20. Pandora #2
He stares at the knife. “What the actual fuck?” he demands. “Put that away before you hurt yourself with it.”
I laugh loudly, and Declan’s eyes widen.
“Oh, Declan,” I say condescendingly. “The only person I intend to hurt is you .”
Then I lunge forward, low enough that Declan misjudges where I’m going to end up. Uncle Slayer taught me to use every advantage I could get—one of which is to let guys like Declan underestimate me until it’s too late.
I drive my knife into the flesh of Declan’s thigh.
He screams, and the blood gushes out, soaking his slacks instantly. “Fuck!” he yelps, grabbing for my wrist. “You fucking psycho bitch!”
I pull the knife out and slash the underside of his arm. He cries out again and stumbles backward, clutching his leg, which is now bleeding all over the place.
“You made a mess,” I admonish. “You won’t get your deposit back.”
I laugh at my own joke, but Declan doesn’t seem to think I’m funny.
Too bad. I know I’m hilarious.
I hear footsteps thundering in our direction, and I walk to the door to push the chair aside and let everybody in.
Zayden is the first one there, ignoring me as he goes toward Declan. “Fuck, Declan! What?—”
“That cunt stabbed me!” he yells. He’s trying to put more distance between us, like he expects me to lunge for him again, but he runs into the side of the bed. “And look what she did to my arm!”
Zayden whirls around to look at me. I can tell he has no idea what to make of me, with the bloody knife in my hand and a large grin on my face .
“Hi, Zayden,” I say cheerfully. “Just thought you should know that I don’t tolerate guys who roofie women. So either get rid of Declan, or he’s going to lose more than a few pints of blood.” After a pause, I add, “I mean his balls, by the way. I am going to castrate him.”
“Get that psycho bitch out of here!” Declan screeches. He doesn’t seem like he knows whether to put pressure on his bleeding arm or leg, and he awkwardly goes back and forth between the two.
“What the hell?” a familiar voice asks from near the doorway, and I glance over to see Asch and Blaze standing there.
I smile at them and close the distance between us. Asch looks warily at me, but Blaze’s beautiful blue eyes are on Declan and the blood gushing from his thigh.
“I know you said it was taken care of, but clearly it wasn’t,” I say to them. I get up on my tiptoes and press a kiss to Blaze’s jaw. “I had to do your job for you.”
Fuck, he’s so handsome, and he smells so much better than Declan. I’ll have to find out what his cologne is.
Blaze stiffens, but he doesn’t pull away. “What job? What was taken care of?”
I press my head against his chest, looking over at Asch. “Asch said you took care of the guy who handed out roofies at that first party. But I found Declan’s stash, and he clearly wasn’t repentant! You think he regrets it now?”
“I don’t have a stash,” Declan lies. “She’s lying. She’s some crazy-ass bitch who doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.”
Asch looks at him. With a bitter laugh, he replies, “You’re right, she doesn’t. But somehow, I doubt she was trying to get in your pants.”
“Why? Because she was too busy getting into yours?” Declan sneers. “She just decided I was better, that’s all.”
My mouth drops in indignation, and I shake my head.
“I absolutely did not!” I exclaim. “Why would I want a loser like you, when I’ve got Blaze and Asch?
” I smile up at Blaze. “You agree with me, right, Blaze? Asch is so much better than Declan. Declan is boring and predictable. Asch has hidden depths. Rushing like a coursing river—” and I start laughing, because River .
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Asch mutters.
“Get me a doctor,” Declan demands. “And I’m going to report this and sue for everything your family is worth, Pandora.”
Blaze wraps an arm around my back, and I can feel the tension in his body.
“If you do that, you’ll regret it,” Blaze says. His tone is darker than I’ve ever heard it, and I shiver in pleasure. “Be grateful you’re getting away with a few simple stabs, because I’m tempted to do worse.”
Oh. Oh . I knew Blaze was great. Perfect Blaze, perfect Asch.
I’m only missing my perfect River.
“You should do it anyway,” I tell Blaze. “I want to see you fuck him up.”
