Page 36 of Martyr
When his eyes start to roll back, I loosen my hold. He sags back against the wall, and I stagger away, clutching at my head. I almost just killed him. I would’ve—no, I would not have. I could’ve, though. I could’ve just kept squeezing.
“You’ve kept her safe for years.” Reese’s voice is hoarse and scratchy. “After the horror that she went through in Terror.”
I close my eyes.
“And she’s exactly the reason why Gabriel wants to hurt Tem.”
I whirl back to face him.
He rubs at his throat. “You found both of them, didn’t you? But she was already gone.”
“Two years ago, Gabriel had Lyssa transferred to Isle of Paradise. She spent time there as a kid, and I made sure I was her emergency contact back then. Her parents didn’t give a shit—her issues were too much for them. It was easy for me to take over in that regard. When Gabriel brought her in, they called me. It was the first time I had any idea she was alive—and then the truth of her existence was revealed to me.”
Reese waits for more.
“Gabriel was the real segue into my relationship with Ouranos,” I admit. “He wanted me to stick close to him in Emerald Cove. It was… weird. He wasn’t all there, in a way. But whenever he saw me, he talked about Lyssa. He wanted to know about her childhood. And then, one day, Ouranos came along.”
A chill sweeps down my spine. Gabrielnevermentioned Lyssa in front of him. The unassuming man stood like he hadthe power to destroy the world—and he would if someone tested him. He had no problem proving himself, be it through external leverage or mind games.
I was trying to find Reese at the time. Lyssa had slotted into place, butReesehad vanished. Ouranos offered me jobs that could fund my search, but it was never enough. I hit dead ends over and over. I dug myself deeper with Ouranos until I couldn’t see a way out.
And when I had nothing left to give, he offered one final thing: physical evidence of Reese’s location. The photo from the bank in Emerald Cove.
He said I could take that, and his resources, and find Reese.
In exchange, I sold my soul.
Gabriel didn’t have such qualms. The promises Ouranos made him were between them—although, later, I realized it was Artemis served up on a platter for him to twist and torture.
His revenge lives on, even now. His bloodlust hasn’t been satiated.
“Does he visit her?” Reese eyes me. “Will the marina incident get back to him and raise suspicion?”
I lift my shoulder. “Probably.”
“And Saint?”
“Ouranos took an interest because I took an interest.” I look away. “Rather, he brought his interest to my attention because of that. He doesn’t know my interest also extends to Artemis. He assumed my involvement with her was purely transactional.”
“But it’s not.” He shoves himself up and steps toward me. “You hurt her?—”
“Not planning on it.”
The laugh that comes out of his mouth is chilly. “You already have. You actively betray her at every turn. It’shercity.”
“Sterling Falls is a fucked-up place.” My tone is dismissive. “There’s no saving it. Not from Ouranos. Not from the next bastard who comes along with aspirations of power.”
Reese pivots and strides away from me. I trail him into the kitchen, my brows furrowed. He hits the light switch, and I almost wince at the brightness of the overhead bulbs. He goes straight to the freezer and pulls out a cold bottle of vodka.
Wordlessly, I retrieve two glasses. We should probably figure out food—there’s some shelf-stable stuff in the pantry, and the water that comes out of the tap is clean and safe to drink—but I follow his lead and let him pour the liquor.
He drinks his.
I mirror him. It burns on the way down, in the way only vodka does. It pools like fire in my belly and slowly spreads.
“Take off your jacket,” Reese mutters. “Stay awhile.”
“You have any other clothes?”
