Page 134 of Priest and his Anarchist

It hits me instantly. His implication of me having the perfect girl for me being right there all along, yet I threw her away anyway. Now I’ll never have her back. To think we’ve only had one meeting so far with The Echelon, our history only twines our forged bond deeper. “Have you seen the Veiled one yet?”

“What?” The switch-up throws me off. “No. Why?”

“No reason.”

“Sure.” I hold his eyes before turning to everyone. “You’re probably wondering why it took me so long to let you girls play, and it’s simple. I didn’t want you complaining about shit. The Hunt was started for a reason, the night of Mom’s gala.”

“When you tried to sell Luna?”

I turn to Stella. “When Ididsell Luna.”

Her brows cross.

“Wait, you sold her?” Halen asks, crossing her arms in front of herself.

“Honestly, I’m surprised it wasn’t Vaden who bought her.” River shrugs.

Halen chokes on her drink. “I’m sorry—what? So…Vaden?”

“Not relevant.” I move from Halen, but her words swing everyone back on her.

“Ahhh…yes, it is. I’m sick of not being in the know. What the fuck?—”

Bypassing the brat throwing out her toys, my eyes land on War, who’s already watching me carefully. This is exactly what the fuck I meant when I said she’d be a problem.

“Priest!” Halen snaps, and I take a careful step forward.

You can hear a pin drop it is that quiet.

“You don’t talk to me like I’m your brother when it comes to shit in this world, Halen. When we’re around a dinner table, laughing, I’m your brother. Christmas?” I raise a brow. “Brother. Birthdays, deaths, births, brother.” I take another, and she’s at least got half a brain to take one back and straight into War’s arms. “Here—everywhere outside of those venues, I am not your brother. Do you understand me?”

She sighs, but it’s one that doesn’t come from frustration, rather from disappointment.

“You know better…” I warn, turning back to my spot.

“As I was saying, we started this. The rules are simple.”

Stella’s eyes brighten, her fingers tapping against each other like a kid in a candy store. If I’ve ever seen Stella excited, it was always when there was blood, murder, or sex involved. She is a headcase, and usually, it is Vaden who keeps it secured on her shoulders, but since the ritual, things have gone haywire. He still hasn’t said a fucking word about the curse, but he doesn’t have to, because it’s only a matter of time.

There’s no saving the damned.

Nature swoops through the branches of trees as I pluck the cigarette from between clenched teeth.

Opening the first message, an unknown number blares across the screen. The loading signal pops up where a photo is supposed to be.

I tap on the video.

“Hello, lover. You didn’t want to play with me, so I’m going to play with you!” Her eyes widen, and all my fucking life, I don’t know what I saw in her. Everything about her makes me miss who she was. A walking reminder of everything I’ve lost.

“Catch me if you can!” She moves the lens onto a farm-style house with a wrap-around porch.

“Uhm.” Halen looks out to the people behind me, who were here for the distraction of the cars. “Nothing’s on tonight! You can all crawl back to your homes or whatever.” In a round of mumbles, we all wait until the hot pipes of JDM imports have disappeared through the night.

Now with the only people who should be here, the scene feels different.

Smart. The second time she’s used her brain tonight.

“I don’t know about you,” Archer says from beside me. “But that keyhole looks awfully familiar.”

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