Manshu and Calix now stood toe-to-toe, the air between them prickling as Calix smiled wide like all of this was a game. Supes edged back another step, widening the space instinctively.
“Did you know she was claimed?” Calix asked casually, though his eyes never left Manshu’s face.
Manshu flicked a glance at me before looking Nathan up and down. “She’s not marked,” he replied, spreading his hands, “and he seemed busy.” He motioned to Lark. “If he wants to claim multiples, he needs to be strong enough to do so.”
A few quiet chuckles rippled through the outer ring. Nathan’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t bare his fangs. He couldn’t because he was right. There was no mark on me. No visible claim etched into skin.
In supe territory, that mattered.
Calix hummed thoughtfully, gaze drifting over me once more before returning to Manshu.
“You might be right,” he said, Manshu’s lips twitched in victory. “But that isn’t your call, is it?”
The temperature in the air seemed to drop a degree as his eyes narrowed on Manshu like he was shit underneath his shoe.
“Leave the human girl alone.” His command landed flat and final. All the lazy humor wiped off his face as he stared Manshu down, ready to lay down the law if the fairy wanted to fight him on it.
Manshu’s shoulders stiffened. For a fraction of a second, it looked as though he might argue.
Then the man who’d helped me, the tan, dark-haired one with bewitching plum drenched eyes, stepped up behind Calix. Recognition flickered through the crowd.
Rack Marlo was the name they all whispered right after Calix’s, and I realized he was the biker that came in. His right hand man.
Manshu’s wings twitched once before folding tight against his back.
Calix didn’t look at me when he spoke next.
“Take your girls home,” Calix commanded, keeping his eyes fixed on Manshu. Nathan already started to move forward to collect me. “Keep them where unclaimed humans are expected.”
The dismissal was clear.
Nathan murmured words of gratitude, bowing his head a few times before guiding Lark and me toward the exit. The crowd parted again, though this time with less curiosity and more calculation.
Behind us, Calix’s laugh easily carried across the warehouse, causing me to look over my shoulder.
He stepped around Manshu’s car, covering his mouth to stop the laughter from bubbling out.
“Interesting wing,” he commented under his hand as his gaze slid toward the freshly altered drag setup. “Even a human spotted the flaw.”
The fire mage stiffened. Manshu’s head snapped toward the car.
“Good luck winning anything with that,” he snarked then walked off with Rack next to him.
“Eyes forward, Olivia,” Nathan warned, and I turned back around.
As we moved closer toward the door, I felt it—Manshu’s stare pressing into my spine, heavy and venomous—but I kept walking.
If he won tonight, maybe pride would soothe the bruise to his ego.
Maybe he’d forget the human girl who’d spoken out of turn.
Maybe.
I pressed my throbbing wrist against my chest and stared straight ahead.
Next time, keep your mouth shut, Olivia.
5
