I never thought bad guys had a conscience. I also never thought they had social lives or downtime or lives to focus on.

But these guys must have, because they left me alone over Christmas.

I'd ended up telling Chloe about the call, but I'd kept it a secret from Colton and Alexi. I knew that if they found out about the call, they'd pull me back to protect me. And I was sick of being protected. I wanted to deal with this on my own, find out who they were, and become one of the good guys. Alexi and Colton worked so hard, and it was time I shouldered some of the burdens—even if it meant lying to my friends and family.

As school finished up for the Christmas break and the New Year drew closer, I tried to push any worries out of my mind. Constantly thinking about them wasn't going to make it go away, and worrying about it wasn't going to fix the problem. I just had to move on with my life, put up a happy act for Colton and my family, and try to live life as normally as I could.

Despite the anonymous threats from the phone call, I didn't stop trying to find them. Chloe thought the idea of continuing after them was ludicrous, but I wasn't going to stop just because of a petty threat. There was more at stake, and I had to fight for the good of the people.

Christmas was a festive time, and soon my anxiety was quenched by Christmas lights and the idea of presents and eggnog. Christmas was my favorite time of the year, and no super-villain was going to get between me and my Mrs. Claus outfit.

I woke up early on Christmas morning, and a peek out of the window awarded me the sight I wanted to see: a gunmetal-gray sky and a blanket of snow covering the town I knew and loved. I cranked open my window and stepped into the brisk morning air, hugging my arms to my chest and watching snowflakes dance towards the ground. I felt a smile overtake my face. In the distance I could smell the smoke of a chimney, and I could hear little kids squealing in delight somewhere down the street.

"You're up early."

I jumped and turned to see a rumpled Colton stepping out of his window. He wore a pair of plaid pajama pants and a long-sleeved navy shirt. His hair was mussed and his eyes tired, but I could tell the snow was exciting him, too.

"I could say the same to you," I teased, breaking into a smile.

He shrugged and started towards me, and I noticed a pair of untied sneakers on his feet. A little more sophisticated than my bunny slippers. "I thought I could get a few saves in before Christmas breakfast. Did you know Christmas is the most accident-prone time of the year?"

"Do you ever slow down?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pulling him close. It was hard to feel cold when you had something so warm and real pressed against you.

"Why bother when you have super-speed?" he replied, twining his muscular arms around my waist.

"Why don't you leave the saving to the paramedics for a little while and just enjoy some pancakes and eggnog?" I asked him. "I think New York can survive an hour without you, superhero."

"My parents aren't up yet," he replied. "I'll just check the gas stations for any heists and make sure no one's falling off ladders attaching Christmas lights—"

I pressed my lips to his, cutting off the rest of his sentence. "Just slow down," I whispered. "At least stick around for a little while and let me give you your present."

"You got me a present?" Colton replied, and his blue eyes lit up like a child. It was achingly adorable.

I nodded and stepped back into my room, making sure not to leave any snowy tracks on the beige carpet. "Uh-huh."

"Good, because I got you one, too."

And then he super-sped into his house and reappeared with a crudely wrapped present with a tiny purple bow on the top.

I grabbed his present from my closet and held it out, and we swapped them over. There was something so sincere and sweet about a present with too much wrapping paper and sticky-tape. I could tell he'd tried to make it look perfect, and the fact it wasn't somehow made it perfect.

I watched him open his first, and he chuckled as he pulled it out. "An eye-mask?"

"As cute as the low hood is, the eye mask will work better in concealing, it will fit your face perfectly, and it makes it a lot easier to kiss you. Also, it shows off your excellent cheekbones and facial structure."

He shook his head at my nervous rambling. I didn't know if I was stepping out of place by trying to bring about a change in his costume, but I'd seen it in the costume store when I'd been looking for a Halloween outfit, and couldn't resist it.

"Well, I love it," he told me earnestly, pecking me on the lips. "And I love you. Thank you. Now, open yours."

I opened the present to reveal a box, and felt my stomach flip in nervousness as I tried to guess what it might be.

I pulled off the lid and sat down on the edge of my bed, pulling out a pair of boxy black glasses.

I looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me my eyesight needs work?" I asked.

He laughed and sat down next to me. "Actually, I think we had two very similar trains of thought. You said you wanted to be one of us. And since, to me, you're already a hero with or without a costume, I bought you the glasses as a second identity. Like Clark Kent."

"That's so sweet," I told him, pushing the glasses onto the edge of my nose. I turned towards him. "How do I look?"

"As beautiful as you always do," he told me.

