That flash of color in her cheeks. The tiny betrayal of a reaction she couldn’t quite hide.
I leaned back, my grin lingering.
Yeah. She felt it too.
And I couldn’t wait to see her again.
11
RACK
The drive back stretched longer than it should have.
Her scent lingered in the car, its soft, rose-infused warmth sitting heavy in the air. I cracked the window without thinking, letting the night bleed in, but it didn’t clear fast enough. My focus stayed locked on the road, hands steady, as the engine pushed harder than it needed to.
What the hell was Calix doing?
I told him to go out. Blow off steam. Get his head out of the lab. Not this. Not bringing a human back. And nother.
We saw her with Manshu at the Track last night, so why did he follow her into that human bar? Was it a move against Manshu? Had something just called him to her? Both? With Calix, it was always a gamble. Sometimes it was strategy, but other times it was instinct, never a clear line between the two.
While Calix talked to her last night, I asked around about her and just found scraps. Her name, where she worked during the day, that she’d been at the Track and recently started workingwith Manshu. That was it. Enough to intimidate her, but nothing more.
I glanced at her.
She sat angled toward the window, arms tucked in close, eyes fixed on the passing lights. The reflection of the street lamps flickered across her face, catching the tension in her jaw and the way her fingers twisted together in her lap.
“Address?” I asked.
When she gave me the body shop, it caught me off guard.
“You don’t want me to take you home?”
She shook her head, not meeting my eyes. “I’ve got to get to work anyway. I have clothes there.”
The car fell silent again. I watched her from the corner of my eye, her unmoving gaze locked outside while something behind it worked overtime. Her fingers tightened, then loosened, then tightened again.
“Are you okay?” The question slipped out before I could stop it.
Her attention snapped to me, her eyes wide and shoulders tense.
“Y-yes,” she said quickly, her hands pulling closer together. “I’m fine.”
I nodded once but didn’t look away right away.
Her gaze dropped almost immediately, teeth pressing into her lower lip as her shoulders curled in just enough to notice. Something twisted low in my gut.
The only time I’d seen that shift before was when I mentioned Manshu.
“Don’t worry,” I said, my voice cutting through the quiet. “Calix isn’t going to come after you because of who you work for.”
Her fingers stilled.
“If someone’s actively working against us, then he turns into a bloody tyrant, taking out anyone in his path,” I added. “Otherwise… you saw how he is.”
I meant it as reassurance. Maybe a warning, too. Something to settle her nerves.
It didn’t.
