10. Kade
10 KADE
My head is slamming.
I run my finger around the edge of the glass, glancing up at the security camera in the corner of the bar.
It’s tiny. Incongruous, minus the blinking red dot.
It’s not meant to distract from the lushness of Bow & Arrow.
And this club is lush.
Luxurious .
Like Artemis Madden herself.
Golden skin, golden dress, dark hair that promises to be silky and full when I run my fingers through it.
Her amber eyes burned when she looked at me through her mask, and it stopped me dead because I knew those eyes.
I want to see them again.
“Can I get you another?” the pretty bartender asks.
I shake my head and toss money on the counter.
I’ve been here almost two hours, and nothing.
No amount of goading the camera— silently —or watching and waiting has done any good.
The bartender collects the money.
Her gaze lifts over my shoulder, her eyes widening just a fraction.
And then someone slides onto the stool beside me.
Not Artemis.
I glance at him, only to find his attention already on me.
Dark-tanned skin, dark eyes.
His features are similar to Artemis.
If I block off his head, replacing it with a deer skull mask…
“Apollo Madden.” I rest my elbow on the bar and face him.
The name was a guess, but if Artemis wasn’t named in irony, I’d bet her brother wasn’t either.
He narrows his eyes.
I, on the other hand, smile.
Years of masking my true feelings have trained me how to wear a mask of my own—all the time.
I want to yell at Artemis for being a coward, for not coming here herself.
She must’ve seen me and sent her brother to deal with me.
“Kade Laurent,” Apollo replies.
“Age twenty-seven. Last known address, an apartment on Silver Street in Emerald Cove. Shitty little one-bedroom, from the sounds of it. Your landlord was quite eager to talk, however. Said you hadn’t been around in a few months, that she let the apartment go to someone else when you stopped paying rent.”
The more he talks, the straighter my spine gets.
He’s done his research.
And while I’ve been hell-bent on finding Reese, I find myself on uneven footing.
Which means it’s time to call it a night.
“I get it,” I tell him.
“She’s sending me a message.”
He raises one eyebrow.
“She’s not sending you anything.”
I don’t believe that.
But still, I rise. He follows me to the exit of the club, where there’s a line of people waiting to enter.
I cross the street and climb into my SUV.
The windows are blacked out, and once the doors are shut, I let out a long breath.
My body is still bruised from my fight two days ago.
Every time I move, there’s a delicious pain that hugs my rib cage.
Jumping off that fucking cliff didn’t help.
I eye the doorway again.
Apollo still stands there, his hands in his pockets like he’s got nothing to worry about.
I take the hint, though, and start the car.
The engine purrs, and I shoot away from the club.
Bow & Arrow.
Getting back to my rented house takes only minutes, and I park in the driveway and hop out smoothly.
The house is dark and locked up tight.
The air smells like the ocean, and it would otherwise be silent if not for the crashing waves behind the house.
Artemis had a physical response to being here…
I glance around. I chose this not because it was affordable—frankly, I don’t give a shit about that—but because of the glass.
The realtor told me the owners recently remodeled, and they included essentially one large wall of glass facing the water.
I leave the lights off and cross through the house.
I haven’t brought in much furniture.
There were barstools at the kitchen counter.
I hauled in a cot and sleeping bag.
A lamp sits on the floor upstairs beside it.
Apollo spoke the truth about my Emerald Cove apartment.
It was a shithole above a 24/7 convenience store.
The woman who owned the store leased the building from an out-of-state company, but the guys who collected rent were…
well, I don’t think they operated wholly on the right side of the law.
Emerald Cove was just another hiccup on the road to find Reese Avery.
My gut twists, his face flashing in my mind.
It wasn’t a leap to assume that if he went to Emerald Cove, his next stop would be Sterling Falls.
The stories he told…
There’s a reason he’s here.
I glance at the folder on the counter.
I tried to ply Artemis with it, for her to help me.
She’s known in this town as someone who fixes things.
Who solves problems. The people I talked to spoke about her with reverence—but not fear.
It makes her a target.
It makes her valuable.
Reverence can be manipulated far easier than fear.
Sure, her brother and his two friends are talked about in similar regard, but I never found it easy to play nice with other men.
Not when they think they own the town.
That just doesn’t sit right with me.
Arrogance isn’t to be rewarded.
Leaving the house behind, I kick off my shoes and shed my clothes.
I make a beeline for the water, enjoying the push of breaking waves against my shins, then my thighs.
My hips. When I’m deep enough, I dive under an oncoming wave and swim out.
I’m going to find you, Reese .
And Artemis is going to help me. Willing or not.