“I told you I was gonna pass out,” she murmurs, smiling weakly before her eyes fall shut again.
“You did, doll.” I brush a damp piece of hair from her face. “But we’re not done yet.”
Her eyes snap open.
“What?” She jerks upright, arms trembling, but that littledevioussmirk spreads across her face.
“We haven’t filled all your holes yet, pet.” Knox steps in, bottle of water in hand.
He sits on the mattress and passes it to her. She drinks, greedy and still catching her breath.
We wait.
Then Max walks up beside me and hands me the knife.
“If the fucking plague hadn’t happened,” he mutters, “we’d have tattooed your name by now.”
I look at Knox.
He watches her like the world’s gone quiet, like everything he is has narrowed down to this one moment, this one woman. There’s a softness in his eyes, rare and raw, wrapped in something fiercer.Love. Hunger. Devotion that burns, simmering just beneath the surface.
I step to him, pressing the tip of the blade to the left side of his chest, one of the few spots he doesn’t have ink.
“What are you doing?” Aspen sits up fast, panic on her face.
“I told you I love you,” Knox says without looking at me. “And this is how I prove it.”
I press the blade down and carve her name, slow and clean. Drops of blood roll down his skin, and he doesn’t flinch. He’s still. Focused. Eyes never leaving hers.
“Knox…” she whispers, eyes shining.
“This is our way to always carry you,” he says. “Ours. Always.”
Tears slip down her cheeks. When the last letter is finished, she launches into his arms, kissing him with the same devotion he just showed her.
“I’m next,” Max says.
Aspen turns and reaches for my hand. “Don’t…” Her voice cracks. “You should do Ryker’s. Not mine.”
We all freeze.
Ryker steps forward. “Maybe we can do both,” he says and takes the knife from my hand.
He carvesA + Rinto Max’s chest. The blood beads quickly, but Max just chuckles.
“It’s teenage shit, but I don’t care.” Aspen wraps her arms around him, and Ryker hands me the knife back.
“I think Max should do you,” I say, meeting Ryker’s eyes. “Feels right.”
Max turns, knife in hand. “Where do you want it?”
Ryker hesitates, then taps his chest near his heart. Max nods.
Aspen holds Ryker’s hand while the blade cuts.
Knox returns with a handful of gauze sheets soaked in alcohol. “It’s all I found,” he mutters.
“Seriously?” Max winces. “Nothing stronger?”
