Page 103 of Nemesis

“Artemis.” He meets my gaze. “Just drop it.”

My lips flatten, but whatever. I can drop it. I will. No, Ido. I vow to never bring it up again, and then I refocus on Reese.

I thought he might just ask for a favor, but instead, he’s questioning them.

“…all powerful?”

Oops, should’ve tuned in sooner.

They stare at him. “We have power in this city,” Hades finally says. “More power than you can imagine.”

Reese laughs. “More than I can imagine? I know what power looks like,Jace King.”

I stiffen.

Everyone does.

Their identities are known to us, of course, but Jace and Wolfe have strived to keep their names out of the public eye. Normal people do not know them.

“If you aren’t going to ask for something, Reese Avery,” Jace shoots back, “then get out.”

Reese smiles wider. He resembles the Cheshire Cat.

“Prometheus was a trickster,” Saint says in my ear.

I shoot him a look.

“My favor?” Reese pauses, glancing at me. I’m already off-limits, that much was made clear. But he’s not checking in with me, he seems to be internally debating something. “I have a friend who needs help in Emerald Cove. They’re suffering under the weight of a gang, and I don’t have the resources to extract them.”

Huh?

Jace inclines his chin. “Give us the details, and we’ll help him.”

“I want this to be you,” Reese says. “Not you sending some half-assed mercenary oremployeeto fix it.”

“Done.”

Reese nods. He withdraws an envelope from his pocket and holds it out on offer to them.

After a minute, Apollo steps forward to take it.

“Before the end of the month,” Reese says. “Swear it.”

“We swear.” Jace glares at him. “Now get out.”

He doesn’t. He comes straight to me, his hand fluttering over my shoulder without so much as a whisper of a touch.

“You okay?” I ask.

He tilts his head. “I was going to ask you.”

“I’m not the one who got punched by a former bestie.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Did you know this was going to happen? Did he recognize you?”

“At the end, he did.” His palm finally makes contact with my arm, sliding down over my elbow, my forearm, fingers probing at my wrist before he takes my hand. “They’re all staring daggers at me, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” Saint says. “It’s quite remarkable.”

Reese chuckles. “What is?”

---