The shed creaked in distress as I used my force magic to saw through the metal, splitting two of the walls at the joint. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure that no nosy neighbors were peeking over the hedge, but it was the middle of a weekday morning so everyone was presumably at work. Once I was sure that no one was spying on us, I slid my gaze back to the man standing on the other side of the shed, holding up the wall until I could cut through it completely.
“So,” I began, a teasing smirk on my mouth. “You and Paige, huh?”
Henry, who had been focused on the metal wall, snapped his gaze up to me and blinked. Then he cleared his throat. “I don’t know what that means. Paige and me, what?”
“Oh come on, Henry. I’ve got eyes, you know.”
“Then they’re blind as fuck because there’s nothing going on between me and Paige.”
“Really? That why you threatened to kill that Kenny guy earlier?”
Drawing his eyebrows down, he kept his face carefully blank. “I was just looking out for her, that’s all. Since she’s not used to running with dark mages, and all that.”
“Uh-huh.”
My force magic severed the last bit, and the two final walls came free as well. Releasing my grip on the magic, I yanked my hand up to brace the wall closest to me before it could crash right into my chest. Henry kept his grip on the perpendicular wall.
Once I had gotten a hold on mine, he began slowly lowering the long flat sheet of metal to the ground. It clanked in annoyance as he dragged it up and then dropped it on top of the other two walls we had already taken down. I swept my gaze over the small garden.
It was a rather beautiful place. Both the jasmine and the rose bushes were in full bloom, and the tall hedges that framed the area provided almost complete privacy. Most of the ground was covered in soft grass, but there was also a small area made of stone where outdoor furniture could be placed.
My gaze returned to the butchered shed. Audrey and I would have to replace that at some point, but right now, Levi needed the metal.
“It would be okay, you know,” I said as I dragged the final wall up onto the pile, and then straightened to meet Henry’s gaze. “If there was something going on between you and Paige.”
Hesitation flickered briefly in Henry’s usually calm gray eyes. But instead of answering, he just bent down and grabbed the side of the walls. I did the same on my end.
Metallic clanging drowned out the soft rustling of leaves as we hauled the pile towards the back door.
“It’s just…” There was a hint of desperation on Henry’s face as he looked up and met my gaze from across the sheets of metal. “She terrifies me.”
I couldn’t stop a surprised laugh from escaping my throat. The thought of that skinny blond scaring the seven-foot-one mountain of muscle that was Henry was straight up hilarious.
Henry shot me a disapproving scowl, and I quickly wiped the grin from my face and cleared my throat instead.
“I’m serious,” Henry said while we maneuvered into position in front of the open door. “She makes me… feel things. And it’s fucking terrifying.”
Understanding flooded my chest. I knew that feeling well. After all, I had gone through the exact same thing with my vicious little poisoner.
Henry shook his head at me while we tilted the metal sheets to the side to get them through the door. “She can make me laugh when I’m really not supposed to be laughing. And she can make me blush. Blush!” He shook his head again while he backed across the threshold. “I don’t blush. And yet, she can draw those emotions from me.”
“I know what you mean. It terrified me when Audrey began affecting me like that too.”
“Yeah, but you could cover those feelings behind threats since you were literally trying to kill her.” Light and shadows shifted across his face as we made it into the hallway and continued moving past the windows and towards the living room. “I can’t do that with Paige. Because as opposed to Audrey, Paige is actually kind and sweet and just… a nice person.”
Another laugh ripped from my throat as I shot him a mock warning glare. “Hey, careful.”
“Sorry.” He cleared his throat and gave me a sheepish look. “But you know what I mean, right? You and Audrey were trying to kill each other while you were falling in love, but Paige isn’t hostile like that and since I really do like her—”
“Ha!” I interrupted, flashing him a smug grin. “So you do like her?”
He let out a groan. “Fuck.”
“Like who?” Levi’s voice filled the air as we at last made it into the living room.
