Page 90 of Martyr
“This truck is abandoned. They even left the windows down.”
“Fuck that, how many spiders do you think are in there?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“It’s a phobia. I can’t control it.”
A door creaks open. “I think this blanket has mold on it. Anything in the bed?”
“Fucking cobweb-covered boxes. Wait. Oh, fun, soggy bedding.”
“Ew. Look in another.”
There’s a sharp burst of static, then garbled voices on a radio. It’s too faint for me to pick up, and I have to resist the urge to creep closer. I know what it’s probably about.
“Nowwe can go have some fun. Let’s go.”
They make a hasty exit. I exhale and wipe the back of my hand on my forehead. I was sweating. But now, as the truck peels out making a quick U-turn, I allow myself to smile.
They fell for it.
I scramble back down, pausing in the tree line until the truck takes a sharp left into West Falls, then go straight for the truck bed. I climb into it and ignore all the boxes along the left side. People are inherently lazy—there was no way they’d go through all of them if the first few they touched were worthless.
The good stuff was in the center four, and I stack them up and carefully clamber down with them in my arms.
Then, I get to work.
39ARTEMIS
This might bethe most fun I’ve had in ages.
I’ll have to reevaluate my definition offunlater—but for now, as I hit the gas and my bike vibrates beneath me, I can’t help but smile.
No one will know.
It’s been for-fucking-eversince I’ve been on a bike, and it was fate that the repair shop was just two blocks down from Bow & Arrow. When Reese left to retrieve his truck, I took Saint and Kade down to the mechanic’s. It was all boarded up, metal grates pulled down over all the doors, but… well, he probably forgot he used to leave a spare key in a fake rock at the back of the building for me.
Because I used to regularly have issues with my bike. Or my brother’s. And the one thing Apollo wasveryfirm on? If I broke it, I was not going to use Hell Hound resources to fix it.
That’s how I found Jim.
I suspect Jim is long gone, but the key worked for the back door, and there was my bike. It was almost like Jim knew I’d be back for it at some point, because he left a freaking ribbon bow on the seat.
There were two more tucked away, but they seemed to be in working order, so we took those, too. Best-case scenario, they’re Jace’s and Wolfe’s bikes, and Jim just didn’t tag them.
Worst-case scenario, I will have to explain to some random Sterling Falls citizens that their bikes were used to liberate the city. And, uh, pay for further repairs if the bikes survive that long.
Anyway, it’s probably fine. The bikes started up easily. Kade tossed a sweatshirt at me before we left, and I put that on over the Kevlar. He and Reese did the same, upping ourinconspicuousvibes. I don’t know if the Cyclopes would give chase if they saw we were dressed for battle.
The excess fabric billows around me, the wind snatching at it with a fierceness that rivals our speed. I push the bike harder and will it to howl through the streets.
Saint and Kade peel away in opposite directions. We’ll stoke the fire as hot as we can—until we can’t anymore.
It doesn’t take long before I find a roadblock. It’s manned by armed men. There are concrete barriers in the road, creating a funnel for just one car at a time to go through—and only when they move their truck out of the way. Ah, well. Narrow enough for me.
I lean forward and gun it.
They shout and wave their guns, attempting to stop me.
