Page 58 of Martyr
He jumped in after me and carried me back, though, so that’s a plus.
Still, I inch away from him and closer to Reese. We stand at the edge of the dock, and Kade allows Saint the honor of stabbing the dingy. It takes some time to deflate enough to let water in, but Saint knows his way around a knife. Before long, it’s completely submerged.
“I thought you were going to get Lyssa,” Reese says to me.
“Too risky in her condition. She needs professionals to help jumpstart her body again.” I tilt my head. “But when Gabriel comes looking, it’ll seem like we moved her off the island.”
Reese smiles. “Sounds like something that might cause him to come unglued.”
“I know.” I smile back. “I feel like we already saw so much of his bad side… but the worst is yet to come. And this time, we have the leverage.”
Take out Gabriel, take out Kade, and who does Ouranos have left who he trusts?
Hopefully—no one.
That’s how we’ll win this war.
PART 2
25ARTEMIS
Sterling Falls feels different.I can’t put my finger on it, but even just standing on the porch of my brother’s house, it’s like…
“Smoke.”
I glance over my shoulder.
My brother stands in the shadows, his arms crossed. He’s been watching me more than usual since we arrived a few nights ago.
Don’t get me wrong—the reunion was nice. Flinging myself into his embrace and justbreathingfor a moment, with the person who’s known me since birth, settled something inside me.
“Smoke,” I repeat, my brows furrowing.
“The Cyclopes have been enjoying a free reign of terror. They use fire as an intimidation tactic.” He steps up beside me.
I swallow his words. Digest them. “Sterling Falls is burning?”
That can’t be allowed to continue. I slide my hand into my brother’s, squeezing softly.
“This needs to end.”
He exhales. “And somehow, I fear it’s only beginning.”
The house is burstingat the seams with people. Apollo, Jace, Wolfe, and Kora live here, and all four have returned from Emerald Cove. I guess there was an argument for Kora to stay away, but she put her foot down. She returned with her guys, along with the person Reese tasked them with saving. She has been elusive, hiding in one of the bedrooms upstairs.
Because of that, I haven’t seen her. I didn’t ask what situation they pulled her out of, and my capacity for it is low—unsurprisingly.
Antonio and Vittoria are here, as well.
Plus Reese, Saint, and Daniel.
And Kade.
My stomach twists. I’m not exactly sure I can count Kade as a houseguest… he’s currently locked in the basement.
Untrustworthy, and all of that.
Ididn’t put him in the basement. For the record. That was Jace and my brother, their faces stoic masks as soon as Kade climbed up the ladder from the small boat dock below. Kade, to his credit, didn’t resist. He seemed resigned to it.