Instead of answering, we just carried the metal walls over to the long dining room table and set them down on top of it. Levi tracked us with sharp gray eyes, still waiting for an answer. From across the table, Henry gave me an almost imperceptible shake of the head.
“Don’t tell me,” Levi said, a knowing smirk on his lips. “It’s Paige, isn’t it? Anyone with eyes can see how you bumble about around her.”
Henry shot a panicked glance around the room, as if Paige would suddenly pop up from behind one of the red armchairs even though she and Audrey were scouting out a building for us to use and wouldn’t be back for at least another few hours.
Flicking his gaze between me and Levi, he cleared his throat and hiked his thumb towards the doorway while backing towards it. “I’m gonna go… put the things away… from the… shed.”
A smug laugh echoed into the room as Levi watched Henry disappear around the corner. I scowled at him.
The King of Metal snapped his gaze to me. “And what are you scowling about?”
“You know exactly what.”
“Enlighten me.”
Walking around the table, I moved until I was standing right in front of him. We were about the same height, so I locked hard eyes on him before answering. “You might be the one running the show in Malgrave, but this ain’t Malgrave.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“This is Eldar,” I continued as if he hadn’t interrupted. Holding his gaze, I spread my arms wide to motion at the building around us. “And this is my home. You don’t just come in here and start acting like you’re in charge, and you don’t disrespect my people. Because guess what? Henry doesn’t work for you anymore. He works for me.”
Barely before the final word had even left my tongue, pain pulsed through my stomach and chest as a round metal pole suddenly slammed into it. It happened so fast that I couldn’t bring my arms back together in time. In fact, I hadn’t even seen Levi brush his palms together.
The strike sent waves of pain shooting down my legs and throughout my whole body, and I crashed down on one knee. Before I could manage to push myself up or get my own hands together, Levi’s knee slammed into the side of my head. Another jolt of pain shot through my shoulder as I hit the floor hard.
Black spots swam in my vision.
While sucking in a desperate breath, I blinked furiously to clear my head while rolling over on my back.
Before I could get my wits about me again, a boot appeared across my throat.
A strangle gurgle ripped from me as Levi leaned forward, putting more of his weight right on top of my windpipe.
His gray eyes were brimming with threats and there was a lethal edge to his voice as he spoke. “Let’s get one thing straight—”
Slapping my palms together, I shot a concentrated force blast at him. Since his feet weren’t planted firmly on the ground, it was powerful enough to throw him off balance and push him back a couple of steps.
I used the opportunity to roll away from him and leap to my feet.
Air exploded from my lungs as one of the metal walls from the shed smacked into me, making me collide back first with the marble wall. A second later, the metal sheet twisted and shifted into bands that wrapped around my whole body. They hardened instantly against the wall.
Fury and dread washed over me as I glanced down at my body. Bands of metal wrapped around my arms and legs, pinning them to the wall, while two of them spanned my chest and a third was locked in place over my throat. I stifled an annoyed snarl.
In hindsight, picking a fight with Levi next to a giant pile of metal was a dumb fucking move. But oh well.
Steel sang into the silence as a sword was drawn from its sheath.
Clenching my jaw, I dragged my gaze back up to Levi.
“Let’s get one thing straight.” Power and authority rippled off his muscular frame as he leveled his sword at my throat. “I might be helping you because of that deal we made, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll tolerate any insolence from you. Is that clear?”
I glared back at him while discreetly yanking against my restraints. They only tightened more until I had to grit my teeth against the pain.
Levi pushed the tip of his sword harder against the base of my throat. “Answer.”
“Yes,” I ground out.
“Yes, what?”
Hell damn it all. If I’d been able to move my arms, I would’ve punched his teeth down his fucking throat. But I couldn’t. So I swallowed my pride and averted my gaze. “Yes, sir.”
For a while, he just stood there. Staring me down. I kept my eyes on the ground, waiting for him to finish feeding off the power and control he held over me in that moment. Fucking bastard.
