Page 125 of Girls with Razor Hearts

“We need to call Mena,” she says, walking over to where Quentin is putting the fluid back in his backpack.

“Everything okay?” he asks, worried.

She nods, a smile breaking over her face. “Yes,” she says. “I found a bill of sale.”

“A what now?” Quentin asks.

“It means that Valentine’s alive,” Annalise explains.

“Who’s Valentine?”

“Our friend. The doctor lied—he didn’t destroy her. Not really. He sold her program to an investor. She’s alive, just … in a different body.”

Quentin seems uncomfortable with the idea of Valentine getting a different body, but he holds out the lighter to Annalise just the same.

“I assume you want the honors,” he says.

“Thank you,” Annalise replies gratefully.

Quentin grabs his backpack and heads for the door, but Annalise takes a moment to look around one last time. She’ll never see this place again, but more importantly, neither will any other girl.

She crinkles her nose, the smell of lighter fluid thick in the air, and then she flicks on the flame. She tosses the lighter far away, and it ignites immediately in a flash of bright orange. The fire will spread fast through the old building, so Annalise starts at a brisk jog.

When she gets outside, she takes a gulp of night air. She sees the headlights of Quentin’s car waiting at the gate.

When she’s close, Quentin gets out of the driver’s seat, clutching the door and watches the building. Annalise walks to the passenger side and does the same.

Dark smoke billows from the chimney of Innovations Academy, thick and black. There is an orange glow from thebasement windows. She hears crackling, and a window shatters as the first flames lick out.

Quentin gets behind the wheel and tells her to come on. Annalise climbs into the passenger seat and looks at Quentin.

“But I want to watch it burn,” she says. “I want assurances that the academy is officially destroyed.”

Quentin looks sideways at her, studying her, before nodding. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, all right.”

She sighs and leans to rest her head on his shoulder. Exhausted. A bit sad. But in her pocket is an address, and that makes her smile as flames become visible behind the windows of one of the main-floor rooms.

This part of their lives is finally over. And soon, they’ll have Valentine back.

Annalise and Quentin watch until the bars fall from the windows and the top floor crashes down. They watch until Innovations Academy is gone altogether. It’s gone except for its girls.