Chapter 28 Silver
SILVER
Gideon called an emergency meeting the next morning, although it was Saturday, and none of us were supposed to work.
I couldn’t blame him after the mess at the club on Thursday night. Paris wasn’t the only city where the cursed reserves wreaked havoc, which meant that the Guard had several nations demanding answers, begging for help, or shouting recriminations.
I made my way to the arena in a foul mood, due in no small part to the fact that for the first time this week, Cas didn’t wake me up with the smell of bacon and coffee in my kitchen.
I half expected him to not bother showing up, but he was already in the conference room when I arrived, stroking the giant snake curled up on the table next to the map.
To my annoyance, Amavi decided to ask him for a pat, the traitor.
Somehow, seeing him here annoyed me more. If he was fine, why hadn’t he made me breakfast?
I realized that the complaint made me sound incredible entitled, so didn’t voice it.
The room was busier than it had been on Monday: another team of protectors, two inquisitors I didn’t know, and five runners had joined us.
I sat next to Francois and fucking Irwin, as far as I could from Cas, so I could focus on something other than glaring at him through the meeting.
“Err, Sil, since when do you have a dog the size of a horse?” Irwin asked, plainly terrified of Amavi.
To be fair, sitting on her hind legs, she was almost as tall as him on his chair—and taller than me.
I grinned. “She’s harmless. I think.”
Amavi growled low, which made Irwin squirm in a way that made me wonder if he pissed himself. Again. Then the hound opened her maw in what could only be interpreted as a grin. I chuckled, scratching the top of her head. She was a bit of a dick, apparently.
Isla was last to arrive, walking in five minutes before the scheduled time. It seemed we were all eager to get going.
“I see everyone’s here. Good.” Gideon quickly ran through the events of the week. Though most were known to me, I still learned plenty about the last couple of days when we were in Paris.
“On mortals, taking a single dose is fatal. Some change, others die within hours of ingesting it, but eventually, they all burn up. Sups, however, are considerably more powerful while drugged—and may survive the change. But if they do, they remain so addicted to the magic they’ll do about anything for a dose. Consider them highly dangerous.”
I sucked in a breath.
“Silver?” he said, catching the sound.
Reluctantly, I made myself say, “Cas and I used one of the reserves on our mission. Neither of us were affected.”
A fair few of our colleagues started to whisper to each other.
“Yes, but both of you are what the Guard consider superior supernatural entities. We’re focusing on effects on the general population.
” He moved on. “We’ve recovered or located five hundred of those cursed reserves, total, which is only a quarter of the stock we’re looking for.
A further fifteen hundred are on the loose.
That means a thousand berserkers, addicted to magic, too powerful to stop until the magic fades, and give or take five hundred dead humans.
The research department has come up with a shot of defensive magic—several metals, enzymes, a sedative.
Administered to a berserker, it incapacitates them temporarily.
We’re mass producing them as fast as possible, but for now, each team will have one shot.
Use it well. Our current mission is to locate and retrieve the fifteen hundred crystals.
All non-emergency leaves are suspended until that’s done.
Assignments for the next week are on the board.
” He waved behind him, to a black board where several envelopes were pinned. “Any questions?”
There were a few, none too interesting, so I followed the line of Guards grabbing their envelopes.
I frowned when I didn’t see any bearing my name.
Then I turned and spotted Cas, waving our envelope.
Ugh. For one moment I forgot he was still my teammate.
I stomped over until I stood in front of him. “Give me that.”
“Tut, tut. Learn to share, doll,” he drawled with a punch-worthy smirk.
I all but growled. “Either open it so we know what we have to do or give it to me.”
The asshole made a show of taking his time to open the envelope, and then read our assignment in silence.
Losing patience, I snatched the paper, so fast the corners remained stuck between his index fingers and thumbs, torn off.
Silver and Cas
Saturday, Sunday off—recovery.
Monday to Friday—map-surveillance night shift, 8 p.m.-2 a.m. Keep live map. Check any area with intense magic.
That seemed easy enough.
“See you Monday, then,” I groaned, turning on my heels.
Avani whined, and I looked back to see her staring at Cas, as though wondering why we couldn’t stay with him.
“Come on, pretty girl,” I coaxed her. “We have to get going.”
It took a second and then third call, but she obeyed.
I had two days. Frankly, my wound was all closed up, and not even all that sore by now unless I tightened my muscles, but I decided I could take the time to try that whole hunting business.
The next time we faced a threat, I wanted to be prepared, useful, not a sack of potatoes Cas had to throw over his shoulders.
I made my way down to the library in the archives.
