30. Derek
Derek
There was nothing that could explain the amount of pain I was in physically.
I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck, going sixty miles per hour.
I attempted to get my hands back on Alexis when she was ripped from my arms, but instead, at least three of them began beating me down to the floor within seconds of her being dragged away.
Looking over at Dean and Atlas, it seems as though both of them had suffered the same beating I did. We all looked like we had lost an enormous bar fight and were licking our wounds in the back alley.
I couldn’t help the chuckle that broke the silence between us—the shit show we had all just taken part in.
“Seriously, Derek?” Dean groaned, picking Madison up from the floor and holding her in his arms. She clung to him for dear life as if he would disappear if she let go.
I was unaware the two of them were this close.
I got the hint of their possible relationship at the office but haven’t thought too far into it until now, especially how she fought to protect him from Adrian.
“Just like you to make light of a fucked up situation.” AJ laughed, clapping my shoulder with his hand as he came up beside me. “You’ve seen better days.” He added.
Turning my head to look him over, I smiled, my jaw hurting from the movement.
“You look just as good as I feel, AJ.” I sighed, taking in the scene that surrounded us.
The chaos had died down, the sound of gunshots few and far between. From the looks of it, most, if not all, of the Anathema members here had been killed, the ground littered with cloaked bodies and blood soaking into the dirt.
My head was pounding so hard that I couldn’t think over the ringing of the gunshots around us.
I missed my opportunity to grab onto Alexis before she took off with Chyler.
Both of them, I was assuming, were going after Adrian before he made it out of the tunnels.
It felt like a good twenty minutes had passed since they disappeared.
Where could they have chased him off to?
Did they manage to stop him, or did he get away just like Roman Atwater? Fuck…
AJ elbowed me in the side as he gestured his chin to the few remaining SWAT officers who guarded the passageways branching off from the main room.
“Do you know anything about this?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest with a strained groan .
“No, if I did, do you think we would be in the condition we are in now?” I scoffed, rolling my shoulders and neck. I was hurting now, but I knew that come tomorrow, I was going to be in much worse shape.
“I knew.” Dean chimed in, limping over to us with Madison wrapped around him.
“I informed Drake about our Alexis problem, and it turns out the Minneapolis PD wasn’t covering up for Anathema like we initially believed.
In fact, they were waiting for the right time to strike against Adrian and shut him down completely.
” He grunted, holding his side with his free hand.
“It didn’t occur to you that maybe that was essential information we should have all known?” I didn’t know if I should be pissed off or impressed with him. What he did saved us all, but we could have been better prepared knowing they were down here with us the entire time.
“It was a gamble. I didn’t know if Drake could pull it off, and I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up if their plan failed.” He shrugged slightly, his movements stiff.
“So… what? We were essentially the bait for them to get to Adrian?” I looked to AJ, who just pressed his lips into a hard line and frowned.
“Somewhat…” Dean shifted his weight, Madison gripping his shirt, her hands still trembling.
“Get me out of here.” She murmured, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
“I will, darling, but we need to confirm if Drake caught Adrian before we leave.” He ran a hand through her hair, cupping her cheek and lightly pressing his lips to her forehead.
The gesture made my heart twist and yearn for Alexis.
She still hadn’t returned, and I was seconds from taking off to find her.
Madison sucked in a breath and nodded, burying her face back in his shirt. What happened between Adrian and her seriously affected her current emotional state. I had never seen her so unsettled. She always seemed the most grounded and composed of the three of them.
“Dean, you—” I started.
“Looks like I showed up just in time for tonight’s party.” Sergeant Drake chimed in from across the room; returning from the same passageway, they had charged down to catch Adrian.
Relief washed over me seconds later when my eyes locked on Alexis; her clothes were torn, her hair a matted, dirty mess, and her body was covered in bruises and dried blood.
Even in her current state, she was still radiant and beautiful.
A vision that I couldn’t take my eyes off.
I continued staring at her in awe as she and Chyler approached us with Drake.
“Dean.” Drake nodded as he stopped before us. “You look like shit… all of you.” He chuckled as if this whole night was nothing but a joke.
“You’re hilarious, Drake. Couldn’t have stepped in sooner?
” I snapped in irritation, pulling Alexis into me and wrapping my arms tightly around her, burying my face in her hair.
I didn’t care that she smelt like blood and dirt.
The fact that I was holding her in my arms—alive—was everything.
“You okay?” I murmured into her, pressing my lips to her scalp.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She blew out, relaxing in my embrace.
“Just be glad we were here regardless; if I couldn’t get enough men to volunteer for this operation, you’d probably be dead by now. All of you.”
God, he was such a fucking asshole.
“ Drake —” I ground out before Dean cut me off.
“Thank you.” He narrowed his eyes at me with a glare to shut the fuck up. “We’re grateful that you and your team were able to pull this off and put a stop to Anathema.”
“Did you manage to get him? Adrian?” AJ added, looking over Drake’s shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of Adrian being taken away in cuffs by one of the SWAT officers. I know I was hoping to see the same thing.
“Yes, Officer Andrews is taking him up to the surface, and once we are done here, we’ll escort him to Oak Park Heights, the level five maximum security prison where he can live out the rest of his days, however many that may be.
I know a few guys in there have a vendetta against Adrian.
” Drake gave a dark chuckle before whistling and gesturing his hand to the remaining SWAT officers. “Let’s go, boys. Pack it up.”
The officers began filtering out of the room on his command, with nothing left to address regarding Anathema and what had happened here tonight. However, one question loomed over my head, which revolved around the information Dean had given me weeks ago. Why?
“Why did it take so long,” I called out as Drake began leaving the room.
