Page 116 of Priest and his Anarchist

“Hey!” Nate snaps his finger in front of my face. “We’re not enemies here. We want her to be safe like you do. But Mom is right. We did what we could, you did what you could, and now that we’ve had the first sighting of Darling since the day she killed a Kiznitch?—”

“A Brother of Kiznitch.” Pause. I know I’ve hit a nerve when Nate’s face changes. It’s true. I can’t even remember his name because he was that irrelevant, but I’d walked in as it happened and held her until our mothers arrived. He wasn’t even supposed to be there, and no one could understand why he was. No one had answers. So she killed him the second she got the chance. We still don’t know why.We need to know why.

We’ll never know why.

“Yes, we’re well aware of the repercussions of her actions, Priest. Everyone. The entire world of Midnight Mayhem had to split into separate sanctions to not kill each other. She’s a liability, butwetook her. Her mother knew that, her fathers too. We were the only ones who offered her a chance to live, since everyone wanted her dead.”

I step into her space. “Idid it. I allowed her to carrymyname so that no one dared come near her.”

“Yes.” The Malum witch stares up at me, unfazed. “And now that she’s back, who will you choose?”

Ignoring her, I turn back around and open the car door. I’ll carry her ass back to her bedroom where she can rot for the remainder of her years for all I care.

I stare back at the empty seat. “She’s gone.”

My fingers fly over the contacts in my phone. I hit dial on the one person I need right now. I’ve guarded her with a selfishness I’ve only come to realize since Luna has been back in my life.

“Are you okay?”

Even the sound of her voice pulls me back down from the turmoil. “Meet me at our spot.”

I pause with a mouthful of burger. “You never asked.”

Her face turns to me. “I was too afraid to! You seemed to get these crazy eyes whenever Luna was mentioned, so I hung back.” She leans back on the hood of my car, the lights of Riverside showcasing her dark skin and curly lashes. Evie is so much more to me than a friend. She is the foundation of what I need to stand straight. I’ll never tell her. She already has a big head that she is the only friend that I willingly chose and makes sure to remind every single person in the EKC any chance she gets.

I place the burger on my lap and turn toward her, swallowing. “When have I ever given you the impression that I’d hurt you?”

Evie smiles but it’s not the one that makes a day of slaughter feel like candy. Her hand covers mine. “It’s not you I’m afraid of. It’s, well?—”

“—well what?” My head jerks as I shove another fry into my mouth.

“Well it is the love you have for her, Priest.” Her green eyes rest on mine, and in this light, I see it. The way people talk about Evie. She is that beautiful, but it isn’t the superficial kind that comes from something so easily accessible like good looks. It is the kind you can’t pay for with good money. The kind that lives deep within your soul.

“Don’t take over for your father.” The words feel like acid. “You’re too good for this world, Ev.”

She side-eyes me, bursting into a deep laugh. She stops when she notices I’m not joining. “Priest.” She rests her head on her arms, pulling her knees up to her chest. “My father has been with yours all our lives and no one, not even Halen, knows or knew.”

She had a point.

“Speaking of.” She bites into her burger. “Where is your bride?”

“Gone,” I answer, side-eyeing her as I reach into my pocket when my phone doesn’t stop vibrating. The number that flashes over my screen isn’t one I’m expecting, so I swipe and answer.

“Yeah?”

Moses quips, “We have a problem.”

“What kind of problem…” I test the words even though I know I don’t want to taste them. I gave them the damn Huntress to hunt to keep them busy, what could possibly be wrong?

“Someone killed Jeremiah tonight.”

I swallow my burger. “Fuck.”

Evie turns mid-bite, eyes wide.

“The same way my father was taken out, only this time, cut his damn head off.” Moses pauses a moment. “This is an attack, Priest. We’re retreating until we find out what’s popping us off. The threat remains. If we find out it’s you, we’re coming.”

I hang up, sliding off the hood and gesturing to the car. “Get in.”

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