"You are such a cheese ball," I guffawed, but leaned over and rewarded him with a kiss, anyway.

We were broken apart by the sound of my mother calling downstairs, "Vi! Breakfast!"

We pulled back breathlessly, and I smiled. "I gotta go. Thank you for the glasses. I'll never take them off."

"I'll see you later?"

"Promise."

~ * ~

As it turns out, I barely got to see him for the next week, aside from stolen kisses on my roof and one date to the coffee shop. My parents and I went to see some family for a couple of days and I was kept busy with the New Year edition of the paper.

However, New Year's Eve my parents allowed me to have a few friends over to celebrate the entrance of the New Year, and so I happily invited Chloe and Dave, Alexi, and Colton. Apart from the cheerleading squad, I only had a close network of friends, and I wasn't one for extravagant parties anyway. I might have invited the cheerleading squad and their significant others had I still been a part of the team, but apart from practice, we didn't really hang out much, and I preferred a more exclusive event, anyway.

After my parents left, I busied myself getting ready for the party, dressing in a pretty new outfit I'd gotten from Chloe for Christmas and adding just a tiny bit of whiskey to the leftover eggnog from Christmas night.

Colton arrived early, hair dusted with a fine sprinkling of snowflakes. As he ducked into the warm house, he took off his coat, and I laughed as I brushed the snow off of his damp hair. "You couldn't super-speed your way over here and avoid the snow?" I asked.

His eyes flashed around the house wearily. "Are we alone?" he asked.

"I wouldn't say that if we weren't," I replied. I put my hands on his tense shoulders and looked into his eyes, frowning. He'd been fine the last time I'd seen him a couple of days ago, and his texts had been reasonably normal. But something in his demeanor had changed. "Colt? You okay?"

He cleared his throat and looked away. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Hey," I said concernedly, pressing my palms to his cold cheeks and turning him to face me. "No more secrets between us, remember? Talk to me."

"Things have been too quiet," Colton said. "I'm getting worried."

"Maybe they're feeling generous," I said. "It is Christmas, after all."

He started pacing down the main hallway, and I followed after him slowly. "I feel like they're watching us all the time," he confessed. "I've checked my room three times in the past two days for bugs. I feel like there are cameras everywhere. I feel like this is the quiet before the storm."

"They still don't know who you are," I reminded him. "Even if they have suspicions, they have no proof. As long as we lay low, they don't have to know anything."

"What if they do?" he replied. "What if this is all a big game? What if we're falling right where they want us?"

"Colton, I know things are tough right now," I said. "But you have to stop panicking; it won't help anything. In fact, that could end up hurting you."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Colton replied.

"We've been through this before—I'm fine," I promised him. "I'm not scared of them."

"You should be. These people are killers. And they'll take down anyone who gets in their way. That includes you, Chloe—even Alexi. I can't protect you all."

"Have you met Chloe and Alexi?" I replied. "I think they're pretty capable of handling themselves."

There was a knock at the front door, and I sighed. This was supposed to be a cheery event—welcoming in a fresh start.

I turned to him and sighed. "Can we get back to this later? For tonight, let's just have fun, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay. For tonight."

I strode over to the door and opened it to find a shivering Chloe and Dave huddled together. "Took you long enough," Chloe muttered, her teeth chattering. "I think I'm half-Eskimo by now."

"You look fine to me," I replied, grabbing their coats and ushering them further. "There are snacks and drinks in the living-room by the fire."

"I'll go anywhere to get warm," Chloe replied. She began to drag Dave off in the direction of the fireplace, but stopped for a second as she reached me. "I need to talk to you. Immediately."

"Later," I whispered back.

She acquiesced and went into the living-room, leaving Colton and I alone in the foyer again. The atmosphere felt off, however.

Alexi was close behind them, her black hair hidden behind a beanie. She greeted both of us with hugs, a small radio on her thigh chattering occasionally. "I brought the police scanner just in case," Alexi whispered. "I'll turn it down before I get to Chloe and Dave. Just thought we should be prepared."

"Crime fighters never get a night off, huh?" I replied.

"The holiday season is the time most known for accidents," Alexi said. "I'm just being careful. I'm sure it'll be fine."

I nodded and let her in, sighing. I remembered a time when my life was a little less complicated—when I could throw a New Year's party without worrying about detective work and saving the world. Now spiked eggnog and potato chips seemed a little dull and mediocre.

I took Colton's hand and led him into the living-room, where everyone was getting acquainted. Dave was being introduced to Alexi, and Chloe was looking at me with feverish green eyes. She was practically jumping out of the seat to tell me something.

