Page 65 of Hell’s Weapon

She’s one of the most powerful beings in the realm and currently under my care. Not to mention she manages to irritate the fuck out of me and push all my buttons so flawlessly. Even as we fucked, she managed to wind me up into a frenzy.

My inner cat is hissing at me to lay claim to her. It wants her with a kind of possessiveness I refuse to acknowledge, already considering her ours.

There’s a knock at my door. Before I can think, I go and open it. Finding Tarron on the other side, I let him in before sinking back into the chair behind my desk.

“What is it? Please don’t tell me we have more bodies.” I really can’t handle that tonight.

“No, but Zafihra wanted me to tell you that one group looks close to picking the wrong weapon.”

“It’ll be their funeral.” I shake my head. I knew one team would rush through the task, and no doubt come up with the wrong lead and ultimately get themselves killed. “Which team?”

“The one with that computer hacker.”

“Nineteen?” My heartrate spikes painfully for a second. Nineteen is with Tacita.

“No, the female one, Twenty-Three.” Lines appear on Tarron’s forehead as he reads my reaction. I try my best to hide my relief.

He’s not sat down, and is instead hovering in the space between the seats and the door.

“Sit, unless you’ve got to leave. I could do with running through the groups that have formed.”

“Er… I would, but seeing as it reeks of sex in here, I’m not sure the surfaces are sanitary,” he says hesitantly.

“Fuck you. The chairs are safe.” He flinches a little, even though I curse him in jest. It stings that our relationship feels a little fragile currently since I chewed him out about losing his badge. It was a stupid mistake on his behalf but I’m truly over it. I have much bigger problems.

He’s my second, and the guy I’d label as my best friend. I don’t want bad blood between us.

“Please don’t act like I’m about to punish you. I’ve already forgotten about the pass, please let's put it behind us.”

“Truly? I know I fucked up.”

“Yeah, well, I might be fucking this up far more royally than losing a damn card.” I heave a sigh and run both my hands through my hair. A bone weary tiredness hits like a freight train with the admission.

“Would it have anything to do with whomever else it is I can smell in here?”

I make a snap decision. “That would be the Death Bringer.”

Tarron’s bottom jaw drops.

“As in…” he starts but trails off, the disbelief rendering him speechless.

“As in our leader’s assassin, Hades’s personal killing machine? Yes.”

“Wow.” Tarron breaks into a shocked grin, elongating the word. “Damn, Garrick. How on earth did you pull her? They are a she, right?”

“Yes, they are female. But that’s your first thought?”

“Why? What should it be?”

“How about how fucking stupid it is?”

“I mean, you're punching for sure. Although, maybe she’s hideous. Did she take the mask off?”

“She did,” I confirm.

He leans forward in his seat, excitement lighting his eyes. “That means you know what she looks like. Tell me please, is she banging? Do her looks match her power?”

“I’m not revealing that to you.”