Page 13 of Hollyhocks

“Not on my deathbed,” he sneers, slamming the office window closed.

I give Rhett an exasperated expression. “He is a pain in the ass.”

“Yeah, but he is our pain in the ass. He wouldn’t actually kill you.”

“Yes, he would. You and I both know it.”

“Okay, but he’d regret it after.”

I toss my head back and chuckle, opening the driver’s side door to get out finally. “No, he wouldn’t. It’s fine. I’m not here for him anyway.” I slap Rhett’s shoulder, the crocodile gargoyle skin causes a zing of pain to shoot up my arm. “Mother fucker! Holy shit.” I grab onto my hand, holding my breath as I walk around to shake off the pain. “I always forget about the stone.”

I kick a random bucket, and it slams against a junker of a car that’s been sitting in the same spot for far too long. We use it for parts when we need to.

“Feel better?” Rhett asks.

“Kind of. I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine.” Rhett crosses his arms and tucks his wings behind his back. “Actually—” he inhales, and I take a step away.

I lift a finger. “Don’t you use that on me. You know the rules. No using your abilities to see if something is wrong. That was wild of you, Rhett. You know better.”

With his vampire speed, he is directly in front of me, sniffing the air in front of me.

“Nothing is wrong. Your heart is racing. You smell like a woman. What happened while you went to get gas in the truck?”

I hook my fingers in my belt loops and rock on the heels of my boots. “Nothing.” I check my watch, noticing it’s close to the next appointment time. “I need to go. I have an oil change and a tire rotation coming in ten minutes.” I start walking away but he snags the back of my shirt and yanks me, sending me flying through the air.

I land on my back, the air is knocked out of my lungs, and I cough. “Was that really necessary?” I groan.

“Sorry,” he frowns, walking over with his hand extended. “Sometimes my strength gets ahead of me.”

I slap my hand into his and stand, dusting off my jeans. “It’s alright, but if you really want to know, there was a girl who had a flat tire on the side of the road. I tried to help her, but she declined. I didn’t want to hover since she was alone. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.”

He grins, showing his fangs. “You’re a good man, Fitz. You’re going to get your happy ending one day, you know that, right?”

I shuck off my hat and scratch my head before putting it back on. I look away from my best friend with a shrug of my shoulder. “I don’t think this universe has what I’m looking for, Rhett.”

“It does. I refuse to lose my best fucking friend to old age while I stay like this forever. I won’t allow it.”

“Rhett, you can’t force something like that.”

“Yes I can!” he roars so loud, the rage has his eyes flipping a bright red. He turns away, shaking his head as if that will get rid of the crimson flooding his irises. His nostrils flare as he takes a calming breath. “I can. I will. It’s why I don’t like you joking around about your life. Every year you get older, you’re closer to death, and I’m frozen like this.”

“Okay?” I grab his shoulders. “Rhett, I’m okay with that. I’m okay living the rest of my life like this. I’m happy. If I die, then I’ll die happy knowing I had a good life.”

“That isn’t good enough.”

“It has to be,” I tell him. “You have to face it, Rhett. I’m only human.”

“I’ll figure out a way. I need to go,” he sneers, spinning around, and heads back inside the shop.

I sigh, tilting my head back to stare up at the grey sky. My phone rings in my pocket and I dig it out to see who is calling. I don’t typically ignore my sister’s call but right now, I don’t feel like talking.

My head is a mess. I’m worried about Rhett, my fragile human life, and the woman I met not ten minutes ago won’t leave my mind. I’m not in the headspace to talk.

“Hey, stop figuring out the shapes of the clouds. They don’t look like fucking clowns or puppies. They are just water droplets and ice crystals. Nothing else. Your appointment is here. We have a business to run.” Creed narrows his eyes at me from the window he somehow managed to open without me hearing, then slams it shut.

Yeah, I have no doubt he would kill me in my sleep. Luckily, I’m off limits because of Rhett.

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