Rehab for SuperVillains (18+)-Chapter 157: Two blocks,

But then she paused, her mind racing.

If Kael was that bad, why were Freya and Rhea still here?

They could bolt, torch the Haven, or snap Kael’s neck with ease.

Yet they stayed, joking, kissing him, buying him cars.

Were they lying? Exaggerating to mess with her? Or was there a half-truth buried in their taunts?

Lila had seen Kael at the massage parlor, his hands professional even when trophy wives and rich milfs begged for more, their eyes pleading for him to cross lines.

He never did, not once, his restraint ironclad despite their vulnerability.

Her thoughts spiraled, doubt clashing with fear.

Why is his clientele always them.

He likes to watch them beg for it, edge them?

Oh my god,

Kael is a pervert. The statement lodged in her mind, refusing to budge.

"Turn the car around," Lila said, her voice sharp, her hands clenching her gown. "I’m going back to the Haven."

Freya and Rhea exchanged a glance, their grins faltering as they remembered Kael’s indirect orders: keep Lila with them on the mission as he worked with Tila.

"Whoa, hold up," Freya said, her voice light, forcing a laugh. "We were just messing with you, Lila. Kael’s fine."

"Yeah, totally kidding!" Rhea added, her amber eyes wide, her grin strained. "Kael’s a saint, practically a choirboy."

Lila’s eyes narrowed, catching the sarcasm dripping from their words. Freya nudged Rhea with her elbow, hard.

"Ow!" Rhea yelped, rubbing her side, then sighed. "Alright, fine. Kael’s a good guy, Lila. Promise."

"No," Lila said, her voice rising, her glasses glinting with resolve. "Turn the car, or I’ll have to force my way out."

Freya’s blue eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, her voice calm but firm.

"Think about it, Lila. Would Kael really risk messing with Tila—or you—when he knows you could take him out in a heartbeat? He’s not dumb. You trusted him. Why would he throw that away?"

"Yeah, think, Lila, think," Rhea added, her amber eyes serious for once. "If you storm back now and find Kael’s just doing his job, you’ll look like you don’t trust him. What if he says ’screw it’ and drops Tila’s rehab? You wanna risk that?" freёwebnoѵel.com

Lila’s mind churned, doubt and fear battling her need to protect Tila.

Their logic made sense—Kael wasn’t reckless, and she’d seen his professionalism firsthand.

But the image of Tila, vulnerable and alone, wouldn’t leave her. She needed to see her sister, to know she was safe.

"How far to Vulpes’s base?" Lila asked, her voice low, her hands still clenched.

"Two blocks," Freya said, her blue eyes flicking to the road. "We’re almost there."

"Okay," Lila said, her voice steady.

Then, without warning, she rolled down the window.

Her face vanished, her body dissolving into a black, shadowy patch, her features erased as her mask—a faceless void—took over.

She flowed out the window like liquid darkness, a streak of shadow racing across the street, her glasses somehow clinging to her featureless form.

"What the hell?!" Freya gasped, her blue eyes wide as she caught Lila’s shadow in the side mirror, darting forward, not back toward the Haven.

"Where’s she going?" Rhea yelled, her amber eyes scanning the streets, her orange suit flaring as she gripped the armrest.

"She didn’t turn back—she’s going straight," Freya said, her voice tight.

She floored the gas, the Zephyr X-9’s twin-turbo V6 roaring as she wove through traffic, chasing the fleeting shadow.

Lila’s shadow form slithered through the city, a black wisp weaving between buildings, her faceless mask a void that swallowed light.

Vulpes’s townhouse loomed ahead, its upscale facade hiding a fortress within.

Her shadow powers surged, her body intangible, slipping through the cracks of the reinforced gate like smoke.

She reformed inside the courtyard, her form a dark silhouette, her true face never revealed.

The townhouse was quiet, but her senses, heightened by her shadow state, picked up the hum of motion sensors and the shuffle of boots.

