Page 14 of Martyr (Sterling Falls Rogues #3)

There’s some interesting tension going on in this room.

I sit in an armchair, a mug of coffee pressed between my palms. I have phantom sensations lingering in unexpected places, which is pulling some of my attention. Mainly the ghost of Kade’s hand on the back of my neck.

We were just approaching the marina when the whole thing went up in a fireball.

I was walking shoulder to shoulder with Kade, whose name I didn’t know at the time.

I was going to figure that out sooner or later.

It just didn’t seem particularly important when he seemed happy to see me.

And then he offered to get me out of here.

Who was I to refuse?

But no . The marina exploded, and Kade reacted quicker than me. He grabbed me by the back of the neck and dragged me down to the sidewalk. It happened too fast to register, but then the air settled, and all I could feel was his fingers digging into my skin.

My face heats, and I scratch at my throat.

Artemis is the only familiar one. My gaze stays stuck on her, perched on the edge of the couch like she’s ready to bolt. Her mug, supplied by Kade, sits forgotten on a side table.

Reese is over by a bookshelf, scanning titles.

I don’t know where Kade is. This place is less house and more cabin in the woods . It’s a vibe, to be sure. Probably not my vibe… definitely not Tem’s, judging by the way she seems stressed out.

There’s a minimal amount of dust on the surfaces, inferring that Kade probably has a cleaner out here a few times.

“We should go back,” Artemis finally says.

Reese glances at her. Can he feel how thick this tension is? I can cut it with a knife—and its sole source is her .

“Where did he even go?” she hisses. “He could be calling in backup?—”

“I went to get firewood,” Kade rumbles from the entryway.

He toes the thick door shut. His arms are full of chopped wood, which he deposits on a metal rack by the fireplace. He crouches, giving the room a view of his ass, and starts to build a fire.

Do I know how to build a fire? No. I know how to put one of those ready-to-go logs in and light the edges, but that’s about it. My Boy Scout training stopped there.

Artemis lets out a huff and settles back in her seat. “This is ridiculous.”

“You’re telling me.” Kade peeks back. “I was just?—”

“You were trying to kidnap Saint!”

I take a sip of my coffee. Was that what Kade was trying to do? Scandalous .

Kade scoffs. “I was offering him a way off this island, since you decided to hide?—”

“That’s rich.” Artemis throws up her hands. “You walk into a situation half-cocked, like always?—”

“I don’t do anything half-cocked ,” Kade interrupts.

A blush blooms across her cheeks. She presses her lips together for a moment, then shakes it off. “You don’t know anything.”

“You’re right.” He rises and faces her, but all it does is position him to tower over her seat.

Never one to back down, she stands and pokes her finger into his chest. Their size difference is comical. Not because Tem is short—she’s average for a girl—but because Kade is so massive. He’s got a few inches on me, even.

“I know I’m right,” she says through her teeth.

“All I know is that Saint was in a car wreck, then he disappeared.”

Reese clears his throat. “And you know that because you were meeting with him?”

Artemis jerks like Reese prodded her with a fork. She turns to glare at me , although I think we’ve established that I have no fucking idea about any of this. I shrug at her, but it only seems to pour gasoline on the flames. Her face reddens, and she whirls back toward Kade.

“Why were you meeting Saint?”

Kade raises his hands in surrender. “I never actually met him that night. Not sure where you’re getting your information, Reese.”

Artemis growls. “Will you ever just tell us the fucking truth?”

He pauses. Considers . I can see the wheels turning, and I hate to say that I’m just as curious as him. I was going to meet him that night? And apparently got in a wreck along the way.

Does that mean I trusted him?

“Ouranos took an interest in Saint.”

A chill sweeps down my spine. That sounds fucking ominous.

“He asked me to…” Kade clears his throat. “Find him.”

Artemis narrows her eyes. “Why did he take an interest in Saint?”

Kade, to my utter shock, blushes.

“Before we go admitting to stuff, we should all remember that Saint has no idea what’s going on,” Reese interjects.

I lean back in my chair. I hadn’t realized I was so far forward, my interest piqued. What’s with the blush staining Kade’s cheeks? What is this dynamic?

Also, am I really such an idiot that I was ready to get on a boat with a stranger and have him take me, from what it sounds like, straight into the arms of a villain? I know villains. Kronos, for one. The Titans’ leader is a shitty human being.

Although they haven’t mentioned him, so I don’t know what happened.

Cerberus, Wolfe James’ dad, is another. He rules the Hell Hounds. Those two, him, and Kronos, are always at odds with each other.

So where does Ouranos fit in?

The silence catches my attention, and I suddenly tune back in to the conversation at hand. Well, the lack thereof. They’re all staring at me, but Kade’s eyebrows are up again.

I think I missed an important chunk of dialogue.

“What?” I ask, my voice gruff.

“You don’t know who I am?” Kade asks.

Ah. “Well, no.”

He stares at me. Hard . It does weird things to my chest, and it also somehow conjures back up the phantom sensation of his hand gripping the back of my neck.

“You were?—”

“Ready to abscond with you off the island?” I take another sip of the coffee. I’m not convinced I like coffee, but my mouth is dry. “Yeah, dude. Anything to get away from her.”

Artemis bristles.

I don’t really mean it like that. I don’t know why it came out that way.

“Typical Saint,” Reese breathes. “Always talking out his ass.”

I incline my chin.

Kade scoffs. He seems perplexed but also a bit angry.

“I didn’t choose to have amnesia,” I tell him.

“You did choose to be reckless.” His gaze slides to Artemis. “And you decided to stay here to continue babysitting him?”

Continue?

I open my mouth, but Tem beats me to the punch.

“No, Kade.” Her smile is positively brittle. Patronizing. “I’ve been here getting over the heroin addiction Gabriel forced on me.”

The room goes quiet.

My gaze goes to her hand, the way her nails scratch at her arm over her long-sleeve shirt. Guilt trickles down my spine. I never once asked her why she was on the island with me—I just assumed it was to watch over me. Which, judging by a previous comment, is not unusual.

How long have I been with her?

And I don’t mean with -with her—I still don’t want to know how I knew her nipples were pierced. I mean, how long has she been stuck with my grumpy ass?

Reese straightens from where he’d been leaning a shoulder on the bookcase when Kade steps closer to Artemis. He’s protective of her, it’s clear to see. From pausing our fight in Lyssa’s room, the way he holds Tem, watches her and watches out for her… he’s there for her. He cares.

The flash of jealousy I feel is just a momentary setback.

I grit my teeth. There’s a dull ache in the back of my head, a slow pulse that started so faintly, I didn’t notice it until now.

But then Kade takes Tem’s hand in his, and he carefully pushes her sleeve up her arm, past her elbow. He turns her palm up. There are small, dark bruises in the crook of her elbow.

When he coasts his thumb over them, she shudders.

She pulls out of his grasp and yanks her sleeve back into place.

“That’s enough show and tell,” she mutters. Her gaze moves around the room. “How much longer do we need to stay here?”

Kade doesn’t reply. He just stares at her.

The mental image of his hulking, naked body coming out of the ocean floats in my vision, and I choke.

All the attention swings in my direction.

“You okay, buddy?” Reese asks.

My eyes are wide, and I point at Kade. “Is your dick pierced?”