Without Villains: Chapter 1

“Ma’am,” Jared Leach said, straightening his jean jacket to ease his discomfort as he struggled to look her in the eye, “there were twelve more deaths last night.” Jared was a private detective Victo

Remember that these chapters are being posted as they’re written, so they haven’t been fully edited. If you happen to notice a continuation detail I missed in Draft Suck, please let me know.

Series blurb:

In the dystopian ruins of America, ravaged by the Para Wars, four lives converge in a desperate bid to salvage their city. Victoria Armstrong, betrayed by her boss and fighting for her dying wife, resolves to overthrow the corrupt status quo. Dannika Love seizes a new mission under Victoria, proposing radical solutions that could restore order or ignite further chaos.

As Vance Young, a disillusioned detective, seeks justice outside the law, Pearl champions a sanctuary for the persecuted paras. Together, they discover that their city doesn't just need heroes—it needs villains to force the change that desperation demands. "Without Villains" is a gripping urban fantasy exploring the thin lines between heroism and villainy in a society teetering on the edge of collapse.

“Ma’am,” Jared Leach said, straightening his jean jacket to ease his discomfort as he struggled to look her in the eye, “there were twelve more deaths last night.”

Jared was a private detective Victoria had hired at the start of the war to keep an eye on the streets of her neighborhood. She’d grown up with him in those very same streets and she knew he cared about the people living there as much as she did. However, she also knew that in a paranormal civil war, the new hate focus would be those who were different because they grew teeth or fur or called on the wind or could see things others could not. That fear had always been there, but it’d been easier to hide.

The reason Jared, however, wasn’t working as a police officer was because he’d gotten himself tied up in the local gangs, but in a way he couldn’t recover from. Victoria knew him, though, and understood that he’d just been making the best out of the crap situations he’d been handed. That was something she could respect.

No matter how long they’d been working together, however, he was never going to feel comfortable in her office, which was a long way from the streets they’d grown up on.

“Who were they?” she asked, moving out from behind her sleek mahogany desk, kicking off her Chiristian Louboutin patent pointed-toe red soled pumps to walk barefoot to her brown leather couch. She paused to open the cooler and pulled out two bottles of water, handing him one. “What details do we have?”

“I got names, ages, addresses.” He shrugged, unscrewing the top of his water and taking a long draw before shaking his head and taking a seat in the chair opposite her. “I can also tell you ain’t nobody lookin’ into them. They died. Ain’t nobody care.”

Someone did. Or would if there was anyone left in their family to care. The crime rates on the streets had risen to an all time high and her streets were now bordering on genocide. Entire families were being wiped out at a time. Last week, an entire school was hit. And was any of this making the news? No.

“So, they were paras.” That wasn’t a question.

“Shifters?” He nodded, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees. “Yeah. Look, I don’t know how much longer I can do this. Watching. Not doing.”

“What are you going to do?” Victoria asked, soothing the anger that lived permanently in her chest. “Do you have powers? Have you gained some new skill I haven’t heard about?”

“Don’t be like that.”

“I’m being honest.” She leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs at the knee, tugging her yellow pencil skit down slightly to keep it in place. “I don’t have any special para abilities. I don’t know how much I’d pay right now to get them, but I don’t have any. So, the only thing I can do is what I do best.”

He grunted, looking away. “Yeah? What’s that? Sittin’ in this fancy-assed office preening?”

She pushed the insult away. “Watching. Collecting people. Moving those with abilities to the right areas.”

“Yeah, well, fat lot of good that’s done us. I don’t know if you’re watching but we’re still out there dying. And they don’t know who they killin’. Could be just someone they got beef with. Could be someone they just didn’t like, or couldn’t cut up any way else.”

“That’s true.”

“So, what good is it being up here watching if you’re not actually making any difference?”

She swallowed because that was the exact question she’d asked herself just that morning. She’d intended to gather information and make a difference that way, but she couldn’t find a target. “I need more information. Better information. I need to know where to send people. What’s needed. Where should they go? Who’s doing this?”

“Everyone is doing this.”

“I need a leader.”

He made a strangled sound, his jaw jutting forward as he bowed his head and turned it to the side, breathing raggedly.

She gave him his moment, the strangling sense of frustration rattling through her as well.

He rolled his head on his shoulders and audible pops and cracks sounded in the silence. “Fine. I’ll keep tracking.”

She stood, offering her well-manicured hand. “Give me a target and I’ll do what I do best.”

