Unheroic Life of a Certain Cape-Chapter 52 Ghosts at the Table

Chapter 5
2
Ghosts at the Table
“What are you waiting for? Please, sit,” Crow said, his voice smooth, calm, and unbothered, as if inviting us into his home rather than to a hollowed-out floor of a skyscraper.
We did as told. The table was large enough to fit six, yet only three chairs were pulled out, two of them waiting for us. I took the seat opposite him, with Onyx sliding in beside me, to my right. The aroma of the food filled the otherwise empty space. It was grilled meat, roasted vegetables, and freshly baked bread. It was an indulgent spread.
I stole a glance at Onyx. She sat rigid, her expression unreadable except for the way her foot tapped beneath the table. Her hands, however, rested calmly on her lap, a perfect mask of poise that only I could see through. We shared a look, one of silent questions and uncertain answers. Neither of us moved for the cutlery in front of us.
My mind churned. Crow had orchestrated this meeting, gone through the trouble of summoning a limo, dressing us up, and clearing out an entire floor, but for what? An offer? A threat? Both? I’d dealt with people like him before, men who never did anything without a reason, and if I had learned anything from Royal, it was that every invitation came with strings attached.
“Come on,” Crow said with a faint smirk tugging at his lips as he leaned back in his chair. “Eat! It isn’t poisoned, if that’s what you’re worried for.”
“It’s safe to eat,” Onyx said, her voice calm, almost casual, but her eyes never leaving Crow.
I didn’t hesitate. “I trust you,” I replied, picking up the fork and knife.
The steak was perfectly seared, the deep brown crust glistening under the overhead lights. A thin ribbon of steam rose as I sliced through it, the knife gliding like it was cutting through softened butter. The first bite hit with a burst of rich, smoky flavor, balanced by a hint of garlic and something sweet I couldn’t quite name. The juices lingered on my tongue, sharp and savory all at once.
The sides were no less decadent. Creamy mashed potatoes whipped to near-airy perfection, drizzled with a golden-brown gravy that smelled faintly of rosemary and charred onions. Grilled asparagus snapped cleanly between my teeth, their crispness a sharp contrast to the richness of the meat. Even the bread. It was soft, warm, and laced with herbs. They demanded attention, like everything on this table had been crafted to seduce the senses.
I trusted Onyx plenty. If she said it was safe, then it was safe. Nothing quite beats a lie detector in the form of an Empath-4 and Telepath-2 rolled into one. Her instincts never failed me before, and they wouldn’t fail now. Still, some part of me remained alert, every nerve tuned to the subtle movements of the man seated across from us. Crow ate leisurely, almost leisurely enough to be insulting, as if this entire meeting was a casual dinner with no stakes whatsoever.
“How does it taste?” Crow finally asked, a faint smile ghosting over his face as he speared another piece of steak. “Is it good?”
I set my fork down, the knife resting neatly beside it, and met Crow’s gaze. “What do you want, Crow?”
He dabbed at the corner of his mouth with his napkin, his expression infuriatingly calm. “To clear the air between us,” he said smoothly. “Let’s forget the entire thing about… Sharpy. She’s a promising cape, but clearly, she doesn’t know her limits.”
I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I turned my head toward the wall of glass that made up the restaurant’s edge. The city stretched far below us, a grid of lights bleeding into the horizon, the kind of sight that would’ve stolen my breath years ago. Now it just reminded me how small everything really was from the streets, the towers, and the people scurrying in between, all of it. Tiny. Insignificant.
My appetite slipped away like smoke in the wind. The steak on my plate cooled, the juices congealing into a sheen that reflected the white light above. It didn’t matter that the food was perfect, or that the view was breathtaking. The only thing I could focus on was the weight behind Crow’s words, the way he’d dismissed Sharpy’s death like a minor inconvenience.
I leaned back in my chair, the edge of the table pressing against my ribs as I folded my arms. “What do you want with me, Crow?” I repeated, slower this time, letting the syllables drag out like a blade across glass.
The clatter of utensils broke the quiet, sharp and sudden.
“Everything,” Crow revealed, “I want you, Eclipse.”
I met his gaze without flinching. “I’m not for sale.”
Crow’s lips curled into something that might’ve been a smile, though it carried no warmth. “Everyone has a price, my good lad.”
“Not Royal,” I said flatly.
Onyx, lounging in her chair with a glass of wine she hadn’t even touched, tilted her head with a mock pout. “Huh, now I feel left out,” she said, her voice teasing but her eyes sharp, gauging him like a hawk.
Crow ignored her completely, leaning forward in his seat. The motion was unhurried, his elbows resting on the table as if to close the distance between us. “You are in trouble, Eclipse,” he continued, the words soft but heavy, sinking like lead in water. “And I am your only ally left. You see, infamy is a hard thing to manage. I can help you with that, smooth it out, and make it work for you. You only need to give yourself to me.”
The table, the food, even the city stretching endlessly beneath the glass walls faded into the background as his eyes locked on mine. There was a pull to them, magnetic, almost hypnotic. For a second, I felt the edges of my will blur, like a thin veil ready to tear if I let it.
