His trust in Stacia was quickly dropping to negative levels. Sure, Stacia could be just another harmless teenager girl. Or she could be ready to put a bullet in the head of the next Dreamer she found. With the way she was talking, Ronan wasn't about to take that chance. In fact, if she paid close attention, Stacia could see that her explanation caused him far more genuine agitation than the nickname.

"Fuck off," he said firmly. His jaw clenched but not as hard as his fist did. "I'm not your project. I'm not your puzzle. And I'm not your cupcake." He didn't dare take his eyes off her now.

He gave her his real name, he thought before realizing it probably didn't matter. She'd find out eventually it wasn't like it was a secret.