Page 76 of Martyr
Daniel is in our ears, tapped into CCTV around the city. He’s at home with Kora, Wolfe, Antonio, Vittoria, and the recluse. Wolfe is armed, Daniel is on guard, and the boat is ready to go in case they need to evacuate.
I grip my gun tighter. There’s a lot at stake here, and the first step is exterminating the vermin currently infesting my home.
North Falls feels different without a nightlife. There are no tourists. The restaurants that line the boardwalk are shut down, and my beloved club is silent. At this time of year, with winter roaring through the town, there wouldn’t be that many tourists anyway. But there would still be a buzz of life that is absent at the moment.
We ditched our vehicles blocks away. It was easier to avoid the roadblocks by cutting through alleys and clinging to the shadows.
Gabriel stands to my left. His spine is straight, and his hands are still cuffed. Reese stands directly behind him, one hand on his shoulder and a gun jammed into his lower back.
Overkill, I want to say, but my voice stopped working some time ago.
Before we left, Antonio reminded us of the second tunnel to get into Terror. So that’s our plan—we’re taking the back way in to my club. My bravado was alotstronger back in the safety of my brother’s home.
“You really did put lipstick on a pig,” Gabriel says.
I glance at him.
He gestures with both hands to the building. “It’s like building an amusement park on stilts on top of an active volcano.”
“Say what you really mean,” I mumble.
“It’s like running a cat sanctuary when you’re deathly allergic,” he continues. “Or trying to get a hair out of your eye with a knife. Or playing a million-dollar violin with a chainsaw. Or?—”
“She gets it.” Reese jabs the gun into the small of his back.
Gabriel twists around. “I was hoping you would be here.”
I roll my eyes.
“All clear,” Daniel says in our ears.
“Move,” Jace orders.
“Kade isn’t in handcuffs,” Gabriel observes. “And I am?”
“You’re a bit more murderous,” Reese grunts. “And a wild card.”
He shoves him forward, keeping up with the force of men in front of us. We’re at the tail end of our little pack. Everyone else is single file: Jace then Apollo, Saint, Kade. Then me, Gabriel, and Reese.
Speaking of cards—there’s a trump card in my back pocket that I haven’t revealed yet. I’m holding that as ajust in case. Gabriel hasn’t asked about Lyssa, which makes me think he’s unaware of the bomb Reese set off, or the disruption to the entire island. Yes, he made some claims about not being able to go to her. His urgency seemed… lacking.
As far as everyone on Isle of Paradise knows, save Dr. Hawthorne, she’s been transferred off the island.
Does he know she’s awake? Probably not.
Does he think she’s been moved? Definitely not.
His freak-out would be much more severe.
Thatis the card Ouranos will play. We can’t be trusted because we stole Lyssa. Only he can help Gabriel find her.
I grit my teeth. We enter the darkened alley, the street now at our backs still empty. It’s been quiet, which is good. It feels wrong, but it’s a good thing. We cut through the darkness like a surgeon’s blade, quick and efficient.
Gabriel even keeps his mouth shut.
Jace gets to the door and positions himself just to the side. Apollo wraps his hand around the handle and waits for Jace’s signal.
The door opens with a sharp squeal, and Jace enters in a rush. The rest of us follow, flooding the hallway. We click on our flashlights. I feel Gabriel’s fingers grasping at the back of my jacket as we move along.
