Page 25 of Martyr (Sterling Falls Rogues #3)

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 just breathing for 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 bursting at 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.

I didn’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.

Wolfe and Daniel sit at the kitchen table. There’s another, larger table in the dining room that we’ve been using for meals. Antonio and Vittoria have made themselves comfortable in the kitchen, preparing various meals.

“Where’s Saint?” I ask.

Wolfe frowns. “Upstairs, maybe?”

Maybe.

I don’t know why I asked—I had a bad feeling. Have a bad feeling. I go upstairs and pause outside the door to the room he’s been sharing with Reese and Daniel. I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress in Antonio and Vittoria’s room, leaving the mystery guest alone in the last guest room.

I knock. There’s rustling, and after a moment, Reese pulls the door inward. He smiles when he sees me, stepping aside to allow me in.

He reaches out and brushes at my shoulder. “Is it snowing?”

“A bit.”

“The droplets of water clinging to your hair say otherwise.”

I frown. I guess I was outside longer than I thought. It seems like the first flakes had only just begun to fall when I stood up from the edge of the cliff wall and made my way back. The sky is gray this morning, the water a churning, white-capped midnight blue.

It’s not water I would want to jump into, even from an easy height like this.

“I was hoping to find Saint.” I look around the room. “He’s not hiding in the closet, is he?”

Reese smirks. “Literally? No.”

My cheeks heat. “Okay. Well…”

I back out of the room, leaving him to… whatever he was doing. With a quick shake of my head, I pivot away.

But that does give me an idea as to where Saint has slunk off to. Anger spikes through me. I rush downstairs, to the basement door that should be locked. It swings open easily.

Damn it, Saint .

I keep my footsteps light, my restraint barely holding on, and make my way silently into the basement.

It’s divided into a few rooms, only one of which my brother and his partners have done anything about.

There’s a couch and a few chairs facing a wall-mounted television, game controllers strewn around, and a fridge tucked off to the side that I suspect holds mainly beer.

I bypass that and the door to the laundry room, pausing outside the room where they’re holding Kade.

To be fair—it is set up to be a bedroom. I caught a glimpse when I followed them down on our arrival and spotted a mattress on the floor, sheets and blankets folded on the end of it with a pillow, and an open doorway to a small bathroom.

The door is shut, but voices drift out from under it.

Kade wouldn’t be talking to himself, which means— ding, ding, ding —I’ve found Saint.

I grit my teeth against the sudden wave of anger that heats my skin.

I twist the knob and shove, bursting into the room. I half expect to catch them doing something they shouldn’t, but… no.

Kade sits on the edge of the bed, his long torso leaned back, propped on his hands. His legs are spread wide, but he’s fully clothed.

Saint stands by the half-sized window in the far corner. The lights are off, and that glass provides the only light source. It’s too much like Terror for my liking. The room, the high window…

At least there’s a bed in here. Access to a bathroom.

Oh, and no one is making Kade perform sexually against his will.

“What are you doing in here?” I ask Saint.

He rolls his eyes. “Talking.”

“Saint,” Kade says in a low voice. His tone…

Saint’s shoulders hike up. “Sorry, Artemis. I came down here to see what else Kade could fill in for me.”

My gaze bounces from Saint to Kade. The latter seems unsurprised by my entrance, and he scoots to the side, then pats the empty space next to him.

“You shouldn’t manipulate him,” I tell Kade. “You can’t just twist his head up into knots.”

Neither of them has a reply, and Saint makes no move to leave. So… I take the bait and sit next to Kade.

Like this, his height is much more apparent. His shoulder is even with my forehead, and I have to crane back just to see his face. I pivot to face him and bring my leg up on the bed.

“I wasn’t trying to manipulate him.” Kade examines his fingernails on one hand. “He came to me. I’m the one locked down here.”

“Which means you’d have motive to manipulate,” I argue. “What were you saying?”

“I wanted to understand how we met,” Saint says. “Up until a few days ago, I was certain I was straight. And now…”

“I was in the process of telling him about my naked ocean swims,” Kade adds. “And how you two interrupted me. That’s how you knew about my piercings, by the way. You saw it with your own eyes.”

“And turned a lovely shade of red,” I murmur.

Kade cracks a smile.

“So did you, Tem.”

Great .

“Well.” I clear my throat. “That answers that.”

“I have another question,” Saint says. He scratches at his jaw. “You care for your sister. It seems clear that you care, at least in part, for Artemis and me.”

Kade nods slowly. “I do.”

“So what loyalty do you owe Ouranos? Why continue to help him when he’s hurting our city? And us, by extension?”

That’s a good question, Saint .

The conversation from the cabin comes back to me. Kade picked Atlas because, on some level, he thinks he deserves punishment for taking up this war against the Olympians. And, presumably, Sterling Falls in general.

Kade already feels remorse. He’s been trying to protect us from the start, hasn’t he? The Cyclops sweatshirt he thought would send a message to keep me safe on the streets, his warning to Saint to get Antonio out when Ouranos arrived…

Not that Saint remembers . Maybe fragments. Feelings. There’s got to be something there, right?

He’s locked in on Kade, and he steps closer when Kade remains silent.

His expression is something fierce. “Ouranos wants to extinguish everything that gives this town its charm. The small businesses are burning. Who do you think those belong to? Gang members and criminals? No. Innocent Sterling Falls folks who have been through enough war. What about my tattoo shop? Antonio’s restaurant?

Tem’s club? All the work we put into making this place good , Ouranos waves his hand and his guys destroy it.

I may have forgotten how we met, Kade, but I still know and love Sterling Falls.

Ouranos wants to burn it to the ground—and you’re complicit in that. ”

I rise. Kade’s attention drops to the floor and stays there, and the muscle in his jaw jumps. Whatever the answers are, they seem locked in his head. More punishment? Self-inflicted, this time.

I hold my hand out to Saint. “Come on. He’ll answer in his own time.”

Saint sighs, but he doesn’t protest. He comes forward and takes my hand, and my heart skips. His skin is cool and rough against my hot palm, and it takes everything in me to not squeeze tighter.

Willing contact has to be a step in the right direction…

I don’t waste time lingering. I pull Saint out of the room, only pausing to let him close the door and lock it behind us.