Chapter Five
Al
‘Somewhere’ ended up being the academy.
My academy.
It was perfect. Reinforced buildings, enchanted grounds, students who could level a city block before breakfast; how much damage could a car really do in a place designed to train gods?
It would be fine for one night, right? It wasn’t like the place was crawling with reckless idiots who treated power like a party trick or anything.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but it was my only choice. I just needed one responsible adult, one person who could keep an eye on Fox long enough for me to figure out what the Hell I’d just gotten myself into.
I pulled out my phone, letting go of the wheel without even thinking about it. The car didn’t drift, not even an inch.
Fox had it handled.
My thumb flicked faster than my brain could keep up as I scrolled through my contacts, skimming past name after name, looking for one responsible adult who wouldn’t ask questions or immediately rat me out.
My father-in-law, Valas? Absolutely not. He’d have my entire family on speakerphone before I even finished explaining.
Klein? I’d end up being interrogated in the dining hall, with multiple witnesses present, every word meticulously recorded for blackmail material. No good.
Madison? Gods, that was a joke; if she knew the car could fuck, she’d wanna go for a drive too, and I didn’t want to share him.
There was only one choice that made any sense, and I hated it.
Lai wouldn’t ask questions. Lai never asked questions unless the answers were guaranteed to be entertaining.
More importantly, even if he decided to ask, Lai had a price for his silence, and it was usually something stupidly manageable.
A midnight run for pizza, an I.O.U., or helping his daughter stumble her way into extra credit without inheriting Lai’s own morally flexible approach to life to get it.
It was only ten past midnight. Lai was definitely still awake; I wasn’t surprised that the phone only rang for all of two seconds before he answered.
“This is gonna be good, I can tell.” Lai’s voice slid through the speaker like silk. I didn’t need to see him to know the exact expression he was wearing; lazy and smug, like a cat that had just knocked over a glass of water and was waiting to see if I’d yell.
“Just because I’m calling…” I sighed, already bracing for the interruption.
“After midnight? You’re usually asleep by ten,” Lai teased; I could practically hear his smirk. “So am I rescuing you, or bailing you out?”
I exhaled slowly, letting him have his moment. It was easier to let Lai burn through the theatrics before negotiating with him; if he didn’t get his fill now, it would flare up even worse later on. I knew him, and I knew how to handle him.
That’s the thing about still being friends with your Ex: you’re never just friends again. You can’t be just friends. There are crossed lines that can never be uncrossed, and you can’t un-eat someone’s ass. Something will always be different afterward. There would always be tension.
Sexual. Emotional. Dramatic.
I swear, Lai had looked me dead in the eye when he said ‘I do’ at his own wedding.
But in fairness to him, I’d met his gaze from my seat next to my wife.
That about sums up our relationship. We were star-crossed, but not in a romantic way. We were more like two collapsing suns trying to drag each other into the same black hole.
Against all odds, we’d managed not to tear each other to shreds, but even now, we were still orbiting one another. Still answering each other’s calls.
“I bought a car,” I said.
Silence.
Not the good kind, where Lai might be patient with me. The disappointed kind.
“Oh.” He spat the word out, his interest withering on the vine. “You called me after midnight because you bought a car?”
“Look. It’s not that simple,” I groaned, baiting him, hoping to draw him back in. I needed his help. “Can you meet me in the garage at the manor? I’ll explain it then.”
“Now?” He sighed, bored.
I nodded instinctively, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah. Please. I’ll be there in, like, ten minutes.”
“Five.” Fox’s voice slid into the space between us, low and amused, and the car surged forward.
“Who is that–?” Lai started, sounding outraged.
I hung up.
Lai would take that very personally.
Good.
***
Fox hadn’t lied; we made it to the academy in less than five minutes.
My hands were trembling from the adrenaline of the drive as I took the wheel, veering the car towards the hidden forest path leading to the manor. The trees blurred past, shadows stretching long under the headlights; Fox was reluctant to give up the speed.
“Whoa—hey. Easy.” I tightened my grip. “I’m not wrapping you around a tree on day one.”
“Where are you taking me?” Fox asked, voice threaded with apprehension. “I’ve connected to your GPS. This is not home. This is work.”
I frowned, clenching my phone protectively. “How does a ‘92 model even know what a GPS is?”
“I have Car Play; I’m vintage, not antique. See that adapter plugged into the cigarette lighter?” Fox huffed, then backfired, the gunshot sound making me jump.
“I’m taking you to work because it has a large, underground, secured garage,” I explained. “I live downtown. We have a building that once housed my tattoo studio. It’s not exactly safe.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie; more of an omission. Fox didn’t need to know that I had a big garage at home too, not until I could trust him not to pick fights with Sparrow’s Ford Ranger or Candy’s Volkswagen Beetle. Bad enough that he already knew about my Honda Odyssey.
