Moral Compass

Chapter Forty-Two

"You've got to be shitting me."

Seth the tracker was not impressed. When she'd told him the archives were in Nadine's office, he'd pictured something small and simple. Something they could be done with in less than an hour.

This, unfortunately, was not the case. The room was enormous. Intimate near the front, what with the roaring hearth and the desk. Beyond that was nothing but shelves and shelves and yet more shelves.

What was the point in recording everything? Surely Nadine didn't need to keep all of this crap.

Fallon bumped her hip against his, shutting the door behind them, sealing them into this hell.

"Not up for these early morning starts?"

"Just look at it Fallon." The early morning start didn't even factor in. Although more time spent in bed with her was always welcome. "Look at it."

"I am looking at it."

"I'm gonna spend the next ten years of my life in here."

"Don't be dramatic."

"Dramatic? This shit is endless. Has this bitch documented the whole of history?"

Nadine was clearly thorough. The files and documents were endless.

"We can narrow down the search," Fallon said. It wasn't even optimism. This shit was just her thing. He sure as hell hoped they could narrow down this search—if not, they'd be in this place forever. He needn't fear imprisonment from the judgement Gods in a place like this. "We just have to know what we're dealing with and what we're looking for."

"We're looking for a gun so I can put myself out of this misery."

She smirked, slipping past him. "Drama queen."

"I know you like to work independently, so if you want to handle this part, I'm good with that."

"What about your imprisonment? Helping me out of the kindness of your heart would probably get rid of those gold bands completely."

"This is worse torture than what those stone Gods were offering."

She shrugged, essentially saying no big deal. Essentially ripping his heart out of his chest and shoving it up his arsehole. "So it's a few files."

"A few?  I could get lost in these aisles. Maybe if I breathe in enough dust it'll put me down."

Surely these files hadn't been touched in years. Unless this Nadine bitch had no life at all. Which was possible, now he thought about it. Every villain needed a hidden lair. This room had to be Nadine's. Hell, maybe it was looking at these files all day that had driven her to the dark side.

"I'll put you down if you don't quit whining," Fallon mocked.

"You're welcome to go down on me. We should do that instead."

"It won't be that bad," She assured him as he deleted most of the distance between them.

"Not that bad? Do you have eyes? Do they work? Do they need checking?"

"We'll split this place in two. Divide and conquer."

"Divide and conquer? Have you gone mad?" She might as well kill him herself. Seth was dying in here. "Getting to stare at your arse is the only redeeming factor here."

"How about I take my arse over there where it can't distract you?"

"Impossible. I see your arse whenever I close my eyes. It's forever imprinted into my mind."