Page 112 of Warrior

Come on, Saint, fucking think harder.

I snap my fingers.

Wesley Graves.

He’s better known as Kronos. Or, he was before I killed him last year. So… what kind of connection does this guy have to Kronos? Besides the last name.

Cousin?

Father?

Son?

Brother?

Kade said I should join these fuckers and protect Antonio—but if this Graves guy knows I killed Kronos, then I think I’m in more danger than even Kade realized.

29ARTEMIS

“Let me help you.”Reese kneels beside me.

How long has he been here?

He carefully takes the syringe from my fingers. He slides the discarded cap back on it and tosses it in the trash, then returns to my side with a wad of toilet paper. He holds it to the crook of my arm with one hand, supporting the back of my head with his other.

“Stay awake.” His low voice conveys the order, but also concern?

I don’t know why he’d be concerned.

I’m fine.

“Artemis.”

I focus on Reese. We’re standing. Moving. Our footsteps are mere whispers across the tile. I wrap my arm around his waist because I can’t really feel my legs, and I’m not sure how I’m walking. Everything is coated in honey. He gets me out of the bathroom and down the hall. My eyes shut, and the next thing I know, we’re in his truck. He’s got my seat belt buckled around me, and my fingers dig into my thighs.

“Talk to me,” he says. “How bad is it?”

The urge to lie, to downplay it, surges through me.

Not bad, I almost say, but the words don’t come.

He found me on the floor of a dirty bathroom, shooting up heroin like my life depended on it. I’m sure when this floating sensation leaves, I’ll give a shit. I’ll probably be embarrassed. The worst part is, the rush wasn’t as good as I was hoping. Imagining. It hit me hard enough to feel, and it took away the pain just like Gabriel said it would.

But…

But.

There’s another part of me that wants more. I want adrenaline and euphoria. I want to feel like I can orgasm from a single swipe of a finger across my nipple.

I don’t.

That’s not to say it isn’t good, but it’s far closer to what I’d imaginenormalfeels like. If normal means I can barely keep my eyes open and my skin tingles.

Reese takes me far, far away. The window is open a crack. The cool night air flows over me, sweeps through my hair and lifts strands from my heated neck. I lean my forehead against the glass, groaning at how cool it is on my fevered skin.

The stars are out tonight, but there’s also something else.

Smoke, a little voice in my head whispers. The smoke from an earlier fire… or maybe it’s still burning? I don’t know how long it took for Kade’s house to burn out, all I know is that he didn’t call the fire department. It didn’t leap houses, it just consumed what I meant it to.

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