Page 54 of Taunting Tarran
I try to lock eyes with him as he snarls, tearing into me.
He’s not there. Something else is.
‘Hey! Look at me,’ I whisper. ‘Hey.’
He slows, his eyes meeting mine, and for a moment, it’s like staring into an abyss – dark, feral, and unrelenting, and it roots me to the spot. But then, as I clasp his head between my hands, it’s as if a veil lifts, and I see him.Angel.The one buried beneath the shadows, buried beneath the darkness. My god, what did they do to you?
His eyes soften, and in that fleeting instant, the darkness gives way to something achingly human. It’s like a ray of sun through storm clouds, it’s brief, but enough to leave me breathless.
I feel his hot breath against my cheek as he leans into me, pulling me tight against his chest.
‘I can’t lose you, Tarran. Not again.’
I sigh, ‘I don’t suppose I have a say in this, do I?’
‘Not really. I failed you, and for as long as I look into your eyes, I’ll spend the rest of my life ensuring I neverforget.’
‘You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.’
‘This isn’t something you can control, Tarran,’ he says, shaking his head as he steps away. ‘I’m not a piece of furniture – an object you can manipulate.’
‘Maybe I don’t always want control. If I did, maybe I’d get my orgasms using a fucking vacuum cleaner, or ask the pool man to drop in, you know, pay him by the hour.’
He bites his bottom lip, and his pupils dilate. ‘If you so fucking dare, I’ll cut his head off.’
My breath hitches. ‘You have demons, A-Gabriel, Angel, whatever the fuck your name is, and I do too!’ My chest heaves, anticipation building as he growls against my cheek.
‘Fear suits you like a second skin, but we have to get out of here.’
He grabs his clothes. ‘Sal?’ he calls out, attaching his headpiece, his voice bouncing off the walls. ‘The signal is bad – worse down here.’ Tugging his trousers up one leg at a time, he calls out again to his friend, sparing a quick glance towards the steps.
‘Sal? Do you hear me?’ he looks at me. ‘I think the rain has let up. I’ll go check it out.’
His hand brushes over the coarse stubble of his jaw, and with a deep breath he’s ascending the steps, slowly prying open the hatch. As it opens, he tosses me his coat.
‘Put this on.’
CHAPTER 26
THE PUNISHER
‘Sal?’ I whisper, the word barely leaving my lips. The headsets, originally calibrated for receiving audio only, had been child’s play for Sal to modify remotely. Hacking into the main server was his art; the two-way communication his flourish. I trust him, as far as trust can stretch between two people like us. I know he’s likely shielded my transmission from prying ears entirely, blocking the signal so no one else can tap in. But even Sal can’t do anything about the reception. We need to descend.
Tarran stumbles behind me as I haul her out of the Rabbit Warren. Her wide eyes meet mine, searching for answers I don’t have. She pulls my coat tight, her small fingers trembling as the wind cuts through us, the icy air biting at any exposed skin.
There, inside the Warren, briefly she saw who I was, and yet she smiles. And in that moment something inside me shifted. It wasn’t just her fragile life in my hands – it was my own control unraveling, and that fucking scares me. I see it in her eyes now, a mirror of my own guilt. She’s not really afraid, but she should be. I’m not the boy I once was.
‘Don’t smile,’ I say, under my breath. But she does, and it doesn’t waver even as the storm howls.
‘What happened down there…’ I begin, as Sal’s voice cuts through.
‘Boss?’
‘Yeah, Sal, we’re here.’
‘Thank god! You have three players closing in to your location.’
‘Who exactly are we dealing with?’ I ask, keeping my voice low to lose it in the rustle of the underbrush as we move.