“You don’t want to wake up with no tires, do you?” I pressed, sensing his skepticism.
That seemed to have the desired effect; Fox slowed down, carefully approaching the manor. His tires hit the gravel court, stone crunching as he followed the signs leading to the underground parking lot.
Weird; I never paid attention to the other cars there before, but now I felt like their headlights were following us.
Aris’s Lexus looked at Fox with a snobby smirk, the grill curled up in a smile.
Robyn’s Toyota Supra looked excited as a new challenger rolled past, and Lai’s ancient, battered Corolla, her road legality a distant memory, let us pass with a cautious glance.
“Okay,” I muttered under my breath. “That’s new.”
We turned into the last spot at the back of the parking garage, and I groaned.
Lai was already there, leaning into his gold-handled cane, looking like he’d been waiting his entire life for this exact moment.
His red silk robe hung open, tied just loosely enough to kiss the line of indecency.
His long lavender hair was pulled into a messy bun that looked intentional in the way only he could manage.
And he was smiling.
That was not a good sign. I knew he would have nothing nice to say. That wasn’t the kind of relationship we had.
“Hey.” I plastered on a wide, fake smile as I stepped out of Fox.
“Hey,” Lai echoed, his tone flat, his eyes already scanning the car. He wanted details—the messy ones. The more I gave him, the more cooperative he’d be.
“So,” I started, gesturing vaguely. “I bought a new Mustang—”
“Wait, wait. This is a Mustang?” Lai asked, an eyebrow raised, his lip pulled back. “You’re kidding, right? It looks like shit.”
My blood froze in my veins. I couldn’t speak or move. My eyes desperately darted back to Fox, but the car didn’t indicate any murderous intent. No rev. No lurch. No immediate act of violence.
Which was somehow worse.
“At least the red one looked like a proper Mustang. What year is this?” Lai peered at the sticker on the window and laughed. “1992? Gods, the 90s were a great era for fashion, but the same cannot be said for the cars. I can’t believe you bought the ugliest Mustang in existence.”
I tried to signal at Lai to shut up, but he either didn’t notice or chose not to.
Probably the second.
“It’s old,” he added as he circled the car, his cane tapping the skirting as if checking for rust. “At least it was cheap, right?”
“It’s vintage,” I finally managed, pushing Lai’s hands away from the hood. I didn’t know if Fox would bite, and I didn’t want to risk it.
Lai looked irritated by that.
“He isn’t just a car, okay?” I muttered, hoping Lai would take the hint. “He’s…”
“He?” Lai barked a laugh.
I forced a tight smile that I hoped looked like a warning. “He’s alive.”
This time, at last, Lai seemed to take me seriously. “Like magic?” He asked.
“Yeah, like magic.”
“But how?” Lai studied the car more closely. “You’re an anti-mage. Magic doesn’t work around you.”
“I know, and human magic doesn’t,” I cut in. “But living magic is different.”
Lai stared at me. Then at the car. Then back to me. “Your car is a living thing?”
I nodded, leaning in slightly until my forehead almost touched Lai’s, my voice low. “And he’s got a temper.”
That finally got through to Lai. His brows shot up, and at last he understood what I had tried to convey to him so desperately.
Don’t fuck with Fox!
Lai took a step back, wary. Fox was uncharacteristically quiet; the engine was off, ticking softly as it cooled, giving no sign that he’d heard Lai call him an ugly Mustang.
This was a mistake, I could feel it. If I left Fox here with Lai, I was sure I’d come back to a smoldering pile of rubble and tire marks. I opened my mouth to tell Lai I’d changed my mind, that I’d take Fox home and work this out, but Lai stopped me with a shake of his head.
“Look, this isn’t the first stray you’ve brought home to me,” Lai chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m definitely not adopting this one, but it—”
“Not it,” I interrupt. “Fox.”
Lai arched a brow.
“His name is Fox,” I explained. To Lai’s credit, he didn’t ask any more questions.
“I’ll look after Fox. Maybe figure out what his deal is. You go home.”
I hesitated.
Every instinct in me screamed not to leave.
I stepped close to Fox, leaning into the driver’s side, glancing into the back seats.
The shadow wasn’t there.
The absence felt very, very loud.
“Be a good boy,” I whispered as I reached for the keys. The ignition held on to them; I didn’t force it. Fox obviously had plans, and I didn’t want to be here when Lai paid for his criticism. I stepped back, forcing a grin that shook a little in the corners.
If anyone but me could handle Fox, it was Lai. The price was going to be steep, though, and I had already spent twelve grand.
I just hoped Fox loved me more than he hated Lai.
“Goodnight, you two. Please don’t do anything too expensive.”