Page 210 of Captive Omega

He shakes his head and my heart plummets. “However long you need, Resa. We will wait for you.”

A swan honks and I toss seeds at the one staring at me as if demanding to know why I stopped.

Garrison stands up.

“I have some seeds left,” I blurt out, desperate to stop him from leaving.

He halts but doesn’t turn to face me.

“I expect a professional like you to have such good aim you’ll knock a bird unconscious. If you promise not to, you can help feed them.”

Garrison sits, and I offer him the bag.

He takes a small handful of seeds and we feed the swans together.

It’s so peaceful and perfect, I draw it out far longer than I have before, dreading the inevitable moment I’ll reach into the bag and there are no more seeds left.

“Shouldn’t you be keeping watch?” I roll the empty bag into a tight ball and stick it in my pocket to reuse for my next walk.

“You’re safe.”

“How can you…” Then it hits me. He said we. We will protect you. Not me. Blaine doesn’t like public places, so he’s probably back at headquarters. “Where is he?”

Garrison nods to my left. “Tree.”

I look.

Vaughn is barely visible on top of a tree. He risks plunging into the pond beneath him when he waves a pair of binoculars and blows me a kiss.

Hiding a smile, I look away. “He’s going to fall out of that tree.”

“He did the first time you came for a walk here. I don’t know how you missed the splash he made falling in the water.” Garrison sighs tiredly. “Dragging him out was a task, and he did not make it easy.”

I nearly laugh because I heard the epic splash. When I turned around, no one was flailing in the water. He must have been waiting for me to look away before resurfacing. “How is Blaine?”

“Ask him yourself,” he says.

“And how would I do that?”

Garrison’s gaze flicks to my right. A man wearing sunglasses, a black turtleneck, and suit jacket is leaning against a tree at the park’s entrance.

Blaine.

He lifts his hand.

I nearly fail at hiding my delight. “Don’t you have jobs to do?”

“We’re doing it. Protecting you.”

We sit quietly for several more seconds, and then I stand. “I should probably get back.”

“Okay, Resa.”

I turn to walk away, and I’m not sure what compels me to stop. “You can walk with me if you want.”

“I want. If I walk beside the water, will you be tempted to push me in?” he asks, appearing at my side.

I look at him, then at the pond. “Tempted, yes.”

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