Page 176 of Priest and his Anarchist

“Ask me, Madness.” His tone is a drum above a whisper. When I don’t answer, his fingers wrap around my chin. This time gentler. He directs my eyes up to him, bending my neck to do it. “Ask me.”

My heart fractures beneath my rib cage. “Is it you?”

“Nah. You can do better than that.” He lowers his hands on either side of my body, encasing me in the same way his darkness does anytime I’m in danger. Now I can’t run even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. All running does is guarantee a chase.

His head dips to the side of my neck and goose bumps snap over my spine. “Ask me.” He kisses the curve of my shoulder.

“Is it you that Corbin works for? Are you running the Ministry? Has it been you all along, and have you kept it from?—”

His lips are on mine and my world stops. I open for him and his tongue slides across mine as he tilts his head, deepening the kiss. His hips shift forward, pinning me to the car as his tongue laps over my own.

He catches my bottom lip with his teeth. “I expected you to ask me if I loved you.”

“Why would I do that? I know you don’t love anyone.”

He pauses, searching my face. He stops on my lips, and I look down at his, my insides turning to jelly when I see they’re still damp from our kiss.

“Oh, you know that, do you?” His brow hitches, but he leaves another kiss on my lips, this time lingering a little longer. “Second time you’ve been wrong today, Madness. I won’t give you a third.”

He turns his back to me, and I follow behind him like a lost puppy. The pounding of his boots up the steps stops when thefront door swings open and Moose stands at the other side, his hair tied back and his suit freshly laundered.

Priest gestures to the car. “Put him in Wonderland.”

Wonderland.

“You need to fall.”

“He’s taken me to Wonderland four times…”

Moose squeezes my arm in passing, and I pat his hand before he drags Corbin back through the blanket of snow.

The chatter coming from the living room twists my stomach into knots. I haven’t seen anyone since the night they found out I was alive after Madison was taken.

Madison.

Priest stops before he gets to the threshold when he realizes I’m not following. Grabbing a plain shirt off a small table, he throws it over his head, covering his bloodied body.

He must see me hesitate, because he swipes the bottom of his lip, turning his head to the side for a moment before he’s directly in front of me. His eyes fly over his shoulder as he nudges his head to Vaden.

As soon as Vaden’s out of earshot, his words stop me. “Luna, look at me.”

I stare back at the spot where, not too long ago, I saw Priest nestled with Katie…Haley…Jamie?Shit. I can’t even remember her name.

“Luna.”

“What was that girl’s name who was here that night?”

“Haley. I threw her over the cliff of my pool.”

“Why!” My eyes widen.

As soon as he’s close, the air turns thick.

“Because she was the second Huntress they tried to stick on me. Look at me.”

“I am!”

His eyes turn to slits at my sass. I exhale even though I’d rather suffocate.

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