Page 113 of Rattle the Cage

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you… scared?”

“No.” She puffed up her chest, quickly narrowing her wide eyes. But the flush in her cheeks and the set of her jaw didn’t lie.

“Oh my god, Nash!” Once I started laughing, I couldn’t stop, which only worsened Nash’s blushing.

“Okay, go ahead, laugh it up.” She tightened her grip on my hand, marching us around the corner to a more desolate block.

“I mean, it’s kind of funny,” I wheezed, trotting to keep up with her.

“Is it?”

“You hunt people for a living! You wear creepy clown masks for fun! You live in an abandoned amusement park, for fuck’s sake!”

Nash scrubbed a palm over her face. “None of that shit’s scary, Tess.”

“No?” I sucked in a deep breath, trying to control my laughter. “Why not?”

“That stuff’s my real life. In Feverpoint, I’m the monster.”

My skin prickled as the words left her lips. Even after seeing what she did in her mask, it was hard to think of my sweet Nash as a monster. But I’m sure the sick fucks the Oracle loosed into the park would beg to differ.

She shook her head. “What really scares me is what other people are capable of. Hurting innocent people. Killing without a cause. What we deliver is Justice. But some people are just in it for the thrill of being the villain. And you never know where those sickos might be waiting for their next victim.”

I tilted my head with a pout. It wasn’t a perspective I’d really considered before. But it wouldn’t be the first time that Nash had changed how I viewed the world. “I see what you mean…”

Looking up at her nervous expression, all I wanted to do was pull Nash into a hug — to be her protector, for once.

But before I got the chance, the group chat pinged with a new text.

Background on the podcaster is ready. Meet at Tracer’s ASAP.

Cyrus

55

CYRUS

I couldn’t look away from the ticking hands on my Rolex.

How fucking long does it take to walk across town?

Rapping my fingers along the roof of the Vanquish, I stared into the darkness. Nash and Tess should have been here a while ago.

Tracer would be waiting inside the shop.

Instead of getting the vital information we needed to track the source of the DMT down, I was stuck standing on the curb, watching Blade climb up a streetlight. She wrapped her long limbs around the post and shimmied up until she reached the long arm at the top that held the bright light.

Dangling there, she let her body swing.

Shaking my head, I watched her legs rocking.

“Land-ho!” Blade laughed as the sound of footsteps came from the darkness. Dropping down, Blade landed with a thud.

When they appeared in the light, my jaw tightened. Nash had her arm wrapped around Tess’s shoulders, big smiles on both of their faces.

“About time.” I hissed, turning away from them before they could see the disappointment on my face.

Sure, I’d apologized. And Tess and I had spent some… time together. But I craved more. I hungered to have her to myself, to show her the way she made me feel. Every fucking ounce of it.