Page 22 of Hell’s Weapon

“For one, you’re h–” Tacita slams her mouth shut mid-sentence. Her nostrils flare and she shakes her head as she takes a deep breath. It’s the first time I’ve seen her even remotely flustered. “You’re just not,” she rushes out.

I’m openly staring at her now. What was she going to say? Him? A name? Does she already have a husband or boyfriend? Surely she’d just state that if there was someone out there she is attached too.

Wyatt laughs, knowing he’s finally affected her. He reaches forward again, this time brushing a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

Then he leans in and whispers something I can’t hear.

His eyes wander as he speaks. His gaze lands on mine, capturing me in an invisible snare, forcing me to keep looking at him. The heat that flares in his irises burns down the connection and my legs suddenly feel like lead. I swallow thickly and stare on like I’ve been magically frozen.

Wyatt’s brow arches as he continues to hold me in his trap and a smile curves up one side of his face as he finishes whatever he’s saying to Tacita.

Then, as quickly as he arrived, he’s leaping off the table and walking away.

I suck in a breath like I’ve been held under water. My hand automatically goes to my chest as the oxygen floods my lungs. What the hell was that?

And as if I’m a sucker for punishment I keep watching Wyatt’s back as he strides off, only to have him turn his head back and catch me again. This time he winks and it’s at me.

My heart stills for a painful second and I do move this time. Turning to my notepad and quickly picking up the pen I’d dropped when distracted by the interaction I’d just witnessed.

I’ve just about recovered a normal cardiac rhythm when Tacita growls beside me and slams her hands on the desk.

“Gods, damn him.” She rolls her eyes to the ceiling before pushing her chair back and stalks off into the stacks of books. She turns to me just before she disappears. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, are you okay to watch my stuff?”

Nodding, I return to my work. She’s gone for close to fifteen minutes but comes back with a book in her hand and looking much calmer. Although still a little flushed. She doesn’t say anything as she sits back down and starts working again.

We pass another couple of hours in silence. It’s a good silence though, not awkward. We each work on our own stuff and occasionally swap glances to check in with each other. My brain feels fit to burst as she leans back in her chair.

“Shall we head back to the dorms? Dinner will be soon and I’d like to ditch this stuff in our room before we eat.”

I nod and gather my things.

Walking back across the courtyard, the air between us changes. Tacita shuts down on me for a reason I don’t understand. Usually when we’re walking from place to place she tends to carry a conversation for the both of us. Not that she’s been an open book but she tends to talk a bit about inconsequential things. Today is tense and I wonder if she’s thinking about Wyatt.

I don’t get to mull on it for long, however, because as we approach it’s clear something is going on in our dorm. Several of the guards are marching in and out of our building and another couple are stationed on the door.

Several people who share our living quarters are gathered outside, chattering away so fast it’s hard to discern the topic of the chaos.

Tacita walks straight up to one of the guards on the door and starts demanding answers. I think his name is Tarron, he gave a lecture yesterday on the winged supernaturals, and insisted we call him by his first name rather than by his surname like many of the other guards do.

I stick to her side, feeling uneasy.

“What’s going on?”

“Sorry you can’t go up at the moment.” Tarron holds up a hand to stop us entering the building.

“Why?”

Tarron looks around before he says, “Someone’s been killed on the second floor.”

Chapter 9

Tacita

“Murdered?” I ask Tarron as I force myself to stay calm. I want to fly straight up to the second floor and find out who, examine the body and gather any clues. But I can’t do any of that without ruining my cover.

“Yes,” Tarron confirms grimly.

This isn’t good. It’s the one rule of the games. We can’t kill each other outside of the trials. The fact it’s been broken is going to have consequences. Hades’s wrath kind of consequences. More worryingly, does this mean the Angels’ agent is already at work? Was this them?