Page 31

BLAZE

I try to ignore the searing pain in my arm, but it’s impossible. I don’t know which fucking wolf it was, but when I find out, I’m going to kill them slowly.

With Polaris’s hand laced with mine, we make it outside and I grimace, slowing to a stop as I take a deep breath. The change in pace doesn’t stop Polaris from ushering me around the corner, out of sight of everyone, as she positions me against the stone wall and rakes her eyes over me.

“We need to get you to the medical center,” she states, her stare eventually latching on to the blood staining my t-shirt.

“We don’t,” I grumble, trying to shield the wound from view, but she grabs my hand, refusing to let me hide.

“Blaze, you’re bleeding,” she insists, worry tainting her bright, blue eyes.

“I’m a vampire. Blood isn’t an issue,” I state, failing to give her a pointed look, and she tosses one back, flooring me with the fire flickering across her features.

“The lack of color in your face says otherwise,” she retorts, and I can’t help but grin.

“Slap me. That will put some color back in my face.”

As predicted, she rolls her eyes, refusing to give in to me. “You’re not funny.”

“I never claimed to be.”

Her eyes narrow. “You’re infuriating.”

“Right back at you,” I reply, and she frowns, stepping back as she folds her arms over her chest.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ignore her, gingerly bringing my arm to my side as I push up off the wall.

“If you’re not going to the medical center, the least you can do is let me take you back to your room,” she offers, her hand falling away from mine as I head toward the pathway that leads to the dorms.

“No,” I snap, glancing over my shoulder at her. She startles at my sudden snarl, but I mean it with every fiber that I am, and if that means being an asshole to protect her, then so be it. “No matter what, do not go anywhere near the vampire dorms.”

“I was hoping to check in on Ben,” she breathes, banding her arms tighter around her middle, and I scoff.

“That’s also a no.” I turn toward the dorms again, my steps slower than I would prefer.

“Why?” She appears at my side, curiosity getting the best of her as always.

I could lie, make up some bullshit scary story, but it seems I’m a sucker for the woman before me. “Because I’m trying to keep everyone safe,” I grumble, settling on a clipped statement instead.

“Fine, then I’m taking you back to my room,” she grumbles, wrapping her hand around my uninjured arm in a semi-link.

I don’t put up a fight—more time with her sounds precisely like what the doctor ordered. Besides, if anyone can heal me, it’s her. And getting my Amica Mea all to myself without a wolf on my heels is a rarity I can make the most of, even if I am injured.

We walk in a comfortable silence. All I can hear is the rustling of the leaves and the thump of her heartbeat. The sound of her pulse alone is enough to ground me, despite the pain I’m in. It lights a piece of me I never knew existed. Not that she needs to know that.

I feel like she already knows far more than enough anyway.

Thankfully, we make it to the witches’ dorm without incident as she ushers me up the stairs and down the hall to her bedroom door. She opens it and pauses before stepping over the threshold.

“Oh, wait here a second,” she murmurs, slipping inside her room without a backward glance, leaving me to stare at the wood between us for a few moments before reappearing.

She nervously tucks a loose tendril of hair behind her ear as she opens the door fully and steps back, making room for me to enter.

“What was that about?” I ask, cocking a brow at her, and she waves me off.

“Nothing.”

She looks anywhere but at me, but I let it slide, the pain burning down my arm impossible to ignore as she guides me to take a seat on her bed.

I cradle my arm, looking up at her as she shuffles nervously from foot to foot. “What are you protecting me from, Blaze?” she asks, catching me by surprise.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” I state, and she sighs as though she was expecting that answer.

“I don’t know if you’ve learned this yet or not, but I’m going to worry regardless.”

For the first time since I was last in her presence, a small smile curls the corner of my lip. “You are braver than you think.”

“And you’re even more of an asshole than you give yourself credit for,” she retorts, amusement in her eyes, and it makes my smile grow.

“I love it when you’re feisty.”

“Really? I thought you loved giving me the cold shoulder and being an ass in front of everyone?” she snaps, the pointed look on her face making me pause. The humor is gone. The hurt that remains from our last encounter remains.

“I’m trying to make sure no one knows,” I grumble, offering an explanation that I would never usually give to anyone else.

“Knows what?” she pushes, and I shake my head.

“That we’re bound.”