I forced myself to blink, snapping out of it.
Accepting his offer was no different than shackling myself to him. Becoming his slave in everything but name. What would be the point of standing against Royal if I just ended up trading one master for another? No. Not happening.
I pushed back my chair, the legs scraping against the polished floor, and stood up. My hand found Onyx’s wrist, cool and steady as I pulled her along. “Looks like we have nothing to talk about,” I said, my tone clipped and final.
“Wait,” Crow said, his voice sharp, cutting through the hum of the city below. “We are far from done, boy.”
I froze mid-step, then turned to him, fury flaring hotter than I expected. My grip loosened around Onyx’s wrist as I took a step forward. “Don’t you ever call me boy,” I said, my voice low but venomous. “Or ‘my good lad.’ Do you hear me?”
Crow didn’t answer, but something in his eyes glittered. It was mockery, or maybe satisfaction. I didn’t care which. I was done playing his game.
“What?”
I stopped.
Someone was sitting beside him, as if she had always been there, her sudden presence so casual, so impossible, that my brain stalled just trying to process it. A woman, her dark hair cascading like a shadow over her shoulders, the light glinting off a beautiful silver dress that shimmered with every subtle movement. She didn’t look at me immediately; she simply sat there, poised and still, like she had all the time in the world.
My heart stopped.
I blinked once, and then twice. My stomach sank, and every rational thought slipped through my fingers like water.
This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
I felt disbelief first, like I’d stepped into some elaborate illusion, but beneath it, sharp and biting, came fear. The kind that twisted my gut and locked my lungs.
“...Mom?”
“And she can be yours too,” Crow said smoothly, his tone wrapping around the edges of my sanity like velvet dipped in poison. “Of course, for a price.”
“Richard,” my mother chided Crow gently, her voice the same as I remembered, twisting the knife deeper in my chest. She tilted her head, smiling at me as though none of this was wrong. “Oh, don’t be like that. We’re family. Nick’s family.”
She laughed lightly, and the sound felt wrong. It was familiar but hollow, like hearing a favorite song played on broken strings. Then, as if to cement the madness, she leaned toward him and playfully elbowed Crow. He only smiled back, wistful, like they were sharing some private joke I’d never be part of.
I stared. My breathing slowed. Every instinct screamed at me to run, to burn this illusion to ash, but deep down, beneath the anger and the confusion, a singular thought carved itself into my mind, sharp and absolute.
I must kill her.
My hand moved without hesitation, my fingers curling around the deck at my hip. A card slid free with a practiced flick, its edge biting against my skin as I prepared to release it.
But before I could move, Silver materialized beside me, sudden and desperate, her silver hair brushing my cheek as her hand clamped around my wrist.
“She’s real,” she said, voice trembling with a fear I had never heard from her before.
I clicked my tongue, more out of frustration than anything. “I don’t want her,” I said flatly, each word laced with venom I didn’t bother hiding. “She’s the blight of my existence. Bringing that thing here only makes everything worse.”
“Don’t be like that, Eclipse,” drawled Crow, the grin tugging at his lips widening just enough to irritate me further. “You’re hurting your mother’s feelings.”
That made me pause. It wasn’t helping that my so-called mother, this stranger, was wearing my mother’s face. And she looked genuinely hurt, shoulders stiffening ever so slightly as she glanced my way. The tiny, human flicker of emotion across her features carved a hole in my chest where only hate should have lived.
“Fuck…”
“Clearly,” Crow continued smoothly, reading the moment like an open book, “the stimulation is too much for you. But I suppose we can start slow.” His smile sharpened as he set the glass down and leaned forward, voice dropping to something almost conspiratorial. “How about a job? That seems to be your comfort zone.”
“And why,” I asked, my tone harsh, “do you think I’d do a job for you?”
Crow’s grin never wavered. “Name your price,” he said smoothly, as if the world bent to his will and mine would follow soon enough.
I thought about it hard, the words heavy in my throat as I finally spoke. “I want her gone,” I said, each syllable deliberate, sharp enough to draw blood if words could cut. “And for you to never show her to me ever again.”
Crow smirked like he’d been expecting that answer all along, victory dripping from his every movement. “Told you so,” he said with infuriating confidence, his tone almost playful. “Everything has a price, and most often, a blank check is the answer. I will do just that, and, to spice things up, I’m willing to foist a million marks to sweeten the deal.”
Mom looked down, her hands folded tightly on her lap, shoulders trembling ever so slightly as she avoided my gaze.
Ugh… I bit the inside of my cheek, fighting the urge to look away. You have no right to look so sad in front of me. Not after everything. Not after what you left me with. That expression wasn’t hers to wear anymore.
Crow tapped his fingers against the table, breaking through my thoughts like a gunshot. “The job is simple. There’s a hacker working for Pride. Calls himself BunnyBlade.” He smiled thinly, his inverted eyes locking on mine. “I want him dead.”