Page 99 of Hell’s Weapon

Dom had returned with Garrick around lunchtime, and after we stayed whilst Dom carried out his checks on Milo, we had gone back to Wyatt’s room to rest for a while.

Although, the delicious ache between my thighs will argue the definition of rest. The shower we’d taken together hadn’t started out as anything sexual, but it certainly ended that way. And Wyatt’s curiosity over my demonic attributes apparently fed his already insatiable libido, for we were barely dried from said shower when he demanded I shift again so he could acquaint himself with my true nature.

Whilst those rooms were so tiny for my wings, I have to hand it to Wyatt, he is inventive and a fast learner.

I think maybe we managed an hour’s sleep.

Dom had told us he expected Milo to wake just after dark, so we’d caffeined up, grabbed some food to go from the canteen, and walked back to the infirmary, entwined hands swinging between us. There was a lightness in my chest I hadn’t felt in days. Despite Milo’s brush with death, I couldn’t halt the happiness pumping around my body.

We’d caught the killer. Cameron now sat locked in the cells and was waiting transfer to Tartarus. The rest of his crew had already been sent there.

Wyatt knew my final secret, and Milo was halfway there–I’d tell him as soon as he was lucid. Garrick and Wyatt seem to be getting along and I could start to see a future for all of us after Milo and Wyatt passed the final test in these games.

Me too, technically. As I would play this thing out undercover. If only to give a little help to my two humans if they needed it.

Entering Milo’s room, I couldn’t help the smile that overtook my face as I spotted the giant black panther curled on the end of Milo’s bed.

Before I can speak, however, Wyatt yanks me back so hard that I collide with his broad chest, and the bag of food he was carrying hitting the floor.

“What the fuck, Wyatt?” I sputter, trying to turn in his iron-like grip.

“You’re seeing the giant predator on Milo’s bed, right?” Wyatt hisses, tone laced with fear.

“Relax. It’s Garrick.” The black cat raises his head at his name, or the commotion we’re causing, and his yellow eyes meet mine. I was almost certain it would be Garrick lounging on the bed but his eyes confirm it.

“That’s Garrick?” Wyatt splutters.

Right… Garrick has thus far hidden his supernatural side from the contestants.

Releasing a chuckle, I pull out of Wyatt’s hold. Walking straight over to the bed, I reach out and scratch behind one of Garrick’s feline ears. He leans into it in greeting.

The panther shifters may be deadly, incredibly agile and strong, but really they’re giant softies wrapped in sharp claws and lethal jaws.

I tell him as much and he swats at me, causing me to giggle, before he leaps off the bed.

Wyatt is still standing hesitantly by the door. He looks torn between getting to Milo and fleeing the room.

Garrick slinks towards him, crouching slightly like he’s about to pounce. But before he reaches Wyatt he shifts instead. In a blink, the black cat is gone and Garrick is standing before us.

“Thanks for the food,” he says, reaching down for the bag Wyatt dropped.

“Holy shit, that’s cool!” Wyatt reanimates and immediately jumps into asking Garrick a thousand questions as we divide up the burgers and fries we snatched for dinner.

I hope Milo doesn’t mind that we use his bed to eat in lieu of a table. He is still sleeping peacefully. I run my fingers down his arm occasionally or brush his wayward hair out of his face, but his eyes don’t open.

“Why were you shifted anyway?” Wyatt asks.

“It’s easier to detect intruders.”

“Do you think there’s still danger?” I ask, tuning back into their conversation fully.

“I don’t know. Hades has been questioning Cameron all afternoon, he’s admitted to feeding information to the Angels.”

Suddenly, I’m done with my food. “How was he communicating with them?”

“It seems they’ve worked out a way to speak telepathically with him.”

“Shit! So everything he’s witnessed, heard, or learned has immediately been fed back to them?”