Page 108 of River of Deceit

My appetite is gone.

Instead of heading toward the caf, I cross the room to Blaze and Asch. “This mean you’re going to stop fucking Pandora?” I demand.

I don’t know why I care.

No, I don’t care at all.

But I need to know what they’re planning on doing with her.

Blaze shrugs. “Depends on if she can stay away from me.” He gives me a wicked grin. “She was real into it when Asch cut her up.”

I go still.

“What,” I begin. My hands clench into fists at my sides, and I take a deep breath. “What the actual fuck is that supposed to mean, Blaze?”

I’m looking at Asch as I ask the question, though.

He doesn’t even have the decency to look chagrined. “She was into it,” he says, shrugging. “Blood everywhere?—”

I grab Asch by the shoulders, shoving him hard against the wall.

“You fucking—” I begin, wanting to pummel him into the wall, but Pandora won’t be the only person kicked out of the frat house if I beat the shit out of Asch.

That’s assuming I even could, because he moves with surprising speed, reversing our positions so I’m the one pinned to the wall.

“Don’t you ever lay your hands on me again,” Asch snaps at me. “If you think I’m a weak target, River, you’re in for a rude awakening.”

I think back to the other day in the caf. Asch had been more or less evenly matched with Fenrir, and I’m not sure where I would stand in that equation. I don’t want to find out in the middle of the frat house.

We already have enough attention on us.

Blaze leans against the wall next to me and grips my jaw. He forces me to look at him, and I’m surprised when I see the unrepentant anger behind his eyes.

“Don’t touch Asch,” he growls. “You want to be one of our brothers? You learn to respect us.”

“Can’t Asch fight his own battles?” I retort. I’m itching to throw a punch, adrenaline coursing through me as I jerk my face away from Blaze’s touch. “You don’t have to keep coming to his rescue. He’snota little bitch.”

No. There’s something more there. I’m sure of it.

Asch is staring intently at me, like he’s trying to figure out if I mean it or not. He releases me and takes a step back before turning and facing the frat brothers who have been staring at us. “Show’s over,” he snaps at them. “You heard Zayden. Get the fuck out of here.”

Before I can move, Blaze says, “You’re moving in the house once you’re a full pledge, right? You can have Declan’s old room.”

I blink at him. The last thing I would’ve expected after my outburst would be for him to ask me to move into the frat house. “What?”

“It’ll be good for you,” Blaze says. “Foster brotherhood. We can keep you safe from cunts with teeth.” He stops and suddenly laughs. “Shit. She said something like that once, right?”

Asch shakes his head. “No, you’re the one who accused her of having a vagina dentata or something. Twice now.”

“Was I wrong?” Blaze grins at me. “Come on. If anyone’s got a deadly cunt around here…”

I want to defend Pandora, but at the same time, she doesn’t need my protection. She doesn’t need anything from me except help finding Rachel’s killer.

“Stop calling her a cunt,” I find myself saying anyway.

Asch rolls his eyes. “That’s the least of what people are going to say about her after word of this gets out.”

“And it means none of them are going to try to fuck her,” Blaze says, almost as an aside. “That’s probably safer for her, too.”