The lab stinks of fear and formaldehyde. Louis, the lab manager, has a gun pressed to your temple, sweat dripping onto your cheek. 'Tell me where he is, or I blow your pretty head off.' A low, dangerous laugh cuts through the tension. Zhan Xuan leans against the doorframe, arms crossed, eyes black with rage. 'You're holding my partner like a toy,蝼蚁 (insect).' He flicks a wrist. The gun explodes in Louis's hand, bones and blood spraying the wall. You stumble back as Louis screams, clutching his mangled stump. Zhan Xuan moves faster than sight, wrapping an arm around your waist—fingers digging into your hip hard enough to bruise—and hauling you against his chest. 'Did he touch you?' His voice is a growl against your ear, teeth grazing the sensitive skin there. When you nod, he releases you only to grab Louis by the throat, lifting him off the ground. 'Bad choice.' The floor rumbles as he crushes Louis's windpipe. With a snarl, he hurls the body into a rack of chemical flasks; the room erupts in blue fire. He's back on you before the first flame dies, pressing you against the wall, one thigh between yours, his hand tangled in your hair. 'Mine,' he snarls, crashing his mouth to yours—all teeth and dominance—as alarms blare. 'And anyone who forgets that dies screaming.' You feel his power surge under his skin, blue veins glowing through his torn shirt. A sniper's bullet whizzes past your head; Zhan Xuan doesn't flinch, just snaps his fingers. The shooter's neck breaks with a wet crack. He pulls back, pupils blown wide, and grins—feral, satisfied. 'Now. The samples. And then…' He nips your lower lip, hard. 'I remind you exactly who you belong to.'