Chapter 6 #2
“I’ll take that Tera comment as a compliment.”
He laughed, the sound carrying through the emptying shop. He glanced at the clock, shooting up out of his seat. “Oh shit. Tera’s going to kill me!”
He frantically gathered up everything he needed, complaining under his breath about the special dinner his mate was making him, which he’d been reminded not to be late for several times today.
When he turned toward me in panic, I waved him off. “Go. Run. I’ll finish closing up.”
He didn't need to be told twice. He nodded his thanks before bolting out the front and locking the door.
The space was quieter now without engines running. I sat in it for a moment, leaning up against the old Pontiac GTO I was fixing up. The overhead lights hummed softly as I got up and reached for the control panel for the roll-up door and hit the button.
The metal rattled as it started to descend, metal slats sliding down inch by inch. The outside light narrowed into a strip, then a thin line, before disappearing completely as the door met the concrete with a dull thud.
I stepped forward and slid the safety lock into place. The click echoed louder than it should have, and something shifted behind me. A chill slid down my spine, sharp and sudden.
My hand dropped toward my boot—
Too slow.
An arm wrapped around my throat, tight and unyielding, lifting me clean off the ground until my feet left the concrete.
“You know…”
The voice slid into the space behind me, low and familiar, and my body reacted before my mind caught up. My pulse slammed hard in my chest, loud enough it felt like it echoed in my ears.
“It took me longer than I expected to find you.”
His grip tightened around my throat, lifting me higher as my boots dangled uselessly against the air.
“Had to wring it out of that little bitch Yendor,” he added, voice curling with satisfaction. “Took a few hits to the gut before he started talking.”
The words barely registered. My body moved on instinct.
My legs kicked out behind me, searching for anything—floor, wall, leverage—while my hands clawed at his arm, fingers digging into skin that didn’t give. My nails scraped and slipped, catching nothing. The pressure on my throat only tightened, cutting off air in sharp, uneven bursts.
A soft exhale left him when one of my kicks connected. The next second, the world flipped over.
My body hit the concrete hard, the impact exploding through my back and shoulders. Air rushed out of my lungs in a strangled gasp as I bounced once and rolled onto my side, vision flashing white at the edges.
“Fucking bitch.”
His shoes struck the ground loudly, each step measured as he closed the distance. I blinked up at him, the overhead lights casting harsh shadows across his face. His eyes locked onto me, sharp and fixed, tracking every small movement I made as I tried to push myself up.
“Calix Winstale can’t save you now.”
“I—I don’t—” The words caught in my throat as I shifted, pain shooting down my spine and forcing a sharp wince out of me.
The corner of his mouth pulled upward, slow and deliberate, as if he’d been expecting that exact reaction. His gaze dragged over me, from the way I struggled to sit up to the press of my hands against the floor, struggling to balance myself.
“I don’t know him,” I forced out again, this time louder. The words tumbled over each other as I tried to steady my voice. “I’ve never met him before. I swear.”
I pushed backward, palms scraping against the concrete, trying to put space between us.
His wings snapped open behind him with a sharp rush of air, the sudden movement stirring loose papers and dust along the floor.
He lifted off just slightly, hovering for a second as he looked down at me, then dropped again, landing right on top of me with a solid thud that vibrated through the ground.
His gaze traveled over me again, more assessing this time.
“The plan was simple,” he said, tilting his head slightly. “Find you. Kill you. Send Calix a message using a human he’d have to clean up after.”
His eyes flicked upward for a brief second, then back down to me, as if measuring the idea against what he saw now.
My body wouldn’t stop shaking.
I pressed my hands harder into the ground, forcing myself to stay upright, to hold his gaze even as everything in me screamed to look away.
His laughter echoed off the walls, sharp and sudden in the empty garage.
Then he crouched down. His fingers snapped forward, catching my chin between them and jerking my head up. My neck strained with the force, pain flaring along the back of it as he held me there, forcing me to meet his eyes.
“But then I saw this.” His gaze shifted, sweeping across the garage. His lips parted in a short, amused breath. “This set-up of yours…”
The grip on my chin loosened as he released me, straightening slowly. I sucked in a breath, my head dropping slightly before I forced myself to stay alert, eyes tracking him as he turned away.
