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.
