“After which I tried to feel out the local cops, but my dad must have gotten to them since nobody wanted to return my calls,” Blaze finishes.
Asch’s eyes are intent upon mine. “But that doesn’t mean we’re giving up,” he says. “If Ezio’s alive, he won’t stay away for long.”
I dig my nails into Asch’s skin, and he hisses when I drag them down his arm.
“And no, you can’t kill him,” River interjects before I can say anything.
“I absolutely can,” I mutter. “If I hadn’t had to rescue Samantha, I would have.”
“Okay, you can’t kill himyet,” Asch amends. “We have to bide our time, Pandora. We don’t have enough information, and we don’t want you to end up in jail.”
I know he’s right. I want to save all the women who’d been there that night, not just Samantha. I want to prevent another Rachel.
I still need to find out who, exactly, murdered Rachel. Zayden recruited her, but he wasn’t the one who cut her apart.
That monster is still out there.
“I guess.” I sigh and lean back against River’s chest. “But this is boring. Let’s talk about something more fun.”
“Boring isn’t the word I’d use,” Blaze says. “What do you want to talk about, Pandora?”
I smile at him. “Papa said he had a lot of fun meeting you all over Thanksgiving and would love to host you again.”
Asch shudders, and he finally releases me. “That would be a hard pass,” he says. “Your family is interesting and all, but I think your Papa—and your Daddy, and your uncle, and everyone else—hated all three of us.”
River nods in agreement. “We’re not good enough for his destroyer of worlds,” he says.
Blaze’s smile is brittle, but he says, “I’m not afraid of your Papa, Pandora. And your mom seemed to like us just fine. Mostly.”
I laugh, because I don’t believe for a second Mama liked them. She’s just very aware she can’t control who I pick.
“If by ‘liking us,’ you mean she wished that one of her men would drop us off the edge of a cliff, she loved us,” Asch replies.
“Yep, that’s what I meant,” Blaze agrees. “Glad you can read my mind, Asch.”
“He doesn’t have to read your mind to know that,” Rivercomments. He sighs. “Okay. Let’s get out of here. I think all of us have some studying to do if we hope to pass finals.”
That’s another thing that’s boring, but I remember my not-so-great biochem test grade. I really, really don’t want to fail this class and have to retake it.
“Fine, fine.” I give them both a peck on the cheek. “Let’s go be responsible study buddies. Whoever finishes their studying first gets to eat me out.”
Blaze laughs and shakes his head. “If you get done first, are you going to contort yourself to eat yourself out?”
I giggle, and that has Blaze laughing even harder while Asch and River both stare at us.
“Oh come on!” I complain. “It was funny!”
“If you lack a sense of humor,” Asch says.
Even River shakes his head. Spoilsport.
“All right, I’m out,” Asch says. He steals another kiss, then turns for the exit with a wave at me.
“Yeah,” River agrees. “I’ll text you later, Pandora.”
That leaves me and Blaze. I tilt my head toward him. “Want to meet up with Monica and do a group study session?”
Blaze’s brow furrow. “Why?”
