Page 2 of Spared
He nods. “Yep, you and your partner will be up here,” he confirms, then points toward the only other desks with computers toward the back of the room. “That’s my desk there, and the other is Avery’s. The rest of the taskforce are squad fighters, so they’ll only be here for meetings from time to time.”
“Cool,” I say, glancing around the room once more before turning to face Cam. “Thanks again for this. I won’t let you down.”
“You’re the best man for the job, simple as that,” he replies curtly, dipping his chin.
I’m not sure if that’s true, but I appreciate the sentiment. Cam’s still finding his own place here. He fits in better than I do since he’s a half-blooded werewolf and mated to one of their own, but his former Guild affiliation still follows him. He didn’t have to stick his neck out for me and get me the job with this taskforce, but I’m glad he did. I’m looking forward to working with him again.
“Hey, guys,” a female voice sing-songs, accompanied by the gentle rap of knuckles against the doorframe.
Cam and I simultaneously pivot toward the door as Lo Anderson steps in, her blonde hair in twin French braids and a friendly smile stretching her lips. Lo’s the head of IT for the security squad, and she’s just as brilliant as she is beautiful. We’ve worked together several times over the past couple weeks to reconcile The Guild’s accounts and scrub their servers. I’m not sure if we’re friends, but we’re friendly.
“This is Blair,” Lo says, throwing a thumb over her shoulder. “She’ll be the other half of your IT team.”
She steps aside, and my heart skips a damn beat when I see the raven-haired smoke show that enters behind her. After living with only dudes for the past year, I swear every pretty girl I see is a shock to my system.
Prettydoesn’t seem like the right word to describe this one, though. Blair is stunning– so much so that I forget how to even speak for a moment, just staring at her like a dumb mute as she advances into the room and surveys the interior.
She definitely doesn’t look the part of an IT geek. She’s dressed like a punk rock princess in a short plaid skirt, ripped fishnets, and a skintight cropped tee, all in black. Dark eyeliner lines her espresso eyes, her full lips painted a deep maroon. Though her stature is petite, she’s got dangerous curves, and there’s a sharp edge to her that only adds to the appeal.
“Blair, this is Matty,” Lo says by way of introduction, nodding toward me. “He’s the other half of the IT team for the hunter taskforce.”
“Hi,” I greet, extending a hand as I take a step toward her.
Fuck, she’s even prettier up close.
Blair wrinkles her nose, lip curling in distaste as her gaze drops to my hand. “Him?” she scoffs, dark eyes pinging back up and locking with mine.
“Were you expecting someone else?” I ask with an uncomfortable chuckle.
“I wasn’t expecting ahunter,” she scowls.
“Formerhunter,” I clarify, winking.
She snorts a wry laugh. “Is that supposed to make it better somehow?”
I retract my hand since she’s obviously not going to shake it, my smile dissolving as I shift my weight awkwardly.
“Uh, is this gonna be a problem?” Lo murmurs, flickering a nervous glance between the two of us.
“What, him working here?” Blair asks, snapping her head toward Lo. “Probably a conflict of interest, dontcha think?”
“Our former Guild affiliation is the reason we’re doing this,” Cam cuts in, stepping up beside me. “Not only do Matty and I have insider knowledge that’ll help us track down any Guild affiliates, but we’ve got amends to make. Wrongs to right.”
Blair turns her gaze on him, chewing on the inside of her cheek as a tense silence falls over the room.
“So, I’ll leave you to it, then?” Lo asks tentatively as she slowly starts backing toward the door. As soon as Cam nods back at her, she dips out, fleeing the command center for the IT hub across the hall.
Cam clears his throat as he glances between Blair and I, pointing out the pair of desks at the front of the room again. “You two can go ahead and get logged in. Once you do, you’ll find a folder with a task list you can dig into, and I’ll be over there at my desk if you have any questions.”
As displeased as she seems with the situation, Blair follows his orders, stepping over to the nearest desk and dropping into the chair with an annoyed sigh. She focuses her gaze on the computer monitor, clicking the mouse to wake the computer up.
Guess I should get to work, too.
I glance toward Cam and the two of us share a look before going our separate ways, him to his desk at the back of the room and me to the one opposite Blair’s. I sink into the wheeledcomputer chair, grabbing for the mouse and going through the motions of getting logged in.
The silence in the room is deafening. Every click of the mouse sets my teeth on edge, the tension in the air thickening even further. It doesn’t help that mine and Blair’s desks face one another. Every time I lift my gaze, I see her over the top of my monitor, staring at her own screen.
“So, which pack are you from?” I ask in an attempt at idle conversation.