She reached over and grabbed a corn chip, taking a bite into it. She turned to me. "Vi, wouldn't this taste better with some guacamole?"

"There's guacamole on the table," I said, gesturing to the green paste.

She looked ready to wring my neck. "What about salsa? People like a variety of condiments."

"Salsa is near the tissues," I said, indicating their position on the table.

"Kitchen. Now," she said, between gritted teeth, standing up and grabbing me painfully by the wrist.

I yelped as she dragged me into the kitchen, Colton glancing worriedly after us as Chloe shut the French doors and turned on me.

"I said we'd talk later!" I hissed.

"Look, I would love to sit around and pretend we're just a normal bunch of people—and maybe Alexi and Colton are—but we have bigger problems than condiments right now."

"What has got you so worried?"

"Dave and I have been doing a lot of digging over the break..." Chloe began nervously, chewing on the edge of her lip.

"If this is a recount of your sexcapades, I don't really want to hear," I said. Had she really dragged me in here to talk about her torrid romance with Dave?

"I don't mean that kind of digging," Chloe said. "I traced the call from your cell phone."

"Shh," I said, dragging her towards the back door so that no one would overhear. "You what?" I hissed.

"I know you told me not to get involved anymore, but I'm concerned about you," she said. "Right now, you seem to be in this psycho's crosshairs more than your masked hero. I know you only told me about the call to demonstrate how serious these people are, but I couldn't just let it slide. So I got Dave to hack into your cell phone and trace the call back."

"You can't just do things like that, Chlo," I told her, my voice hitching in fear. "That's how innocent people like you and Dave get in trouble."

"You can lecture me later," Chloe said, rolling her green eyes. "Don't you want to know what I found first?"

"What did you find?" I asked.

"You weren't on the phone long enough for him to get a full location, but he did manage to get at least a pinpoint on the GPS," Chloe began. "He was on the opposite side of town. He wasn't at the school. In fact, he was closer to your house than he was to Sterling High."

"But he complimented my scarf," I replied, crossing my arms over my chest. "He had to be there."

"That's what we thought," Chloe replied. She kicked at something on the ground. "So we—and by we, I mean I sat there useless while Dave did all the work—did some more investigating. And this is where things get worse."

"How could things possibly get worse?" I whispered.

"We figured if he wasn't there, how did he know about the scarf? We thought maybe he had a spy, but it seemed unlikely he'd employ someone to loiter around the schoolyard in the off-chance of catching a glimpse of you. So we had another thought. And this one was right."

"You would make a great mystery writer one day, but please dial down on the suspense," I begged her.

"We figured there was only one other way he could be seeing you. And it's not through real eyes. Dave hacked onto the wireless network at the school—which is fairly easy to do, apparently. It only took him like five minutes, which is really amazing, because triangulating your phone took like at least fifteen minutes, and as someone who just has to sit by and watch while he does all the work, that is a long time—" I knew it was just nervous babbling, but we didn't have the time.

"Chloe, cut to the chase," I told her.

She breathed in deeply through her nose in an effort to calm down. "So Dave hacked into the network, and he found a lot of suspicious activity. Most of it was just kids fooling around, but there was one server that continually bounced—Dave couldn't get a hold on it. We think they've hacked into the school servers."

"So?" I asked. "They can see students Internet searches. What does that have to do with anything?"

"The school cameras are tied into that network," Chloe replied. "They can see everything that's going on in the school. This changes everything."

"This means..." I whispered.

Chloe nodded. "This means they have eyes everywhere. If they can hack into school cameras, they can hack into traffic cams, satellites... Who knows what else?"

"Nowhere is safe," I realized.

I heard the front door slam, and felt my heart tighten in my chest. Were we being attacked? But there was an eerie calmness in the living-room. Chloe and I dashed out. Alexi was staring at the front door with wild eyes, while Dave tapped his fingers awkwardly on his knees.

"Where's Colton?" I asked, realizing the empty spot where he had stood.

"He left," Alexi replied in a low voice, nodding toward the door.

I frowned and ran outside, into the freezing darkness. Snow continued to fall from the black sky, and I could see Colton, hands in his pockets, storming back towards his house.

"Colton!" I called, racing after him. "Where are you going?"

He spun around, his eyes large and wild. I pulled up short. I'd never seen a look of such intense anger on his face before.

"When were you going to tell me?" he asked.

My breaths made clouds of condensation in the air as I breathed out nervously. "Tell you what?"

