Page 138 of Until We Burn
Soyez fiers jusqu'à la fin.
I know DHU has the money to replace all of this. I’m not fucking blind to that fact. But there’s not enough money in the world to make this broken, violated place feel like the safe space it once was.
Glass cracks and crumbles behind me.
I look up from my jersey. “Row?”
His dark eyes are stone-cold, his lips twitch with unspoken words. He’s so tense I swear he’s going to snap under the pressure. Rowan dials his phone. His breath catches when Mikhalkov’s voice drawls through the line.
“Kaneshiro—”
“Y-Your intel…” Rowan snarls.“Your intel was shit, Mikhalkov!”
Anger breaks through him, raw and unbridled.
“The Vipers didn’t just want to throw off the team! They did that to get our student IDs, so they can break into the locker rooms and fucking trash everything!”
“Hey.”Warning brews in Mikhalkov’s voice. “I said I’d tell you everything I know. I never said I’d connect the dots for you.”
“You fucking—” Rowan hangs up. He grips his phone tight, knuckles going white as they dig into his head.
“Rowan.”
He doesn’t answer. Panicked rage tortures his face, as he rakes his fingers through his hair, pacing back and forth across the broken glass with his breath sawing in and out.
I wipe the tears from my eyes and reach for him. “Come on, Row. It’s okay. You can let it out.”
Rowan stops. His fists unclench, fingers convulsing at his sides, before he snaps around and crushes me into a hug.
“I fucked up, Kai.”
“N-No.” I swallow hard. “No, you didn’t. You tried to warn the team. You did everything you could to stay on top of what the Vipers were doing.”
“I shouldn’t have let them go to that damn party,” he sobs. “Why the fuck did I let that happen?”
“You knew the team needed a break and didn’t want to take that away from them. You did what you thought was right. None of us could’ve seen this coming. We thought the fight would be the worst of it.”
Rowan’s fingers curl into my shirt. “The Vipers are gonna bleed for this.”
“They will.” Tears drip from my eyes as they glare at the tattered jersey in my hands. “We’ll make sure they do.”
CHAPTER 54
DIANA
I donmy sharpest heels on Monday night.
From where I stand on the driveway, the Huang Family mansion glows like a beacon in the rain. The windows shimmer under the chandeliers dousing the mansion in blinding gold light.
I know my grandfather is somewhere in there, ready to cast his judgment the second I walk in.
“Question,”Stella muses. “Do you think Jonathan will fall dramatically to his knees or die a little inside when he sees me show up?”
My lips quirk up in a faint smirk. “I’m kind of hoping for both to happen.”
Stella smiles mischievously at me before she squeezes my hand. Her rings slightly dig into my fingers. They’re unapologetically bright and bejeweled like her glittery maxi dress, and the rhinestone cuff gripping her high ponytail. Initially, I had planned to expose Gregory and Jonathan at my grandfather’s welcome dinner by myself, but Stella insisted that she come with me.
For moral support,she reasoned.And I want to see that little twerp’s face turn blue when he sees me walk through those doors with his downfall in my hands.
