Page 82 of A Deadly Game of Cat and Mouse

“You misunderstand me, Gabe. I want the security part. I will build you an army.”

My best friend looked at me dubiously. I could almost hear him mentally calculating my chance of success in his head.

“How?”

“I’m going to enlist.”

“That should go over well with your dad.”

“Fuck him, this is my life.”

“You know she won’t be happy when she finds out.”

“Fuck her too, she shouldn’t have broken up with me if she wanted to have a say in my life.”

“Ahhh, unrequited love. I’m so happy I don’t have to deal with such pesky emotions.” Gabe brushed a falling hair back from his forehead.

“Oh, will you shut up? One day you’ll meet the girl who brings you to your knees, and you can be sure I’ll be there cheering her on while she kicks you in the nut. Now, stop changing the subject.”

“You’re not equipped for the task, Moose. We’re dealing with dangerous animals here,” Gabriel sighed.

“You think I don’t know? I had to stand by the sideline while my girl was beaten and persecuted.

Now, she’s in there going God knows what for these people, and there is NOTHING I can do.

Don’t talk to me about not being equipped. Neither was she. Neither were you, and the two of you learned. Well, I can too.”

Gabe crossed his massive arms around his chest. “Fine. You have five years to get up to speed. If, in that time, you’re not where I need you to be, I’m replacing you with someone more experienced.”

“It will only take me three.” I knew exactly where I needed to go to learn.

Guilds have the warrior program to teach their soldiers to become the best of the best. The program went back several centuries and evolved over time to integrate different fighting techniques.

The training I found to be the most similar was Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, or BUD/S.

If I was going to do this and help take down a Guild, I needed to become the best Navy SEAL that ever lived.

Gabe dropped me at my home and left, but not before he warned me to stay away from her.

And I did. For exactly ten minutes. I couldn’t take it after that. I grabbed my keys and headed to Anton’s, where I waited for her in my Range Rover like a crazy stalker.

She came out about three hours later accompanied by a young man in his thirties, and it took everything in me to stay still and not pounce on her.

“Do you need a ride?”

“No, I’m good. I’ll take a bus home.”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t worry about me, Sam. Go to your date.”

“You need to go straight home, now, you get me? Your parents won’t be happy if they find out you went elsewhere.”

Jelly Fish’s parents were dead, so whoever they put in to play the roles must be Guild.

“Of course. Bye Sam, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye Sarah.”

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