Page 118 of Hell’s Weapon

“Do you know if they have any kind of location tracker on you?”

Another shake of his head.

“Wouldn’t Dom have felt something when he saved Milo if there was a tracker placed on him?” Tacita asks.

I think for a moment before answering. “If it’s the kinds of trackers we use, yes, I’m sure he would’ve felt the magic. But this seems to be different. If it’s all telepathic I have no idea what kind of signature it would leave, if any.”

“They’ve seen our surroundings, they made me show them all the buildings, and saw the first game where we hiked here,” Milo signs.

“So they may have figured out the location, but they’d need a damn good map of Elysium to figure it out exactly.”

“How they know doesn’t matter,” Wyatt cuts in. “The point is, how do we stop them?”

“You don’t,” I tell him frankly. “You’re a contestant here. You’re human.”

“I’m a dragon now, dickhead.”

“Only so long as you keep taking those potions. You’re not fully turned yet. And I’ve seen you fly. You’re not ready for combat.”

“Fuck you. I–”

“Hey!” Tacita interrupts. We all give her our attention. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. Garrick, we need to get your team up to speed. We need to get prepared.” She points at me as she chastises me, right before ripping her top over her head.

“You can tell me to do anything if you’re going to get more naked.” Wyatt’s eyes heat as he roams the skin now on show. Idiot.

But when she also removes the leggings, I can’t help my gaze zeroing in on the line of her ass. My mouth salivates with wanting to shove her onto the bed and pull those thighs apart. Maybe I’m an idiot too.

With an eyeroll Tacita shoves through us and opens the wardrobe, pulling out her gear. “Males,” she huffs as she comes back to the bed, sitting on it to sort her clothing and starting to pull the skintight garments on, transforming herself into the Death Bringer.

I clear my throat. “Are you planning on addressing my team with me?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind. You’ll need me as the Death Bringer when this fight comes to our doorstep,” she answers as she laces up the Oni leather vest and puts on the cuffs in the same material.

Milo reaches forward to get her attention, “You’re going to fight?”

“It’s going to be the only way to stop them,” she answers him.

Nineteen turns ashen. Did he expect we’d all sit round a table and solve this diplomatically? At his reaction, I wonder whether he should be here at all. Did the Angels somehow fabricate his past? Because he sure doesn’t have the bloodlust like the rest of the candidates for the games have–a quality we require for the jobs we tend to offer.

“They’ll hurt you,” Milo signs as Tacita starts to plait and hide her hair.

“Pfft. I’d like to see them try, she scoffs, before adding much more gently. “I’ve fought them a few times across the centuries, they’re skilled but I’m better. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“We have to call Hades,” I say, pulling on my own uniform now.

“Let me handle Hades,” Tacita replies defensively, as she attaches her hood to her clothing.

“He needs to know. We need him when this comes to blows.”

“I know, but it needs to come from me, to protect Milo.”

“You think you can sway Hades to not punish him?”

“I have a plan, yes.”

“Fine, I’ll leave it to you.” Tacita pauses before coming towards me and surprising me by slamming her lips to mine. The kiss is quick but explosive, her tongue wrapping around mine once before she retracts. “Thank you, I thought I was going to waste much more time convincing you.”

I simply stare down at her. We may argue playfully when the situation allows, and irritate the fuck out of one another on purpose just to wind the other up, but this situation is serious and she has centuries of experience and training. I might not be that much younger than her but she outranks me when it comes to our Lord.