Marcus sat on the trunk of Toran's car, repeatedly snapping his fingers. Every snap conjured a small flame like you'd see on a lighter, except this sourced from the tips of his fingers and could dance between his hands. Another snap later, it was gone. Then another snap, it was back. If Marcus wasn't bound to Mila, he would've set the car on fire, Toran's home on fire, then set Toran himself on fire and gleefully watch as he burned to death. Unfortunately, it wasn't an option. Not today, at least. Marcus conjured another flame, then tossed it in the air and caught it in his palm, then rotated his hand back and forth, letting the flame roll back and forth between the back and palm of his hand.

Creaking of a door let Marcus know Toran was finally leaving Terry's house, but he didn't bother looking back. He'd know when Toran saw what Marcus did to his car. So Marcus waited, only-half listening to Terry say goodbye to Toran. They'd put Stella to bed about forty-five minutes earlier, so Marcus at least didn't have her to worry about witnessing anything. Although she was mischievous. Marcus could only hope Terry would listen when Marcus told him to stay inside.

"What the hell??" Toran gasped, running to his car, seeing the deep scratches that went around both sides of his car and across his hood. Thanks to it being a moonless night and the fact the street lights were out- something Marcus did earlier- Toran didn't notice Marcus. Toran crouched down and ran his hand along the scratches. They weren't shallow scratches. They cut deep into the car, beyond the paint. Toran wasn't sure he'd ever seen a more aggressive keying.

"What's wrong?" Terry asked, following Toran out.

"Someone keyed my car," Toran said, muttering a curse under his breath before standing. "It was probably Mila. You know how she is with that temper."

"It wasn't Mila," Terry said, rolling his eyes. "You said you didn't even catch up to her, which I honestly think is for the best. Leave her alone and don't blame her for stupid stuff like this," Terry said, crouching down and making a face at the scratches. "It's not like we live in the greatest neighborhood. Could've been anybody."

"Don't be naïve, Terrence, this was done in anger," Toran said, gesturing to the car. "Look how deep those scratches are!"

"Well, it was done in anger," Marcus said, dissipating his flames and sliding off the back of the car. "But it wasn't Mila."

"Marcus," Terry said in surprise, his lips tugging down in a frown. "What are you doing here?"

"Who is this?" Toran snapped, gesturing to Marcus. "Did you just say you keyed my car?"

"Sure did," Marcus said, walking to the side of the car and stopping a few feet away from Toran, narrowing his eyes at the man who made Mila cry tonight. "Terry, go inside. I don't currently have any reason to be mad at you. Yet."

"You know this guy??"

"It's Mila's boyfriend," Terry said, glancing between Toran and Marcus. "Marcus, what the hell did you do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Toran said, throwing his arms up. "He's just as crazy as Mil-"

Marcus stepped forward as quickly as he could without giving too much away about his heightened speed. He grabbed Toran by the collar and lifted him off the ground. "Don't," Marcus growled, lifting him higher, until his feet were helplessly kicking in the air, "finish that sentence."

"Marcus, stop it," Terry snapped. "That's our dad!"

"I know exactly who he is," Marcus said, narrowing his eyes at Toran. "Did you tell Terry that you didn't catch up to Mila outside today?"

"You're insane," Toran said, clawing and grabbing at Marcus's hands but it didn't ease Marcus's grip. Not even a little bit.

"You toss that word around a little too freely for a man who's so fucking mentally weak, he can't even stick around for his own family, and attacks his daughter to feel better about himself."

"Wait, what happened?" Terry asked, looking between Marcus and Toran.

"Toran did catch up to Mila, and he said some things I just don't appreciate," Marcus said, slamming Toran against his car. "Why don't you repeat what you said to her right now, huh?" Marcus asked, getting in Toran's face. "Go ahead. I want to hear it. Word for word. Tell me what you said to my woman."

Toran gulped. Terry frowned, unsure what to do. "Dad, what did you say to Mila?"

"I didn't say anything! Whatever she told him, she was being dramat-" Toran started but the glare Marcus fixed on him did something. He couldn't quite explain it, but it was the most terrifying look he'd ever seen. Barely human. Something that put an actual chill into his body and left him frigid.

"You seem to be a little too stupid for your own good so let me dumb this down for you," Marcus said, keeping Toran up with one hand and grabbing a knife with the other, pressing it against Toran's neck.

"Marcus, whoa," Terry said, moving closer and holding his hands up in surrender. "Come on, we can talk about this."

"Terry, stop being a little bitch, I'm not going to kill him," Marcus snapped, his glare fixed on Toran. "I just want to make my point clear," he said, pressing the knife as far as he could, as far as the blood bond would let him, only far enough to not actually draw blood but it was enough to scare Toran. "Don't you ever fucking come near Mila again," Marcus growled, his eyes flashing red but only for Toran to see. Toran gasped as he saw a brief flash of what Marcus really looked like, the demon underneath. It left Toran with wide eyes, hardly able to breath or believe what he'd just seen. "Don't you ever speak to her again. Don't you ever touch her again," he growled, slamming Toran against the car. "Don't you ever grab her again. You stay the fuck away from her, or I will handle it. Did I break it down enough for that pea-sized brain or do I need to use smaller words?"

