The Puppet Assassin [TTR sequel]

The Puppet Assassin - Ch 37 [hard times]

He turned his head, raising an eyebrow in my direction. “Don’t you?”

I thought about it, sputtered and glared at him. “Not now!”

He laughed again and unlocked the house. “You want to love and cherish him til death.” He grinned evilly at me.

“What I want, Garth,” I said haughtily, copying his accent, “is to murder you.” I stepped inside and folded my arms.

He leaned against the doorjamb. “That was a horrible interpretation of my accent.” He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know whether to be appalled or amused.”

“It was so good, for a second you thought you were talking to yourself.”

It was silent for a moment and Garth turned to look at me. His sharp eyes trailed over me and his expression was pleased. “You never used to be this cheeky.” He sighed dramatically. “Now I’ll have to put up with the both of you. Is there no god?!”

I cocked my head, wondering. I had never felt so at ease. “I do feel… happier,” I said, startled.

Garth stared at me for a moment and then the corners of his eyes wrinkled. “You want to marry him.”

** **

The house, when we finally settled inside, seemed empty. Luke and Lark’s father had stayed at the hospital and with just me and Garth there, it was quiet.

“Are you hungry?” Garth asked as he tossed his set of keys onto the small table in the foyer.

“Nah,” I answered absentmindedly.

Garth headed to the kitchen anyway and I followed him. I didn’t know what else to do. He glanced at me and seemed to understand. “Well, I’m just going to grab something because I’m always hungry. But then, do you want to work for me again? I have a few reports to do and I need to check in with some of the security team…”

I shrugged and then nodded. “Uh, I could… write a report on… what happened…”

He paused with his hand on the fridge door. “That can wait.”

“But I might not remember all the details and I don’t know what happened to Tristan but if he’s dead, I’ll need to clear Lark in a trial of some sort, I’m guessing. And if my brother is alive then we’ll need my story to properly penalise him.”

Garth’s hand dropped from the fridge. “He was your brother.”

“You, ah, you didn’t know?”

His expression turned awful. It was pity. “There was a rush to find you and then get you and Lark to Paddy. We let Liam deal with the two others. Dizelde… It’s a horrible thing.”

“It doesn’t matter if he is blood-related, Garth. It doesn’t. He was a stranger – is a stranger. He and my father, they don’t mean anything to me.” I wanted him to wipe that look off his face.

“It should though,” he said quietly, turning back to the fridge. He fished out an apple and shut the fridge. “Alright then, let’s head up to my study. You’re not going to be writing the report today but I’ll find something for you to do.”

“Don’t pity me Garth,” I said shortly.

“Oh, aye, that makes you shudder, right? Because that would mean I’m belittling you in some way, right? Dizelde, you underestimate my pride in you, my respect for you. You have a strength in you that made you survive for so many years of hell. I wonder if you would have been a different person and I do feel sorry that you had to go through such things to be who you are but I’m not sorry that you’re here. And I don’t pity you. I pity them. You’re the stronger one that got away.”

Hmm, well. He was certainly finding all the right words to say today.

“Let’s get to it, you whinger.” He bit into his apple and pushed me out the door in front of him.

His study was a horrendous mess.

“Ah, it seems to have been a while since I neatened everything up,” he said cheerfully, wading through paper, leftovers, clothes, equipment and unrecognisable items. There was what looked like a lump of clay in one corner by the desk. I couldn’t see a chair.

“Stop looking like that,” he ordered, laughing. “It’s not that bad.”

“Did you once turn cat in here? Is that what happened? No, that would be less messy than this. Are these treasures of yours, or something? Do you feel guilty if you throw anything out?!”

He narrowed his eyes. “Now, now…”

“It’s awful.” I copied his accent once again. “I feel like I just walked into a museum where they shoved everything into one room!”

He stuck his finger out at me. “For that comment, you get to clean this up.”

“Impossible,” I scoffed. “This stuff is ingrown.”

“It’ll be good exercise for you, get you back into shape.” He smirked at me.

“I couldn’t move some of this stuff even with your strength.”

“If you come across anything of the like, tell me. I’ll move it.”

“I’m not you maid, Garth…”

He grinned. “For today, you are.”

“But -”

“I gave you a roof to live under.”

“That was more Luke-”

“My house.”

“This isn’t-”

“I am paying for your hot water, heated rooms, light-usage and food.” His eyes twinkled and his arms swept wide to encompass his study. “And you are cleaning this room.”