Speechless, Kimber moved closer, unable to believe what he saw.
“This is who I am, Doc,” Keladry said quietly. She met his gaze. Hers was cold, as if her anger had frozen into white rage. “I’m not going with you, and I sure as hell am not about to change. I’m the next Sand City supervillainess, and I don’t give a fuck what you think about it.”
Kimber’s heart sank to his feet.
“Don’t come back here, Doc. That goes for you too, Igor,” Keladry added, motioning her nanny away from the car. “You’re both officially expelled from the city.”
“Reader –” Igor objected.
“This isn’t a request, Igor! If you disobey me, I’ll throw you in the dungeon!”
Her nanny fell silent.
“Reader!” Kimber found his voice.
She faced him, and he saw the flicker of agony in her gaze as what she’d done sank in, before her gaze hardened again. He understood the kind of pain that came with losing everything he’d loved.
“Leave, Doc,” she ordered in an unsteady voice.
I don’t want it to end this way. Confused by his own thoughts and feelings, as well as the sense that his destiny was somehow intertwined with the city’s, Kimber was silent.
Keladry turned away.
“Wait,” Kimber said. He approached her with caution and licked his lips, struggling to sort through the myriad of emotions and thoughts flashing through his mind. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” She lifted her gaze to his.
“I’m standing by the corpse of someone you executed, and all I can think about is how I want to take away your pain right now,” he said, baffled by his own indifference to the body beside his feet.
“Are you sure you’re not a superhero?” she retorted with no heat.
“A superhero would’ve stopped you.”
“Or tried to save his supervillain arch-nemesis from crossing the gray.”
“That’s what that means,” he said softly. “That was your point of no return.”
“It was. I’ll do the same to you and Igor, if you return.”
“Is that what we are? Arch-nemeses?” he asked in a hushed tone.
“It’s the only way this … we can ever be,” she replied. “I can’t be good. You can’t be evil. But we can co-exist in the same city.”
“I’m not all-good,” he countered. “I’m deeply flawed.”
“So am I. Those pieces of goodness you’ve seen – those are my flaws.”
“They seem to occur often around me.”
“Maybe one day you’ll stoop to my level to try to stop me,” she said.
Kimber started to smile, not caring how inappropriate it was. “It could’ve been different.”
“No, it couldn’t have,” she persisted. “Now, get the fuck out of my city, Doc, unless you’re ready to don a cape.”
Is she serious?
“Take care of Igor,” she added in a hasty whisper. Reader spun away and walked to the idling car. She got in and slammed the door.
Kimber watched her drive away, overwhelmed by the whirlwind evening and the fact he had nowhere to go.
He wasn’t a superhero – he never would be. But as Reader’s car raced towards the city, he couldn’t help wishing he could be.
“We got a long walk through the forest to the neighboring city, Doc,” Igor said from behind him.
If she truly crossed the gray, she wouldn’t care what happened to Igor, Kimber thought. Reader wasn’t sending them away because she was a supervillainess. She was sending them away because she cared.
Hope unfurled within him. He didn’t know what to do with it anymore than he did where to go.
Turning away from the city and its supervillainess, Kimber glanced up into Igor’s face. The large nanny’s eyes were sorrowful.
“We’ll get through this, Igor,” Kimber said, sensitive to the man’s suffering. “I can sell my phone for enough money to get us through a few days in a hotel. We’ll brainstorm where to go from there.”
“We might need a phone. I can kill people with one punch,” Igor held up his massive fist. “Then you can grab their wallets.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Igor nodded.
I can still save her. Somehow.
Supervillainess
Part One: It’s not easy being evil
Part Two: It’s not easy being good
Also by Lizzy Ford
History Interrupted – time travel romance
West
East
North (2016)
South (2017)
Omega Beginnings Series
Alessandra
Mismatch
Phoibe
Lantos
Theodocia
Niko
Cleon
Herakles
Omega Series
Omega
Theta (2016)
Alpha (2017)
Theta Beginnings Miniseries (novelettes)
Silent Queen
Mercenary
Shadow Titan
People’s Champion (2016)
Non-Series – 2014 & 2015
Black Moon Draw (about a reader sucked into her book)
Highlander Enchanted (2015)
The Door
Water Spell (2016)
Dragon Tear (TBD)
Lost Vegas Novellas – young adult post apocalyptic
Aveline (2016)
Tiana (2016)
Arthur (2016)
Black Wolf (2016)
Semper Mine
Soldier Mine
SEAL Mine (2017)
Super Villainess
It’s Not Easy Being Evil
It’s Not Easy Being Good (2016)
Starwalkers Serials (with Julia Crane) – new adult science fiction serial
Severed
Trapped
Exiled
Revealed
Escaped
Heart of Fire – sexy dragon shifter
Charred Heart
Charred Tears
Charred Hope
Incubatti – Buffy meets 50 Shades
Zoey Rogue
Zoey Avenger
Rhyn Trilogy – new adult paranormal with demons
Katie’s Hellion
Katie’s Hope
Rhyn’s Redemption
Rhyn Eternal – Death finds love
Gabriel’s Hope
Deidre’s Death
Darkyn’s Mate
The Underworld
Twisted Fate
Twisted Karma (2016)
War of Gods – paranormal with gods, guardians and exceptional humans
Damian’s Oracle
Damian’s Assassin
Damian’s Immortal
The Grey God
Damian Eternal
Xander’s Chance
The Black God
Hidden Evil – paranormal with angels and four horsemen
See No (TBD)
Speak No (TBD)
Unnamed Series
Unnatural (TBD)
Unmade (TBD)
Omega
Omega
Theta (2016)
Alpha (2017)
Anshan Saga – new adult science fiction romance
Kiera’s Moon
Kiera’s Home (novelette)
Kiera’s Sun
Santa’s Ninja Elves (short stories)
Natasha & Hunter
Non-series titles – 2011 - 2013
Star Kissed
A Demon’s Desire
The Warlord’s Secret
Maddy’s Oasis
Rebel Heart
Witchlings – young adult paranormal
Dark Summer
Autumn Storm
Winter Fire
Spring Rain
Broken Beauty Novel
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Broken Beauty
Broken World
Voodoo Nights - young adult paranormal
Cursed
Chosen (TBD)
As SE Reign, erotica writer
101 Nights Box Set (Serials 1-7)