"About the phone call you got," Colton replied. "I heard you and Chloe in the kitchen."

"You were listening in on my conversation?" I replied angrily.

"I was concerned," he replied. "And it turns out I should have been. You've been lying to me?"

"I didn't want to worry you," I told him. "In case you haven't noticed, you're kind of on edge at the moment. I didn't really want to add to your workload."

"That was not your choice to make!" he cried. "This is my problem, that you've dragged yourself into. How am I supposed to protect you when you won't even tell me anything? What happened to no secrets?"

"I'm sorry," I told him, and I meant it. "I should have told you, but I didn't want to scare you."

"Don't you get it, Violet?" he asked. I hated when he called me by my full name. It made me feel like a stranger. "I'm going out of my damn mind! I'm trying to save everybody; I'm trying to stay one step ahead. And I know I've been different lately. I'm sorry that this couldn't be the kind of romance you wanted. I'm sorry I dragged you into all of my crap. But that does not give you the right to hide things from me. Especially things that could hurt you."

I looked down at the ground, knowing he was right. I was just a high school girl who happened to pen an unlucky article. Colton was the guy with the superpowers—the only one of us who had a chance against this formidable opponent. And while I hadn't wanted to worry him, it seemed like we had bigger problems to deal with than mental health.

"I know," I whispered. "I'm sorry. I just want to help."

"You can't," he replied. "You can't help me, V."

"I can," I told him desperately. I hated feeling useless in a fight where he and I were so vital. I'd put so many people in danger, and I just wanted to fix it. "Maybe I can write an awareness article to put people on the lookout. You can train me to fight so I can defend myself. I can help Alexi with the whole sidekick thing. I can do something."

He shook his head. "I think this is a mistake."

"What?" I asked. "Tonight? I know this wasn't the best time for a party, but I just thought..."

"Not tonight," Colton replied. "Us. We were a mistake."

I shook my head. "No. You don't mean that."

"I do," he whispered. "Ever since you first met The Black Phoenix, you've been in danger. They know your name, they know where you live, they have your number... And it's all because of me."

"It's too late for any of that," I told him. "They know it now. The best thing we can do is stick together. Solidarity. Strength in numbers. You can't give up. We still have a chance."

"I'm not giving up on the fight," he told me. "I'm giving up on us."

"I know I shouldn't have kept the secret, but you have to understand where I was coming from," I said desperately.

He nodded. "I do. But it doesn't matter, Violet. I thought that I could be with you. But heroes don't get the girl. Heroes have to focus on fighting. Heroes have to protect people. I am The Black Phoenix first and Colton Cross second. I have to put this life before you."

"I understand that," I told him. "I'm not vying for your attention. I'm here to help and support you, not to stop you from doing what you were born to do."

"It's more than that and you know it," Colton told me. "I can't protect all of you from Nathaniel. He's too powerful. I can have every superpower in the world and still not be able to beat him. He's too good."

"We'll find a way..."

He shook his head. "No. I'll find a way. And I'm doing it alone. No more sidekicks. No more going to others for help. I started this alone and I'm going to end it alone. I can't put you guys in danger anymore. And if I can't protect you up close, then I have to let you go. The best way to keep you safe is to not be with you at all."

"That's bull and you know it," I told him. "The best way to fight is if we do it together. With Chloe's genius and my writing and Dave's hacking skills and Alexi's sidekick skills, we could stand a chance. We just have to figure out a way. The right way."

"And then, what? You go down with me? Violet, I will not be responsible for the deaths of all of you."

"We still have a chance," I breathed. "And if we go down, we all go down together. And that's our choice."

"Our choice?" Colton yelled. "Violet, Chloe and Dave don't even know who The Black Phoenix is! You're going to let them die to protect someone they don't even know?"

"Then we'll tell them. We'll do whatever we have to. We can do this, Colton. You just have to believe in us. You have to believe in me."

"I don't," Colton whispered. "I don't believe in you."

I felt like I'd been sucker-punched in the stomach. All the breath fell out of me at once. "What?"

"I don't believe in you, Violet. I can't. Because this thing is more than you and me. We are dealing with professional killers here. If you guys aren't with me anymore, they won't target you. You'll be safe."

"I don't want safety," I told him. "I want you."

He stepped back. "I'm sorry, Violet. But I don't want you here. I have to keep you away from him."

I shook my head. I knew there was more to it than that. His voice had lost its emotion. His eyes had gone dead. I was losing him even as I was trying to hold on. He was gone.

