The suspicious hand turned into a pointed finger that tapped against his chest. Then came a voice, low and merciless.
"At least control your heartbeat if you plan on pretending for any longer."
"!!!"
Eyes flew open, scowl already forming before his brain caught up. Control his heartbeat? If he could do that, he would have had a whole different career path—one that didn't involve being manhandled by a lizard with authority issues. But no, clearly he couldn't, and yet Kael didn't even bother to play along. He had to call him out.
They stared each other down, brows furrowing deeper with every passing second, the air between them buzzing with something sharp. Each scowl only deepened the other's, like a contest to see who could look more offended by the other's very existence.
The thought of earlier clawed its way back into his head, unbidden. He opened his mouth to demand an explanation—
"Did you have a death wish?" Kael cut in, voice like ice.