Blaze looks down, and when our eyes meet, I can feel that spark of something familiar, the anger and chaos that swirls around inside both of us.
Then Zayden fucking interrupts us, and I want to pull his entrails out for it.
“Get her the fuck out of here, Blaze,” Zayden barks. “Asch, call the paramedics. Declan, shut the fuck up for once and wrap something around your thigh before you bleed out here.”
I hold my breath, waiting for Blaze to snap and defy Zayden.
But he nods, and I pout when he starts pulling me away from the door. “Yeah. Come on, Pandora. You’ve caused enough trouble for one day.”
As if there’s a limit to the amount of trouble I can cause.
I snuggle against Blaze anyway and follow him while Declan continues to yell in the background.
Blaze takes me down the stairs and out the front door. I spot other Kappa Losers staring at me, but I don’t care .
Once we’re outside, Blaze slams me against the side of the building. His fingers grip my arms and dig in sharply.
“What do you think you’re doing, Pandora? Didn’t you get enough from Asch?” Blaze hisses.
I smile at him and place my hands on his hips.
“I did! Then Declan insulted Asch, and how was I going to let that stand? Well, I also discovered his stash of roofies. Not doing a good cleanup job there, Blaze. Almost makes me think there’s some truth to all the rumors about Chaos buying and selling women. ”
Blaze’s expression goes blank, then he snarls at me. “Who’s saying that shit? We aren’t?—”
I laugh at him. “Really, Blaze? You know who I am now. Well, I’ve always known who you are. The Bouchard Syndicate’s fingers are all over Dyschord U. Your daddy dearest still has strong ties to Kappa Omega. And I know that party wasn’t the first time weird shit happened to girls.”
There’s a split second where I think Blaze will try to deny it again, where he’s going to disappoint me, but he sighs and shakes his head.
When he meets my gaze again, he’s grinning. “Fine. But what are the Pavones doing here, Pandora? This isn’t your territory. You’ve got all of New Bristol already. Your daddy’s gone legit?—”
“Papa,” I correct him.
He scowls. “What?”
“My papa, not my daddy. Those are two different people.” I wait for him to get it, but when he doesn’t, I sigh. “Giulio Pavone is my papa. If you say daddy, I won’t know who you’re talking about.”
“But you clearly understood me,” Blaze argues. “And—no, never mind. It doesn’t fucking matter. The point is, there’s nothing here for the Pavones.”
I nod in agreement. “You’re right. Papa didn’t want me to come here at all. I’m just here for the amazing education and networking opportunities.” I reach up to push his arms off me. “Can’t I simply want to make friends with you and Asch?”
Blaze scoffs loudly. “Friends? Is that what you call what we’ve all been doing?”
That sets off another round of giggles. “Nope! We’re fuck buddies!
Or lovers! Or… hmm. Are we dating?” I grin at him.
“Are you my boyfriend, Blaze? I mean, Asch would be too. I’d feel terrible leaving him out.
And I can’t cut River out of the picture.
” I scowl at him. “If you try to make me do that, I won’t forgive you. ”
Blaze growls and lets go of me. “Jesus Christ, Pandora. You’re the most frustrating woman I’ve ever met.”
I heft my backpack higher and kiss his jaw again. “Thank you. I do try.”
We stare at each other, and I wonder if he’s actually going to try to break up with me here.
To my disappointment, the wildness in his eyes withdraws, and Blaze sighs.
“Just get out of here. And don’t get near Declan again. You’ve traumatized him enough.”
I purse my lips. “I wasn’t lying. If you don’t get rid of him, I’ll do worse.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Blaze grabs my arm—and pulls me into a kiss.
I moan into it, opening my mouth so I can taste him, absorb him, make him part of me.
“Thanks for standing up for Asch,” Blaze whispers when he breaks the kiss.
I smile. “Anytime.”
He lets go of me and heads inside without another word. I hear the door to the frat house lock behind him.
That’s okay.
I finally got something done. I pull my phone out of my backpack so I can text Carly.
Pandora
Declan still has his balls, but who knows for how long .
I make my way back to my dorm with good cheer.
One douchebag down, only most of the frat left to go.