I backed toward the door, keeping my movements easy, deliberate. Her eyes tracked every step, still watching me like I might do something unpredictable.
Rule one. Don’t turn your back on an upset woman.
Easing out of the room, I shut the door. The world blurred as I took the stairs at speed, dropping into the kitchen in seconds.
Food. I needed food.
I scanned the space quickly, opening cabinets, then the fridge. My hand went straight to the blood bags before I could stop it. I grabbed one, bit into the corner, and drained it in a few quick pulls, the taste grounding me just enough to think straight again.
“What are you doing?”
I turned to find Rack on the other side of the island, arms crossed, already dressed like he’d been up for hours. Of course he was wearing a pullover and slacks like it wasn’t the fucking weekend.
I dropped the empty bag into the trash and reached into the fridge again, grabbing a carton of eggs.
“Do you know how to cook these?”
Rack’s face folded in on itself, brows pulling tight as he stared at the eggs in my hand.
For a second, he didn’t say anything.
Then a low creak carried down from above, followed by the rush of water through pipes. The faint hiss of a shower starting filled the space between us.
His eyes snapped upward, then back to me, then to the eggs.
Slowly, his grip tightened on the edge of the counter, fingers curling until his knuckles blanched.
“Don’t tell me…” His voice dropped, tight, as his gaze flicked up toward the ceiling. “Don’t tell me you brought herhere.”
“Where else was I supposed to take her?” I shot back. It wasn’t like I’d never brought someone home before. Sure, it had been a while, and okay, she was the first human, but still.
“I don’t know,” he shot back, pushing off the counter and pacing a step. His hand dragged through his hair before he pointed vaguely toward the front of the house. “Anywhere that isn’t here.”
He kept glancing upstairs between words as if she might come crashing downstairs at any second.
I frowned. “You’re being dramatic.”
“Am I?” he snapped. His arm swept out, motioning around the room. “Look at this place!”
I followed the gesture.
Sure. The coffee table was covered in half-assembled gadgets, the side tables lined with my old prototypes, and the entryway decorated with devices I hadn’t touched in years. All of it was harmlessifyou knew what you were doing.
Rack’s voice cut in again, sharper now.
“You leave half-finished weapons sitting out like its furniture. For her,a human, this place is a minefield!”
My jaw tightened as I took a second, longer look.
…Yeah. Okay. I see it.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath, teeth pressing together as I exhaled. “You’re right. I didn’t think about that.”
It hadn’t even crossed my mind.
When I first moved in, I barely used the place. It was just somewhere to crash between the lab and FangTech. Then Aniyah had gotten involved, rearranging things, pulling out old projects and scattering them through the house in the name of “personality.”
I didn't care what she did as long as she didn't talk about dicks. There was just something about having your little baby sister getting all giddy about some large cock she saw, or describing the different kind she’d seen, that made me want to hide in a closet and never come out.
