Page 66 of Gates of Tartarus

“Kailani,” Deo asks patiently, a strange ripple of emotion flaring from him, then dying, like a candle that has been stifled. “Did Baird buy you a car?”

I shake my head. “No, it’s for his guests to use when they visit.”

“Mmmm. How often does yourlandlordhave guests visit?” Deo asks, putting strange emphasis on the word.

“He has family come in from time to time,” I answer unconvincingly.

“Family? Like, family with kids?” Walker says, and I nod.

“Yeah, his brother and his parents, his nieces and nephews…”

Walker looks at me patiently, waiting for the penny to drop. “Where are car seats supposed to go in this thing?”

I shrug, and he growls under his breath at Deo, “That fucker bought her a fucking car.”

Deo looks like he’s fighting powerful emotion but stays calm. I, on the other hand, light up like a freaking Christmas tree. “Don’t you talk about Lach that way!” I bite out. “If you can’t speak about him with respect you keep his fucking name out of your mouth.”

Walker turns to respond, but noticeably bites his tongue instead, and just says, “Let’s head inside, Reed.”

The guys lead the way, and I drag one hand along the trunk of Lach’s car, whispering a quiet, “Sorry” to it, before following.

The mood in our conference room is sour when I enter. Maddox and Deo are shoulder to shoulder, surprisingly, mumbling to each other under their breaths, and Jonah looks exhausted.

“You okay?” I hurry over to him, worried, and he gives me a wan smile.

“I’m okay,” he confirms. “I’ve just been working on something in my off time, and it’s wearing me out.”

“Well, take it easy!” I reply, concern heavy in my voice. “Don’t push things. You look like you could sleep for a month.”

He shakes his head, a strange, set look in his eyes, his jaw tight. “Ican’ttake it easy.”

“Why not?” I ask quietly, sitting beside him and blocking him from the eyes of the rest of the team.

He sighs and fixes me with sad eyes. Reaching out, he tucks one of my wild curls behind my ear and says softly, “Because I’m running out of time on something. I don’t know if I’m even in the race at all, but if I step off the track, even for a moment, I’ll lose what little ground I have, and I’m not willing to do that.”

“You’re confusing me, Jonah,” I say. “And worrying me. Is there anything I can do? I’m off onactualvacation next week, but maybe the weekend after we can hang out? If you want to? And we have that coffee tour next month, right? Can I do anything to help?”

Reaching out, he grabs my hand and gives it a quick squeeze, smiling his big, open smile at me, white teeth glinting behind full lips, and the twinkle that was missing is back in his eyes.

“I’d love that. We still need to reschedule movie night, right? I want to meet the infamous Lachlainn and Gemma.”

“They’ll lov–”I stop talking and inhale deeply, a bright scent filling my lungs and clearing my head. “Oooo!” I look around until I see a tiny, freaking adorable gnome in the corner with a red hat, huge white beard, and a little nose. “J! Agnome?” I try to keep the complete and total delight from my voice, but he hears it and grins.

“Why does it smell like grapefruit in here?” Walker grumbles from beside us, and Jonah shrugs in response.

“It helps Kai. She likes it.”

Walker pauses, thinking, then mumbles, “Oh. Okay. Cool. Grapefruit,” like he’s committing something to memory, before lumbering up to stand by Maddox.

“Alright team,” Maddox’s stern voice interrupts our quiet chatter. I look at him in surprise. The past few weeks I thought he’d mellowed a little from the dictator he was when we first met, but there’s a serious look in his eyes that is new, and when I make a face at him, he shakes his head slightly before continuing.

“Let’s get to it,” he begins. “Take your seats. We’ve been a little lax the last week or two, and complacency breeds laziness. I don’t want anyone else to die on my watch because we’re too busy having pizza parties.”

The temperature of the room plummets, the warm camaraderie from moments before now icy with his words. Walker gives Maddox a strange look and sits next to him. Jonah cocks his head curiously but stays silent. Deo, though, starts to speak. “Come on now, Maddox,” he begins, but Maddox shuts him down immediately.

“Tanaka, take your seat,” he snipes. “Out of all of us I would thinkyouwould understand what’s at stake here and how our duty binds us more tightly than any ill-advised developing friendships.” He levels a glare at the rest of the team. “I don’t blame anyone but myself,” he begins tightly. “But a member of this team was injured on our watch, and it could have been much worse if it weren’t for her quick thinking.” Giving me a quick nod, he continues. “I want to be clear. It is important, and advisable, that we all have a working relationship where we trust each other and can depend upon each other. But we are a structured, specially chosen task force assigned with uncovering a very real, very pressing threat. Friday brought our failings to light in what was a potentially disastrous way. Things cannot be decided by committee. We went off book, Reed was taken by an unknown–” he holds up a hand to forestall my protests, “yes, a friendly unknown, but that could have gone much differently. We made choices, rapidly, haphazardly, as a team, without considering all of the potential side effects, such as media coverage, and heightened emotions led to almost irreversible disasters. Discharging your weapon in public, Tanaka? We’re lucky it was in such a unique situation, and that it was your personal weapon. If it were a department weapon, every bullet needs to be accounted for. We’realsolucky that no one is pressing charges.”

Hideo looks suitably abashed, and I look around the room to see similar looks on all of the men’s faces. When I raise my hand, Smith shakes his head slightly before he calls on me.

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