Natalie's goofy face stared at us through the police car side window. When I jumped in surprise, she laughed and gave Elijah and me two big thumbs up. Behind her, the scene unfolded. Jasmine stood over the Golden Guardian's sleeping body, raising her hands for the cops to grab her, and we all knew what happened next.

After the cops fell to sleep, Jasmine brought over a ring of keys and unlocked the police car through one magical key fob. And yeah, Natalie had to pry me off Elijah's warm, bare chest when she helped us out of the back seat.

"Come on, lovebirds." Natalie smiled, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "We've got to get out of here."

As we took a step away from the police car, I couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. My heart pounded, and I was grateful my girls came at that exact moment. I didn't want to confront my feelings for Elijah and they were threatening to gush out of my mouth in the romantic back seat of the police car. The way the warmth and scent of Elijah's bare chest caused old feelings to resurface was not where I expected this night to go. I needed some time alone, without our skin touching or my butt out in the open, to regain my resolve. To remind me of why I had filed for a divorce in the first place.

I limped towards our evil minivan, and Elijah noticed my pain immediately. He tried to help me, but we fumbled with our hands still cuffed.

His words were laced with anguish. "Can one of you help her? She's been shot."

"Shot? Like a real bullet?" Natalie snickered. "How cool!"

"You okay?" Jasmine asked, her brow furrowed with concern.

Both my villainesses looped an arm through mine and helped me into the minivan. As the tires squealed away, Jasmine sat between Elijah and me and ran through a set of keys to unlock our cuffs.

"Thanks for that exceptional rescue," I laughed, rubbing my wrists. "I guess you were right earlier tonight. The more, the merrier." Before I could think of something else that was clever, the minivan screeched to a halt, throwing me forward in my seat.

"What the hell is going on?" Elijah clenched his jaw and tried to wrench his handcuffed hands free.

"We've got a problem," Madison said, her bubbly personality gone as she stared out the front window. "The police have a roadblock ahead and we won't be able to get through it without being caught."

"Great," I muttered, trying to come up with a plan. "Haven’t we already faced enough tonight? I’m brain-dead at this point."

"I can use my telepathy to lift the barricades and the cop cars out of the way," Jasmine suggested. "But it'll take everything out of me and I'm not sure if I can get them all or hold them long enough for us to get through."

"My heat touch won't help," Madison's giggle was back, this time, out of nerves. "I’m too far away. I see why you stuck me driving the getaway car."

"That, and you think you're a racecar driver," I said. "But you are the best at doing donuts."

As we debated our options, the sound of approaching sirens made me tense. We were running out of time.

Elijah groaned. "Get these blasted handcuffs off me and I can send a sonic boom their way."

"We don't need a man to rescue us," Madison giggled.

But Natalie had already undone Elijah's handcuffs, and he was hanging out the minivan's sliding door, keeping himself from falling on the pavement by the seat belt he wrapped around his body. He opened his clenched fists and let out a mighty clap. The force of the sonic boom shook the minivan and sent the barricades and the cop cars flying.

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"All right!" The adrenaline was getting to me, but I wasn't the only one. We all cheered when we saw the clear road ahead, but our celebration was short-lived. As we drove through the gap, the road ahead revealed a group of police officers running towards us, guns drawn.

"Go, go, Speed Racer!" I yelled. "Show us what this minivan can do!"

The minivan's engine revved and tires smoked as Madison plowed past the officers. A bullet hit the van, but only one.

In 0 to 60 seconds, we were gone, swerving down the country roads, taking corners, and driving our sensible minivan into the garage of our evil lair… aka Hannah's house… completely unseen.

Hidden in Hannah's garage, we piled out of the van and celebrated, hugging each other and cheering. The smell of burnt rubber and adrenaline filled the air.

Hannah welcomed Elijah with a pat on his shoulder and a warm smile. "Welcome to the team."

He smiled back. Team hadn't been a word in Elijah's vocabulary before, but now, the sincere smile he shared with each member of the Ladies in Leather while they shook his hand or patted him on the back only made Elijah stand up proud.

And a part of me was proud of him, too.

Suddenly, a sensation washed over me, feeling like it was almost easier to breathe. For the first time in my marriage, I could be completely open and honest with my friends about who my husband actually was. And they wouldn't judge.

Hell, they'd welcome him into their circle.

Only, in less than 30 days, Elijah would officially not be my husband anymore. The thought sent a pang through my chest that I quickly pushed aside.

We all took turns using Hannah’s bathroom to change out of our villain costumes and into our comfy getaway clothes – aka, pajamas.

"Okay," Hannah said. "Time to unwind and get some sleep. We'll begin the next step to our plan tomorrow."

"Good idea." I stifled a yawn. "This has been fun and all, but right now, my bed is calling. I'll see you all in the morning."

"Same here," Jasmine yawned as well. "Elijah, I have an extra room at my place and we thought it'd be best for you to stay with me for now."

Elijah shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I'm only staying at one place tonight, and that's my house."

I raised an eyebrow. "Your house?"

Elijah shrugged. "Since we aren't officially divorced yet, it's my house, too. Besides, there's no way I'm staying at Jasmine's place. She grabbed my ass when I carried her during our prison break."

I blew out a laugh, trying to ignore the surge of jealousy that coursed through me.

Jasmine shrugged. "I didn't grab anything."

We all stared at her. She was our introvert, sensitive, and sweet member of the team, but she was also sneaky.

She laughed. "Hey, okay. I'm just a friendly person and the opportunity arose. To be fair, in the heat of the moment, I didn't think you'd remember. And you can't blame a girl for trying."

"Oh, I can blame you," I playfully sneered, then turned to Elijah. "Think about it. You just escaped from prison. Where are the police going to go first? My house to warn me."

"That's why it's the perfect place. Besides, is my evil lair still set up in the basement?"

"Of course not. It's now an exercise room." Not that I ever used it.

"But the structure is still there. It's reinforced and hidden behind a false wall. It'll be perfect."

I sighed. "Fine. Right now, all I want to do is go home and collapse. We can deal with all of this tomorrow. Elijah, you can stay at my place. But only because I'm too tired to argue with you." Or, was I jealous of Jasmine? I wasn't examining those feelings right now, but there was no way I was sending a shirtless Elijah home with the sneaky shark Jasmine. I pulled my keys out of my utility pouch and tossed them to Elijah. "But you're driving. My butt is throbbing and I'm going to lie down in the back seat." Exhaustion washed over me. It had been a long night of breaking Elijah out of prison, and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for a week.

“Fantastic, I get to be the designated driver,” Elijah smirked as he caught the keys. I climbed into my sleek little SUV, parked on the quiet early-morning street, I couldn’t contain the rush of excitement that swept over me. We had emerged victorious from the night’s trials, and despite all the danger and chaos, we stood tall and unbroken.

But this was only the beginning of our journey.

Elijah’s evil side had always been my nemesis.

The thing that hung over our marriage, and I had always tried to tame.

But now?

With Elijah and I on the same side, we were a force to be reckoned with, ready to bring justice to the Superzeros who killed my sister.

But first, I needed to recharge, to let my mind and body rest before the resolve about the end of my marriage dissolved.

And sleep would be hard to come by, knowing that the man I had once been head-over-heels in love with shared the same roof with me once again.