Page 63 of Forget Me Twice

That thought sends a frisson of lust and danger up my spine.

Ours. Don’t forget it.

I hum and pretend not to have heard the wordsmy loveand instead run my eyes over his face. He’s cheeky to be sure, and I’m well aware of his penchant for hacking. He’s very skilled at retrieving information. Tonight’s meeting showed me that he’s probably also their endearing messenger boy. “Hermes, of course. The Trickster.”

The grin I’m rewarded with is perfectly wolfish.

Fuck. Fuck.These boys are too fucking hot for their own good.

I can’t slip up and get in over my head here. I still have a mission and they still have an unknown benefactor. There’s too much Underworld political fuckery at play here.

“And Mister Sinclair?” Lake/Hermes urges me with a purr.

Tall, broody and golden-skinned? With his blinding good looks, love of music and interest in studying medicine next year?Easy.

“Apollo.” My voice is unintentionally husky. Raw.

Like you’d expect if one had recently had their throat summarily assaulted by said Sun God.

Tristan/Apollo’s eyes snap up to meet mine in the rear view mirror. He could go head to head with Atlas/Hades with the weight of that dark glare. I hold my breath. His gaze feels like a crushing judgment around my chest and lungs.

But then he looks back at the road and the spell is broken.

Does he regret last night?

It didn’t feel like he thought it was a mistake. It felt like a claiming.

No, thatwasa claiming.

“Why were you in that alley, Sabine?” He asks in an even voice, after a taut moment of silence.

God, why does it have to be so hard to stay on your verbal toes when you’re shit-faced.

“I’m a nosy bitch. I saw Hades inside the club and was interested in seeing what one of the infamous Rox Boys might get up to during one of their parties. Is that why you chose to have it there and not at your place?”

Apollo’s control cracks just a little and I see his fingers tighten where they hold the wheel. It’s possible he’s remembering what he sawmeget up to the night before.

But more likely it’s frustration that he doesn’t have the full picture andboy, do I know how that feels. It feels like an ice pick to the temple.

We definitely both share this dire compulsion to keep count of each of the cards on the table.

“Speaking of being a nosy bitch. I definitely had you four pegged as baby Aces before tonight. So who do youactuallyanswer to?”

You could hear a pin drop.

Almost immediately, Apollo’s shoring up his defenses, arctic features shutting down either further, white-knuckled grip forcibly relaxing. The tension flees his shoulders so completely as to leave no evidence that he was ever on edge.

I glance around between the four of them. Even Hermes is now studiously avoiding my gaze.

“Nothing? Not even a hint? Man, you guys are no fun. I’ll guess I’ll just have to keep digging ‘til I hit treasure.”

When they still don’t reply to my quip, I sit up, spine straight. But then I get my first real look out the windows. I hadn’t even noticed that we’d already made it back to the Academy. Too busy flirting with Hermes and enjoying watching the control seep out of Apollo.

Hermes shoves on his door and then jumps out to hold it open, sweeping his arm in an exaggerated bow. As I slide across the leather seat to follow him out, Apollo’s hard voice makes me pause.

“Everybody's got secrets, Sabine. So dig all you want, because so will we. You’d just better hope you fall on the right side of things when we all finally get to the truth.”

Denial isthe easiest game when you’re an addict.

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