Chapter 35 Blaze
BLAZE
Asch left at some point in the night. I’m not sure how to feel about that, considering River is still here. On the other hand, Samantha is in River’s room, so it’s not like he has anywhere else to go except the couch.
Pandora is sleeping soundly.
I trace the length of her arm, and I wonder about what she’d said.
Stitching somebody back up after they’ve been completely torn asunder.
I don’t think she meant Samantha when she talked about somebody missing a heart.
Every time I get closer to understanding Pandora, I understand her less, too. I kiss her forehead, then slowly roll out of bed.
I find a pair of briefs—probably mine—and a shirt to put on. I grab my phone and head out. Asch’s bedroom door is ajar, but River’s is closed.
I knock quietly. “Samantha?”
I hear her gasp, then she responds, “Come in. But stay by the door.”
“Okay.” I open the door and leave it mostly ajar.
Samantha must have showered recently, because her blonde hair is damp. There isn’t a single spot of makeup on her either, and I barely recognize her without it.
She wraps the blanket around her shoulders like she’s trying to shield herself from me.
“I have a question for you,” I say. “And what I do hinges on your answer.”
Samantha huddles into herself. “What?”
“Do you want to go into hiding? Or do you want to finish your education here?” I chuckle to myself. “I’d suggest some other school, but the only place I can offer is Dyschord.”
She lets out a slow, shuddering breath, then she falls silent for so long that I’m not sure she’s going to answer at all.
“Does it matter what I want to do? I need to get as far away from here as I can. I—” Her voice breaks.
“But it doesn’t matter. If what Pandora said is true, I don’t have a choice. I can’t stay at Dyschord.”
“I can help keep you safe here. So can Pandora.” I sigh. “But I don’t think my network or hers could do much for you if you tried to go public with any of this. And if you go somewhere else, we won’t be able to help if somebody comes after you.”
“And somebody will come after me,” she says, her voice tiny.
It holds a slight edge, though, something that seems more familiar than the disappearing act she’s currently trying to pull.
“But I’m out of Dyschord. My family isn’t paying after the stunt ‘I’ pulled.
” Her tone is bitter now, and she says, “And I have Pandora to thank for that.”
“I’ll pay,” I say. “So will Pandora. Between the two of us, we can cover your tuition.”
I hear the door to my bedroom creak open, and Pandora comes down the hall toward me, wearing one of my shirts, which is long enough to reach halfway down her thighs.
A flash of possessiveness courses through me. She looks so hot wearing my clothes.
She looks like she belongs to me.
Pandora stops beside me and presses her head against my shoulder. “Blaze is right. I’ll cover it. Since it’s my fault. Also, your dad is a bag of dicks and you’re better off not beholden to him anyway.”
“But I’m better off being beholden to the two of you?” Samantha demands, sitting up straighter. “Why should I expect you to do anything to keep me safe?”
Pandora shrugs. “I mean, I also helped Zayden see the error of his ways. He’s regretting hard, wherever he is.”
I bite down my amusement.
Yeah, wherever he is.
“If you don’t want our help, you can try to get financial support from the school?” I suggest. “Or you can leave, and let Pandora’s efforts for you go to waste.”
“Because you think that if I go somewhere else, anywhere else, those… those people will hunt me down,” Samantha says.
“I wish I could say otherwise, but I know these people.” I grin at Samantha, and I know it’s not a reassuring expression. “It’ll make things easier for me if you’d rather take your chances.”
“Because you’re involved somehow,” she says darkly. “Because you’re having to go against your own fraternity if you want to protect me.”
I don’t know what pieces she’s put together, but it doesn’t take a genius to conclude that I’m involved somehow, I guess.
Pandora takes my hand and squeezes it. “So what’ll it be, roommate? Take your chances with the vipers you know, or go on the run until you’re out of energy and the predators can easily spear your exhausted body?”
Samantha’s fingers tighten on the blanket as she keeps it tight around her body. “You know I don’t really have much of a choice,” she says. “I’ll…” Her voice cracks again. “I’ll stay. But if I end up back there…”
Pandora lets go of me and gets closer to Samantha. “You won’t. And I’ll teach you how to gouge out eyes and disembowel anybody who tries, okay?”
Samantha edges back, but there’s only so far for her to go. “Yeah. All right. Self-defense classes with Pandora Pavone.” She lets out a choked, bitter half-laugh. “Sounds great.”
“You’re laughing!” Pandora smiles and tentatively takes a seat on the bed next to Samantha. “You can tell everybody about how your crazy roommate forced you to stab a cantaloupe a million times until you could do it without hesitation.”
