This isn’t quite trauma… but maybe it would be good to get away.
I can’t even face Antonio like I am. Haven’t admitted to anyone my issue, didn’t do a thing to get help. Not from my brother, Saint, Kade, Antonio… the list goes on. There are so many people Icould’vereached out to, and yet, I am totally alone.
Especially as I nod to Reese and climb onto Bobby’s boat.
He follows.
I glance back at him, but he just scowls. Like I’d be a fool to think he would let me travel alone.
“This isn’t forever,” he assures me.
Bobby hands us life jackets and points to where we can sit. I strap it on and fiddle with the buckles, while Reese takes the seatacross from me. Bobby makes quick work of freeing us from the dock and firing up the engines.
We drift out a foot, then two, and Bobby puts the engine in gear. The water churns at the stern, and we pick up speed. I shiver.
“It can’t be forever,” I finally reply. “With Gabriel and Kade?—”
“The town isn’t as important as you,” he interrupts. “I know you care. I know there’s a lot at stake. But I’d rather you be alive and sober.Healthy. If I could stay with you, I absolutely would.”
“How did you arrange this—or when?”
He sighs. “You slept for a bit after I put you in the truck. I asked Kade who could get us out of the city.”
“And Kade was more than happy to help?”
He frowns. “He gave me Bobby’s number, but he didn’t want to know anything else. Yes, he was happy to help. I think he and Gabriel have some sort of… pact? About the two of us.”
Great. I don’t remember falling asleep, but there are lags in my memory. Time gaps. Going from leaving the bathroom to being buckled into my seat.
I nod slowly and turn my gaze to the open water.
No one stops us. No one shouts out. It seems like all the efforts of the Cyclopes have left the marina wide open.
Either that, or Kade paved the path for us. And knowing that Reese asked Kade for help, I fear it’s more than likely the case.
Which begs the question… do I owe Kade for making this easy? Or is he simply trying to right a previous betrayal?
I reach for Reese. He moves to my side and takes my hand, wrapping his free arm around my shoulders.
We stay like that until we lose sight of land.
30KADE
Gabriel inches up beside me,smirking to himself. He sometimes seems so sane, and then it all just vanishes in an instant. Like the sanity is a mask, and sometimes he can’t help but drop it.
Sometimes I consider it to be the reverse—that he’s actually a rational person, but he can’t let anyone get too close to him. So he acts mad, and his antics keep everyone at arms’ distance.
“You got Artemis and Reese out?” I confirm, because it bears asking a second time. Or third. I already know based on Reese’s text.
They had to leave Sterling Falls. It was logic on Reese’s part, although I assume Artemis fought him on it. But as soon as he asked for a path out…
Bobby was ready and waiting. They’re in my speedboat, but I trust the eccentric man to captain it well. He’ll bring them wherever they need to go and return to Sterling Falls. But he has his orders: under no circumstances should he share where Artemis and Reese go.
I promised I’d kill him myself if that secret slipped.
Sterling Falls, though…
The pieces have been moved across the board, our traps set. The onlyaskfrom Gabriel and I was for those two. I don’t know if Gabriel wanted Artemis to be safe or to suffer, but it doesn’t matter.
