Page 90 of Guarded from Havoc

Or maybe she’s having second thoughts about going to our team game night, which is something we try to do once a month if everyone’s schedules allow. Just because she said she was excited about it before doesn’t mean she couldn’t change her mind.

Maybe it was a bad idea to invite some of our friends from San Antonio to join us, like we do sometimes. But with the Mouse Hunt game over and Demetrius in jail, it seemed safe to have non team members over again. Plus, I’ll admit, I’m eager for them to meet Tate. And I want her to get to know them.

After all, Tate’s going to be spending plenty of time here. We haven’t talked about long-term plans yet—she’s still staying at B and A until we’re one hundred percent sure everyone involved with the game has been caught, which I’m more than okay with—so I haven’t wanted to push it.

I’d rather Tate have some time to decompress. Talk to a counselor. Spend as much time in the garden as she wants. Whatever she needs to heal, mentally, after her traumatic experience. Do Iwanther to stay in Texas? Of course. But we’ve got time to get around to it.

“I’m fine,” Tatum replies, gazing up at me with those big, sky-blue eyes. Her brows wing up. “Why would you think I’m not?”

“Well, you don’t usually ask about your clothes,” I reply, inwardly wincing the second the words come out of my mouth. “I mean,” I amend, “I just want to make sure you’re still okay with going tonight. Because if you’re not, it’s okay. We can stay here. Watch something on TV instead.”

She stares at me for a few seconds before a smile breaks out. With a little laugh, she says, “Erik. This is what women do. They ask their boyfriends if they look okay before they go out.”

“You look great,” I retort. “I already told you that.”

“But I’m meeting your friends. And I want to make a good impression.”

My forehead wrinkles in confusion. “But you already met the team. How is this different?”

“It just is.” Tate kisses my cheek. “It’s okay, Erik. I’ll text Lucy a picture to see what she thinks.” She grabs her phone from the dresser and shoves it at me. “Here. Take a few. And make sure I’m not making a weird face in any of them.”

As I obligingly snap at half a dozen photos—which all look fantastic, in my opinion—a warm feeling builds inside me.

Thisis what regular couples do. Get ready to go out together. Meet each other’s friends. And as I’m learning, go through an obligatory outfit check to make absolutely sure the woman looks okay.

“Do you think Ally and Julia will want to come visit?” I ask while Tate scrolls through the photos I took. “I know you haven’t seen them in a long time.”

Tate jerks her head up from her phone. “Do you think you’ll take on another pro-bono client soon? If I’m taking up space you need?—”

“No way.” My response is immediate. Adamant. “First, you’re not taking up space. We talked about it. Until we’re sure everyone is caught, it’s safer for you to stay here.”

While I’d love to close the book on this whole fucked up game, there are still a few threads dangling. Leads that we want to be completely sure are resolved—mainly, tracking down every last contractor on the dark web and making sure they’re punished.

Will we get it done? I’m sure we will. With Matt, Leo, Alec, and Beth still working hard, it’s only a matter of time.

And we caught the mastermind, which is the most important part.

Jacob Demetrius. That fucking piece of human garbage.

We got the truth out of him even before the FBI arrived. All recorded, nice and neat, just in case he got any ideas of trying to lie to them.

He didn’t. Probably in big part due to the threats I made. I wouldn't have felt a second of remorse dumping that asshole in the pit, or maybe dangling him over it until he realized the truth was the only way to survive. And Rafe’s whispered words to Demetrius just as the FBI agents arrived didn’t hurt either.

Rafe didn’t tell us exactly what he said, just that he explained in great detail how many people he knew working in the prison system and how he could arrange to make Demetriuswishhe was dead.

Oh, and then Tyler let Demetrius know that he’s a tech expert, too. And that if there was any evidence whatsoever that Demetrius tried to hide, Tyler would find it. And, as Tyler put it,“This is personal, you fucker. And I will damn well make sure you pay.”

So Jacob Demetrius is in FBI custody, facing dozens of federal charges, ranging from fraud to kidnapping to murder. With the evidence against him—not just the recordedconfession, but hundreds of encrypted files stashed on hard drives at his home in Kansas City—Demetrius will never leave prison. He’ll never be able to play his fucked up game again.

But the big question, the one we all wanted the answer to, waswhy.

Not why he created the game, but why me? Why Blade and Arrow? We’d never had any contact with Demetrius. He never even popped up on our radar. Not in the background checks, not a local who lived in the same town as me at some point,nothing.

When he told us, it was almost like he was proud of what he’d done. In his mind, going after me was a fitting punishment, at least in his mind.

A punishment for what?

For putting his friend, Peter Amberson, in prison. For being the ones indirectly responsible for Amberson’s death.

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