Page 36

“You might be wondering who I am and why my men have gathered you here.”

The man looks around carefully from his position above us.

He wears a black suit. His white shirt is partially hidden under the buttoned jacket, and a slim black tie is knotted at his throat.

He gives off regal vibes in the strangest of ways.

Like he has any right to stand in Tem’s club as if he owns it.

The mayor scoffs from the other side of the crowd. “Gathered? That’s a nice way to put it. Your men rounded us up?—”

A Cyclops jabs him in the back with the butt of his gun. The mayor staggers forward, then glares back at the man who struck him.

A chill rushes through me.

The man above, standing to the side of Kade and Gabriel, is closer to Antonio’s age than ours.

His hair is mostly dark, perfectly styled with a single curl hanging down in the middle of his forehead.

He reminds me of a 1950’s rock star. Somewhere between attractive and average, but the magnetism is hard to miss.

The one above us continues as if there wasn’t an interruption. “You can call me Ouranos. And I am here to save Sterling Falls.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. I like Greek mythology. Studied up on it quite a bit when I was first starting to make masks for Olympus. Ouranos is the father of the Titans, but he seems too young to be Kronos’ father.

Brother, then?

“We’re fine on our own, thanks,” one of the aldermen calls.

Ouranos cocks his head. “You call this fine ?”

He leaves the staircase landing and heads down. Kade remains immobile, but Gabriel follows behind him. I meet Kade’s gaze. Any heat or passion is gone, replaced with a cold facade.

At least, I hope it’s a mask and not the truth of him.

Ouranos reaches the dance floor and strides toward the alderman. There are four of them here, including Nadine Bradshaw. I only know one who’s out of town…

“Is fine all you hope for Sterling Falls, Baron?” Ouranos questions.

Alderman Baron—whose name I didn’t know, and certainly didn’t expect him to know—gapes. He’s more shocked than me.

Antonio’s hand wraps around my wrist.

“Fine is not a benchmark of success. Fine is a failure.”

Up close, I can make out the silver hairs at his temple. His face is clean-shaven, like Gabriel and Kade. His jaw is steep, his face narrower than what might be classically handsome, and his nose has a bump just after the bridge it that makes him stand out.

“Hold him,” Ouranos says softly.

Two of his men grab the alderman from behind, one on each arm. They were there too fast, almost anticipating their boss’s order. Or perhaps not trusting the Sterling Falls’ native to behave. Baron immediately struggles, yanking to no avail.

“You are a failure to this town.” He lifts his chin, and they shove Baron to his knees. One of them offers a handgun, which Ouranos takes.

Antonio’s grip crushes my wrist. I grasp at him back, my body tensing.

The gunshot is not unexpected, but it is jarring. I shield Antonio with my body, half turning away. If there was any hope that this was a ruse, it’s now gone.

Baron drops, released by the Cyclopes holding him.

Ouranos hands his weapon to one of them, producing a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiping each finger individually.

He moves through the crowd. I keep Antonio behind me, but everyone shifts out of his way. Not a single person seems to be able to meet his gaze.

He stops in front of Nathan Bradshaw.

The sheriff has never been my favorite person, but right now, I’d prefer he live to see another day. He’s in his uniform, although his hat is missing.

“Sheriff Bradshaw,” Ouranos says. “You seem to have deals with everyone in this town.”

Nathan straightens.

“Loyalty test,” Antonio breathes.

Great.

“Tell me. Who do you trust more? Kade Laurent or me?”

The sheriff eyes him, then shakes his head slowly. “Couldn’t say, sir.”

Ouranos laughs, then claps his hands. “ Sir , I love that. Such respect already? What have I done to deserve such a thing?”

Bradshaw glances down at the blood speckled across his white shirt.

“Ah. Murder bends your will? Not money.” He looks pointedly up at Kade, still on the landing. “Money is attractive to you, isn’t it, Sheriff?”

He grunts.

“Well, let me tell you all something.” His gaze sharpens. “I will not pay you to be on my side. You either are, or you won’t be leaving this room. And that applies to you all. Sterling Falls’ bold leaders and businessmen.”

I think I’m here by mistake. The only thing that keeps me focused is that Kade said to protect Antonio. And the older man was led into this room by the Cyclopes, which means he was rounded up.

He’s included in this.

Ouranos stares down the sheriff until the latter breaks it. His gaze drops to his feet, and he mumbles something too low for me to hear.

“Good,” Ouranos says. “Please know, Sheriff, that I don’t believe a word out of your mouth. But it’s no matter. There are always weak points.”

He nods, and a Cyclops shoves the sheriff’s sister forward by her hair. He pushes her toward Nathan, stopping just out of his reach.

“Now.” Ouranos holds his hand out for the gun again. “Who do you trust more? Me, or your sister?”

The sheriff blanches.

“Do you trust me not to kill her?” he continues. “Or do you trust that she’ll survive?”

“I— you ,” he says.

