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The tension climbed in the kitchen.
“This has nothing to do with you.”
“You keep saying that, and I’m getting sick of hearing it. I’m in your house, Colter. I’m in this picture whether you want it or not. Just put the project on hold and look into Mykel. There might be something there!”
“I’m not putting the project on hold.”
“Are you going to risk having this whole thing get screwed up?” I asked, incredulous. “I get what you’re trying to do with the machine, but don’t you think it’s safer to cover yourself from every angle before you keep going with this thing? There’s no rush—”
“I’m not putting the project on hold,” Colter said again, his voice harder than before.
“Colter, there’s more than enough time—”
“I don’t have time, okay?” Colter snapped.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“The machine isn’t just to help enchanted beings, it’s helping me. I have a blood disorder I’m hoping to cure, and without the machine, I’ll lose everything I’ve built.”
My blood ran cold. “What do you have?”
“I’ll show you the paperwork, if you want. It’s not to the point where I’m dying, yet, but that can change at any moment. I’m terrified that it does, and then my time is up.” He swallowed hard and rubbed his fingers along his forehead, just below his hairline.
I frowned. “Are you really sick? I thought shifters lived for centuries. Could this… be a fatal illness?”
He nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
“It didn’t concern you.”
“You keep suggesting that none of this has anything to do with me, but I’m in the middle of it all. Why am I here, Colter?”
“You’re here so I can protect you.”
“As an asset?” I was starting to see the bigger picture, finally. The picture Colter kept talking about hadn’t been exactly what I thought it was. Until now.
“No, not as an asset,” Colter said carefully. “Just to keep you safe.”
“Because my magic could get you that machine when there was a spell on it. And my blood could heal you, too.”
“That’s not what this is about,” Colter said, shaking his head. “The idea wasn’t to use you for that, I just had to—”
“All this time, you pretended like you were doing me a favor, but it’s the other way around, isn’t it? You lied to me, and you’re keeping me here so that I can be the happy ending to your story.”
“That’s not what this is about at all,” Colter said. “The fact that you have angel blood and you’re capable of healing isn’t something we knew until a few days ago. I put the burden of looking after you on myself despite—”
“You think I’m a burden?” I cut him off.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s what you said.” The smell of something burning filled the kitchen. I yanked the oven open, and the lasagna, which should have been bubbly and cheesy, was black and charred. I grabbed an oven mitt and pulled out the dish, pushing it onto the stove. “Fuck!” The lasagna smoked angrily.
“Look, Liv—”
“No, Colter,” I said, cutting him off. “It doesn’t work this way. You don’t get to say you want to date me, but you don’t tell me what’s going on. You don’t get to keep me here for the sake of my safety, only for me to find out you’re using me.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” Colter said. “I’m trying to help you!”
