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.
