Page 117 of Priest and his Anarchist

Turning the key, the engine pulses beneath as I slip it into reverse, hooking it out of the spot Evie and I spent a lot of our childhood together at.

“Priest, what’s happening?” She shoves her seat belt on.

“I have to get you out of here.” Memories die into the distance of Evie and I playing on the mountain of Riverside. The opposite side of where I built my house.

“Me? From where?” Pulling the brake, I drift my way down the mountain all the way to the main street.

“Everywhere.” I find Evie’s dad’s name and hit the green button. He answers instantly.

I squeeze the steering wheel. “Madrabbit.”

He sighs before things start crashing in the background. “Get Evie home now. We’ll head to the place until it dies off.”

Ending the call, I drive through the streets of Riverside before turning down suburbia. I direct the car around the fountain outside her house as her dad rushes out the door with her mom in tow, carrying bags out to a waiting SUV.

She slams the car door. “Someone tell me what the fuck is going on!” Evie’s eyes swing at both of us, and I grab her quickly before her dad can pull her into the back seat of the SUV.

Placing a kiss on her forehead, I’m quiet with my words. “Don’t answer any calls on your phone. No matter the name that pops up. You understand? Leave and listen to your father.”

“Priest.” She lifts her hand to my arm, but I’m already forcing her into the car. Her heels sink into the ground as she spins back around to me. “Priest, I swe?—”

“Evie!” I’d never snapped at her before. “Get the fuck in the car before I show you firsthand what the fuck I do.”

She doesn’t pale or run scared. She flips me off, sliding into the back seat and I watch as their car disappears down the driveway.

I should have done more. Nothing makes sense. Nothing has worked. I’ve been so sure of every damn thing in my life, been careful with how I did it. Yet here I am, the gavel in one hand and the world crumbling apart in my other.

Back in the confinement of my car, I place a cigarette into my mouth and take a second. Another. Beat after beat and minute after minutes.

Had I not known this was going to happen? That eventually, when everything came to an end, she’d be the one who’d come back. Didn’t I want that?

I did.

My jaw tenses.

I do.

I don’t stop driving until I’m idling outside my house. River, Vaden, Stella, War, and Halen all watching me from the patio.

A text vibrates from my phone.

Archer: Sending everything I know.

I don’t wait, because there’s no point. I reach into my pocket and search for the familiar jagged edges of the key.

Am I angry?

No.

Am I intrigued?

Yes.

I force open my car door, bypassing everyone. River’s eyes stay on me a moment too long before I drag myself away from her and head straight for the stairs.

The bedroom door opens slowly. So familiar, yet a stranger. Her touch is still fresh. The way she felt beneath my hand, her laughter, the look in her eyes when I’d touch her. I fell too hard and I’d lost my mind while doing it.

Fingernails slide over the desk in the corner, her hair falling over her shoulders. She has to be something out of a damn novel, your favorite fucking nightmare. I’ve spent years waiting. Praying. Waiting. Wanting and yearning. Now she’s here…I feel…

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