doing community service in the roughest part of town.

The part of town where someone is always screaming for help.

A chance meeting will bring two unlikely people together – first as reluctant allies, then friends, and finally partners.

Excerpt:

Kevin held up his hand and ticked off points with his fingers. “Superior strength and speed. Enhanced senses. Various little odds and ends through gene therapy and cybernetic implants. Those are your superpowers.”

Dani sighed. “I don’t like calling them superpowers, but yeah.”

“I’ve got superpowers, too. Devastating good looks, irresistible charm.” He withdrew a shiny black plastic card from the inside pocket of his jacket and wagged it in the air. “A trust fund and a no limit credit card.”

Dani suppressed a smile. “That could come in handy.”

Kevin smiled big enough for both of them. “First thing I’m buying you is a cape.”

“No cape.”

“Oh, come on. You’re a superhero. You have to wear a cape.”

“I am not wearing a cape. And stop calling me a superhero.”

“Red. The cape should definitely be red.” He wagged his eyebrows.

Dani narrowed her eyes. “Tell you what. I’ll wear a cape if you wear tights. What do you say?”

Kevin’s smile disappeared and it was like the lights dimmed in the room. Sparks danced in his electric blue eyes, though. “Okay, no cape.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Fine, have it your way.”

“I will.”

“Besides, you just confirmed that you think of me as your sidekick. You want me to keep helping you. To work with you and be your partner.” Right then Kevin was all the smug triumph of a spoiled boy who got exactly what he wanted at Christmas. “I hate the thought of hiding my pretty face under a mask, but for you, I’ll make the sacrifice.” Laughter floated just under the surface of his words.

This time Dani couldn't keep the smile off her face. The last thing she needed was some playboy billionaire to take care of, but if she was going to have someone watching her back, she could do a lot worse. He might be useless at fighting but he was great at digging up information. Not hard to look at, either. Maybe she'd finally get a good look at that tattoo on his right bicep.

He leaned forward and clapped his hands together. “So what’s my first job as your official sidekick?”

Didn’t superheroes always bone their sidekicks in the comics? “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”