Page 42

The moonlight shone brightly through Damen’s cracked-open bedroom window, and a low breeze moved through the space.

Julian sat on the bed beside me, and now that things had quieted, I could see from his stilted movements that he was upset.

He leaned over me and tucked in my blanket before he stood to leave.

“I’m sorry,” I said, hardly able to hear myself.

He stopped, shoulders tensing, as he peered down. “For what, darling?” he asked.

“I—” I wasn’t entirely sure. I wasn’t going to apologize for helping James, and he’d said it was okay to tell them no. But, “I tricked you when I left,” I whispered. That hadn’t been nice of me at all. “I’m sorry for being sneaky.”

The corners of Julian’s mouth turned down. “That’s nothing to apologize for,” he told me. “Your scheming is one of the traits I admire most about you.”

“Oh.” I wrapped my fingers around the edge of my blanket and pulled it to my nose. That didn’t sound like a good thing, though. “Okay.”

“However,” he said, touching his pointer finger to the tip of his nose, “I do not approve of you putting yourself in danger either.”

My heart began to race at the serious look in his eyes.

“That is the only thing I will not support,” he said. “And there is nothing in the world that concerns me more.”

My pulse was racing as his gaze held mine.

“But…” I told him. “I’m not great at listening to people. I know that Damen is supposed to be the ‘leader,’ but…”

“Not listening is nothing new for you.” He smirked. “However, Damen’s reaction has little to do with his or your role, and more about his feelings. You would be the only one who could get away with disregarding his instructions, and I’ll support that wholeheartedly.”

That didn’t make sense. Wasn’t Damen technically supposed to be in charge? Or had I misunderstood?

Julian smiled softly at my blank look. “You’ll remember eventually. In any case,” he continued, “try to get some sleep. Nothing further will happen tonight.”

“What about tomorrow?” I asked. There was heavy pressure against my chest, and I couldn’t move past the feeling that this wasn’t over. “What—what about Alexander Cole?”

“Miles and Damen are looking into it,” Julian said, brushing a lock of my hair from my forehead. “We’re hoping that with the curse removed from the ring, you’ll no longer be a target. But we can’t say for certain yet.”

“What about...” My question trailed off.

“What about what?” he asked.

“Finn,” I whispered, and Julian’s expression turned blank. “Are you upset that I called him? ”

A muscle in Julian’s jaw twitched as he lowered his gaze to my wrist, and he was silent for a long moment before responding. “I think,” he said finally, “that I will stay out of it, although it doesn’t make me happy.”

“We—we’re not friends again,” I told him. “Don’t worry.”

“Remember, I saw him hurt you,” he said, gazing at the window. “And he made you sad. Those are not things that I can just get over.”

That was true, yet I couldn’t get past the feeling that there was something else. “Hey,” I asked, biting my lip. “Is there another reason you hate him so much?”

Julian’s shoulders tensed, and he looked back at me. “What?”

“You dislike Finn more than almost everyone,” I pointed out, hoping this wasn’t supposed to be a secret. “What did he do?”

It was probably something evil. Julian was such a gentle person, and Finn was not. Knowing Finn, he might have kicked a puppy, or beat up another innocent, harmless person. I’d put nothing past him.

Julian’s mouth dipped, and I knew what he’d say before he spoke.

“It’s a story for another time,” he answered, hesitating only briefly before touching his lips to my forehead. “It’s time for bed.”

“Julian?” I blinked at him, but he reached for the bedside table and turned off the light. The sudden darkness made me shiver, and I looked out the window, thankful for the full moon.

“Bianca?” he hesitated.

“I…” My voice was low, and my heart began to race. “Can you keep it on?”

“Oh.” Julian turned the small lamp on again. “Are you afraid of the dark?” he asked. When I nodded, he tilted his head. “Any particular reason why? ”

“It—it doesn’t need to be completely lit up,” I told him. “I just need to keep an eye out.”

“What are you keeping an eye out for?” Julian asked.

I didn’t answer, instead I was focused on the lamp. My eyes grew heavy as I watched it, and the tightness coiling through my muscles began to relax.

Julian watched me an instant longer and then took a long breath. “Okay, darling,” he said, touching my head. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” I told him as my eyelids drooped. I closed my eyes as I yawned, and by the time my ears popped, I was drifting into darkness.

Miles POV

My heart was racing as I watched Damen pace in front of the fireplace. Brayden was slouching on the couch beside me, also studying the onmyoji, and was probably wondering the same thing as me.

Something was bothering Damen, something terrible and big. Nothing else would distract him from one of his boring rants.

