All of the air in the dark room seemed to be sucked away as the seconds ticked by. A mess of papers and trinkets littered the floor as Oliver paced back and forth behind his desk. Devon stood as close to the exit door as he could manage and ran his fingers through his flaming red hair as the old man in front of him mumbled to himself. Oliver’s tufts of gray hair were pulled outward, his long eyebrows downturned, and his frown was more pronounced than usual.

“I thought you said you had this under control, boy,” Oliver’s strained voice said through gritted teeth. Devon could feel the old man’s rage suffocating the room even further. “Does this feel like it’s under control?”

Devon swallowed and kept a relatively calm air around himself. Oliver stopped pacing to glare at him as Devon formed a response. “It’s just a small problem. I don’t see why it couldn’t be fixed.”

“Is that right?” Oliver shoved his desk chair to the side and leaned forward, hands pressing into the solid wood surface, “If it’s such a small issue, I expect you’ll resolve it by the evening.”

Devon’s nerves started to get the best of him as he subtly moved one of his hands behind his back. He wrapped his fingers around the doorknob as Oliver stared daggers into him. “I don’t intend on being the one to fix anything. This problem doesn’t effect my life at all.”

He turned the doorknob and readied his other hand in defense, but Oliver wasn’t willing to let him go. He slammed his hand on the desk as a red aura consumed the air around his hands. The same red hue swallowed the door, sealing it closed. It grasped at Devon’s vest and yanked him to the foot of the desk. The two men stared each other down, and Devon briefly worried that Oliver could sense his nervousness.

“Oh?” Oliver’s bushy brows raised. “I should have expected you to turn on me. It’s in your blood.”

Devon slowly shook his head and managed to place a confident smirk on his face. He didn’t have an escape plan, but he refused to give in to Oliver’s intimidation tactics.

“I’m no traitor, Ollie,” Devon’s hands glowed with a similar red hue and broke himself free from the old man’s hold. He took a few steps back and readied his defenses. “I was never on your side.”