Toran stared at him with wide eyes and when he didn't respond, Marcus let out a low warning growl that he channeled in Toran's mind so Terry wouldn't hear it. Toran whimpered and kicked uselessly. "I said," Marcus said, bringing Toran closer, letting him see the sharp teeth as Marcus spoke, "did I break it down enough?"

Toran nodded dumbly and Marcus released him, letting him fall to the ground. Toran scrambled to his feet, his hand shaking as he pointed an accusatory finger at Marcus. "He-he," he stuttered, shaking his head. "He's a demon! Did you see that??" Toran asked, looking at Terry.

"What are you talking about?" Terry asked, his brows furrowing.

"He had horns!" Toran exclaimed. "And red eyes!"

"You're sounding awfully delusional there," Marcus said, the corner of his lips turning up as he crossed his arms. "A bit... What's the word I'm looking for," he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Ah yes. Overdramatic."

Taron stared at Marcus with his mouth open, still shaking. His eyes darted to Terry who was confused all the way around. Listening to half-conversations about something he didn't know happened, he could only figure out so much of it.

"Terry, didn't you see it?" Toran hissed. "He's a monster!"

"Oh come on, you're the one that's so selfish, you abandoned your family and put your daughter down," Marcus said. "You wanna talk about monsters, let's start with you."

"I don't know what happened here," Terry said, glancing between the two and stepping back, holding his hands up. "But I'm washing my hands of it. I'm going to make sure Stella doesn't hear you two."

"Terry, he threatened me!" Toran squeaked.

"Yeah, and why did he?" Terry asked. "You told me you didn't catch up to Mila. Was that a lie?"

Toran's mouth was open but no sound came out. He started to say 'no' but Marcus sent him another glare that had his whole body stiffen.

"Dammit, dad, you said you were going to try with her, not make it worse!" Terry snapped.

"He's not going to try anything anymore," Marcus said. "Because he's not going to go anywhere near her."

"You can't tell me not to see my own daughter," Toran snapped.

Marcus walk up to Toran until he backed into his car and shrank back. Marcus got within inches of his face, a look in his eyes that made Toran want to sink to his knees. "She's not your anything," Marcus said. "You lost your privileges when you started treating her like shit. Let me ask you something, Toran," Marcus said, narrowing his eyes. "You spend all this time telling Mila she's too much, have you ever considered the fact it's not that she's too much, but that you're not enough?"

Toran swallowed and said nothing, shrinking back against the car.

"No, I bet you're too fucking full of yourself to see anything clearly. As much as I'd like to say you're too much, I can't, because that's not the problem. You know what the problem is?" He asked. Toran stayed silent, a small whimper escaping him. "You're not enough, and you never have been. Not for Mila, not for anyone. Don't you dare fucking call her your daughter, you'd be lucky to get the title of sperm-donor for how fucking useless you are. Now, I thought I dumbed it down for you enough but apparently I didn't," Marcus said, pulling out his knife again, shoving it between Toran's legs as far as he could, as far as his limited abilities let him. It was enough to make Toran squeak and tense. "Let's try again," Marcus said, dropping his voice to a threatening whisper that had chills running through Toran's body. "Come near Mila one more time, and I will fucking carve you alive. Did that clear things up?"

Toran didn't answer. He was so scared, he nearly pissed himself. He nodded dumbly and Marcus stepped back, gesturing to the car. "Good. Get the fuck out of here. And listen asshole," Marcus said, slamming his hand on the car just as Toran managed to get his keys out. The action made Toran jump, dropping his keys. He quickly picked them up, fumbling with them as he hesitantly looked at Marcus. "If I hear anything bad from Stella, if I hear you were mean to her, you picked on her, hell, if you fucking did something on accident to upset her, I will come find you. This," he said, gesturing between him and Toran, "is child's play compared to what I'm willing to do. So don't get yourself further on my shit list than you already are. Get lost."

Toran didn't respond, just fumbled with his keys some more before managing to get the door unlocked. He quicky slipped inside and the tires squealed as he sped away.

"What did he say to her?" Terry asked.

"No offense, Terry, but if Mila wanted to vent to you, she would've," Marcus said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning towards Terry. "Why the fuck do you hang out with him when you know he's an asshole?"

"He's our dad," Terry defended, rubbing the back of his neck and dating his eyes away.

"I'll never understand why people think that's a valid argument to excuse shitty behavior, but whatever, you do what you need to. Just stop fucking asking Mila to come to Wednesday's. Got it?"

Terry nodded and Marcus walked away. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Terry. Mila would be getting up soon and he didn't want her waking up alone.