Page 9 of Savage Torment

It needs to stop, and it needs to stop now.

Trying to remember everything I've learned in combat class, I take a deep breath before I let my body take over. Squeezing his cock in my grasp, he stifles a moan, and I use it as the distraction I need before I force all of my weight to the floor. The thud rattles from my tailbone, up my spine, and down my legs, but it quickly dissolves under the adrenaline as I scoot to the side and out from the cage he created around me.

"Fuck," he hisses under his breath, but there's a hint of amusement to his tone that doesn't go unnoticed.

Pressing my palms against the ground, I rush to my feet, my sights set on the doors leading into the main academy building. But I barely make it two steps before arms band around my waist, pulling me back against a muscular chest.

Dammit.

I should scream, cause a scene, get him to back the fuck off, but then his lips are at my ear again.

"Your coin, do you know anyone else who has one?" he asks, his fingers splaying across my stomach as I struggle to breathe. So much so that I can't even find the words I need to speak. Instead, I shake my head, it's the best I can offer.

He hums, his breath blowing across my skin leaving goosebumps in his wake. "I can find out if you're lying."

It's a promise. An unnecessary one, but it still makes my lips press together with uncertainty.

"You won't find anything," I croak, and he somehow manages to inch closer, touching me from head to toe.

"Maybe," he breathes, hand inching higher from my stomach to my ribs. "Aren't you going to push me away?"

I scoff, my eyelids falling closed as I shake my head. "You'd like that too much."

"If I wanted it, I could have it," he states. I sense the threat, but it's not as prominent as he hopes, so I take another direction instead of letting him carry on down this path.

"Factions don't mix, Blaze. So why don't you run along and find some vampire to terrorize instead of focusing on me?"

He hums again, making no effort to move. "Factions don't seem to be an issue for you when it comes to the wolves."

"I didn't say factions were an issue on my end. I didn't know they existed until a few weeks ago, remember?"

Silence greets me, stretching out to the point that I'm nervously balanced on my tiptoes, waiting on bated breath for his mouth to move again. "I'm trying to find a way to have the sigil holding your memories captive lifted. Then, we will hopefully be able to understand your connection to the coin better."

"Wait, what?" I try to spin around to face him, but he's locked in place, making it impossible.

"It’s been a challenge, but if nothing else, I'm resilient. I just need a little more time."

My chest heaves with every breath, his words weighted between us. "Why would you do that for me?"

"It's not for you," he states, relaxing his hold on me as if he remembers himself because of my question. "I'm too selfish for that," he adds when I turn to face him, but he's not meeting my stare for the words to stick. Clearing his throat, he rocks back on his heels, tucking his hands in his pocket for five whole seconds before he lifts them in my direction. "Now, forget?—“

"Don't you dare," I warn, but it's pointless and I wake up leaning against the main academy building with no recollection of anything.

4

BLAZE

She sucks in a deep breath, her eyes refocusing on the medical room, and I can tell she’s still scrambling to make sense of what has been revealed. So, I decide to push on before she changes her mind. There’s one more memory she has to see, but this time, I want her to see it and feel it from my perspective.

I dive into her mind with her, the clinical surroundings quickly replaced by the familiar witches’ area in the dining hall.

I watch, lurking in the shadows as she rises from her seat, backpack over her shoulder as she heads for the exit. She keeps her head down, avoiding everyone’s potential stares, and I keep enough distance between us that she doesn’t note my presence.

Once she’s outside, the tension leaves my body, and I relax, letting my strides pick up as I draw closer to her, but the second she rounds the corner she bumps into someone.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” she rambles, stumbling back to see it’s Foster, another asshole from The Renegades. I can’t stand him, or the sneer on his lips as he glares at my Amica Mea.

My hands ball into fists, ready to pummel his face, but I refrain, eager to listen just as much.

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