Page 73 of Martyr
“No—”
“Lovely way to travel.” He eyes Saint. “I wonder if you decided to hit all the potholes along the way? Really gives the feel of a Russian massage.”
“You haven’t gotten a massage a day in your life,” I say on a sigh.
“Oh. Well.”
“I wasn’t driving,” Saint interjects.
Gabriel lights up. “That mayhem wasTem? I always knew she had spirit. Try as I might to break it…”
“Gabe—shut up.”
He zeroes back in on me. “Don’t call me Gabe.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t call her Tem.”
“Excuse me for wanting a bit of intimacy,Kadius.”
“That’s not even my name.”
He pushes his shoulders back and steps away from the trunk. And Saint. He’s quick-footed getting away from that one, which makes me wonder how calmly Gabriel got in the trunk. Probably not at all. He’s got bruising on his cheek and deep gouges that should probably be checked out. Beyond that, there are dark shadows under his eyes and a bruise forming on his neck.
He circles the car and leans back, whistling softly. “Whose home?”
“Ours,” Apollo bites out.
They know who he is. It’s impossible not to—Gabriel has a terrible habit of making himself known. So why did Artemis choose to bring him here? And how the hell did they get him into the trunk?
Gabriel trots up the steps before anyone can stop him. He bypasses Wolfe and me and waltzes into the house.
“What the fuck, Tem?” Jace growls.
She shrugs and follows Gabriel.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to make us share the basement?” I ask. I follow her, escort be damned. She seems to have an idea, and no one else has any good plans. Why not see it through? “There’s just one bed, and that would probably be awkward.”
She doesn’t respond.
Gabriel flops down on the couch and kicks his feet up on the coffee table. Honestly, he’s worse than a child. He’s feral.
Someone stops beside me, close enough that our arms touch. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Saint’s profile. It takes a lot of restraint to not smile.
Tem drops into the chair perpendicular to Gabriel. “Go on.”
Gabriel heaves a sigh. “Oh, fine.” He clears his throat. “Dear Artemis, I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for getting you addicted to heroin. It was not my intention at all?—”
“Skip to the real part,” she snaps.
He shifts a few times, nestling deeper into the cushions. “I would like to return to Isle of Paradise and lie down next to my love, close my eyes, and never wake up just like her. Maybe it would end the torment inside me. But for now—it seems Artemis has appealed to my sense of revenge. The only way I can fulfill my first desire would be to complete a task: to bring a crushing end to Ouranos.”
I blink. “What?”
Gabriel meets my gaze. “Oh, Kade. You have to feel it, too, right? The disturbance? Something isn’t right, and he won’t let me go. I can’t go see her. He said there’s more important work to do.”
Reese enters the room. He spots me first, confusion coloring his expression, then assesses the rest of the room like a good soldier. My stomach knots, and I nudge Saint. My muscles tense, and IwatchReese spot Gabriel. The realization that crashes over him—and then the rage.
I’m already moving by the time Reese decides to act. I snap the zip ties—it was only a matter of time—and lunge for my friend. He has a gun in his hand. I catch his wrist and force it down, driving us backward.
