Page 5

BLAZE

S he sucks in a deep breath, her eyes refocusing on the medical room, and I can tell she’s still scrambling to make sense of what has been revealed.

So, I decide to push on before she changes her mind.

There’s one more memory she has to see, but this time, I want her to see it and feel it from my perspective.

I dive into her mind with her, the clinical surroundings quickly replaced by the familiar witches’ area in the dining hall.

I watch, lurking in the shadows as she rises from her seat, backpack over her shoulder as she heads for the exit. She keeps her head down, avoiding everyone’s potential stares, and I keep enough distance between us that she doesn’t note my presence.

Once she’s outside, the tension leaves my body, and I relax, letting my strides pick up as I draw closer to her, but the second she rounds the corner she bumps into someone.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” she rambles, stumbling back to see it’s Foster, another asshole from The Renegades. I can’t stand him, or the sneer on his lips as he glares at my Amica Mea.

My hands ball into fists, ready to pummel his face, but I refrain, eager to listen just as much.

“Maybe watch where you’re fucking going in the future,” he grunts, and Polaris’ rears back in surprise. Maybe listening isn’t a good idea, I want to smash him in the face even more.

Does he realize who he’s talking to?

The wonder that this girl is?

Clearly not, because there’s not an inkling of respect coming from him.

We’re going to have to rectify that.

His eyes are red and puffy, and I can only assume it’s because he’s mourning the loss of his center. The one who died because of my actions.

Polaris clears her throat. “I will. Sorry. You haven’t seen Bryony, have you?” she asks, and his sneer only grows more cruel as he peers down at her.

“Oh, she sure as shit doesn’t want to see you right now,” he bites before turning to storm off, shoulder barging into her as he goes.

My feet are moving before I realize it. I’m undecided on if I should stop at Polaris or charge after the fucker, but the second I draw close to her, her scent rich in the air, my hand lands on her shoulder, and I know my answer.

My teeth sink into my bottom lip as she leans into the touch, as if she’s comforted by my proximity, but I can’t embrace it when I need this fucker to hear me.

“Apologize,” I bite, and Polaris stiffens beneath my touch, but my order isn’t aimed at her, it’s aimed at the asshole who has paused midstep, with his back to me.

Foster slowly peers over his shoulder, his throat bobbing as his gaze settles on me.

“What?” Foster mutters, a panicked and puzzled expression cascading over his face.

“I. Said. Apologize,” I snarl through clenched teeth.

Foster looks from Polaris to me to where my hand remains on her shoulder before refocusing on my intense stare.

“I’m sorry,” Foster grunts, his nostrils flaring with agitation as the words slip from his lips.

I scoff. “Not to me, motherfucker. And like you fucking mean it.”

“I do mean it,” Foster insists, fully turning to face us with his hands raised in surrender.

“Try again.”

I hear Polaris gulp, but she doesn’t move.

Foster’s gaze finally finds Polaris and he clears his throat. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she insists, waving him off.

“Now, fuck off,” I command, and he scampers away without a moment’s hesitation.

Reluctantly, I drop my hand from her shoulder, but quickly wrap my arm around her instead, and she whirls around to glare at me.

“Get the hell off me,” she hisses, trying to yank out of my hold, and I grin.

Her eyes are even prettier this close. It should be illegal. In both the human world and the supernatural world. She’s sinful. She’s intoxicating. I can’t even fucking breathe this close to her, and we really have a lot to do.

“I don’t have time for this today,” I mutter, pinching the bridge of my nose with my free hand before pressing my fingertip to her temple. Leaning in close, I whisper in her ear, removing the compulsion I’ve placed her under.

I can tell the moment she wavers from the onslaught of memories washing over her, and she slumps forward from the weight of it all. Before her knees give out and smash on the floor, I catch her.

She’s even closer now, her body pressed against mine, and my cock rages in my pants, but it’s my heart that worries me more. The rhythm, the intensity, it’s all for her.

Thankfully, she gathers herself quickly, lurching out of my hold before she turns to me with her finger aimed in my face.

“You motherfucker.”

“Is that the best you’ve got?” I retort with an eye roll, and I watch as her frustration grows so strong she growls. Fucking growls.

“You’re not worth any more effort,” she snaps, her face heating.

“Of course not,” I reply, turning away from her, but not before I grab her arm.

Tugging her along, she stumbles over her own feet to keep up. “Where are we going?”

