Page 96 of Tortured Soul
Was he planning on doing some damage to thearchives? Tohurt me?
Ann and I kept looking at the door, afraid to make any sound, until it finally stopped a few minutes after it started.
I let out a long exhale, trying to force my muscles to relax.
But the door opened.
And Carter walked in, frowning like a child who didn’t get invited to his friend’s birthday party, followed by a grunting Marcus still in uniform, his helmet under his arm.
“Why is the spell keeping Carter out?” he asked, strolling toward us as Carter bolted toward far away shelves.
Ann rolled her eyes as Marcus sat ungraciously next to her, leaning over the table to grab a cookie. His hand was slapped away by an invisible force, and he groaned.
“I meanMargaret,” he corrected himself, looking around the empty space. Waiting a couple of seconds before trying again, this time uninterrupted, he mumbled, “I can’t believe she likes that nickname you all started to call her with.”
“If you don’t start treating her with the respect that she’s owed, you’ll be locked out too,” Ann said, snatching the cookie from his hand to bring it to her lips. Marcus made another guttural sound as he grabbed one for himself.
“And it’s obviously because she’s punishing him for the ruckus he caused last night,” Ann explained.
Marcus fell back in the armchair, leaving his scary looking helmet on his knees.
“Ruckus? What happened?” He turned his face to me. “Wait,what happened? I was watching you guys at the bar when he crushed the bottle before you disappeared. Did he bring you here?”
I shrugged, grabbing my fresh cup of coffee and taking a sip.
“The guy has unresolved anger issues”.
They both stared at me, waiting for me to explain.
Ann obviously knew Carter was the one responsible for the archives being closed this morning, but Arc may not have told anyone about theactualfight.
What a shame, since I actually handed his ass to him.
Who cared that he didn’t really put up a fight and turned out to be more bark than bite? Maybe he got a kink of hitting me when I was defenseless, and it wasn’t as fun for him when I actually fought back. He ended up bleeding while I got out without a single scratch.
“We fought a little, and he may or may not have caused a few boxes of files and books to fall down their shelves. Maggie wasn’t happy.”
Marcus’ brows pulled down.
“Does Arc know about this?”
“Of course he knows.” Ann swat at his arm. “Kai said Arc and the Nephilim broke their tumble.”
I arched my brow. She heard of it fromKai? How didheknow? He wasn’t there…
“Tumble?” Marcus asked, his voice suddenly higher.
“He also said Carter was covered in his own blood when he saw him leave the archives to get changed before coming back to officiate the binding ceremony.”
“Wait,” I said, inching to the side to focus on them, forgetting about the file I was looking for on the database. “I understand how he could haveseenCarter covered in blood, but how does heknowabout what actually happened?”
Ann’s eyes widened and she bit into her cookie, obviously deflecting. Marcus and I both stared at her expectantly until she finally cracked.
“Fine.” She leaned over the coffee table, lowering her voice. “Carter told him. He was pretty ashamed.”
Yeah, I bet he was.
“Don’t worry,” she added quickly. “No one knows, and if thisgossipdoesn’t say anything,” she turned to frown at Marcus, “no one will.”
