It’s sad that I understand Kohen’s fixation on the flames; they truly are beautiful in all their wildness and color. I’d stay longer if I didn’t have an alibi I need to cement with Charlie. She agreed to say we were hanging out for the entirety of lunchtime in exchange for my silence about the other night when she knocked Liam out by throwing a loose brick at his head.
Loner Kohen will probably be finding his own corner of darkness to murder babies in or be mulling creepily around the school. Or,more accurately, he will not have a decent alibi for where he was when this particular fire happened.
The flames pick up their ferocity, crackling majestically. With one breath and an excited shiver, I throw the blowtorch into the bag and sprint back toward the school. I stumble as I take the sneakers off and chuck them into the trash can by the gym, then duck behind one of the pillars as the rain starts picking up.
I’ll admit, I have no idea what’s inside a blowtorch because the writing on the sticker has rubbed off, but thebangthat echoes through the school is absolutely glorious. I don’t think the shed will survive, and the fence will be an unfortunate tragedy.
I walk at a leisurely pace back to the dorm room where Charlie is eagerly waiting. No one bats an eye at my entrance, or seems phased by the sound of the explosion that happened a moment ago. I slide into the seat opposite Charlie and make a conscious effort to breathe slowly through my nose to calm my racing heart.
She glances up from her magazine, chewing on her bottom lip. “Is it done?”
I give her a tight nod in response. It’s a mission not to laugh to myself and keep the displeased look I usually sport firmly on my face. “This school isn’t big enough for two firebugs,” I say.
“Phase one: complete.”
I tap my leg. “It’s time to commence phase two: fuck the other Osman.”
A smile splits across her face, and she lifts her bottle up to me in cheers. “To the fall of Kohen.”
Grabbing mine out the side of my backpack, I tap it against hers. “May he spend the rest of his life behind bars or in a grave.”
“And that his dick game is as good as hissmolder… and his cock is as big as the rest of him.”
“Charlie,” I scold.
She shrugs. “If you don’t want to tap that, I will.”
“Unbelievable,” I mutter.
My lips curl into a smile. Play with fire, get burned.
“The next time you pull a stunt like that, the consequences will be far more severe. You hear me?” McGill points a finger at my face.
I nod.
“You’re lucky Mrs. Crichton agreed not to go to the police and thought four nights in solitary was enough for you to learn your lesson. You won’t be so lucky next time.”
He’s said the same thing about eight different ways already. If he says it a ninth way, I’m going to test my luck.
This is all for appearance’s sake, because he doesn’t really believe I made that mini explosion four days ago. My file says I have aggressive tendencies toward men that result in my fists flying, not that I’m going to spend time in a lab cooking up a recipe to land me a one-way ticket to prison.
We both know who started the fire that burned down part of afence and damaged the back of the shed. The only reason Blaze is not the one having this conversation with Headmaster Fifth-Divorce is because I admitted to it.
Four days ago, he dropped the signet ring on the table and everything fell into place from there. The lighter that was in my pocket was what made McGill doubt whether it really was her or not.
Brava, Blaze. Well played.
I didn’t see it coming, and it’s disturbing, yet unsurprising, how turned on I am by her form of retribution. If she had started the fire in front of me, I would have bent her over and taken her right then and there.
But no. I was stuck in a fucking room, going out of my mind for four goddamn nights. I was ready to put my head through the window. I don’t know how she manages to survive that kind of life every few days.
I tap my fingers on my thigh, itching to feel Blaze’s pulse thrum beneath my skin, to make sure she stillissurviving. Unlike my grandfather all those years ago.
“Do you get what I’m saying?”
I nod, pretending I didn’t just zone out to whatever rant McGill’s gone on.
Apparently, I was lucky it was raining and the fire wasn’t as destructive as it could have been. I’m also fortunate the torch didn’t have much juice in it; if it did, the explosion would have been worse. Because of it, my parents have decided to cut my school spending allowance altogether—they don’t know I’ve been cashing it out since I got here; buy food and clothes for other students using my allowance, and in return, they give me cash.
