Page 120 of Nemesis

But this ground is evil, too.

I get out, unwilling to even let Tem deal with Kade Laurent on her own. His car is in the driveway, nearly covering the spot where…

I swallow.

It nearly covers the spot where I last held Elora.

“Come on.” Tem doubles back and takes my hand. “We’ve got this.”

My stomach turns, but I let her lead me anyway. Up the driveway, around the solid wall that was once riddled with bullet holes. It’s been repaired, patched, and painted.

How long did it take them to get Elora’s blood out of the driveway? Concrete is porous… they might’ve had to dig up the whole square.

There’s a side door that Artemis aims for, but I’d bet anything that it’s locked. She releases my hand and pulls a knife from a holster strapped to her ankle.

I stare at her. “How long have you had that?”

She brushes her braid back over her shoulder. It swings across her back, and she eyes me. “I always have it.”

Noted.

The sweatshirt, at the very least, isn’t Kade’s. It’s black and boxy, the bottom elastic cut off. It has Bow & Arrow’s logo—the neon sign above the club’s door just a symbol, essentially—across the back. The edges are all frayed, but it just adds to her aesthetic. A mix of badass andI don’t give a shit. The sweatshirthides the gold shirt and the necklaces she wears. Layers and layers of them.

Instead of using the knife to jimmy open the door, she drops into a crouch and continues along the wall.

We have to duck under windows.

“Are we in danger of being shot?”

She frowns. “You probably are. Stay behind me.”

Great.

We reach the back of the house, and she straightens abruptly. I almost crash into her and catch myself at the last moment. She stows the knife and motions for me to stick close. My gaze lifts from the back of her head to the ocean.

The very same beach I stormed down, throwing myself into the waves in a fit of grief and shock and rage. I see it now, the way Kora and Wolfe chased after me and dragged me out…

The echo of gunshots rings in my ears.

Tem’s elbow lands in my gut.

Kade is waist-deep in the white, frothy water. His tattoo-free torso glistens with droplets, hair wet. His back muscles flex and tense right before he puts his hands together and dives under the waves.

Artemis marches down the beach, stopping at the edge of the water that rolls up to greet her. It recedes without touching her boots.

We wait for Kade to pop out on the other side of the break. He glances back at the shore mid-stroke and pauses.

Appraises, in a single look, the two of us.

Then he dives again, and Artemis lets out a little sigh.

He returns to shore. The waves tug at him, and my eyes widen when the water finally releases him.

He’s naked.

And pierced.

What a pair he and Artemis make. The thought strikes me without warning, and I glower at him. While still wondering why the fuck anyone would pierce their dick. Tattooing mine was a long, torturous process that I barely felt because it was in the aftermath of Elora’s death. I don’t think I could handle it in a normal frame of mind.

---