The metallic click of handcuffs echoed as the officer roughly secured Ronnie's wrists behind his back.
Evelyn pushed her door open and stepped out of the car.
"There is no need to make this complicated," she said, voice level but sharp. "Officer, please tell me exactly why you are arresting him."
The cop glanced at her, grip on Ronnie's collar not loosening at all. "Ma'am, this is official police business, and you have no right to interfere," he snapped, shoving Ronnie toward the cruiser. "You can ask your questions in court."
Ronnie twisted his neck as far as the grip allowed, looking at Evelyn. "Miss, can you call boss? He can fix this in minutes." He really didn't want to spend the night in a holding cell.
Evelyn sighed, pulling her phone from her purse, her polite tone gone, replaced by something cold and flat.
"Okay, officer. I tried being reasonable, but you didn't want to listen." Ronnie was right. For a guy on a power trip, Daniel's approach was going to work a lot better.
The cop scowled, pointing a thick finger at her. "Put the phone away, lady, or I'll throw you in the back of the car for obstruction."
Evelyn didn't blink. She found the contact, pressed call, and raised the phone to her ear.
The cop shoved Ronnie harder against the hood and took a step toward her. "I said put it—"
The line connected.
"What is it?" Daniel's voice came through, distracted, wind roaring in the background and something like a strained, choked gasp.
"Daniel," Evelyn said calmly, standing her ground as the officer reached for her phone.
"We have a slight problem in Central City. A police officer has handcuffed Ronnie over a fake stolen car charge and refuses to listen."
A brief silence. Then a heavy thud, like someone dropped onto a hard surface.
"Give me thirty seconds," Daniel said. "Don't let him leave."
The call ended.
Evelyn lowered the phone and gave the officer a faint, almost pitying smile. "You should probably let him go right now. Because my husband is on his way, and he isn't exactly known for being polite."
The cop let out a sharp, mocking laugh, not intimidated in the slightest. "Nobody is above the law, lady. I don't care who you think your husband is."
He smiled, smug and untouchable.
He wasn't worried about threats from rich civilians — his father was the Chief of Police in Central City, and he pulled stunts like this all the time, shaking down drivers, confiscating expensive rides, flexing his badge, and had never once faced a consequence for it.
As far as he was concerned, he owned these streets. He let go of Ronnie and reached for the cuffs on his belt, ready to grab Evelyn instead.
The streetlights overhead flickered violently, and the temperature in the air dropped hard.
A heavy, suffocating pressure slammed into the street, dropping the cocky officer straight to his knees, cracking the concrete under his boots.
Before he could even process why he couldn't breathe, a tall figure stepped out of a swirl of dark, evaporating mist directly between him and Evelyn, who slipped back into the car.
Daniel looked down at the kneeling officer, eyes cold, his knuckles still stained with a strange, glitching black blood from his last fight.
"I'm the husband," he said, voice quiet but heavy enough to send the cop's chest tight with panic. "And you have about three seconds to explain why my driver is in handcuffs."
The cop broke into a cold sweat, breath catching in his throat, mind blank as he stared up at the man in front of him.
He didn't know what was happening. He didn't know what this thing was. He only knew the terror rolling off him wasn't natural.
Daniel didn't wait for an answer. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The handcuffs on Ronnie's wrists vanished.
Ronnie rubbed his wrists, stepping away from the hood. "Thanks, boss."
"Get back to the house," Daniel told him flatly. "There's a guest tied up on the roof. Don't touch him, and don't do anything stupid."
Ronnie blinked, processing the bizarre instruction without question. "Got it."
Daniel glanced past him to the back seat, where Evelyn, Elizabeth, and Sylvia watched. "I hope you three had a good day, because mine was significantly worse."
"We did," Evelyn said smoothly, settling back into her seat.
"Good. At least some of us had good day," Daniel muttered. "Go on. Get out of here."
Ronnie didn't need telling twice. He got behind the wheel, put the car in drive, and pulled smoothly away, leaving the cop kneeling on the asphalt alone with Daniel.
The street went dead quiet.
Daniel looked down at the officer, whose eyes were wide and locked on him in panic.
"You caught me in a really bad mood," Daniel said softly.
Before the cop could beg, Darkness swallowed him.
The smell of sulfur filled his lungs.
Something enormous moved behind him.
Then pain.
His ribs cracked.
Something dragged him downward into a place where screams never stopped.
He tried to scream—
Gasp!
He was back on the street.
His uniform was soaked in cold sweat, heart slamming against his ribs. He wasn't dead. He wasn't bleeding.
He looked up, trembling so hard his teeth chattered.
Daniel looked down at him, eyes cold and empty. "Next time, don't do stupid shit," he said, voice cutting through the ringing in the cop's ears. "Because I'm not always going to be free to just scare you."
He turned and stepped into the shadows.
In a blink, the street was empty.
*****
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