Page 6 of Warrior

Gabriel lounges on the wall across from another hall. A thick black curtain hangs halfway up that one, blocking my view of what’s beyond. There’s another man with him, a Cyclops who has no problem getting bloody. He’s recognizable even with the bandana pulled up over the lower half of his face.

“I came to put an end to this,” I say.

I don’t bother to refute thebrotherstatement.

Gabriel and I are not related—but some days, it feels like we may as well be. Forces outside of our control pushed us together, and while we don’t see eye to eye most of the time, there’s a familial bond that was created out of devastation.

And desperation.

A wild gleam enters his eyes at my statement, and he straightens slowly. He’s unarmed, as far as I can tell. The same cannot be said of the other man, whose gaze bounces back and forth between us with sudden uncertainty.

He’s not sure who to follow.

When we were set loose on this city, it was to cause an upheaval. To secure our position in West Falls, then push east. The bounties we were promised…

Well, I suppose I should’ve paid more attention to what Gabriel wanted. He figured out what I was after and then realized I had Artemis.

Not that I ever had her—but his perception of it was enough for him to move against me.

It was a trade. Artemis for Reese.

But now, that seems unfair. Unfair when I slid the needle into Reese’s IV port and watched the drug be injected into his vein. Unfair when his body immediately began to respond, but I couldn’t force myself to stay and watch him wake.

The important thing, though, is that he did.

“You don’t even want to know what our experiment is?” Gabriel bares his teeth. “It’s a little tough love for my nemesis.”

“I don’t understand.”

I am painfully aware that Saint and Reese will be growing impatient at this conversation. That at any moment, they could round the corner.

Gabriel sighs and kicks his foot into the floor. “You’re no fun, Kade. I’m not going to kill her. No, no, no. That’s not enough suffering.”

“And whatisenough suffering?”

He brightens. “She’s not doing so hot in there, brother. She’s bleeding out, in pain… but the true agony will be watching the man she looks up to as a father kill himself in front of her.”

Fuck.

Antonio. The stern Italian man’s features flash in front of my face, and I take a step forward. The man is loved by more than just Artemis.

Right now, the Cyclopes have a foothold in Sterling Falls, but it’s not stable by any means. We’ve managed to stay under the radar of the Olympians, and I fully believe that’s the only reason we’ve come as far as we have.

One wrong move, and we lose it.

What will happen if Jace King mobilizes before we’re ready? If the Hell Hounds strike?

It suddenly occurs to me that Artemis being attacked, not once but twice in West Falls, wasn’t an accident.

It was Gabriel.

I lunge forward and grab him by the front of his shirt. I drag him toward me, our chests bumping. He’s leaner than I am, and shorter, but his expression is no less vicious.Or gleeful.

“What do you think will happen when one of the most beloved men comes up dead? How long do you think it would take them to carve us out of Sterling Falls before we have roots?” I don’t have to say more.

His expression shutters, closing down, and he sighs.

“Fine. Go in there and try to save the day. He’s probably already dead.”

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