Page 19

I storm into Gabriel’s creepy room under Madness. To no one’s surprise, he isn’t there. He’s like a ghost sometimes, only appearing when you least want to see him.

He bombed the Hell Hounds.

I knew… I mean, he gave me the box, but I didn’t do anything with it. I didn’t write Malikai’s name on the box—he did. I didn’t mail it. I carried it up and left it, forgotten, at the base of the stairs that hides Gabriel’s underground world from above.

But now, he’s gone and blown up their front porch—a nice little welcome gift, he’d probably say. But the madness that will fall upon us…

I don’t feel ready.

I’m not convinced this was the way to go about things—I didn’t want it to come to violent terms. I didn’t want to coat Sterling Falls’ streets in blood after they just recovered from one war.

“Gabriel!” I spin around, but the room is most certainly empty. The boxes that lined one shelf are gone, too.

Ice coats my skin.

He put the bomb in a box.

But there were more boxes…

How many more bombs are there?

Where would he send them?

I check my phone, but there’s barely any service down here. I do have a missed call from Artemis, of all people, though.

That gives me pause.

Why is she calling me?

Leaving Gabriel’s cave behind, I head up into the heart of Madness. I’m about to push through the door when I freeze.

Gabriel’s behind the bar, and Artemis is talking to him.

Why?

I lift my phone and call her.

She scowls at Gabriel, then checks her phone. She slides off the stool, and her hips sway as she exits the building.

“Hello?” Her voice is breathy.

Not hard, like I was expecting.

“Where are you?”

“I was with Malik.”

I narrow my eyes at Gabriel. He hasn’t noticed me through the glass. Or maybe he did spot me, and now he’s playing dumb. Neither of them were here when I stormed through not five minutes ago. He’s not clearing any sort of glass from where she was sitting…

“And?” I reply.

“You don’t strike me as the bomb type,” she admits. “But your interaction with the Hell Hounds outside their club left a bad taste in their mouth.”

“Mouths now filled with ash,” I supply.

Internally, I curse myself and Gabriel.

He set me up, then took advantage of my foolishness. This is going to come down on me, not him. After all, it’s my prints on the box—if anything remains—and my bitter confrontation the other day that can be traced back.

“Meet me,” I say suddenly. “Name the place.”

When she doesn’t reply, I clear my throat.

“Please,” I add.

She sighs. “Okay. The reservoir waterfall.”

I pause.

“Yeah,” she adds. “I know about you and the sheriff.”

My phone beeps, signifying that she hung up on me.

I think I deserve that.

Artemis leans on the trunk of her car, which is backed carefully into a spot that gives her a view of both the road and the waterfall.

Same place I met the sheriff when he delivered Reese’s mother’s phone records—which proved useful only in that I was able to narrow down two burners. One that, at the time, was working but wasn’t used frequently enough or long enough to be tracked. And the other was dead.

It confirmed what I already knew: Reese Avery still talks to his mama.

I park my new car and climb out, stopping a good distance away. This is the first time I’ve seen her since… since . She’s thinner. Her hair is in a bun on top of her head, and her gold shirt is skin tight. It’s tucked into a pair of high-waisted jeans.

She’s too pretty. It’s devastating, a bit.

“What do I have to do for you to leave Saint alone?” she asks.

I narrow my eyes.

“I mean, you’ve already fucked me over,” she continues. “And Reese, too. So is Saint next? Is that why you keep inserting yourself…”

“There are much worse places I could be inserting myself.” I smirk. “We could find out.”

She doesn’t react. Not physically anyway, and she’s just far enough away mentally that I can’t get a read on her frame of mind.

“I wanted to explain myself.” I rub the back of my neck. “I…”

“I don’t really care.” She raises one shoulder. “I came to see about Saint. Not for you to make excuses.”

My brows lift. “Excuses.”

“Yes, Kade, excuses.”

She crosses and uncrosses her arms, then straightens. She goes to the railing, leaning her forearms on it and staring out at the waterfall. It’s an impressive sight. A force of nature.

Artemis, I mean, not the falls.

“It’s not an excuse.” I approach before she can run away. I won’t corner her or trap her, but damn it—she needs to listen. “It’s a reason. I owed Reese, and he was never going to fucking wake up. I knew Gabriel wouldn’t kill you.”

She laughs. “You know that, do you? What he did was so much worse than that.”

I stare at her.

I hadn’t considered that.

“Artemis…”

“No. Fuck off, Kade. Go on your killing spree, pin bodies to my club and Olympus, fight with the Hell Hounds. I’m so far done with all of this shit.”

I don’t know how to respond to that.

She faces me and reaches out. I don’t move. I don’t want to scare her away, but the thought of her touch has my heart thumping harder.

She yanks the collar of my shirt down, revealing the tattoo Saint gave me. The heavens and Earth separated by a marble pillar…

It’s very much inspired by Atlas.

Just what I asked for.

She sighs and releases it.

“I didn’t give him a choice,” I tell her.

“You always have a choice.”

There’s the hurt. It shines in her eyes, and the air leaves my lungs in a rush.

I hurt her, and Saint still…

She touches the ball of her shoulder, as if remembering something, and her expression closes. All of it leaves her, until she’s just staring at the rushing water.

“You and him should talk,” I say.

“Talk or argue.”

I nudge her. “You’re a good debater. Surely you’re not afraid of getting into it with Saint?”

“He just makes things bigger than they are. And I’m tired.”

I nod like I understand. I’m not in her shoes, though. I can’t understand shit from over here.

I hold out my hand. “I don’t want to be your enemy, Artemis.”

She glances down at it, then up at my face. “You’re with Gabriel. And he…”

Her eyes fill with tears. They spill over, and I reach for her. Like she reached for me. But she doesn’t swat me away or move back.

She lets me catch her tears with my fingers.

“Don’t cry.”

There’s something in me that demands I protect her in all the ways I couldn’t. Against my better judgment, I pull her into my chest and wrap my arms around her.

It takes a long moment, but she carefully hugs me back.

I breathe in her floral scent. Dip my head to let my nose brush her hair. Inhale.

I don’t want to exhale.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “It won’t happen again.”

She sniffs. “I don’t believe you.”

That stings. But I can’t make her trust me… it’s got to be earned.

And I want that.

“I’ll prove it to you.”

She slowly extricates herself.

“Gabriel is the problem.” Her words are more for herself than me. She looks me up and down, seeming to decide something, and slowly nods. “I’ll see you around, Kade.”

“Yes, you will.”

I watch her go.

Then I head to Bobby’s boat, parked back at the marina, because I’m starving. And there’s nothing left to do today except mourn how much I fucked things up.