The fact that I craved the exact same power and control as he did was of course entirely beside the point. After all, this time, I was on the receiving end of it.
Abruptly, the metal bands disappeared. The sudden loss of support made my legs buckle, and I crashed down on the floor.
Levi only turned around and strode back to the table. Clanking metal echoed between the marble walls as he returned the bands to the dining room table and the rest of the pile Henry and I had brought in.
“Get over here and put these away as I finish them,” he ordered.
Grinding my teeth, I pushed to my feet while trying to smother the urge to run a force blade through the asshole’s back when he wasn’t looking. I shook out my arms and drew in a few deep breaths before I managed to get my rage under control.
By the table, Levi was molding the metal from the shed into manacles that we were going to use on our hostages later. Since we needed such a large amount, and on such short notice, we hadn’t been able to rely on my usual shop to provide everything in time. But thankfully, Levi was good at more than just threatening people. I grabbed each pair of stiff handcuffs and lined them up on the floor by the windows while he continued with the next one.
A comfortable rhythm set in, and for a while, we just worked in silence.
Pausing on my way back from the window, I studied him as he manipulated the metal in the air between his hands.
“Why did you let me live?” The question was out of my mouth before I could stop it.
While continuing to craft the manacles, Levi looked up and met my gaze. He knew very well that I didn’t mean when he attacked me just now. I meant before that. After I had betrayed him.
“I sent assassins to kill you for three years,” he replied eventually.
“Yeah, but then I went back to Malgrave. And we both know you could’ve killed me the moment I set foot inside the city.”
“Maybe I should have.”
“But you didn’t. Instead, you beat me within an inch of my life and then you let me and Henry pay off our financial debt and then work off our blood debt.”
“Is this going anywhere?”
“I worked for you for years, Levi. In all that time, you never let anyone live who betrayed you.”
There was a sharp gleam in his eyes as he looked back at me. “If you’re saying that you think I made a mistake, we can always rectify that right now.”
Ignoring his taunt, I just blew out a breath and repeated, “Why did you let me live?”
For quite a while, he said nothing. Morning sunlight glinted against metal as he continued twisting it into handcuffs and then set them down on the table before pulling up another piece from the shed walls. I didn’t move. Only kept watching him.
Just when I thought that he wasn’t going to answer, he heaved a deep sigh and set his newest pair of manacles down before dragging a hand through his hair.
“Because I liked you, Callan.”
His words shocked me enough that I just blinked back at him in stunned silence.
“You were smart, skilled, and ballsy as hell. You were almost like a… little brother.” A hardness crept into his eyes. “Do you have any idea the kind of bloody retribution I rained down on the house you framed for your supposed death?”
“I, uhm… I guess I never apologized for that.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
Holding my gaze, he nodded.
For a while, no one said anything. We only looked at each other.
“When you and Henry came crawling back to Malgrave after all those years, I had every intention of slaughtering you where you stood. But then I just…” He heaved a deep sigh, and his eyes softened a fraction. “You remind me of me.”
My mouth dropped open slightly.
“And if I’d been in your shoes,” he went on, “I would’ve left too. I wouldn’t have been satisfied serving someone else. I’d want my own kingdom. So I understood why you left. And… yeah, you remind me so much of me sometimes. So I guess that’s why I let you live.”
The silence that descended on the room was so thick that I could’ve cut it with a knife. For a few seconds, I could only stare at him because I had no idea what to say. I knew that I had seen Levi as a sort of brother back when I worked for him, but I hadn’t known whether he truly felt the same. Now, I guess I did.
“Thank you,” I said at last, as if that would somehow settle the gigantic debt that I actually owed this man before me. And not just for my life, but for everything that he had taught me over the years.
But he seemed to understand the full meaning behind those words, because he nodded. “Yeah.”
We watched each other in silence for another few seconds.
Then he huffed out a short chuckle and shot me a knowing look before returning his attention to the pile of metal before him.
“Don’t make me regret it.”