“Killing you would be easy,” he said, pacing a step or two, his hands moving as he spoke. “Too easy.”
He glanced back at me over his shoulder, looking me up and down, then nodded.
“And if you really don’t know him, then it wouldn’t land the way I want it to, making it a useless gesture.”
He stopped moving. Something shifted in his expression as his focus turned inward for a second, playing something out in his own head.
“But…” he murmured before his mouth curved up. “If I use you…”
When I scooted my ass back an inch, his head snapped back to me. Eyes alight with hunger, he closed the distance between us.
“For your talents. To finally beat him. On his fucking track.”
The smile spread wider, becoming sharper, and a shiver ran down my spine before my body went cold.
“Watching that smug face drop…” He exhaled a short laugh, the sound almost boyish for a split second. “That might be worth it.”
Before I could react, his wings snapped out, flapping in rapid succession until he was just an inch in front of me. Close. Too close.
The scent of his cologne hit me, thick and overpowering, assaulting my lungs. My throat clenched instinctively, my tongue pressing hard against the roof of my mouth to keep anything, any reaction, from slipping out.
“This is what’s going to happen.” His eyes locked onto mine, his voice settling into some calm, controlled way that made it worse.
“For the next three days…” He stood straight, adjusting the cuff of his sleeve as if we were standing in a boardroom instead of a dim garage with me on the floor. “I’ll bring my car in. After hours, of course.”
The smirk on his lips made it seem like we were in cahoots on this, but really, I was just along for the ride, wishing I could get off, even if it meant throwing myself out the door.
“And you’ll work on it. Adjustments. Parts. Whatever it needs.”
His gaze drifted past me for a moment, sweeping over the shop—the tool racks, the workbench, the parts lined up in neat rows—before settling back on me.
“Make it the best.” The corner of his mouth twitched. “Free of charge, of course.”
The argument came to me fast, and I opened my mouth. The inventory, Alto’s logs, the missing parts he would notice immediately, but it never came out. I didn't have enough time before my head snapped sideways.
The crack echoed a second later, bouncing off the walls as pain exploded across my cheek. I hit the ground again, my palms scraping the concrete as I tried to catch myself. A sharp sound slipped out of me before I could stop it, my hand flying up to press against the burning skin.
When I looked back at him, he was standing over me like a statue. Not angry. Not rushed. Just an mocking glint in his eyes, the kind I’d seen on countless other supes’ faces when they wanted to remind us humans exactly where they stood in the pecking order.
“This isn’t a discussion,” he said, his voice dropping as he crouched just enough to meet my eye level. “There is no choice here.”
I tried to shift away from him, to get out of his war path, but his hand shot out again, grabbing my shoulder and forcing me down onto the concrete. My back hit harder this time, the impact sending a jolt up my spine that made my teeth clench.
Biting down on the inside of my cheek, I tasted copper, but not a sound left my lips. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“You’re going to do it,” he continued, his shadow stretching over me. “And you’re going to do it right.”
He paused, watching me, waiting for me to freak out, to resist him, to give him anything to feed on, but I stayed still. It took everything inside me, but I did it. That was when his tone shifted, changing to something deadly.
“Saturday decides the rest.”
His hand wrapped around my throat again, tighter than before, dragging me across the floor as he lifted me just enough to cut off my air supply. My hands flew to his wrist, fingers digging in as my chest tightened, lungs straining against the pressure.
“Whether you live…”
The grip tightened.
“…or die.”
The words pressed in with the same weight as his hand. I gasped, but nothing came out, just a broken pull of air that never reached my lungs.
“And it won’t just be you.” His voice dropped lower, forcing me to focus on every word as my vision began to blur. “I’ll burn this place down.”
My body went rigid beneath him. The shop. Alto—
“I’ll make sure he’s inside when it happens.” No!
My fingers clawed harder at his arm, nails scraping uselessly against skin that didn’t give.
“Then I’ll find his mate.” My eyes widened as his words came slower now, more deliberate. His breath brushed my ear as his voice softened, whispering to me like we were lovers. “After that… your little blonde friend is next.”
Lark. My body jerked before I could stop it.
His lips curved at the reaction, triumph filling his gaze. This was the reaction he wanted out of me. This was what he’d been waiting for.