ALEX

I park in front of Blaze's apartment, grateful that even though it's a high end building he doesn't have a security system. He doesn't think he needs one. He said being in the middle of a battlefield is the best security system there is. Perk of breaking into my best friends place. I know what i'm walking into.

I take a deep breath, forcing my muscles to relax as I open the door and cross the lobby, waving to the concierge without breaking stride.

He hesitates, stopping me before I can reach the elevator.

"He's not home" he tells me something that I unfortunately already know.

"I know. He asked me to stop by and grab his phone."

"He didn't tell me about this" he states suspiciously.

I offer him an indulgent smile, trying to stay calm, but the truth is I haven't been anywhere close to calm since I watched her drive away yesterday. I don't know what's happening with my best friend and my soulmate, and I need to. If he gets in the way of that, so help me god.

"He left it here this morning and didn't have it to call you. He couldn't get away and asked me to get it" I explain reasonably. A little too reasonably. Maybe Blaze is rubbing off on me. I'm both annoyed and amused at the thought.

"I can't let you use the extra key. It's against policy-"

I cut him off, so done with this.

"I have a key."

He nods, finally letting me head to the elevators.

I get off after nine floors, stopping in front of his door, sliding my key into the lock, slipping inside, closing it behind me, flipping the light on.

I look for her number and address, being carful to leave everything as I found it. I open drawers, go through stacks of mail, moving room to room, coming up empty.

His bedroom is last place left to look. Like the rest of the apartment it's done in shades of dark blue and black. His bed sits in the middle of the room, taking up most of the space, covered in a dark blue comforter and black sheets the same color as his pillowcases. His bedside table is small with a lamp, a glass of water and a book on top. There's a large window to the left with the dark curtains pulled closed.

My best bet is that if he has the info in the apartment it's in his room. At least I hope so. I've checked everywhere else and I refuse to leave without something.

The first drawer of his bedside table is empty besides a gun, making me ache at the thought that Nat's bedside table might hold the same. The second drawer holds only a flashlight and the third is locked. I kneel, sliding the picks into the lock, turning until the drawer slides open. Another gun.

I stand, blowing out a breath. Think; If you had this information, where would you put it?

My gaze moves to the bed. I lie on it, staring at the ceiling a moment before glancing around. I check under the pillows and in the pillowcases before my gaze freezes on the book on the bedside table.

I sit up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, grabbing the book. 'A lovers guide to war'. Bingo. I flip through it, stopping halfway through to grab the scrap of paper between two pages. It's a phone number. He ripped the other half off that had her address, probably when he was going there, but at least I have her number.

I copy it into my phone before putting the paper back, then the book, leaving the apartment after making sure everything is the same as I found it. I ride back down to the lobby, just waving to the concierge when he tries to say something.

I'm on a mission, and nothing's stopping me. Not Blaze. Not whatever they had. Nothing.