Chapter 8
OLIVIA
The cars tore past in blurs of color and light, engines screaming as they pushed down the track. The sound swallowed everything else. It vibrated through the metal barrier I gripped, rattling up my arms and into my chest.
I barely blinked.
My eyes stayed locked on Manshu’s car as it cut through the pack, my breath caught somewhere in my throat as I tracked every movement.
The way he hugged the inside corners, too tight, too aggressive, should’ve cost him speed, but the adjustments held.
The tires gripped just enough to keep him from slipping wide.
Not perfect, but better.
My fingers tightened around the railing.
He didn’t ease into the turns. Didn’t feather the brakes.
He just forced the car through, relying on power instead of control.
I could already hear it—if I’d told him to trail brake, to ease the pressure instead of slamming through it, he would’ve snapped.
Yelled. Torn me apart for daring to correct him.
So I hadn’t. I’d made adjustments around his flaws instead.
The engine roared again as he came out of the final turn, pushing hard down the straight. The car wavered just slightly before stabilizing. I didn’t breathe until he crossed the line.
First. Barely.
The sound around me surged, cheers breaking out in uneven bursts. Some people clapped, others shouted his name, while a few just shook their heads and laughed like they couldn’t believe it.
My grip on the railing loosened. Air rushed back into my lungs in a sharp exhale, my shoulders dropping as the tension bled out of me all at once. I leaned forward, letting the cool metal press into me as my body sagged against it.
He won. The thought landed heavier than I expected.
Four nights of no sleep. Constant pressure. His voice in my ear, tearing into every adjustment, every delay. The threats hanging over my head like the blade of a guillotine.
And yet, it worked. All my inventions and attachments worked.
Something tightened in my chest, unfamiliar and unwelcome. A flicker of satisfaction began to grow inside me before I could stop it.
I clenched my jaw.
Why? Why did it feel like that?
He didn’t earn it. He didn’t deserve it. Yet the car had performed.
I made it perform.
Across the track, Manshu climbed out of the driver’s seat, arms spreading wide as people rushed toward him.
Hands clapped against his shoulders, voices piling over each other as they crowded in close.
Someone shoved a drink into his hand while another threw an arm around him, laughing loud enough to carry over the noise.
He soaked it all in.
Head tipped back, grin stretched wide as he basked in their cheers and congratulations. In the power he wanted.
My stomach twisted in knots.
I pushed off the railing and turned away from the track, the noise fading behind me as I moved toward the exit. My legs felt heavier than they should, every step dragging just a little. All I wanted was sleep. Silence.
Distance from all of this. From him. From what I’d just helped him do.
“Hey! Human girl. Stop right there!”
Manshu’s voice made my body lock up. The command cut through everything, sharp enough that my steps halted before I could even think about ignoring it.
For a second, I just stood there.
My shoulders dipped slightly, exhaustion pressing down hard, but I straightened again before turning. Slowly. Carefully.
My hands curled into fists at my sides, nails biting into my palms, grounding me as I faced him again. I kept my gaze lowered, not giving him the satisfaction of eye contact.
“Did you need something fixed on the car?” I asked, my voice steady despite the way my chest still rose a little too fast.
His footsteps came first. Unhurried. Confident.
When I looked up, he was already closing the distance, swagger in every step. A female vampire clung to one arm, her fingers tracing along his sleeve as she leaned into him. On his other side, a male demon matched his pace, smirking as his gaze flicked over me once before settling back on Manshu.
Both of them watched him the same way. Lust and greed combined, like he was something to be consumed. It made my skin crawl.
“You can worry about that next week,” Manshu said, dismissing the idea with a flick of his hand. His eyes dragged over me slowly, from head to toe, lingering just long enough to make it clear he was taking his time.
“Tonight—” he licked his lips, grin stretching wider “—we celebrate.”
The people behind him shifted closer, some laughing, others calling out suggestions, already riding the high of the win.
He jerked his head toward the exit.
“Come on,” he said, beckoning me with the jerk of his head as his hands were full. “The whole team’s heading to the club on Yavon Street.”
I would rather put my head into a blender and press the button myself.
