Page 132 of Priest and his Anarchist

“Wait.” I pause, shoving Vaden out of the way. He’s like an emotional bulldog when it comes to the Gentlemen, and I don’t have any of the patience for it tonight. “How much of that did you hear?” I planned to do this anyway, but I don’t appreciate him listening in to shit he shouldn’t.

Fucker.

“All of it.” Moses plucks the cigarette out of his mouth, shoving his hand in his pocket and taking the steps down until he’s directly beside both Vaden and I.

Vaden vibrates beside me, his anger radiating off him in heat waves.

Moses chuckles. “Oh, you can trust me with her all right.”

“The fuck you can!” Vaden’s in front of me now, his face blocking my view from anything else. “Priest, be for so fucking real right now. If you do this, you’re handing him a token.Something of ours! We trust that these backward motherfuckers aren’t going to do all the things they want to do?”

“Ahhh…last I checked, we’re not the EKC. We don’t get off on dubious consent, preying, stalking, murder, or—what was the other one? Oh yeah…necrophilia.”

I flip him off.

“Fuck me…” Vaden pulls at his hair. “How you gonna make a deal with the Devil?”

From his long hair tied at his nape to his Armani suit that seems to be tailored a little too tight. His eyes are burned toffee, and his cologne is way too fucking strong. The Gentlemen are a lot of things, but Mom is right. I can’t trust them.

Vaden’s comment triggers a laugh from Moses.

My head tilts. “Why do you find that funny?”

He shrugs. “The Devil part. That you’re the one doing a deal with the Devil.”

“Am I not?” My tone remains flat. Moses isn’t a threat. I’d stomp him out in less time it’d take to tie the laces of my Jordans.

He seems to think for a moment. “One would sayyouwere the Devil in this equation.”

I don’t answer. I barely move.

Vaden scoffs from somewhere behind me. “He ain’t the Devil,Moses.”

Moses pauses. Vaden has his attention, probably because he’s never said his name out loud.

“He isn’t? Last I checked, the pied piper of Riverside was absolutely the Devil. What’s the saying? Luring young girls to their death?”

I still haven’t moved, fixating on the dimple in his cheek.

“I didn’t call him the Devil.” Vaden’s right at my back now. He blows out a cloud of smoke. “Because he’s Priest Hayes, and trust me when I say…”

My lip twitches. “I’m much worse.”

Moses, even in this light and with his tanned skin, pales. Fucking pales.

“Anyway.” He shrugs. “Give me a year. Maybe two. Every Friday, you can see her to make sure she’s alive. She will be. And well. But you only get her for three hours a week, and it can’t be alone.”

“I don’t want her like that. I hate her.” The words ring true, even if my throat dries in an attempt to force them back down.

Moses glares at me. “Yeah…okay.” Why does he want her so bad? My will to continue hanging the bait out in hopes he’ll bite stops when the sound of footsteps rustles through fallen leaves.

We all turn over my shoulder.

He drags his tongue over the trunk of his cigar, looking up at Moses beneath heavy eyes. “Leave, Moses.”

He lights the end and puffs to ignite it. “While you still have teeth.”

I’ve never seen Moses retreat as quickly as he does, his footsteps disappearing through the night.

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