I frown when she says crazy roommate.
She isn’t crazy.
She’s passionate, and she stands up for herself, and I don’t even care that she burned down the frat house anymore.
I leave the two of them alone and go downstairs, clutching my phone.
If Pandora can handle calling herself crazy, if she was able to deal with Ezio on her own… If she was able to come back to me and Asch and River after all that shit, then I can make this phone call too.
I dial my father.
He picks up after two rings.
“Blaze. I’m going to need an extremely good explanation.”
The disappointment in his voice cuts through me, and my throat goes dry.
But Bouchards don’t show weakness, and we aren’t cowards.
“It’s exactly what it seems like,” I say. “I’m not sure what else needs explaining.”
“You lied to me,” my father hisses. “And all this, for what? If you wanted the girl, I would have given her to you.”
I swallow a laugh. “I didn’t want her. I wanted her to go free. I don’t think that was on your agenda.”
I think about that statement. It’s another lie, honestly. If Pandora didn’t care, I wouldn’t have cared either. Not like Asch, not like River.
I’m such a fucking asshole.
Maybe the one without a heart is me.
“So, what now? You know she can’t stay free. She’s a liability. Give me her location, and I’ll send somebody to pick her up,” my father says.
“She’s with me,” I answer. “But you aren’t sending anyone. She’s going to keep going to Dyschord. She won’t tell anyone. Don’t worry about that. I promised her she’d be safe, though, and I’d hate to break that promise.”
“I’m not…?” My father makes his familiar disappointed sound. “Stop speaking nonsense. Who cares about a promise to some cunt?”
“I do, apparently.” I straighten my shoulders. “I have all the files, by the way. The years and years of collected data. All the secrets we’ve gathered here.”
My father scoffs. “So what? I have backups, and that’s only the Dyschord chapter anyway.”
“Yeah, I know.” Fuck, I can’t believe what I’m about to do.
“But that includes your secrets too, right? And those of all your friends. It would be a shame if they ever became public. It would be an even worse shame if these secrets landed in the hands of the FBI… or maybe the Corroux? The Rosa di Sangue? The Pavones? I think some of the biker gangs in NewVa would love to hear these stories.”
There’s a long silence.
I try to imagine my father’s expression. Flabbergasted, except I’ve never seen him even remotely surprised. He always pretends to know exactly what’s going on, no matter the situation.
“Are you blackmailing me, Blaze?” my father asks in a low voice.
“I guess I am.” I laugh. “It’s easy. Just stay away from Samantha Lawrence — and Asch, and Rafael Rivera, and—”
“Pandora Pavone,” my father finishes. “This is all about her, isn’t it? You’ve let yourself get brainwashed by a fucking Pavone.”
“Nah. I’m just doing what you taught me. Using information to my advantage. Taking what I want, when I want it. Be proud, Dad.” I smile as I talk, but my hand is so sweaty the phone could slip out of my hand at any moment.
“I see.” My father lets out a harsh laugh. “Enjoy it while you can, Blaze. You want to go up against me? I’ve been playing this game much, much longer than you have. And I’m not going to go easy on you simply because you’re my son.”
“I’d hoped, but y’know what? I didn’t expect anything else. I didn’t get my sociopathy from Mom, that’s for sure.”
I hang up before he can say anything else.
Well.
I guess I’ve burned that bridge.
“You aren’t a sociopath,” Asch says from behind me. “Not like he is.”
I turn and wave to him. “That’s really naive of you to say, Asch.” I get closer, and he doesn’t back down at all. Our lips are almost touching. “I’m the same as Pandora, through and through. Looks like you’ve got a type.”
Asch huffs out a laugh. “Guess I do.” He regards me steadily. “Do I still fit into this equation, Blaze?”
“Duh!” Pandora says from the top of the stairs. “Blaze would get himself killed without you to take care of him.” She looks over her shoulder. “River, stop lurking.” Without waiting for a response, she comes down the stairs to squeeze in between me and Asch.
River follows, his hair mussed but at least he’s dressed in pajama pants.
I wrap my arms around her from behind. “What’s the plan, Pandora?”
Pandora squeezes my arm. “You, Asch, River and me. We’re going to save all the women and stop this stupid school recruiting bullshit.”
“Hope you have a plan for that,” River says. “Because I think we just pissed off the whole Bouchard Syndicate, and they’re not going to take that lightly.” His eyes lock onto mine. “Are they, Blaze?”
“Nope. So it’s a good thing we’ve got the destroyer of worlds with us,” I say cheerfully.
Pandora has the right idea of it.
Forget burning bridges.
Let’s burn the fucking world.