Page 120 of Allegiance

When he held up his finger, ordering a beer, Calyx saw him and nodded.

Only, he didn’t get time to watch her effortlessly move around behind the bar.

No.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t alone.

Damn.

It.

A very familiar figure appeared and decided that she wanted to join him.

So she slid into the booth.

“Well, Remmy, imagine meeting you here,” she said, as she got comfy.

Artemis Dubois.

Well, fuckity.

The last spook he wanted to tangle with was this one. She made him cranky.

Apparently, even thinking about her opened a hole in some cesspool, letting the wicked out.

Yeah, he’d done it.

He’d summoned a wicked bitch.

Of course, that was his luck.

“What do you want, Artie?” he asked, knowing his cover there was now blown, and he suspected it wasn’t accidental.

Artemis did nothing without there being some sort of intent.

She prided herself on a few things.

Her cunning.

Her evasive skills.

And that she was named after a Goddess.

Honestly, he really suspected that she believed herself to be above the law.

But as he’d learned, none of them were.

She shared.

“I was meeting a client and saw you sneak in. How’s your face?” she asked.

When he looked up, she saw the scar that had healed but left a mark on his cheek.

“I remember how much you valued your pretty boy face,” she said, busting his ass. “Looks like you’re just as ugly as the rest of us.”

He didn’t miss a beat.

“No one could be as ugly as you, Artemis. That black soul lurks behind your attractiveness.”