Page 259 of Lodestar

“We’re fucked if we try to pick them off.” Star.

“You got any grenades, Troy?”

“I got a flame thrower, D.”

My eyes widened. “You have a fucking flame thrower in yourtree? You know they’reflammable.”

“I’d prefer to burn than for these pricks to get their hands on me.”

“Tell me you’re insane without telling me you’re insane,” I muttered under my breath.

“No, Conor, she’s right. She knows what they’re capable of. I’d have preferred to burn to death too than deal with what happened to me in Lebanon.”

Her words slayed me because Star was a fighter and it…

I released a breath.

“We’ll makethemburn,Star,” I vowed.

A soft chuckle sounded in my ear. “I like you, Glitter.”

“Don’t start, D, and don’t use that fucking name or I’ll call you Lucinda.”

“Children, less bickering,” Troy rumbled, but she sounded amused.

These women.

“They’re not going to blow us up yet. Not until they think they can get the answers they need,” Star mused.

“So we get to them first?” D questioned.

“We need a distraction,” I stated. “So that Troy can get down and can use the flame thrower without self-immolating in the process.”

This was turning into a game ofGrand Theft Autoand I wasn’t happy about it.

“What kind of magic can you do for us, Conor?” D chirped.

As I riffled through the bag of tricks that was Troy’s security, I hummed. “Get ready for your ears to feel like they’re going to burst.”

Troy cackled so she knew where I was going with this, but she cursed with the rest of us as a high-pitched siren flooded the air, horrific enough to make ears bleed. The noise-canceling feature on our EarPods likely wouldn’t protect us for long though.

Into the melee, Star and Dead To Me fired rounds at the car, battering it until it looked like an oversized cheese grater. Into that chaos, I saw Troy climb down from her nest, a flame thrower in her hands.

Studying her position, I watched as she neared their vehicle, and then, and only then, did I disconnect the alarm.

And I watched her roast some Sparrows for dinner.

2

STAR

PLEASE DON’T SAY YOU LOVE ME - GABRIELLE ARLIN

I’d knownwe’d be able to pick them off quickly, but there was always a fear that something could go wrong—it had before—and there was always a fear when you had someone you loved in on the action that they could get hurt.

In this instance, not only was Conor on the ground with me, the only man I’deverloved, but D was too. She was my BFF and the singular person in this world, until Conor, who accepted me—warts, verrucas, zits, and all.

Knowing we were safe for the moment, I sagged with relief against the wall where I was positioned beneath a window. But the relief was quickly replaced with amusement.

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