“I want you to remember this moment when you consider going against me,” Ouranos says. “Nadine. An alderman. Alder woman ? I must say, I don’t know what’s politically correct. Correctness when in terms of politics doesn’t hold my interest.”

She nods, but her whole body trembles.

“Oh dear.” He rubs her upper arm. “Did that frighten you?”

She continues nodding.

“Ah. Sensitive soul.” He glances at her brother again. “I don’t think it would take much at all to make you scream. Gabriel?”

Gabriel appears at his shoulder.

“Perhaps Nadine could test out that new cocktail,” Ouranos suggests. “And then her brother would surely come to heel.”

“No—” Bradshaw takes a big step forward, only to be blocked. “No, I’ll listen. I agreed.”

“Relax.” Ouranos keeps stroking Nadine’s arm. “She’ll be okay. It’s just to make her sleep.”

Gabriel seems to have come prepared. There’s a syringe in his hand, the cap off and needle tip catching the light as he pushes out a drop of liquid. He approaches Nadine, whose chin wobbles.

Did Artemis look at him like this? With such fear?

My stomach twists, and I risk a glance at Antonio.

He was there—he witnessed Gabriel’s cruelty first-hand.

The room is completely silent as the Cyclops manhandling her straightens her arm away from her body. Gabriel slides her sweater up, and his body blocks what he does next.

Inject her, I can only imagine.

“Don’t…” she says weakly.

They release her.

She staggers, then goes to her knees. Gabriel falls with her, cupping her cheeks.

“Sweet dreams, Alderman,” he coos. “We’ll talk about it when you wake up.”

When she falls unconscious, mayhem erupts.

A few bolt for the main exit. I grab Antonio and haul him with me into one of the many hallways.

Like fuck are we going to be put through some loyalty test.

A gunshot rings out, then another.

Bloodbath.

“Faster,” I grunt at him.

The nightclub manager, Sam, is with us, as is the chef. I don’t know what happened to the two bouncers.

“There,” Antonio wheezes, jerking my arm to the left.

There’s a service door his waitresses use when things need restocking. I yank it open and shove him in ahead of me, then Sam. Artemis would probably kill me if I left her. I push the door open wider for the chef, still coming down the hall, when a Cyclops spots us.

He shoots without hesitation.

The chef screams and falls.

Fuck .

I slam the door shut and lock it. I have to—it’s that or we’ll all be caught.

Antonio and Sam are halfway down this hall, waiting for me, and Sam lets out a choked moan when no one follows.

“He got shot,” I tell her. “We need to get out of here.”

The real question: did they surround the outside of the building in anticipation of escapees?

I pull my gun and check that it’s loaded. I keep it out, pointed at the floor. My finger is straight along the barrel, and it’ll stay there until I see something worth shooting at.

But for now, we’re alone.

We make it to the door that exits into the alley, only to find chains looped around the handles. A fat padlock holds it shut.

I hesitate. “I could shoot it, but it would definitely draw attention.”

Sam and Antonio trade a glance, and Antonio finally nods. “There’s another exit through Terror. It goes under the building beside Bow & Arrow.”

Fuck it. “Let’s do it.”

We hurry to the entrance to Terror. My skin crawls as soon as the metal doors shut behind us. Tem’s stories merge with what I’m seeing, and it brings this place to life in a very visceral way.

My heart aches for her.

She got out . I hold on to that and follow Antonio and Sam. Our pace isn’t fast, but only our footsteps sound in the empty space ahead and behind us.

As we travel, I turn my attention to Ouranos.

“How did you know his name?” I suddenly ask Antonio.

The older man stiffens.

“Come on,” I press. “He doesn’t strike me as the sort to introduce himself one way to you and another to everyone else.”

He sighs. “Fine. It was a long time ago, understand, but he still resembles the boy he was.”

“You knew him before?”

“His name is Marcus Graves. He’s a judge in Emerald Cove. His appointment was a big deal… news traveled even to us in Sterling Falls. To those who paid attention anyway. The district he was appointed to covers both cities. It made sense to remember his name… in case.”

Sam bites her lip. “He presided over some of the Terror stuff.”

My steps lurch. “Excuse me?”

“Not everyone was killed, you know. The takedown was partially an inside job by the Hell Hounds—it seemed to be a scandal at the time, since Terror was also funded by them—but I remember him from testifying against some of the guards.”

Antonio nods slowly. “I would’ve had to testify, too, but Artemis kept me away from it.”

I squeeze his hand, then hers. I’m not sure who I am, being Mr. Sentimental, but it seems to help steady both of them. I have no idea of Sam’s history—but if she had to testify, it means she’s no stranger to this place.

“I’m sure she wanted to protect you. Now let me. We need to keep moving.”

It takes almost ten minutes to reach the heavy metal door. Unlike the Bow & Arrow doors, this one isn’t blocked. I make them wait, spines pressed to the wall out of sight, and take the first two steps out into the open alleyway.

There’s no sound, no movement in the darkness.

“Hurry,” I whisper-yell.

We need to get out of here before they decide to search farther out from Bow & Arrow. If they care at all that we’ve escaped.