Rehab for SuperVillains (18+)-Chapter 193: tricked

"YOU SNAKEY PIECE OF SHIT!"

Kael didn’t flinch. "Should’ve kept your eyes up."

"You tricked her! You tricked me!"

"You hesitated."

He just turned away from the twins like he hadn’t just robbed one of them of her freedom with a flick of his fingers.

His steps were slow, limping, as he moved toward the unconscious green-haired girl bleeding on the floor.

His expression was unreadable, cold, but his shoulders betrayed a stiffness.

The weight of everything pressed on him like invisible hands.

Tila stood frozen, shaking with rage.

"See I told you sis" she hissed, turning towards Lila. "Should have killed him the first chance I got"

"You should have" Kael said looking back at her from his shoulder.

"I’ll kill you the moment this collar’s off."

Kael’s answer came flat and uncaring: "You can try."

____________

The door slammed shut behind Kael, the thud reverberating through the battered truck’s frame as he dropped into the driver’s seat.

The cabin was a cramped, metallic cage, thick with the sour reek of blood, motor oil, and a cheap pine air freshener that clung to the air like a bad lie.

The raiders who’d called this rig home hadn’t cared about comfort—just keeping it armed and lethal.

Tila snapped her seatbelt on with a sharp, defiant click, her eyes flashing.

"You better not get us killed in this rust bucket, dumbass."

Kael didn’t answer.

His hands hovered over the steering wheel, trembling faintly, fingers twitching like they were trying to shake off a ghost.

His breaths came short and jagged, his chest tight as if squeezed by an invisible fist.

The wheel was just worn plastic, scuffed rubber—nothing special.

But to Kael, it was a live wire, sparking with the weight of memory, the scream of tires, the crunch of glass, and that hollow silence when metal crumples like tinfoil.

Tila’s gaze sharpened, zeroing in on his shaking hands.

"Yo, earth to dumbass. You even know how to drive this thing?"

Kael stayed quiet, his jaw locked.

The key glinted in the ignition, daring him to move.

One twist, one press of the clutch, and they’d be gone.

But his foot was glued to the floor, heavy as lead.

In the back, Lila said nothing, her focus locked on Kitty’s limp form.

She cradled the girl’s head against her shoulder, keeping the blood trickling from Kitty’s mouth from choking her.

Lila’s hands moved with a quiet precision, steady and practiced, like she’d patched up too many broken things to count.

Or knew how to break things.

Kael forced a slow breath, then another. His pulse pounded, a relentless drumbeat in his skull.

Do it.

Now.

He twisted the key.

The engine roared to life, a beast snarling awake.

The wheel thrummed under his grip, and his stomach twisted. Tila caught the flicker of unease on his face and didn’t let it slide.

"Oh, for fuck’s sake," she muttered, her voice dripping with irritation. "You really don’t know what you’re doing, do you?"

"It’s fine," Kael said, the words brittle, barely audible.

"Fine? You’re sweating like you’re defusing a nuke."

Kael jammed the clutch, shifted into gear.

The truck lurched forward like it’d been gut-punched, throwing Tila back into her seat with a hissed "Shit!" Lila, unshaken, steadied Kitty without a glance, her hands never faltering.

Kael’s foot hit the brake too hard.

The truck screeched, tires clawing at the dirt. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

He closed his eyes, exhaled, and let his hand drift to his chest.

Beneath his shirt, his power hummed—a faint, warm pulse that coiled around his nerves like a lifeline.

It didn’t erase the panic, but it sanded down its edges, just enough.

His heartbeat slowed.

His hands steadied.

He exhaled again, long and relaxed, and when he shifted gears this time, the truck rolled forward with a reluctant kind of grace.

"You better not be doing this for kicks," Tila grumbled, yanking her seatbelt tighter.

"I’m not," Kael said, but the words lacked weight, even to him.

The cracked road unfurled ahead as they passed the bloodied street, the air sharp and dry.

Ruins lined the path like broken teeth, jagged under a gray, heavy sky.

Lila leaned forward slightly, her voice steady as granite.

"Her pulse is fading. She’s too pale."

Kael’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror.

Kitty’s head slumped against Lila’s shoulder, blood still seeping from her nose, her lips twitching in a weak attempt to speak.

All that came was a faint, wet gurgle.

"Keep her head tilted," Kael said. "Make sure she’s breathing."

"I am," Lila replied, her tone clipped but calm, like she’d already calculated the odds and decided to keep going.

Tila glanced at the mirror, then scoffed. "She’s probably faking it. Or just being extra. Honestly, you’re all extra."

Kael ignored her. "She’s our only lead," he muttered, half to himself. "She stays alive."

Tila’s lip curled. "Lead to what, exactly?"

Kael’s grip tightened on the wheel, knuckles bleaching. "Whoever’s pulling the strings. Radric was just another tool like this girl. He was not the one calling the shots."

"And she’s the puppet?" Tila’s voice was all edges, skeptical.

"Yeah. And puppets don’t deserve to break just because someone yanked the wrong string."

Tila opened her mouth to snap back but stopped, her gaze flicking to the window, jaw tight.

The truck growled onto the main road, then the highway.

In the distance, the city skyline hulked beneath a shroud of clouds.

He pressed the gas.

The engine snarled, the truck surging forward.

Faster.

The speedometer ticked up—60, 70, 90.

Tila grabbed the doorframe, her voice cracking. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

Kael didn’t answer. The fear hadn’t vanished—it had morphed, burning now like fire in his veins, like fuel.

His panic wasn’t gone; he’d just stopped giving a damn about it.

Tila’s voice spiked.

"SLOW DOWN, YOU MANIAC!"

But Kael wasn’t spiraling anymore.

He was grinning—wide, sharp, a glint in his eyes that was equal parts wild and unhinged.

He’d crossed some line, not free of fear but riding it like a wave.

Tila stared, jaw slack. "You’re enjoying this."

Kael said nothing, his smirk answering for him.

His driving wasn’t reckless—it was professional.

Every turn was a crisp snap, every lane change a seamless thread through the debris cluttering the city’s edge.

Cars blared their horns as the truck tore past, a battered streak of metal slicing through the dusk.

Tila swore again. "This isn’t a goddamn racetrack!"

"Could’ve fooled me," Kael shot back, his voice low but alive with a reckless edge.

Another swerve, the truck cutting between two cargo vans like a blade through silk.

Lila didn’t flinch, her focus locked on Kitty, though her eyes flicked to the mirror for a split second, studying Kael with a look that was half appraisal, half question.

Tila gave up yelling.

She just braced herself, teeth gritted, hands clamped on the door and dashboard.

The tires screamed over fractured pavement.

Kael’s reflection in the mirror didn’t waver.

The skyline loomed closer.

Kael eased off the gas, just enough, the truck’s rhythm slowing with his breath.

The cabin fell silent, the quiet sharp and heavy.

Tila stared at him, then looked away, her jaw locked tight.

Lila adjusted Kitty’s head, her hands steady as ever.

Kael’s voice sliced through the stillness, low and even.

"Five minutes."