Page 117 of Hell’s Weapon

“They’re coming, Garrick.” She places her feet on the floor but leans back through the open frame and reaches for something from the roof. That something happens to be her other partner. At least he’s a panther. “The Angels are coming.”

As soon as Milo is safely inside the walls of my room too, she and Wyatt launch into a full but succinct summary. My stomach drops when she reveals that Milo is the other spy, and that he’s been feeding information to them this whole time. My cat wants to rip his throat out, my claws even shift. That is until I see that neither of them are angry.

I must growl, or look like I’m ready to kill, because both Wyatt and Tacita not so subtly move their positions until they’re in front of the traitor. Milo stands, back to the now closed window, his face ashen as he’s repeatedly signing, “I’m sorry.”

“He’s put you, us all, in danger,” I snarl.

“I know.” Tacita’s voice sounds so full of hurt, and yet holds a steely quality. “But he has tried to stop them. It wasn’t his choice.”

“Choice doesn’t matter. Fuck knows what they’ve learned. If they know where we are, and what the set up is, we’re all fucked. Hell be damned, Tacita, he knows who you are!” I reach for her, wanting to pull her away.

Milo starts shaking his head violently. He pushes through his two bodyguards and slams into me. “I didn’t. I didn’t let them get that far. They saw the Death Bringer, they didn’t see the connection.”

Wyatt pulls him back against his chest as my eyes flash into my cat’s form. “Are you sure about that?” I demand.

Milo nods as he clings to his boyfriend.

“But they know that she’s here? And they know what the rest of the compound looks like?”

Milo nods as fresh tears track down his cheeks. He looks distraught but I don’t buy it. He’s betrayed us, betrayed her. This whole time. We’re about to get annihilated, just like the team ten years ago was.

“Garrick, calm down.” Tacita wraps a hand around my arm.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, he’s the reason we’re all about to end up dead.” I’m about to grab Nineteen by the scruff of his neck and drag him down to the cells to interrogate him alone when I see Tacita’s eyes fill with tears too. It halts all the rage in my body. To see her on the verge of crying throws me completely, like the world has already shattered.

“Please Garrick, don’t kill him.” The words are a plea I cannot ignore.

“How can you still want him?” I look at my female, the ground unsteady under my feet. “He’s been lying to you this whole time.”

“Because I love him.” She says it so plainly. There’s a stab at my chest with the admission. We’ve not said those words to each other yet. I’m not sure we’re there, but hearing her say that she feels so deeply for another makes me crave to hear her say that kind of declaration about me.

“Love doesn’t mean shit when he’s the reason you might get hurt. He’s working for the fucking Angels, Tacita.” I try to sound reasonable but it’s still growly.

“I hid myself from him too, remember? And he forgave me.”

“Because he knew how fucking lucky he struck! I imagine he was elated to find out he had unrestricted access to not only the games but to Hades’s Assassin. If they take you out they have a clear shot at Hades himself.”

She recoils like I’ve laid a hand on her. “You think I’ve been telling them everything that I do? Do you really trust me that little? I’ve told them enough about our world to help them fucking survive these games. But you’ve been teaching them as well! Just because I love them doesn’t mean I’ve been betraying Hades in any way. Do you think so little of me to assume that I’ve been what… Telling them all the classified information, giving them blueprints to all of Elysium? Fuck you, Garrick.”

“No, of course I don’t. But fuck knows how this mind magic works. If they’re in his head, they could be getting this very conversation.” Maybe I’m getting irrational, but fuck rationality when I’ve just found out that the entire realm is in danger. And a target may be on my female’s back.

“They’re not taking him,” Wyatt says. His voice is firm and level. “I don’t care if I have to fight them alone, they can’t have him.”

“It sounds like they’ve already got him,” I snap back and begin pacing in the small space, my room might be one of the larger ones but with four of us in here it’s feeling a little claustrophobic.

Tacita partially shifts, letting her horns and tail show as she steps up in front of me before I’ve even finished my second lap of the space between the bed and the door. Her tail flicks in worry, or anger, but the rest of her is fully composed.

“Garrick, the spy being Milo means we stand a chance of stopping them. They’ve lost the element of surprise. We weren’t exactly close with figuring out what their plans are. And the mind connection seems to be similar to what it was with Cameron. It’s not constant, because Milo has been trying to force them out; they can only access him when he’s asleep.” Her hands come to my chest, the skin on skin contact soothes some of the fear and anger sloshing around my stomach. It reminds me that I’m still only wearing the pair of boxers I was sleeping in.

The shock of their revelations is wearing off and I start to run through the options we have at our disposal. Tacita is right, the fact that we know, and it seems like Milo is now willing to spill all that he knows, will definitely give us an advantage.

“When exactly should we expect them to arrive?” I look past Tacita, although I do put one of my hands to her waist, as I ask Milo the question.

“I’m not sure exactly, they just said soon,” he signs.

“So it could be hours or it could be days. Do you know how they plan to get here?” Last time they managed to open a portal directly over the games site.

Milo shakes his head.