Life Light by R.J. Ross

Lance was second. Vinny was third.” I was last. I couldn’t do anything, back then. I still have nightmares about that time, although they’ve spread out recently.
    “And this is Aubrey, right?” Century asks.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Can you put in a good word for me, as well?” he asks. “I’ll be sure to take good care of her down here.”
    “I’ll talk to her, but there's a chance she'll be going on tour with Justin. He asked her a while back.”
    “With Justin? He’s a West Branch boy, isn’t he...” he lets out a little sigh. “It figures.”
    “Wait, what?”
    “Justin was the orphan that Mastermental got from the West Branch,” Taurus says. “Sure he was touring the world, but his family line comes from that branch. His father was Sonic Scream. He... didn’t make it,” he says, a grim look on his face.
    “So you knew about Justin’s past and never mentioned it?” I ask.
    “It wasn’t my story to tell,” Taurus says. “It’s still not--which is why I’m going to ask you not to tell the others.”
    “Negatia will want him back after his training,” Century says. “It’s in our contract with your school--whoever we hand over for training is going to come back to us, save for you, Emily.”
    “Well as fascinating as all this is, we’re home,” Superior says as the spaceship pulls to a hover. I unstrap from the bench and head to the window to look at the massive ice mountain in front of us. It gleams in the sunlight, sparkling beautifully. At first it looks like a regular mountain, but the closer you look the more details you see. There are windows. There’s a massive ice door at the base, as well, and a large gaping hole is opening below us. We start down, landing in the hole.
    “It is a lovely little place,” Tatia assures us happily. “I’ve been redecorating!”
    “Little?” Liz repeats. “It’s a mountain.”
    “Yes, but it is a little mountain,” Tatia says, getting up and heading for the luggage.
    “I can get that, Tatiana,” Taurus says, getting to his feet and heading to her.
    “Are you saying I cannot lift a little tiny bit like this?” Tatia asks. Taurus goes red and starts stumbling over his words. I can’t exactly blame him, but I CAN laugh at him. Especially when Tatia starts laughing, patting him on the back. “You are a good son,” she tells him happily. “Please, feel free to carry whatever you wish! I will not tease you more.”
    “Thank you,” Taurus says, only to have Superior reach around him and grab half of the pile without a word. He quickly grabs the rest and turns to look at us. “Shall we, ladies?” he asks.
    We head to him, not even trying to get our things from the ones carrying them. Instead I move to Taurus’s side, grinning up at him. “She got you good,” I tease him.
    “Well you can’t exactly tell THE Tatiana she can’t carry something,” he admits a bit sheepishly. “I looked up all the old reels,” he says silently as Tatia and Superior head down the ramp and into the mountain, “she’s amazing. Did you know that according to super history, she beat Superior in a fist fight half the time?”
    “That is when he does not use his other abilities,” Tatia calls over her shoulder, showing she’s listening.
    “I love a strong woman,” Superior says.
    “Yeah, me too,” Taurus says. I glance over my shoulder just in time to see a blush cross Liz’s cheeks. She’s walking next to Emily, with her arm slung over my sister’s shoulder. She doesn’t say a word about that statement. Instead she looks almost too interested as we step into a hallway of ice. There are stairs ahead of us, leading up into the mountain. We follow Superior and Tatiana up the stairs and into a large room with ice ceilings and plush rugs covering the floor. It’s actually a lot warmer than I expected it to be, and there’s a fire pit in the middle of the room. Superior is starting a fire.
    “There are rooms for the girls this way,” Tatia says,