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“I’ve never felt like this about anyone before, but I don’t want to rush into it,” I whisper to him. “I don’t want you to do this because your father is threatening you.”

Dante sighs. “As long as I have you and I can keep you safe, nothing else matters.”

“You have me,” I assure him. “A blood pact doesn’t make it more meaningful.”

I feel him bristle underneath me. “To my family it does.”

“And to you?” I ask. “Does it mean more to you?”

“You ask that like it’s a bad thing. It’s tradition. It’s…all I’ve ever known,” he reminds me.

I frown and slowly start to slide off his lap, but Dante pulls me back. “No. Don’t go.”

I close my eyes as he rubs his nose against mine. “I’m not. I don’t understand the ritual or why it’s so important to you, but you’ve become so incredibly important to me in such a short amount of time. It’s not off the table. I’m just not ready yet.”

“You’re my angel, Ethan.” Dante slides his hand to my lower back and draws me closer and firmer against him. His palm against my bare back makes me shiver.

“My crow, my master,” I whisper.

The next two weeks go by quicker than I expected, especially considering that studying for exams is the most grueling process there is. It’s not as bad as usual, because Dante has been studying with me. It’s not something he’s typically known for, but apparently he’s more interested in school than he used to be. I do wonder if that has to do with me, but my ego doesn’t need to get bigger than his.

“Actually, my father put a boot in my ass to focus on school a few weeks ago,” Dante admits when I bring the subject up.

“Really?” I ask over my shoulder as I sit at my desk. He’s on my bed with his own work laid out around him. “I’m surprised you actually listened.”

“Yeah, well, it was that or have him an’ all of my teachers riding me about it until who knows when. Plus, if I pass, the less time I gotta be here.” He flips a page in obvious annoyance.

“I see…so it has nothing to do with me?” I ask him with a brow raised and a smirk on my face. I’ve been smiling and smirking a lot more over the last couple of weeks.

Dante gives me that look, the one that says he would much rather be naked in my bed than studying in it. “I didn’t say that.”

I laugh softly. “Honestly, it’s been really nice hanging out with you, even studying,” I tell him. “Nathan is a good study partner, but he seems distracted lately.”

“Are you sure you aren’t the distracted one?” Dante asks with a smirk of his own.

“I might be.” I shrug, my face feeling hot. The way he’s looking at me from across the small room makes my stomach just as warm. “Regardless, this feels nice, even if there are guards following me everywhere we go.”

“That should end soon,” he promises me.

“I can’t believe the negotiations are still ongoing,” I say with a sigh. “Do you know if it’s leaning one way or the other yet?”

“It’s not lookin’ good, but it’s not over yet.” Dante tosses his pen onto the bed.

My brow furrows. I shift away from my laptop to look at him more directly. “What you’re saying is that the chances of you getting hurt are high.”

“If my father decides to break the door down and leave no one alive, yeah.”

Dante’s jaw and shoulders tighten.

“Can you get the children out of there preemptively? If things seem like they aren’t going to end peacefully?”

“Doin’ that couldcausethe shit to hit the fan,” he explains.

I get up from my desk and crawl onto the bed around his papers and books to sit beside him. “Let me help.”

“No.” The way he says it is final, matter-of-fact.

That won’t stop me from trying.