I consider keeping my mouth shut, but decide against it.

“B.”

One word, and she’s willingly hurrying alongside me toward the faction dorms.

“You can let go of me now, I’m obviously going to come with you,” she grumbles, and I huff, fingers flexing on her arm.

“I’d rather not.”

I feel her gaze snap to mine, and I let her stare at the side of my face, loving any kind of attention from her, but I don’t slow our pace. We don’t have a lot of time.

Polaris seemingly bites back her annoyance, but as we take the winding path up to the vampires’ dorms, she reaches her limit. One sharp tug, a feeble attempt to get out of my hold, and I’m on the edge too.

I effortlessly yank her toward me, bringing her back flush to my chest. I regret it the instant I do. I’m overwhelmed with her scent, her sweetness, and my control wavers.

“Are you smelling me?” she blurts, eyes wide in surprise and she peers back at me, and I can’t help but repeat the same deep inhale before offering her a response.

“You’re intoxicating, Amica Mea. Sweeter than honey, deadlier than poison,” I admit, and she gapes in disbelief at my assessment as I run my nose up the column of her throat. I relish at the sound of her pulse quickening from my touch as a shiver runs down her spine.

“Amica Mea?” she whispers, but I snicker, offering no hint of acknowledgement as I force myself to release my tight hold to pull her along beside me instead.

This time, as we approach the vampire building, I don’t lead her around the side. Instead, I stride through the double door entryway with far too much force, and Polaris shrinks at the sound of them ricocheting off the walls.

I move in a blur, ushering her up the stairs before she can give into her panic. We’re at my bedroom a moment later, and I waste no time barreling through the door. Once we’re safely located on the other side I stop, releasing my hold on her as I lean back against it.

“You are…” The words to describe me fail her, and the harder she tries, the more they elude her as her emotions continue to boil.

“Welcome.”

“Sorry?”

“You are welcome. I was finishing your sentence for you.”

She scoffs. “I promise you, that is lightyears away from where I was going.” She folds her arms over her chest, desperate to create a barrier between us, when the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her garners her attention.

“P?”

I’m suddenly a distant memory as she turns to see her friend.

“Polaris,” I correct, reminding them of my presence as she stares at the man before us.

She takes her time raking her gaze over him from head to toe. The bite marks are gone, his grey-ish complexion along with it, but the tension in his shoulders confirms he’s not okay.

To my surprise, she doesn’t say a word until she’s peering over her shoulder, looking back at me.

“What did you do?”

I stare straight into her eyes, using all of my strength to offer nothing more than indifference, but she doesn't back down. Her eyes narrow, waiting me out, until I finally shrug. “I fixed it for you.”

“You… fixed it for me?” she repeats, the words foreign on her tongue, and I sigh.

“You were unhappy with his prior… circumstances. I made a deal and rectified it.”

“Why?”

She knows why, we can both feel it in the air. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“It doesn’t matter why,” I start, but she scoffs.

“It does.”

I shake my head. “You just want to gloat.”

“There is nothing to gloat about in a moment like this, and if you truly think that’s what I want then you don’t know me at all.”

“I know enough. You have five minutes,” I state, nostrils flared as my hands ball at my sides. I need to cut the conversation now, my body is flushed, overheating with her closeness, and I don’t like the lack of control that comes with it.

Before either of them can say a word, I storm from the room, letting the door slam shut behind me and leaning against the wall beside it.

Silence echoes around me for a beat until I hear Polaris on the other side. “Hey, B.” My eyelids fall closed and I imagine it playing out as I hear footsteps, and I know a moment later they’re embraced in a hug. “I’m not sure what you know, B, sorry, Ben… Benjamin… uh, what are you happy with?”

“Ben sounds nice.”

“Well, Ben, I’m not sure what you know, but I literally know nothing when it comes to you and what’s been going on,” she states, and although I should really give them some privacy, I can’t.

The things she does to my mind, my body, my fucking soul, yet I know so little about her. I’m desperately foraging for any crumbs I can gather from her. Including this.

“Blaze caught me up to speed,” Ben states, and all I hear is my vulnerabilities being spread bare.

“He did?” Polaris probably doesn’t believe him. Good. That suits me better.

“Yeah. I remember where we are, but I never actually made it to my dorm room after the assembly took place when we first arrived.”

I can imagine her gaping in horror as I hear her heart lurching in her chest. “I’m so sorry, Ben,” she rasps.