“Nash-” Tatum began but I cut her off, needing to finish this now that I’d started.
“I also knew that there was no point in me coming at him the way I’d been trying to. No point in me using the legal route with its corruption and lack of morals. Money and power were the only things that mattered to all of the people who should have helped my family and I didn’t have either of those. So instead I came up with a plan. I worked tirelessly to get the qualifications I needed to teach and made all the connections I had to to get this job. I changed my name, bided my time and made sure that I would be here when Saint came to this school. He’s my way in. And now, thanks to you, I’m closer than ever before. Troy Memphis took my family from me and I intend to take that and so much more from him in return. His money, his power, his reputation, all of it. I’ll give my life to take him down. And if Saint wants to stand in my way then I’ll gladly make him burn too.”
Tatum didn’t say anything, but I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt as she stayed locked in my arms.
I wasn’t sure how long we sat there, our grief hanging in the air around us and bonding us together as we wallowed in it. But for once, I didn’t find I was consumed by all the bad things. I was actually able to remember the good times too. I could almost hear their laughter, see their smiles. And as we stayed there together, I let my eyes fall closed as I soaked it in. And I wondered if there might just be something good in this world for me after all.
I woke for the third time this week nestled in the arms of a beautiful man. I was wedged between the back of the couch and his side, his arm locked around me as my cheek rested against his chest. His breathing was slow and steady, matching my own. I didn’t want to move in case I disturbed this moment. It was as fragile as glass and as temporary as a thunder storm.
Everything he’d told me about his family last night had broken my heart and made my hate for Saint Memphis solidify. His father was a villainous bastard and Saint clearly took after him.
My soul ached for Monroe. To have gone through so much pain at the hands of one man made me want to tear through time and space to reach the perpetrator and throttle him in his sleep. I hadn’t known what a vengeful person I could be until I’d met the Night Keepers. But what was one more person to add to the list of my enemies now?
Monroe stood at my side through anything, a fierce protector with a dark heart. And I would be his protector too. His knight. His ride or die. We were in this together, more deeply than I’d ever realised. Despite knowing he had his own pursuit of revenge, nothing could have prepared me for the intense bond I’d feel toward him when hearing his reasons for seeking it. I’d help in any way I could to bring him justice. But I knew with a heavy grief that weighed down my entire body, nothing would ever heal the wounds of losing his family. I may have lost Jessica, but no one had taken her from me, ripped her life away. She’d died because of an illness. There was no one to hate for it. Just a cavity in my chest which she’d once filled and no one ever would again. Having someone to blame would have eaten me alive. But in a way, maybe holding onto that blame gave Monroe purpose. I’d spent so long after losing Jess feeling utterly helpless. Better to hate than to drown in despair. And as I thought that, my mind turned to Blake and my gut knotted as I suddenly understood him far too well for my liking. What he did would never be okay, but maybe it made a twisted kind of sense at last.
Birdsong carried to me beyond the patio doors and peace enveloped me like a cloud as my worries ebbed away. Nash Monroe was safety embodied. I could have laid in his arms forever and never wanted for anything more than his comforting touch. But darkness called to me beyond this haven. There were too many harsh truths I couldn’t ignore. Like the fact that he was my teacher. Or that we’d aligned ourselves as allies against the Night Keepers and I didn’t need the complication of crushing on him. Sometimes, I was sure he felt it too, this crackling, electric energy between us. But I couldn’t see him ever giving into that urge. We may have been fighting the same war, but there was plenty standing between us too. He was on a mission to destroy Saint Memphis’s dad and nothing or no one was going to draw his eye away from that target. And I didn’t want to distract him from it either. But sometimes…
Better get out of here before I do something stupid.
I brushed my hand down his chest as I moved to get up and he caught my wrist before I could try and make my escape. His eyes opened and I gazed down at him, half propped up as I leaned over him, caught red-handed.
“Princess,” he said in surprise, his voice gruff from sleep and making me ache for him.
“Hi,” I breathed and a frown pulled at his brow. His dark blonde hair was messy and
