“Bum me a smoke, man?” Gravel lined the man’s request.

Conner shrugged, and handed him the rest of the box. “Whatever.”

“Thanks, rich boy.” The bum grabbed Conner’s arm, his other hand shoving what felt like a revolver into his back. “What else have you got on you?”

Conner exhaled, blowing a puff of smoke into the evening and watching it dissipate. This wasn’t going to end well. “Nothing you want.”

The bum’s arm shook, the quake reflected in his voice. “Wallet, car keys, I don’t care. Hand it over. I’m not playing.”

“Good.” Conner twisted his arm, grabbing the man’s hand and gripping tight. A flicker of silver passed over his skin, vanishing in the twilight. “I’d hate to think this was just a joke.”

The bum’s eyes grew wide. “I’ll shoot you, man. Dead serious.”

Conner wrenched the pistol from him and dropped it into the bum’s parka. “I’d rather you didn’t. That tends to sting.”

His tightly controlled rage throbbed inside, and for a moment he glowed. He squeezed the bum’s arm harder, corner of his mouth pulling up at the resulting squeak of pain. It wouldn’t take much to make the bum bleed. To snap his bones and puncture him both mentally and phsyically. To suffer for anything and everything he’d ever done to hurt another person.

Taking a deep breath, Conner pushed the reaction back down. It didn’t matter. He shoved the bum against the wall, a thunk echoing down the street. People were starting to gather and point. Shit. He didn’t need this.

Conner spit out his half-finished smoke, grinding it out with the toe of his shoe. He nudged the bum one more time, growling, and then let go. The bum staggered and gasped. Conner dropped the box of smokes on the ground next to him and turned away.

“Hey, buddy. Aren’t you going to like…hold onto him until the cops get here?” A random voice asked from the crowd. A series of murmurs rolled around in agreement.

Conner looked at the man. “Did you call the police?”

The stranger shrugged and took a step back. “No, but I’m sure someone did.”

“Great. Then I’m sure someone will restrain him until they get here.” Conner pushed through the crowd, stuffing the moonlight’s power back inside and trying to suppress the glow crawling over his skin. No one said anything until the apartment complex door swung shut behind him, then a wash of muffled protests rushed to seep through the glass.