Page 78 of Martyr
Gabriel flinches.
Without thinking, I reach across and put my hand over his balled fist. I squeeze gently, then move away. He needs to be okay for this part.
In all honesty, he probably could’ve stayed at the house. The risk of leaving him with Kora, Antonio, and Vittoria, though, outweighed the danger of bringing him with us. He’s alreadygotten away with too much. What if he was tempted to do something… worse? To them?
Anyway. The plan is simple: we take control of Bow & Arrow. We don’t know who is currently here, or what sort of traps they have rigged. We do know, thanks to Gabriel and Kade, that Ouranos has set up the Cyclopes here. They aren’t sleeping here, as far as I know, but it’s a meeting point.
Which means we could be walking into fifty Cyclopes or five.
Gabriel said Ouranos is still operating his meetings out of Madness, the bar in West Falls. It was his brother’s bar—before it got caught in an explosion—so it makes sense that he’d want to be there. A bit of optimism.
Too bad the subway tunnels are all caved in, Apollo had said.
I smiled even though I also wanted to punch him. That damn subway car full of explosives nearly killed us. And while we were dealing with that, Saint was losing Nyx.
We stay in a loose formation until we reach the exit that will lead us up into the club. Gabriel withholds any other physical reaction, which is good. I don’t know if I can deal with a breakdown. The walls already feel like they’re closing in, the ceiling lowering.
Up, up, up. To the main level, then higher. To the offices on the top floor. My legs are tingling with fatigue by the time we reach our destination. I suck in a deep breath and motion that I’ll take the lead. Yes, Jace and Apollo—and Saint, not that he freaking remembers—have been here plenty of times before. They know where my office is.
But… I need to see what they’ve done. I need to see it first.
Someone calls after me, but there’s a rushing noise in my ears that muffles the sound. I’m in my own world as I creep down toward my office. The hallway is dark, which lends acertain level of comfort. There are no bright lights to expose us. Nothing coming from under my or Antonio’s office doors.
Still, when I open mine—it’s unlocked—my breath catches in my chest.
It’s been ransacked. The desk is in pieces, chunks of splintered wood on the floor. The computer had been previously removed when Bradshaw raided it, and most of the paper files were in Antonio’s… but that doesn’t mean it’s not jarring. There’s glass mixed in amongst the wood, the few framed photos and art on the walls knocked down and ruined.
Even chunks of drywall have been kicked in.
Unnecessary.The safe is built into the floor of Antonio’s office. Which might be in danger judging by the level of destruction.
Apollo comes up behind me and sucks in a sharp breath. “Sorry, Tem.”
I shake my head and turn away. “We’ll fix it. When we take back this city. It’s all things that can be repaired.”
He grabs my hand. “So long as we don’t lose anyone else who we love.”
I wish I could say the lump that closes my throat is unexpected.
33SAINT
Bow& Arrow is different. It might be that the overhead light’s on, and the glamour that Tem managed to craft in this building has been peeled away. But it seems like more than that. There’s a darkness here that seeps up from Terror. It’s the shadow that tracks us down the hallways.
I feel it in the stiffness of Tem’s shoulders. She’s in front of us now, her body tense. I want to go up and shield her from this, because this club…
We pass her office, and Kade and I peer inside.
I wince.Poor Tem. I imagine discovering Starlight, my tattoo shop, destroyed like this, and can sympathize with the emotions she must be grappling with.
Kade nudges me onward.
We sweep through the kitchen, and Jace motions for two of us to go check the large, rooftop restaurant space. Apollo and Kade go. We wait for a long moment, handfuls of seconds, before they return with a quick, muttered, “Clear.”
The rest of us follow them back out, cutting through the restaurant to get to the staircase that will lead us down into the club.
This is arguably the riskiest part. The staircase is against the wall, but one side is made of glass. It allows patrons an unfiltered look into the club below, especially for the late-night dining guests passing through on their way up.
I move forward, to where Artemis stands next to her brother, and catch her wrist.
