Page 85 of Nemesis

“Where did you hear that name?” I demand.

“The woman who came to warn me that you weremarked.” He rolls his eyes perfectly fine. “She seemed convinced, and come on. What else inspires fear quite like a new gang in Sterling Falls? After what this town just went through, it’s probably the only thing that can scare them.”

I hate him. And the woman. She’s probably the one who slammed the door in my face last time.

Then, though, was a warning.

This was… more. Although I don’t know what they did after they tried to grab me. I open my mouth to ask, then think better of it. Some things are better left unknown.

“Okay, so not a Hell Hound, not my brother or Jace or Wolfe…” I pause. “I only know one other person.”

Two, really.

But one, I’m not fucking calling.

He eyes me.

“You’re not going to like this,” I warn.

And then I dial a number that I seem to have accidentally memorized.

24ARTEMIS

I was right.

Saintdoesn’tlike this.

He doesn’t like it when I dial a number by heart that isn’t a close friend’s, doesn’t like when the gruff voice on the other end of the line is a man.

Too bad. He said he didn’t know anyone.

“I thought you’d call the sheriff,” Saint says in a low voice. He’s at one window, peering out through the slats of the blinds.

I’m at the other end of the house, angling to get a view up the street.

The lamp is off, and it’s been quiet. But not good quiet, I’m talking unusual quiet. No cars, no people walking their dogs before bed,nothing.

The plan is to leave out the back, cut through the yard, and exit through the gate that opens onto an access road.

And that’s where Reese Avery will be waiting. He’s coming from the other road, though, so there’s no good way to see him coming. He’s going to text Saint’s phone when he’s here, and our job is to wait until then. But since Saint and I are equally bad at waiting, we’ve taken turns trading barbs and staring out at the road.

He pointed out the woman’s house, and I nod to myself. That night, I hadn’t even realized I was so close to this one. Not that I would ever willingly come here.

In fact, I’m looking forward to leaving it. And not because I know what Saint’s dick feels like, and this is very much a Nyx-and-Saint place. But because it seems like he’s trying to keep her memory alive by coming here, and that…

He’s going backward.

I suppress my concern. “They have patrol cars, you know. They could just be… hiding.”

“Hiding?” He snorts. “Hiding where, in the access road?”

The hairs on the back of my neck rise. “Yeah, Saint,maybe.”

He considers, then swears. I hate that I like how it sounds when curses come out of his mouth, especially when they’re not directed at me. Or maybe even then. He lets the blinds fall shut and goes to the back door. It creaks as it opens, and he leaves me alone.

“Sorry, Nyx,” I say to the air. “Feel free to fight me when I join you.”

My throat closes, and I hurry after him. I just touch the door handle when it swings inward, nearly cracking me in the face.

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