"Don't use this as an excuse," I whispered, trying to keep my voice even. "If you're not happy, say it. I know things have been complicated, but this is yet another thing I'm willing to fight for. But don't use Nathaniel as an excuse. If you're breaking up with me, do it for you. Do it because you really and truly don't want to be with me. If you do want to, then we can fight for this. We'll be together in secret if we have to. Only end this because you don't love me. But don't make up an excuse. Don't lie to me. For once in your life, just be honest with me."

"You want me to tell the truth?" Colton asked. "Fine. I think you're incompetent. I think you're reckless, and I think that you don't actually think things through before you do them. I think you don't understand how serious this is. And I think you're going to get all of us killed."

I could hardly breathe. I shook my head. "You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do," he told me through gritted teeth.

"If you really mean it, then do one thing for me," I whispered, stepping closer to him. "Tell me you don't love me anymore."

He breathed in deeply and looked up at the sky. My heart clenched. I thought he couldn't do it—that this was all some kind of trick or nightmare and I'd wake up. Things would still be crappy, but at least I'd have him.

He looked down at me, and his blue eyes met mine in a stare that chilled me. He opened his mouth, and I felt like the world around me was crumbling.

"I don't love you anymore," he told me.

It was like he'd shut off from me completely. I barely recognized the person staring back at me. He was different to the boy I knew—different to the one who told me his secret and ran my gym bag to my locker and kissed me so passionately it felt like I was flying.

I didn't know the man staring back at me.

And I didn't want to.

I pulled back, feeling vulnerable and exposed. There was an ache from within my core, and I felt like I might shatter into a thousand tiny pieces.

"Violet..." he whispered, reaching for me.

"Don't," I replied, stepping out of his grasp. "Thank you for finally trusting me enough to tell me how you really feel. I'm glad I finally got a chance to see the real Colton Cross. Maybe you and Nathaniel aren't so different, after all."

He opened his mouth to speak, but I no longer had any energy left in me to fight on. I'd tried so hard to win, to live a life that involved both Colton and The Black Phoenix.

Now I realised he wanted me in neither.

I reached the front door, which no longer felt warm or comforting. From within, I heard the soft traces of laughter, and tried to close the door as quietly as I could. I hoped to sneak to my bedroom and collect myself before anyone could see the tears streaming down my face.

By the worst stroke of luck, a breeze suddenly blew the door shut with a colossal bang, causing me to flinch and hurriedly wipe at my eyes with my sleeve.

"Vi?" Chloe called, and I heard heavy footsteps and the shuffling of feet.

I took a deep breath and turned around, hoping that I looked at least semi-decent.

Apparently not, though, as Chloe's face fell as soon as she spotted me. She rushed over. "Oh, Vi," she whispered. "What's wrong?"

Alexi and Dave appeared behind her, and I felt my cheeks flushing with embarrassment over being seen in this condition.

I sniffed and took a deep breath, giving myself a few extra seconds to get it together. "I'm okay," I told them, though my voice came out meek and croaky. Kill me. "I'm just gonna go upstairs, so you guys enjoy the party if you want. I'll see you guys later."

I hurried up the stairs before anyone could voice any questions, and shut myself off in my room. I heard the front door open and close, and knew I'd ruined any chance at normalcy we'd had tonight.

A few minutes later there was a soft knock at my door. Before I could answer, Chloe stepped in with a concerned look, holding a large green bowl of popcorn and large glasses of eggnog. She looked uncharacteristically quiet and reserved.

"Party's over, huh?" I asked, pulling my knees to my chest and trying to stop the tears from falling.

"It's not a party without you," she told me with a small smile. She took a seat next to me on the bed. "But I brought food and drinks. We can have a little party—just us."

"What about Alexi and Dave?" I replied.

"Alexi went to check on Colton, and I asked Dave to go home. I think this girl's night is better anyway."

"You don't have to stay," I told her. "I'm fine."

"I want to," Chloe said. "Maybe I don't say it enough, but you're my best friend. And I love you. I'm always here, Vi. For anything."

Her words made me want to cry more. I'd lied to her so much over the past few weeks, and she'd been nothing but a good friend. She'd followed leads like I asked, called in favors left, right and center, and stuck by my side through everything. And now she was in danger because of me.

And despite that, she still came to comfort me.

"Thank you," I whispered. "For coming to comfort me."

She smiled brightly. "I'm with you no matter what, Vi. Now, I know you don't wanna talk about it, so let's forget whatever happened. My suggestion is we get drunk on spiked eggnog and begin the New Year with the worst hangover of our lives."

I clinked my glass against hers and took a large gulp. "Sounds like a plan."