He goes around the room, cleaning and disinfecting in the wake of his last appointment, and I just… I watch him because I don’t know what else to do.
What am I supposed to do?
“She keeps leaving,” I say in a low voice. “She barely gets back before you. She locks herself away in her room. We watched a fucking horror movie, and she didn’t flinch once?—”
“Maybe you’re just a pussy,” Saint mutters.
“Maybe you’re oblivious because you feel guilty for how you treat her.”
No, that’s not quite right. The hunch of his shoulders tells me I’m almost there, though.
“You feel guilty for liking her,” I guess.
He cringes.
We talked about Nyx. The great love he lost. He detailed it one night after Artemis went to bed, drinking whiskey and commiserating about our pasts. Although it started as a game of one-upping the other, I quickly shut up and let him rattle on about her.
All about Nyx—Elora, he called her. Her real name. Their love and her death, played out for me in drunken whispers. When he told Jace King—Hades, I learned—that he wanted todie, Jace came up with a solution. One that involved Nyx’s best friend, Artemis.
A year and some change later, Saint Hart is still stuck.
Still grieving, still contemplating dying. But in the abstract…
At least, that’s what he tells me.
I thought Saint would feel guilty for living with Artemis. For treating her like garbage formonths.
But, no.
He treats her that way because he fucking likes her, but he loves a dead girl and can’t quite let that one go.
How fucked up is that?
“That doesn’t give you the right to treat her like shit,” I admonish softly. “Especially after what we’ve been through.”
His nod is disjointed. Up, pause, down.
Then an admission: “I tattooed Kade… and I told her yesterday morning.”
EvenIwince. “You’re a fucking asshole.”
How long will he choose literally anyone else over her?
Kade picked me.
Saint chose Kade.
Fuck them. I stride out of the shop, irrationally angry. No, no—I’m rationally angry. On behalf of Artemis Madden, I’d like to give the middle finger to Saint Hart and Kade Laurent.
They both fucked up. I did years ago… I learned my lesson.
I won’t make the same mistake.
Gabriel
You promised me a little chitchat.
How did you get my number?