He stared at her hand with a look of disgust before taking it. “You better. When we all dead, ain’t gonna matter at the top.”

“I hear you.”

“Yeah, well, good. Your ears working. That’s great. Best if other things were too.” He let her hand go and walked to the door, saluting with his bottle of water. He stopped and turned, wincing as if he didn’t want to say what was about to come out of his mouth. “There’s someone you should probably meet. Could help. Might not. She’s a bit of a wild card, frankly.”

Victoria could read that on his face. “Who is she?”

“Dannika Love. She’s a bit of a war hero, but she’s coming home.”

“For a bit?”

“She’s been discharged.”

If she really was a war hero, she would still be in the war. “What’s wrong?”

He shrugged. “I don’t got access to that, but she’s a bit of a cyber genius. She might be able to help you find a target.” He shrugged again and opened the door. “I’ll send you the information I have. Just be careful with it.”

“Okay.” Victoria knew that the best way to get work done sometimes was with powerful people and sometimes powerful people were volatile.

Her desk phone buzzed as the solid wood door to her office closed, and Eleanor’s voice came over the speaker. “Your eleven o’clock is here, ma’am.”

“Thank you, Ms. Parks,” Victoria said, grateful for the woman’s assistance. She wouldn’t be able to do what she did for Sturwood without her.

“I’ll show Ms. Martinez through.”

Victoria slipped her pumps back on and settled back behind her desk, setting her unopened bottle of water down.

A tall woman with long, flowing dark hair stepped through the door, her yellow summer dress brushing her naked knees and drawing attention to her open-toed wedges. She closed the door behind her, clutching her small white purse as if afraid it was going to fall off the spaghetti strap that held it across her body.

Victoria wasn’t impressed. She’d been hoping for real information, but this slip of a woman didn’t look like she could provide anything. “Victoria Armstrong, Chief Administrator to the mayor. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The woman took her hand and shook it with more confidence than she appeared to have. “Sky Martinez.”

Victoria sat, swinging her legs to the side and crossing them, keeping her body language open. “I hear you have information that we need.” The target she’d been looking for.

Sky nodded once and clasped her hands around her purse as she sank into the chair. “The water is being poisoned at the treatment facility.”

Victoria had heard mutterings that something was wrong with the water supply, but nothing more than that. “What proof do you have to support this?”

Opening her mouth, Sky closed it again and looked away. “I had a video.”

“Had.” Victoria was getting well-versed in handling situations like this. “What happened to it?”

“My phone was stolen.”

Victoria shook her head and laced her fingers over her abdomen. “What makes you think I can do anything about this?”

“Because you’re the—” Sky stopped herself and licked her lips. “I just have a feeling that you’re what we need to move this forward.”

Victoria received a lot of people with “feelings” without support. “Unless you—”

“Close the door on the devil’s offer,” Sky blurted out, gripping her purse until the tips of her fingers turned white.

Surprise flushed through Victoria, and she sat back, brushing her full lips, watching Sky for a long moment. Her mom had used tarot to guide them through some pretty tricky spots, and her warnings had been just as wild. Initially, Victoria had thought it was all a bunch of bunk, but what those cards had seen had sometimes come to pass. “What do you mean?”

Sky looked around as if trying to figure out a way to dig herself out of this hole, to find an argument that was plausible.

Victoria didn’t have time for that. “Look,” she said, leaning forward, “if your cards are telling you something, I’m willing to listen, but I’m going to need better direction. I’ll find a way to get the evidence if it’s real.”

Sky’s dark eyes widened as she leaned forward, placing her purse on the desk, the strap still draped across her shoulder and back.

So, Victoria had been right. “Do you have more details? Anything that could point me to a person? A description?”

“The Magician,” Sky said. “He’s skilled in what he does. He is a very powerful man and not easy to manipulate, but sometimes knows how to manipulate those around him.”

“That could be one of anyone I work with.”

Sky nodded. “But this one has offered you something.”

“Again,” Victoria said, thinking back and coming up blank, “that’s not reducing the list.”

“Has anyone mentioned your potential—”

“Victoria,” Wendell said, opening the door with a bright smile. “I don’t mean to interrupt your interview, but we really have to go.”

Irritation rattled around Victoria’s center, but she masked it with a smile behind her fingertip. “You’ll knock first.”

“This is my office, and you work for me.”

“And knocking is a sign of respect.” She leaned back in her chair, not willing to stand for the man. He seemed like a good person, but moments like this made her question everything he stood for. “Something you demand, if I’m not mistaken.”