“Excuse me?” He stopped mid-step and turned to face us.
“All this time, every lead, every call regarding dark figures hovering around the abandoned mills. Why were they never addressed? Why were they covered up and ignored for so long?” I still couldn’t wrap my head around the unknowns that nagged at me.
They could have ended Adrian and his reign of corruption months—years ago. It shouldn’t have taken this long.
“Derek, you know as well as I do what Anathema was capable of and what we, as government agencies, had to do to keep the peace.” Drake sighed, scratching the back of his head.
“You had the means, Drake. Don’t lie to me. Tell me the truth, why?” I pressed. He was dodging the question, and I had a good idea why, but I also hoped I was wrong.
“Because when it comes down to it, we are all corrupt in some way, and up until recent events, we didn’t see a need to end the role they played in removing those we had no legal authority to.
” Drake shrugged. “We all dream of a perfect world, Derek, and sometimes you have to break a few rules and turn a blind eye to achieve just that.” He admitted with a sigh.
“You’re wrong.” I voiced, shaking my head in denial of his words.
“Am I?” He gestured to Madison, Chyler, and Alexis with a smirk. “I don’t think so. Take care, Derek. I’ll see you again soon, I’m sure.” He nodded before leaving the room and exiting the headrace tunnels.
The six of us stood there in silence—his words and the weight they carried sinking in.
We all separated once we had reached the exit of the Twin City A-Mill.
Dean was going to take Madison home, and he most likely intended to stay the entire night—what was left of it—catering to her needs as she processed the events of the past thirty-six hours and the encounter with Adrian.
She was still shaken up and hadn’t spoken a word to anyone since Drake left.
I could see the hurt in Alexis’s eyes as she watched Madison curl into Dean like a tortured animal seeking refuge from their abuser.
Atlas and Chyler limped their way back to their vehicle. He had already told me they would return to Chyler’s old apartment and stay around for a while. She wasn’t ready to leave her sisters in a time like this, and I knew it comforted them both to return home to the city finally.
After everyone else had left, Alexis and I stood by my truck, and I gripped her chin between my fingers. She had been avoiding looking at me for the past fifteen minutes.
“What’s eating at you?” I asked, rubbing my thumb along her blood-crusted chin, the dried flakes falling to the ground like confetti.
A dark chuckle fell from her lips as she gripped my wrist and pulled my hand away from her face.
“All this time…” Tears started sliding down her dirt-covered cheeks, leaving trails behind. “They left me in the dark, kept se crets from me, and withheld information. How could I have not noticed? How could I have been so blind?”
“We all have our secrets, Lex. I’m sure they did it to protect you.” I tried to reassure her. I knew she was in just as fragile a state as Madison. Both of them had been through too much tonight.
“They were supposed to care for me. You don’t keep secrets from those you care about. The ones you supposedly love.” She began shouting, her words echoing in the open space surrounding us.
I didn’t know what to say next. I kept my fair share of secrets from Alexis and loved her—more than she’ll ever accept and understand. I had my reasons for not being upfront and honest about everything, and I am sure the same went for Madison and Chyler.
All I could do was sigh and hold out my hands to her as a sign of submission.
“Don’t. I don’t need your sympathy, Derek. Fuck .” Alexis pulled away from me, moving to get into the truck. “Take me home.” I didn’t bother asking if she wanted me to stay with her—or not. I’d leave that decision up to her when we reached the apartment.
The entire drive, she didn’t utter a word to me. I opened my mouth several times, and everything I had to say died in my throat before I could get it out. Nothing seemed like the right thing to say.
I should be mad at Alexis for getting herself into that situation in the first place, for making me panic for her safety, for lying to me and not telling me what she had been up to with Anathema.
But the more I thought about my words for her, the more I realized that I was partly to blame, too.
Neither of us was innocent in the grand scheme of things. We both fucked up in our own way.
If I had spent just a little more time getting to know her instead of us constantly fucking around with each other, I could have figured this all out sooner.
Protected her. My mind raced a thousand miles a minute as we pulled up to her apartment, and I parked along the curb at the front of the building.
Even though every fiber of my being wanted to, I didn’t leave my seat as she exited the truck and turned to look at me.
“Well?” She raised a dark brow, and I furrowed mine in confusion.
“Are you staying or leaving?” Alexis sighed, shut the door, and headed towards the main entrance.
She didn’t need to tell me twice. As if I were a dog without a bone, I jumped out, locked the door behind me, and followed her into the building.
Like fuck I was going to leave when she gave me the option to stay.
Did this mean that we were okay? That our relationship was still intact? She never said anything indicating otherwise, but a nagging part of me said she was over this—over us.
“Derek.” Alexis sighed again, turning around and shoving me up against the stairwell wall. “Stop thinking. Just stop. I can hear your thoughts a mile away.” Her hands fisted in my shirt as I stared down at her. Was I really that readable?
“Yes, you are. So stop it. I’ve had a rough night—day, whatever, and the last thing I need is to stand here and reassure you of this—” Without room to pause, her mouth crashed onto mine, and her tongue shoved its way through my lips—a long and deep kiss .
Pulling back, she returned her ice-blue gaze to mine and smirked.
“I may be wounded, and the world more fucked up than ever. But I sure as fuck know that I want you now more than I did before. You risked everything to save me from Adrian and Anathema. Something I believed that I never deserved in the least. So, if you think I am going to let my pretty boy go after all that? You’d be wrong.
So very, very wrong .” Her eyes dropped to my mouth, and she bit her bottom lip, dragging me the rest of the way up the stairs by my shirt.
I love my feral, pretty viper. She always knows how to take my breath away.