To Rescue a Villain

Chapter 47

As I stood there, holding him in my arms, all I could do was stare at the ceiling and allow trails of tears to slide down my cheeks. I felt like screaming for Polly again.

"I'm sorry, Mary," Derek yelled, still holding me against him so I'd never leave his side again. "I wanted to go on without you, to give up on my revenge and live a normal life with Polly but...she was so much stronger than me. I was weak and afraid and Zora's words were so full of hope that I had to give in. I...I'm so sorry."

He was still sobbing, shaking like a leaf and gasping between each set of words.

"At first it didn't seem like I was doing any harm but after Jala kept getting away I started lowering the bar and..." He choked again, pressing his full body weight on me. "I'm such an idiot."

All I could do was hold him. He had fallen apart. From what I'd heard, he'd broken years ago but Polly's death had finally ripped him to shreds. This was probably the closest he'd ever been to acting like a child ever since his grandma stole his childhood. Not that that was any excuse.

"I'm sorry that I never became the hero you wanted," he told me, finally pulling away but keeping his eyes downcast. He chuckled. "Or the villain you wanted for that matter."

He looked at me, then. His eyes told me what he was thinking. He thought I was disgusted with him. He thought I hated him. He thought I'd never love him again.

What an idiot he was.

"I was wrong to think that I could change you by marrying you and making you love me. Honestly, I never should have interfered. I should have protected you from afar and allowed you to become strong on your own. I should have done so many things differently but..." Now I was the one unable to speak coherently.

"I can't forgive what you did to those people," I whispered, leaning my forehead against his so he wouldn't be able to look away. "But...even though our daughter is dead, even though I heard you kill those people, I ... I still love you, Derek. I loved you when you were a fictional villain and I love the helpless, broken man that you are now."

I frowned and grabbed his hand, glancing at the exit I'd opened on my way in. "I've come to take you hoe with me, Derek. I've come so we can leave, forever, so we can...I don't know, forget any of this ever happened?" What a coward I was. "It's selfish, I know, but I don't want to kill you. I can't."

He grimaced at that. "Pity," he whispered, still a tad of snarkiness in his tone. "You were the only one I would have forgiven for killing me."

We might have stood there for hours, wanting to abandon our pasts and hide like the flawed characters we'd become, if not for the arrival of my friends.

"There's no running from this, Dark!" Jala's voice echoed. I turned in time to see her step through the three heavy duty doors I had ripped open before helping Odette and Ace through. "You can't just run away from your problems!"

"She's right." Derek nodded and turned to me with those stupid puppy dog eyes. "I need to pay."

"Dying won't help fix any of the problems," I answered, keeping my voice loud enough for the others to hear. "Would a useless corpse help you in any way, Jala?"

"I don't need him alive." Jala pointed a pistol at her enemy. "I can fix everything on my own. I don't need him."

"He didn't know Zora was the one who killed me," I started, knowing I shouldn't be defending him but unable to stop myself.

"But he should have. Anyone would have figured out she was lying so why didn't he?"

I shut my eyes, mulling over my options until I realized there were none. None that didn't get anyone hurt, that is.

"If you let me live I'll make your boyfriend president of Hikarius," Derek offered, his demeanor returning to that of a confident jerk. His voice was full of sarcasm even though his words were genuine.

"My boyfriend doesn't want your stupid company."

"Actually." Ace smiled nervously and stepped forward, finally taking a stand. "I wouldn't mind."

Jala shot him a forced smile. "Babe, I thought we were going to become bounty hunters together after this was over."

He just shrugged and flashed his own cheeky grin. "We could get married and have separate jobs."

The girl rolled her eyes and focused her gun on Derek again. "Either way, we don't need you alive to do that."

"Actually, Mr. Hacket would need to program Ace's planned succession into the system in order for him to become the next president, just as John Philips did for Derek," Di explained over the speakers, finally free to roam the ship without being silenced.

"Fine. We'll have him program it in, then we'll kill him."

All right. This was getting ridiculous.

"Jala!!!" I suddenly whipped the gun out of her hand and teleported close enough to stare her in the face. "I just watched you kill my daughter, so if you don't want me to tear you limb from limb I'd suggest you let my husband and I leave. Is that clear?" Whoa. Who was the villain now? Ugh.

The girl stared back at me with slanted eyes and pursed lips but didn't shake her head. After a tense silence, she finally stepped away and let her boyfriend step forward, silently surrendering.

"Good." I shot a quick smile at Ace to let him know there were no hard feelings joined my husband again. "Now, if you'll excuse us..."

I hated doing this. I hated having to choose between my messed up husband and the friends I'd stood by for years. I'd loved both of them in the books and in reality but it had to be done. They weren't giving me a choice.

The tension could have been cut with a moon drill when Maddox entered the room. He came in silently, as though trying to sneak in without trying to cause a disturbance, but when I saw who came in after him, saw who was holding one of his gloved hands, my heart skipped three or four beats.

The person tightly gripping Maddox's hand was thin, around five feet, and had a shaved head with a fancy M engraved on the back. The M could have stood for anything but I knew what it was for. It was the first initial of Mary, the woman who gave birth to her.

As both Derek and I stared at her, our faces white and our mouths hanging open, the young girl smiled for the first time in three years and waved at us.

"Hi, Mom. Everything okay?"

[Triple gasp?]