Page 134 of Hell’s Weapon

Of course.

I walk towards it just as another male demon slips through the door behind the reception desk. He’s taller than I am and built like a bull. I have no doubt he’s the security detail the young demon alerted.

They talk quietly as I wait, but I overhear everything as I shift my hearing. Indeed, the receptionist takes no time in relaying the scandal unfolding in the lobby. The Head of Tartarus is here to see the millionaire demoness in the penthouse. I’ll have to call our press contacts to make sure the rumours escalate no further.

The lift dings and my heart skips its next beat.

Then it falters altogether as the doors open, revealing my female in nothing but a silk robe. It's a floor length garment and has long wide sleeves with drapes of extra fabric. She’s not bothered to wrap it securely, a long slit running down between her breasts practically to her navel where the tie is barely cinched. She’s also propped a leg up against the back of the elevator wall causing the red silk to slit up her legs, miles of tan skin on show, including that fucking beautiful tattoo garland on her thigh.

Her horns are on display, framed by masses of dishevelled hair which falls down around her shoulders. She’s fucking sin personified. Her eyes light up as she drinks me in, standing in front of her.

“You found me,” she says by way of greeting.

Forgoing words altogether, I storm into the elevator and grab her hips to pull her into me. My lips slam down onto hers, my tongue invading her mouth before I’ve spoken a single word. Tangling her tongue with mine, the fear I’ve felt for the last however many hours pours into the kiss, fear and relief. Heat surges from my chest and boils my blood as I taste my female, feel her warm skin through the barely-there fabric, and hear her heart rate increase in time with my own, reassuring me that we are both indeed alive.

Thankfully, Tacita is standing near the control panel, and has enough sense to slam a hand to the button so that our display is quickly hidden from prying eyes.

The elevator is already rising upwards by the time I pull back, both of us gasping to catch our breaths. I squeeze her hips between my fingers as her hands come to my face.

“Tell me what happened.” Her eyes search mine with a thousand questions.

“They retreated after I got you out, as I suspected. Camael got away.” Her eyes flick with a murderous looking fire. “The other two are now in Tartarus.”

“Casualites?”

“Mainly their side. The fucking amateurs they sent in didn’t stand a chance, as you saw. We lost four guards.”

“Dom? Tarron? Elisa? Teddy?”

“I didn’t realise you spent any time with the rookie.” The last name on her list surprising me.

“He’s sweet, and I noted his potential. Are they alive, Garrick?”

“All fine.” I reassure her, the four we lost had been on the security or maintenance side of the games, and none had been acquainted with the Death Bringer. I rattle off their names anyway and Tacita confirms it. She didn’t know them, but I see the guilt in the shift of her shoulders, a reflection of my own that we lost any of the team.

“And the humans?”

I take a pause, those losses being my larger regret. The games are deadly, yes, but this was an unfair fight placed upon them. “Eleven remain, and that’s including Wyatt and Milo.”

“Only eleven?”

A nod is all I can give in confirmation.

“Seffy? And Rio?” Tacita’s breath hitches after she speaks, waiting on my answer.

“Both alive also. Rio is amongst the injured, but he should live.” She sags against me before seeking my lips once more. She kisses me deeply but I can tell something’s bothering her, she hasn’t fully relaxed. “Ask me.”

She takes a steadying breath, which I feel across my cheeks because I refuse to put more than an inch between us. “What is Hades going to do?”

I don’t need her to be more specific. “He is going to want to talk to Milo.”

“Just talk?”

“You know him better than I do, surely you know the answer to that.”

“I do and that’s why I’m scared. Hades has every right to ship him to Tartarus and never let him out. He has the right to punish me too.”

“Punish you?”