When I didn’t move, he peeled himself away from the two clinging to him and stepped closer, crowding into my space. His head dipped, breath brushing against my ear as his voice dropped low enough that it didn’t carry past me.
“It’s a supe-only club,” he murmured, the words sliding out slowly. “Humans don’t get in unless they’re under contract…”
His fingers caught a strand of my hair before I could shift away, rubbing the red-tinted ends between them as if testing the texture.
“Don’t worry, I’ll vouch for you.”
My teeth pressed together hard enough that my jaw ached. I forced my tongue to the roof of my mouth, swallowing down the bitter taste that crept up the back of my throat. My shoulders stayed still, even as every instinct screamed at me to pull away.
I was already trying to think of a way out of this. Something, anything… when I caught movement at Manshu’s side.
The male demon stepped up close enough that their shoulders brushed. Ignoring me completely, his expression on Manshu shifted into something sharper, more possessive.
“Why waste your time or effort on the help,” he drawled smoothly as he leaned in, whispering in Manshu’s ear, “when you’ve got better options right here?”
His hand drifted down his chest, and Manshu watched as he licked his lips. The demon’s eyes cut briefly toward the female vampire draped over Manshu’s other side, a silent cue.
She followed it instantly.
“Exactly,” she said, her lip curling as her gaze dropped over me, slow and deliberate, before she looked back up at Manshu like he was the drink of water she’d always dreamed of. Her hand slid down his chest, fingers tracing each muscle as she leaned in closer, her mouth brushing his ear.
“You can have all the fun you want with us,” she murmured, her voice soft but edged. “That one?” Her eyes flicked toward me again, dismissive. “She wouldn’t last. Not even after the first thrust.”
Laughing at me, they closed in tighter around him, drawing his focus back to them. Fucking thank god.
His grip on my hair loosened, his fingers flicking the strands away as if they no longer held interest. The tension around me eased just enough that my shoulders dropped before I could stop it.
He turned away from me completely, his focus snapping back to the two practically humping his sides.
The demon’s face was caught in his hand, pulled close as he shoved his tongue down his throat.
The vampire pressed in from the other side, running her teeth over his neck before she whispered all the things she wanted to watch Manshu do to the demon.
She cut me a calculated smirk, thinking she had won, but there was nothing I wanted more in this world than to disappear from this outdoor threesome that was about to happen. Just thinking about fucking Manshu made me want to blow out my brains.
Shifting my weight, I took several steps back, keeping my movements quiet until I turned away from them. The sounds behind me blurred together—low laughter, murmured words, the unbridled moans—as I tried to put distance between us.
“Hey!”
The word snapped through the air. I froze mid-step, slowly turning my head back over my shoulder.
The vampire was watching me now, her earlier amusement gone, her eyes narrowed as she dropped to her knees and unzipped his pants. The demon’s gaze locked onto mine, sharp and warning, his posture tightening as if daring me to linger too long.
Manshu barely looked up, reaching into his pocket and tossed something without aiming.
The keys hit my chest before dropping into my hands.
“Take the car,” he said, his voice breaking between words as his attention drifted elsewhere. “Park it at the club and—”
His sentence faltered as he hissed, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as the two at his sides pulled him further out of focus.
“Just… park it,” he muttered, waving a hand vaguely in my direction.
That was all I needed.
I turned on my heel and moved fast, the noise behind me fading with every step. My grip tightened around the keys as I reached the car, yanking the door open and sliding inside.
The engine roared to life under my hands, and for the first time all night I felt true relief.
***
Handing the keys off to the bouncer, his troll thick fingers closed around them as he gave a short nod and turned away, already shouting something over his shoulder to the valet line.
The bass from the club thudded through the pavement under my boots as I stepped back, scanning the street for a cab. Headlights passed in streaks, revealing supes clustered in loose groups along the sidewalk, their laughter and sharp voices cutting through the night air.
“Via! Hey—wait!”
I pivoted just in time to see Lark pushing through the line at the entrance, slipping past a couple of annoyed supes as she hurried down the steps. Her heels clicked unevenly against the pavement as she ran toward me, one hand waving high to catch my attention.
What the hell is she doing here? I looked behind her and didn't see her normal shadow. And where the fuck was Nathan?