He opened his mouth, his eyes darting to the door and back. He closed his lips with a chagrined smile as if he’d been caught with this hand in the cookie jar, and then walked toward the door. “You’re right. You’re always right.” He walked through it and closed it behind him.

Victoria looked at Sky. “Come by Monday and be prepared.” She glanced down significantly at the other woman’s purse. “I want real answers.”

Sky stood, shaking her head in surprise at being taken seriously. “I—I will.”

Wendell knocked on the door.

“And, Sky?”

The other woman stopped on her way out and looked back.

“Wear something people will take you seriously in. Not that.”

Looking like she’d been asked to fish without a pole, Sky nodded slowly and continued to the door, opening it for Wendell and stepping aside for him as he swept back into the room.

He waited for the door to close and ran his hand through his hair apologetically. “I get so excited, I forget.”

“Imagine if everyone did that.” Victoria folded her hands on top of her yellow business skirt and waited. “Especially to the men in this office.”

“That’s so uncalled for. You know I respect you and all the women here.”

“I know you say you do.” She leaned forward. “What are you really here for?”

He practically did a wiggle before he claimed the seat Sky had just abandoned, leaning over her paperclip cup to overtake the real estate of her desk. “I have an opportunity to run for Senator.”

“That’s great.” But Victoria had no wish to follow him into that. She didn’t want to continually be his administrator, running everything while he got all the acclaim.

“I want you to run for mayor.” He studied her like a handsome man who’d caught a prized canary.

She hated that look and hated the excitement flurrying inside her just as much. “You think that’s going to work?”

“Well, not with your current state. You’ll need to anul your ‘marriage’ and find a man to marry. Just for looks, of course. You can keep your girlfriend. She’ll just need to remain very quiet.”

Anger settled over her nerves, but it was a feeling she was well-versed in handling. He’d never supported her marriage and still thought this was some trend she’d get over. “My answer remains the same, Wendell. No.”

“Think about Lisa—”

“Rosa,” Victoria said, masking her irritation.

“Right. Right.” Wendell smiled and sat back with a performed smile. “Think of Rosa. Do you really want to drag her through this? The mainstream media is a shark’s den.”

“Especially now.” With the Para Wars raging in the mid-west, it was open season for hate crimes. Since paras could be anyone, it was just easier to hate the old norm; sex, race, and religion.

He nodded as if she understood him perfectly and had agreed to obey. “Especially now.”

She hated this part of him, but she’d always blown it off before. He was a younger politician who was making ways to create a better world. But better for who? That’s what she was asking herself after having talked to Sky. Close the door on the Devil’s offer.

What if that was in reference to this? Stepping up and doing exactly what Victoria had dreamed of doing for the past year? She didn’t know if she could turn away.

“Well, excellent,” Wendell said, getting to his feet. “I see I’ve given you something to think about. So, let’s table this for tonight. Dinner. Giavanno’s. Eight. Don’t be late. We have a lot to discuss.”

Victoria watched him walk through the door and close it behind him. They certainly would have lots to discuss, but she would be prepared to provide her own direction.

* * *

“Tell me again why we’re called Wisemen,” Gina said over the earpiece.

Vance shook his head with a sigh, sticking to the shadows of the hallway as he walked forward. The emergency batteries in the lights had drained a few minutes before, and with the state of things, it should be another hour before someone could get there to check on the power. “It was just the name I picked.”

“You should choose a new one.”

Vance checked the door to Dr. McFlinn’s office. It was unlocked, so he let himself in, going for the wall of cabinets. He’d installed cameras the week before, so he knew where to go. Lifting the baseball display, he grabbed the key and unlocked the last bay, pulling out the second drawer.

“What about the Inhumans?” she asked.

“Isn’t that already taken?” Sheldon asked back over the ear piece.

“I just want to double check,” Vance said, as he pulled out a file and shined his flashlight over it, “that you’re sticking to your post.”

“We can watch the doors and talk,” Gina said. “This isn’t chewing gum.”

“Oh,” Sheldon said, “we could be the Packmates.”

“We’re not all shifters,” Gina said, and then groaned. “What about the Rogues?”

Vance pushed their conversation to the back of his mind. His uncle was wrong. People were doing experiments on paras, and he needed to get this information back to his uncle so they could figure out what was being done to them. He grabbed a few files at random, without grabbing entire chunks of them, making it easier to miss at a cursory.

