Page 111 of Warrior

Jeffrey Thompson, the mayor, who has always held a sham position in Sterling Falls.

The Sterling Falls University president and two of his colleagues.

“Go join them,” Kade says from behind me.

I glance back. “Where is Artemis?”

And Reese?

“Gone.” He tips his head. “Part of the deal. They’re separate from this.”

And I’m not.

He steps forward. “Go stand with Antonio. You think Artemis would break if he died? Then protect him.”

There’s a silent plead there, I think, although it’s hard to tell by his tone.

Either way, I’m not going to fight it. My arousal sufficiently doused, I go down to the bottom floor and make a beeline for Antonio. The older man’s eyebrows hike slightly at the sight of me, but I shake my head.

Both in not knowing where Artemis is, besidesgone, and what’s happening.

I know most of the people in this room.

The only ones missing are Jace, Wolfe, and Apollo, and then Artemis and Reese.

And Gabriel, although I have a feeling he’s lurking somewhere.

“I met him,” Antonio says, just loud enough for me to hear over the music.

I jerk to attention. “Who? Kade?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “Graves.”

The music pouring from the speakers stops. It was loud—but now my ears faintly ring with how silent it is. I glance at Antonio, not liking this a single bit.

Graves. The name sounds vaguely familiar, in the way an old friend’s sibling’s name might be. I can’t immediately place it, though. And it isn’t until a collective murmur bleeds through the crowd around us that I realize Kade has made himself visible on the landing.

Gabriel stands beside him.

They’re dressed similarly. All in black, bandanas slung around their necks. Their men around us, now that they’re closer up, all have the X tattooed over one eye. The upper lines cut through their eyebrows, and the bottom points end just above their cheekbones.

A sign of fealty?

Cyclopes.

One-eyed monsters.Giants amongst men.

It’s kind of ironic that their name choice indicates single-mindedness. That, in Greek mythology, while the monsters were great, they were also aggressive. They lacked focus.

Somehow, I don’t think Kade and Gabriel met and decided to form a gang.

No… this is something else.

Graves?

Graves.

Graves.

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