Chapter44

'He's just like the rest of them,' she thought, her eyes narrowing as she stopped looking for a way out and just accepted the situation, 'he acts kind when it's easy, but the moment it costs him something, he's just another coward.'
She waited for him to apologize or walk away, and for a second, she actually felt a strange sense of relief that her cynical view of humans was still correct.
Then, the smell changed.
The sweet, clean scent she had been getting off him for the last few days vanished in an instant, replaced by something sharp that made her nose burn. It wasn't a smell she could name, but it felt like the air had suddenly turned into a blade, cutting through everything else in the room.
She stiffened, her ears twitching as she looked up at him.
He was still smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. His gaze had gone completely flat, the warmth gone, replaced by a cold, predatory void that made her heart kick hard in her chest. It was the look of someone who wasn't asking anymore.
The man didn't notice the shift, still thinking he held all the power, and as he was about to open his mouth to say something else, Hajin stepped in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper that felt like a razor against the man's skin.
"I'll ask you one more time," he said, his eyes locking onto the man's with a terrifying stillness, "let go of her, or I'll make sure you never use that hand to touch anything ever again."