She rubs her lips together, the hurt in her eyes morphing into something else. Sadness, maybe? Her mouth opens and closes four times before she huffs.

“Are you embarrassed by me?” she blurts, and I gape at her in surprise.

She has to be joking, right?

Surely. But… the look in her eyes.

Fuck.

“Is that a joke?” I ask, wanting to hear it from her lips before I start putting feelings into the mix that don’t exist, and she scoffs.

“Does it look like one?”

Double fuck. That confirms my assumption.

Wiping a hand down my face, I try to find the right words to explain what I’m juggling while still keeping some distance between us.

“You’re my bound, my devoted, and that puts a target on both of our heads.”

Her brows furrow as she winds her arms around her middle again. I can’t decide whether she’s doing it to comfort herself in my presence because I’m being an ass, or because she’s trying her best to keep a barrier between us. Either way, I don’t like it.

“I’m a Florentine. I’m na?ve to a lot of this stuff, so I’m going to need you to break it down a little more than that for me,” she explains, and I nod, my lips pursing as I think.

“You’re my weakness. Anyone and everyone will try to use you against me. That could be accomplished in any number of ways, but the most direct approach usually involves hurting you.”

“That… sounds like an issue,” she states with a gulp, trying to downplay the facts, but I’m sure she can see it written all over my face.

“You would be correct.” I want to say so much more. I want to explain to her the lengths people will go to, but she’s not ready to hear the truth.

“But,” she says, standing taller as she looks deep into my eyes. “You also said I’m braver than I think. So, is it because you don’t think I can handle it?”

Well fuck. That’s not at all what I was expecting her to say.

“Do you want to handle it?” I ask, the words leaving my lips before I can truly consider them and the vulnerability they show.

A blush creeps along her cheeks as she shrugs, avoiding my gaze once again. “I don’t know what I want.”

“I’m sure the wolves have been convincing you of exactly what they want,” I state. It’s another burst of honesty that I should be keeping to myself, but she shakes her head at me, easing the tightness of her arms around her middle as she points a finger at me.

“You would be wrong there.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, my brows pulling together in confusion as she turns to glance out her bedroom window for a moment. I wait her out, but when her eyes find mine again, I notice a determination that wasn’t there before.

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” she asks, making it clear she’s attempting to change the subject. I consider my options on whether I want an actual explanation, but the pain in my arm is unbearable, which means I need to curb my curiosity for now.

“Actually, there is, but it requires your blood,” I state, noting her short inhale of breath.

“How?”

I raise my eyebrow at her. “Do you trust me?”

“I don’t know,” she admits, and my eyes widen in surprise at her admission.

“That’s not a no.”

“It’s not a yes either.”

“Do you trust the wolves?”

She presses her lips into a thin line as she tilts her head at me. “Give me a reason to trust you.”

I hear what she’s not saying. She trusts them, but as much as she says she doesn’t know whether she trusts me, she wants to.

“You’re my bound. Your blood is an elixir like no other to me. You taste euphoric, making it impossible to indulge anyone else’s blood, but you also have the ability to heal me. Just as I had the ability to heal you.”

Her cheeks glow brighter with every truth I offer her.

I hold my hand out, letting her see that even though I could just sink my teeth into her, I don’t.

I wait for her. She blinks at me, then blinks again, nerves leaving her gaze to bat back and forth between each of my eyes until she clears her throat and gingerly places her wrist against my palm.

“Don’t hurt me,” she whispers, and I sense there’s more to that statement than just what’s happening in this moment. Things I’m definitely not going to address right now.

Instead, I bring her delicate wrist to my lips, pressing a soft kiss against her skin before I rake my teeth along her vein.

Her pulse thunders against the pad of my finger, matching the racing of her heartbeat.

As quickly as I can, I snag my fang against her flesh, piercing her ever so slightly before I tear my head away.

I can smell her in the air. The desire to feed off her is overwhelming. The soothing sound of her pulse disappears as my own begins to roar in my ears, but despite my desires, I bring her wrist to my wounded arm.

Without lifting my gaze to look at her, refusing to let her see a glimpse of the need on my face, I focus on watching the droplets of blood drip from her broken skin onto my wounded arm. I hiss at the initial contact before the spot immediately heats.

I let two more droplets fall on my wrist before I spin her arm and encourage her back a step.