Page 100 of Warrior

“What?” I question.

“Antonio said something bad was going down at Bow & Arrow.” His attention shifts to Saint. “You guys armed?”

“Yes,” I respond. “He left Saint a voice message, but he just said something strange seemed to be happening.”

“Because he couldn’t reach anyone,” Reese retorts.

He drives faster than I’ve experienced from him, flying toward North Falls. I hurry to buckle my seat belt. Saint takes over before I can click it in, securing mine first and then his.

“You talked to him?” Saint asks Reese. “What did he say?”

“Something about the Cyclopes.”

A chill skates down my spine.

Saint and I trade a look. There’s an obvious connection between the Cyclopes, Gabriel, and Kade. So who’s running them toward North Falls? That section of town, historically touristy, has been neutral for decades. Gangs stay away because it brings money in, and their activity would scare the crowds away.

But as we move toward winter, something in me alarms that the new gang doesn’t really give a shit about previous rules.

“I need to call my brother,” I whisper.

Saint nods and wordlessly hands me his phone. I hold on to it for a long moment, then shake my head. He can’t always come straight to my rescue, right? Apollo has always done that for me. With Wolfe and Jace, they’ve done their best to protect me from every bump in the night.

It’s just their way. They knew my past—they were there to receive me when Apollo brought me back to the Hell Hounds’compound, after all—and they’ve always been careful to steer both the Titans and Hell Hounds away from human trafficking.

They didn’t tolerate it because ofme.

But their attention couldn’t remain locked on it. At the time, they were under Wolfe’s father’s thumb. They were teenagers… we all were. And because their lives were dictated by someone else, I was left on my own for a lot of the time.

Hidden away, even.

That was a dark time. I’ll admit—I spiraled. I didn’t know what I had done to deserve it, I was grappling with my parents’ role in it and also survivor’s guilt. While I got out, and everyone else in that outpost location, the boys and girls in Terror were still there.

After, when Terror was dismantled, the building sat empy for almost two years.

Until I bought it. And transformed it.

But did I really? Or did I just put a pretty mask over it?

Reese finds my hand and squeezes my fingers. I don’t know how he knows I need it, but I cling to him and focus on reality. The truck, the wind slipping in through his open windows, the increasing smell of smoke.

“Did you see a fire on your way over?” Saint jars me from my thoughts.

Reese dips his chin. “Before Antonio called me. A line of fire trucks was parked at the top of Main Street, redirecting traffic away. A guy told me to keep moving.”

He doesn’t sound confident in that.

“Why would fire trucks be parked away from an active fire? He gave some bullshit answer about a house fire getting too close to a gas line.”

Saint scoffs. “An underground gas line?”

“The last time that happened…”

Well, a fire started in the basement of a house right near Sterling Falls University. They couldn’t really save it then either, but I think that was more due to the arson than anything else.

“Let’s figure out what’s going on at Bow & Arrow, first,” Reese mutters. He suddenly straightens. “Wait.”

“What?” Saint questions.

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