I shrug. “Sometimes a gentle hand is more effective than a harsh one.”
“Sure. Just didn’t know you had it in you.”
“I can be nice sometimes,” I say with a scowl, which only makes him laugh more.
He pats my shoulder. “It’s a good thing Ollie can see past your bullshit and isn’t someone who can be easily intimidated, otherwise you’d be fucked.”
Don’t I know it. The mention of Ollie only makes me wish I could be snuggled in bed with her instead of here. But I unfortunately have a job to do.
The guards return with everything I asked for and, after thanking us, Colin dives into the food with an eagerness that makes me wonder when he was last fed. With the guards stationed back at the door, Anthonyand I drag the next prisoner out for interrogation. This one, and the subsequent ones, aren’t nearly as gentle or easy to crack.
But they all eventually talk, relaying the same information as Colin.
As the sun peaks over the horizon and the last of the interrogations are done, I drag my weary ass back to the cabin. Unfortunately, sleep isn’t in my future because there are things to do and plans to be made. The attack is imminent, and Haven needs to be ready for anything Luke and Mark throw at it.
I can always sleep when I’m dead.
Romantic Asshole
Theo
Waking up to hearthat we were invaded the night before ruined what should have been a peaceful morning with my girl. In fact, me, Ollie and Alex yelled at Rhys for not waking any of us when this shit went down.
“I had it all under control,” he says, waving us off as if he doesn’t look like the walking dead with the dark circles around his bloodshot eyes. Or the permanent wince on his face whenever he moves, telling me that whatever happened last night, he overdid it.
Ollie narrows her eyes at him. “Doesn’t matter if you did or not; we still need to know what’s going on around here so we can help with your plans. How would you feel if we did the same to you?”
His jaw flexes and I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing because he looks like he just sucked on a lemon. “Fine,” he grits out. “I’ll inform you the next time we’re invaded.”
“Andanything else that pertains to the Scourge, Lodge, traitors or the attack.” The look Ollie gives him dares him to challenge her.
He sighs but doesn’t argue back.
Seeing her put him in his place almost makes up for the shitty news he dropped on us when we walked into the kitchen this morning. Almost.
“So, what’s the plan, then?” Alex asks as he plates up breakfast for the four of us. “I assume you have some idea of how to stop more of them coming over the wall.”
“Barbed wire and pits,” is his answer as he accepts the plate from Alex and dives in.
“Pits?” I ask around a mouthful of food. “How’s that going to stop them going over the top?”
“We’ll fill them with spikes so if they do get over the barbed wire, they’ll land in the pit.”
My eyebrows shoot upward. “Oh, that’s brutal.”
“Won’t those pits take too long to dig out?” Ollie asks with a scrunched-up nose. Apparently she isn’t sold on the stake pits. Probably because it doesn’t include enough fire for the little pyromaniac.
“Not if I get the entirety of Haven digging them.”
Alex snorts as he feeds Harlow bits of food from his plate. “Good luck with that. Getting some of the residents to do things outside of their usual job is like pulling teeth, only more painful and frustrating.”
I hum in agreement. With the Council falling apart at the seams and Rhys and Ollie gone, it was mostly down to me, Alex and Anthony to wrangle our residents into actually doing shit that needed to be done. It’s a miracle no one ended up dead with how indignant some people were.
Rhys doesn’t seem worried. “They won’t be a problem, I’ll make sure of it. Now, hurry up. I want to get people started on this as soon as possible.” With that, he shovels the rest of his food into his mouth, cleans his plate and disappears into his office.
“Today is going to suck, isn’t it?” Ollie sighs, having finished her breakfast and given Harlow the leftovers. That dog is spoiled as hell in this house, and judging from the satisfied look on her face, she knows it.
“Probably,” I say as I stand and collect our plates, only for Alex to take them from me with a stern look. “But look on the bright side, with the weather being as good as it looks to be, us guys will get so hot and sweaty we’ll have no choice but to take our shirts off.” I wink at her.
