Slipping my hands beneath her clothes, I start rubbing the soft skin of her back in slow, steady circles. “McGill has paid for what he’s done. That alone is priceless. Now, for the next month you won’t have him breathing down your neck or going anywhere near you.”
Blaze shakes her head. “But my grandfather is still alive.”
“For now.”
“And he’s going to lock me up the second I get out of here.”
“Not happening.” And that’s the truth.
“How do you know that?”
I grasp her cheek to stare into the sterling-blue eyes I’ve been getting lost in since I was a child. “Becauseyouwon’t let that happen. You’ll fight until your nails bleed and everybody has fallen. Not because you have to, but because that’s who you are. You’re a fighter. But you don’t need to fight the world alone. You never did.”
She leans her forehead against mine, letting me take her weight. “What if…” Her eyes search the space between us. “What if my grandfather wins?”
“Then we’ll both go down together.” Her eyes flash at my declaration. “Maybe I haven’t made it clear to you; I will hunt you down to the end of the earth just so you don’t feel alone for a second. I will find you, even in another lifetime. If you’re in hell, then I’ll burn willingly. My soul is yours, Thief.”
A sad smile touches her lips as her cheeks beam red. “That’s the cheesiest shit I’ve ever heard.”
“Shut up, Blaze.” I scoff.
“What about you?”
I frown. “What about me?”
“I’m not the only one with a horrendous family.”
The muscle in my jaw twitches. “As much as I hate them, I don’t want them dead. That’s too easy an escape for them. Their downfall has been on my agenda since the day they chose my brother.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “The Osmans are idiots. We’re destined to fall on our own swords eventually.”
“And what’s your sword?”
I press a kiss to her forehead. “You.”
“But I’m more of a baseball bat kinda girl.” She grins half-heartedly.
“Then we have a month to turn you into a blade.”
“Sounds likeBlaze,” she whispers under her breath.
Fucking hell. This girl.
“You get my point,” I grumble.
She holds her pinky finger out to me. “We both get our revenge.”
Something in my heart expands and grows five times its size. With or without a pinky promise, I’ll help her burn each and every motherfucker who has ever wronged her. It’s hard enough to see her bruises without breaking out of here to make her grandfather my first kill. But she’s always been the fire. She’s the one who strikes the match. I’m here to watch it burn.
I interlock our pinkies and nod. “We both win.”
“Show me,” I order Blaze.One last time.
“Get fucked.” She crosses her arms and plonks herself down next to my luggage. My dorm room is even more cramped than usual since all of our things are packed into the bags on the floor. It’s graduation and move-out day, and the little shit is violating the uniform code one last time by wearing bright red lipstick. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Is that a challenge?”
“It still fucking hurts, you dipshit,” she growls, pushing her bottom lip out in a pout. “Fussing over it won’t make it heal any faster.”
“Trust me, Thief. This is purely for my self-interest.” I reach over only to snatch my hand back when she snaps her teeth at me. The last time I tried calling her bluff, she bit down hard enough to bleed. I’mnot in the mood for stitches again. “Let me see—”