“Isn’t this a lovely surprised?” I recognized the librarian smiling at me.
She’d been one of Kleos’s mentors over the last year. Regrettably, her name escaped me.
“Yeah, this isn’t really my scene without Kleos,” I admitted, waving to the tall stacks of dusty books.
“Yet here you are, which I suppose means you’re in need of research material. May I be of assistance?”
I nodded. “I need books on, erm—” It felt awkward as fuck to voice it. “Artemis’s hunts. If there are any.”
Her eyes widened. “The hunts. Interesting. Well, it’s not truly a matter many books have lingered on, but I can think of a few.”
Two hours later, practically hidden behind a pile of old volumes, I walked to my place, itching to text Kleos to beg for her help. At least a couple were in Greek. It looked like I was going to have plenty of work to do this weekend.
I frowned when my door swung when I lowered the handle, without having to use my key, but the smell of cheese and—unless I was mistaken—seafood, cleared up my confusion.
Him.
Amavi hopped inside, tail wagging high, confirming my suspicion even before I spotted him, wearing the flowery apron I only kept for Kleos’s sake, and nothing else on top.
Somehow, I managed to glare, although the sight made me want to lick my lips and laugh all at once.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
Cas shrugged. “Cooking. Prawn risotto with asparagus.”
That sounded—and smelled—delightful, damn him.
I huffed and dropped my pile on my dining room table, before starting the first book on top.
I was paging through it, scanning for keywords in search of anything that seemed relevant, when Cas brought a plate and fork to me.
“I see we’re researching.” He sat opposite me with his food, and grabbed a book. “The hunts, yes?”
I grumbled a thank you which hopefully encompassed his assistance as well as his cooking, still irritated with him.
To my annoyance, Cas read much faster than me.
Occasionally, he’d say something far too interesting.
“I really think you ought to recover the quiver and arrows Apollo gave you. It’s depicted in just about every illustration.”
I hummed in agreement.
“I don’t think Artemis hunted stags at all. They’re always shown as part of her retinue of beasts and maidens, not the victims of her bows. You’ll want a monster.”
Again, I had to agree.
“Would you like me to read the texts in ancient Greek next?” he asked once he finished the first volume.
I closed mine with a thud. “What are you doing here, Cas?” I demanded.
He shrugged, leaning back casually. “The snake’s boring at night. He tends to sleep. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“What about your oh so secret reason for being here?” I demanded, irritated.
“It’s not relevant yet. I did try to sleep through all of this,” he reminded me. “Now I’m awake. I might as well do something productive.”
“And annoying me was it?”
He grinned, which very much meant yes. “You’re pissed.”
“You think?” I sneered. “We got our asses handed on Thursday—both of us. All you could do was run. Zeus is changing mortals and sups alike into creatures as strong as gods, preparing something that’s definitely not good for us.
The last time he was here, he tried to kill me, Kleos, everyone.
” My voice rose higher as I spoke. “You can’t help us because you don’t want your precious Hestia to get hurt.
So I have to go on a stupid hunt to reclaim my power because my brother’s an idiot. Of course I’m pissed.”
“That’s a long list.” He whistled. “Wanna fuck about it?”
I gaped at him, dumbfounded. “What?”
Cas’s lips curled up. “All that tension you don’t know what to do with—I could help you release it. Or you can keep reading if that’s taking the edge off.”
“Fuck,” I echoed dumbly, as though I’d never heard the word before.
“Yes, Silver.” His low, teasing voice untangled something deep inside me. “I think you’d benefit from a good fuck.”
I found the notion rather insulting. “What make you think I’m not getting fucked?” I retorted primly.
“The fact that you’re so uptight. If you are regularly getting bent over and taken, your partners are clearly not getting the job done. Might as well try someone who can.”
“And by that you mean you,” I snarled, annoyed mostly because he had a point.
I liked sex, but the simple truth was that men—and women—couldn’t truly satisfy me.
I had to be careful not to break their bones, treating them like porcelain dolls, and they, in return, could screw me as hard as they were capable of without affecting me.
Even Gideon, who could take more than most, had ended up bruised and battered after one night with me while I barely felt his cock.
My fight with Cas made it clear that there would be no such issue with him, yet admitting it might just kill me.
When Cas stood up with a sigh, clearly deciding that continuing the argument was pointless, I was annoyed with both him and myself. I should have said yes, damn my pride.
But instead of heading out like I thought he would, Cas prowled towards me. I’d like to pretend I didn’t shiver as he bent and caged me in on my seat.
“I see a demonstration’s in order.”