Heroes aren't meant to act like their villains -- or fall in love with them. The elements touch everyone on Earth -- Fire, Water, even Light -- but every so often someone becomes more attuned to their elemental leaning and develops true power. When an evil Elemental known as Thanatos arrived in Olympus City, it saw the rise of its first hero -- Zeus. But the death toll caused by defeating Thanatos changed Zeus, who by day is young detective Danny Grant. It's been six months since Thanatos terrorized the city at the start of Lovesick Gods. Danny should be used to his duty behind the mask, but the recent past haunts him. His girlfriend left him, he snaps at the barest provocation, his life feels empty -- he needs an outlet, any outlet to pull him out of his depression. Enter notorious thief Malcolm Cho, the Ice Elemental Prometheus. There was a time when Danny welcomed a fight with Cho, filled with colorful banter and casual flirtations that were a relief compared to Thanatos. Even as a criminal, Cho had recognized the threat Thanatos posed and promised to help Danny stop him, but the day Danny needed Cho, he never showed. Cho was the reason so many people died that day -- including Danny's mother. Danny decides to teach the man a lesson and fan the fire of their attraction into something more. At worst, he'll get some no-strings-attached sex out of the deal and finally blow off steam; at best, he'll get Cho to fall in love with him and then break his heart to spite him. Danny doesn't expect to fall for Cho in the process, and he certainly can't predict the much darker threat on the horizon.

Lovesick Gods

But that was Monday. Today was Friday, and right now, Mal had no new messages from Danny and nothing else to occupy his time. 


Maybe Big Trouble in Little China. It never failed to amuse Mal when Kurt Russell got knocked out by falling ceiling debris at the start of the final battle and only really contributed at the very end. 


Bolting off the couch, Mal whirled around to take in his apartment. No one. Everything in its place. The door was still closed, but—there. The rug. It was folded up as if someone had just walked over it. 


“Sparky?” Mal called, relaxing marginally, but a little on edge since he couldn’t see Danny and wondered where he could be hiding. Maybe he was feeling coy and had lightning jumped upstairs to undress and wait for Mal on the bed. Mal didn’t care for surprises, but he wouldn’t turn his nose up at a gift like that. 


Chapter 79