Five mercenaries patrolled the ground floor, their rifles glinting, their military training evident in their precise movements.

Upstairs, she sensed two superhumans—one radiating brute strength, the other a faint telekinetic hum.

Vulpes was in the central office, his presence a smug pulse in her shadow perception.

She moved first to the ground floor, her shadow form pooling along the walls, unseen.

A mercenary rounded the corner, his rifle raised.

Lila struck, her shadow coalescing into a razor-sharp tendril that sliced through his throat, blood spraying as he collapsed, silent.

The second guard approached, alerted by the faint thud. Lila’s shadow surged, enveloping him, her form tightening like a vice.

His muffled scream died as her shadow crushed his windpipe, his body slumping to the marble floor.

The third and fourth guards were in the hallway, radios crackling.

Lila split her shadow, sending two tendrils snaking along the ceiling.

One tendril pierced the third guard’s chest, pinning him to the wall, his rifle clattering.

The other wrapped around the fourth’s neck, snapping it with a sickening crack. The fifth guard, stationed by the stairs, fired blindly as Lila’s shadow flooded the room, a black tide. Her tendril impaled his heart, silencing his shots, his body crumpling in a pool of blood.

Upstairs, the superhuman bodyguards sensed trouble.

The strength-enhanced one, a hulking figure with iron-like skin, charged down the corridor, his footsteps shaking the floor.

Lila’s shadow flowed beneath him, reforming behind.

She hardened her shadow into a spear, driving it through his spine.

He roared, swinging wildly, but her shadow dispersed, dodging his fists. Another spear struck his neck, severing arteries, and he collapsed, his blood soaking the carpet.

The telekinetic bodyguard was trickier, her powers deflecting Lila’s initial strike.

Objects—vases, books, a chair—flew at Lila’s shadow, but she melted into the walls, untouchable.

The telekinetic’s eyes widened as Lila’s shadow surged from the ceiling, tendrils wrapping her limbs, pinning her mid-air.

A final tendril pierced her skull, her body going limp, crashing to the floor.

Lila reached Vulpes’s office, the door reinforced steel.

Her shadow slipped through the keyhole, reforming inside.

Vulpes sat at his desk, his crimson fox mask gleaming, his fingers poised over a deadman’s switch.

He laughed, his voice smug. "You’re too late, shadow. One press, and every hero’s secret—"

Lila’s shadow exploded, a black storm filling the room.

Tendrils lashed out, shattering the desk, pinning Vulpes’s arms.

He screamed, his mask cracking as her shadow tightened, crushing his ribs.

She dragged him through the window, glass shattering, and hurled him to the street below, his body landing with a thud, his eyes wide with horror, frozen in shock, unconscious but alive. The deadman’s switch lay broken, its threat nullified.

Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!

Alarms blared from the townhouse, a shrill wail cutting through the silence, red lights flashing from the windows as the security system triggered.

Lila stood over Vulpes, her shadow form pulsing, her faceless mask a void, her gown billowing in the evening breeze.

The mercenaries and bodyguards lay dead inside, their blood staining the townhouse.

Freya’s Zephyr X-9 screeched to a stop in front of the townhouse, the alarms deafening, the red lights casting an eerie glow.

Freya and Rhea froze at the sight before them.

Lila stood on the street, her faceless shadow-mask a void of black, her gown billowing as she loomed over Vulpes, his cracked mask askew, his eyes locked in frozen horror.

Around him, three mercenaries bled out, their bodies crumpled, their guns useless.

The superhuman bodyguards sprawled nearby, their limbs twisted, their faces etched with shock. Lila’s shadow form pulsed faintly, her presence chilling, her glasses an eerie anchor to her featureless face.

"Mission accomplished," Lila said, her voice cool, almost bored, as she turned to Freya and Rhea. "I guess we have to go back now."

Freya and Rhea’s jaws dropped, their eyes wide, their suits glinting under the sunlight.

"This bitch!" they said in unison, their voices a mix of anger and annoyance as the alarms continued to scream.