“Hey,” I began, looking between Titus, who’d been sitting with his arms braced over his knees, and Damen. “Why are you two acting weird?”

Bryce, who was seated on Brayden’s other side, nodded. “It’s true,” he agreed. He and Damen had been inseparable once, and Bryce knew Damen almost better than we did. “You’re worried about something.”

“I’m not worried at all,” Damen grumbled.

“Yes, you are,” I agreed. “You were about to rip off my head, but stopped when Bianca said that ghosts weren’t bad.” I shivered at the thought—I couldn’t imagine why she believed such lies.

Earthbound spirits were unnatural to this world and, in my recent experiences, resisted attempts to redirect them from this realm. More than that, however, was how, if a witch wasn’t careful, a spirit’s presence could change the energy in a room and ruin a practice.

Damen glared at the floor, and the flames grew hotter. He was teetering on the edge of a furious explosion, and my skin tingled in apprehension of the cause.

“Bianca’s asleep,” Julian said as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against it, and now that I was paying attention, I saw that he shared the same tortuous look as the rest of my quintet.

“Okay,” I started before the fae could. I sat forward and touched my elbows to my knees. I hadn’t wanted to point it out, but they’d been acting strangely since before Bianca dragged me off earlier, but I’d assumed it was because Damen felt guilty about the exorcism.

I had been giving him too much credit. It’d been ages since I’d felt this level of unrestrained power. He wanted to destroy, and obliterating a ghost would have been an excellent way for him to release his rage.

There was something bigger bothering them.

“So why is Brayden still alive?” I asked, inclining my head toward the younger fae brother.

“Hey!” Brayden sat up.

“Normally, you’d be furious that he went behind your back,” I pointed out. “Yet, you’re ignoring it.”

“So did you!” Damen finally glared at me.

“You can’t blame me. She asked me for help.” I shrugged. Besides, “I hate to see senseless destruction. ”

“I can’t yell at him”—Damen gestured at Brayden—“if you’re helping! What sense would that make?”

“Now, now,” I coaxed and held my hands up. It wouldn’t do to have us fight. “James Cole was a confused person in a bad situation. You would have felt guilty later. Besides, that’s not what’s bothering you.”

“Fine!” Damen’s fury finally broke. “She’s hiding something!”

“That isn’t anything new,” I pointed out.

“But it’s hurting her,” Julian said, slipping into an open seat. “ We could hurt her if we don’t know.”

I’d opened my mouth to reply but stopped myself. I was missing something.

Julian looked toward Damen. “We need to talk to Finn.”

A power was gathering at his feet—the necromancer wanted free reign. Julian loathed Finn on a good day, but lately, his feelings had grown proportionally stronger. He’d only been holding back per Damen’s orders.

“He’ll tell me when he needs to,” Damen rebutted, giving Julian a severe look. “Do not go after him.”

Julian scowled.

“So,” Bryce finally cut in. “I’m assuming it’s true then—she’s Mu.”

“We figured you’d have noticed by now.” Damen frowned at him. “Hence why you’re included in this conversation. Continuing to hide it from you would be pointless.”

Bryce and Bryden exchanged a look, and I felt my curiosity rise.

“Where did she come from?” Bryce asked, redirecting his attention back to Damen.

“You heard her.” Damen waved his hand in the air. “She’s Finn’s friend. She was raised as a human, they were in school together, and she came here. ”

“How did she get adopted?” Bryce asked.

“We have no idea,” Damen replied. “She’s unapproachable on this topic, and Finn won’t tell me. We haven’t been able to make Abigail and Jonathon talk.”

I pressed my lips together. I should have been on top of things. They were two of my Proxies; I should have known what they were doing.

“Do—” Bryce began and looked at Brayden once more. The younger fae was sitting on the edge of his seat. “—do you think she had a good life?”

Damen studied Bryce with a look that could cut glass. “You know,” he said, and I could tell his every word was carefully measured. He was furious, and I still had no idea why. “I asked her that question once,” he continued. “And she told me she did.”

Bryce’s eyes flickered with almost concealed relief, but it was quickly squashed as Damen added, “But I don’t think she’s telling the complete truth.”

“Fae can’t lie.” Bryce frowned at him. “Not without side effects.”

“She’s not lying, per se. She’s hiding,” Damen said. “She’s a female fae who doesn’t understand her origins, nor can she control her abilities. That leaves her completely defenseless in this realm, doesn’t it?”

My trepidation rose at the expressions on Titus, Julian, and Damen’s faces. I had no idea what I was missing. However, I doubted it’d be discussed in front of Bryce and Brayden.