“Hey, boss,” Gina said, her tone shifting to something serious. “We’ve got a bit of a situation here.”

“What kind?” Vance asked, shoving the folders in his bag and locking the drawer, making it look as though he hadn’t been there.

“A couple of guys are out here roughin’ up a couple of kids.”

“We can’t get involved,” Vance said, stashing the key exactly as he’d found it and turning to leave. “The mission is information.”

“Whoa, shit!” Sheldon exclaimed in a whisper. “Dude’s got a knife.”

If they were caught or someone saw them, then this whole mission would be jeopardized. “We cannot be involved,” Vance repeated.

“I don’t care,” Sheldon said.

“Sheldon,” Gina called. “Wait.”

This was not happening. “Gina,” Vance said as he ducked out of the office and slid down the hall, staying out of the camera sights. “We can’t be seen.”

“We can’t let these kids die.”

“Then find a way to hide your face.”

She muttered something under her breath, but then her comms went silent.

Vance bent the knee and quick-stepped to the back door where Gina was supposed to be keeping watch. Pushing it open slightly, he pulled out his gun and looked around. The only gift he had was his badge and that wasn’t going to help him. Not this time.

Sounds of a scuffle sounded at the mouth of the alley to his right, but everything else was quiet.

If he was smart, he’d take his files and leave, going the other way, staying out of sight, and playing it safe.

But Gina and Sheldon were right, too. They couldn’t just let a kid get knifed in public, not when they were masquerading as the good guys protecting the streets from violence.

The gun would draw too much attention, so he holstered it and brought out one of his knives, tucking it along his forearm as he quietly closed the door behind him and slipped down the alleyway.

Three men in plain street clothes had one boy in hand, the other lying motionless on the street.

“I’m within my rights,” one of the men yelled.

“I don’t care,” Gina growled, her face hidden underneath her shirt she’d pulled up over her head, her voice distorted as if she was trying hard to mask herself.

“I’ll kill all y’all,” the man with the scar over his bottom lip growled, swiping at her with his knife. “You’re just as crooked as—”

Someone stepped out of the shadows, glancing in the direction Vance stood, though he was still in shadow. He touched the man with the scar, gaining his attention and said something very low.

The man with the scar turned and stabbed his friend, shoving him to the ground where he sputtered and bled out. He advanced on the other man, his knife still in hand.

“Wait,” Gina said, startled enough to let her voice run normally. “What’s—”

The newcomer pointed his hand at the third attacker and tipped his head.

The third attacker smiled and shrugged, letting go of the boy and pulling out two knives and advancing on his friend.

The boy scrambled to his friend. “Don. Don!”

The two remaining attackers leapt, trying to stab each other as if it was the last thing they could think about, like they were driven to do nothing else.

Who was this new person?

The man turned to Vance and smiled, the streetlight catching his face.

He was tall, had sharp cheekbones and lots of dark brown, curly hair. His eyes were dark. He wore a blue button up shirt and khaki pants, but nothing else about him was remarkable. He saluted and walked away.

“Hey,” Vance shouted, chasing after him.

The man turned and said something that only Gina could hear.

She stepped in Vance’s path, gripping his arm. “Not now.”

“What do you mean not now?” That man had helped them, and he could be an amazing asset to the team. Imagine the things they could get. The information?

“It’s just what he said. It’s not time.”

It hit Vance at that moment what was going on. The man had told Gina to stop him. He’d told the men to fight each other and they all three lay on the ground, bleeding out. That kind of power could be dangerous, especially on his team. Vance sheathed his knife and held up his hand. “Okay. I’m not pursuing.”

“Good.” Gina shook herself as she was coming out of a vision, her shirt falling all the way off her face. “We gotta get Sheldon and get out of here.”

“The boy—”

“Is alive and people will come to help him soon enough,” Gina said. “Trust me. When it gets quiet, people will come help.”

Vance’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Sighing in frustration, he pulled it out and followed Gina. Tonight hadn’t gone the way he’d wanted. He hoped the information he’d been able to pull would get them somewhere because he was tired of losing.

When he opened his phone, it revealed he had a text message from a Victoria Armstrong. It simply read, “I need your help. Are you interested?”

This is the prequel to the award winning October Eclipse, an urban fantasy trilogy with magical realism and tarot. Paid subscribers gain early entry to chapters as they’re written, audio chapters as they’re released, and much more.

If you’re not a paid member, you can read everything with a 7-day free trial.