Page 80 of Hell’s Weapon

There’s movement on one of the cameras and both our attentions are taken by the first Officer hauling in one of the second floor residents.

“Looks like we need to get back to work,” I say and go to move off Garrick’s lap.

His hands fly to my sides, stopping me before I manage to move more than an inch.

“We can watch like this,” he says matter of factly.

I look down at him once more, my breath catching as the emotion now shining in his eyes is so potent that I get a bit hypnotised.

Hope.

He has hope that this is going to work out.

I remain in his lap and we watch the guards question the contestants.

Chapter 26

Garrick

Tacita dresses as midnight approaches, needing to return to the dormitories. A couple of the contestants are still being questioned in the cells. We had the usual mix of anger, frustration and quiet compliance but none of them had given us anything useful. Yet.

We’ll give those who were being challenging several hours to stew before the second round begins, and I’m going to start implementing some incentives.

Pulling on my uniform as well, I decide I can leave the monitors for a few minutes to walk Tacita out. She’ll need to change back into her contestants scrubs, which she’s no doubt left in my office.

“You can use my room if you want. It might be safer for you to keep sneaking back and forth.”

Her lips tug upwards. “Is that your way of getting me into bed?”

“I think I’ve already proven I don’t need a bed when it comes to you.” I feel myself grinning back.

She walks back into my waiting arms and I have a moment of feeling disconnected from my body. A surrealism so stark that I have to close my eyes to shake it off. I think I’ve just entered into a relationship with the Death Bringer and as she wraps her arms around my waist, I need a moment to catch my breath.

The last few weeks have been filled with anger and hatred towards her. Seeing her with them after we fucked in my office had sent me down a dark hole. Only now do I see that the hate was possibly jealousy.

And those feelings are still present, but they’re being extinguished as I process the last few hours.

“Hey, you okay?” she asks, concern filling her rich brown eyes. “You’re not regretting this already are you?”

“No,” I reassure her, pulling her body flush with mine. “This just feels…”

“Fast?” she provides when I fail to articulate the mash of emotions twisting in my chest.

“Yes, I guess.”

“I can see you overanalysing you know?” She chuckles.

“I don’t know how to react to you now.”

“No differently, Garrick,” she says softly. “I want you as you are.”

“But you irritated the fuck out of me.”

She laughs, it's such a sweet sound I want to bathe in it. “And don’t you think that was fun? I’ve got to admit, I’m liking this softer side of you. And I like the side when we’re working together. But I also like the side that tries to be dominant, the one that argues back and makes me want to stab you.”

My eyebrows shoot up as I move quickly, gathering her wrists and bringing them above her head as I shove her back into the wall. “What do you mean tries?”

Her laughter fills the room even louder, she doesn’t even try to escape my grip. Narrowing my eyes, I try my best to look menacing, even letting my throat shift so I can growl properly, but I fail, my lips betraying me by chuckling alongside her.