Page 40 of Nemesis

My chest tightens, and I climb the steps to his level. A cardboard box sits on the slim table next to him, the flaps open. I creep closer and peer down at a mess of wires inside, and a small digital clock frozen at 6:23.

“I disarmed it.”

“Why are you down here?” There are more questions, of course. Likehowhe disarmed it, why he’s still sitting beside it, why he hasn’t been sleeping, what brought him back to Sterling Falls… But because I still have a grip on my self-control, I shut my mouth after the first one.

He shrugs.

“Tem,” Apollo calls out. “Get away from him.”

I automatically step back, glancing over to see my brother striding toward us. His gun is inching higher—but the last thing I want is more death.

Senseless death without answers.

“The bomb is here,” I tell my brother. “It’s disarmed.”

“Did he tell you that?”

I don’t answer—he’s probably thinking that it would be easy for Reese to lie. If the man sitting only a few feet from me had rigged the frozen clock, while an internal one counted down…

That would be suicide, true, but it would take out me, too.

Who knows if that’s the goal?

“Artemis,” Apollo snaps.

Reese meets my gaze. “You should go. I’ll see you around, Artemis.”

A chill sweeps down my spine. I don’t think I want to see him around—I just want him and Kade toleave.

I hurry down the steps. As soon as I’m within reach of my brother, he grabs my arm and tows me behind him. He remains staring at Reese until I tug on him, forcing him to abandon the man from my past.

We get upstairs just as Sheriff Bradshaw arrives. The farther I get away from that hallway, that amphitheater, the more I tremble. I stand and stare at my shoes while Apollo directs the bomb squad to the right place.

“We should evacuate,” the sheriff says.

“No,” I say. “It’s disarmed. Do your damn job and make sure it stays that way. No need to disrupt my guests.”

Apollo sighs.

Doesn’t take a genius to know he’s judging me for believing Reese. If I’m wrong, hundreds of people could be hurt. But the strange thing is, Idobelieve him. My gaze stays on my shoes. Nathan Bradshaw’s gaze lingers on me for a second, burning the side of my face, before he continues behind the geared-up men.

There are about to be a whole lot of questions for me.

And I’m not sure I can answer.

10KADE

My head is slamming.I run my finger around the edge of the glass, glancing up at the security camera in the corner of the bar. It’s tiny. Incongruous, minus the blinking red dot. It’s not meant to distract from the lushness of Bow & Arrow.

And this club is lush.

Luxurious.

Like Artemis Madden herself. Golden skin, golden dress, dark hair that promises to be silky and full when I run my fingers through it. Her amber eyes burned when she looked at me through her mask, and it stopped me dead because I knew those eyes. I want to see them again.

“Can I get you another?” the pretty bartender asks.

I shake my head and toss money on the counter. I’ve been here almost two hours, and nothing. No amount of goading the camera—silently—or watching and waiting has done any good.

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