Page 13 of Balance

Why did he have to make it sohardto stay mad?

“What do you want in return?” I glanced around my room—it was a good-sized room, with three large windows, complete with window seats, a vanity, canopy bed with a side table, dresser, working desk, and the library nook where I currently resided. But, despite that, I didn’t have many knickknacks. In the past, I’d sometimes give him a glitter pen when he brought me gifts. I wasn’t sure why, but he seemed to enjoy them.

They really didn’t fit his image though.

“I don’t want anything.” He stared at the floor. “At least not right now. You can pay me back later.”

Darn it. This left me with another outstanding debt. I really needed to get my debit card for that shared account that Bryce promised me.

How much money did we have?

“Happy birthday.” Finn began to turn toward the door, pushing a loose lock of his hair back from his eyes. “Sorry I missed it.”

For a long moment, I couldn’t breathe. But Finn didn’t even look at me again, and before I could recover enough to speak, he’d already slipped from the room.

Chapter Five

Damen

Reunion

My last class ran over, and I was late for my check-in with Gregory. Normally the man was punctual, and even though he didn’t scare me, it was always better to be on time. Today we were meant to discuss our alliance with the force—a serious discussion that didn’t require an audience.

So I was surprised to see that Gregory had visitors.

“What’s going on?” I peered into the office, my eyebrow raising at the unfamiliar sight, before stepping in and closing the door behind me. The action made Gregory’s already small office even more suffocating, but considering who his guests were, the privacy would be welcomed.

Declan Dubois, who’d been seated on the edge of Gregory’s desk barely glanced in my direction, but Bryce, from his glowering pose against the wall next to Gregory’s small coffee stand, narrowed his eyes at me.

“Why areyouhere?” he asked, a challenge heavy in his voice. “Don’t you have girls to be chasing?”

A flare of annoyance washed over me. He’d been in my face—and in my home—since bringing Bianca home from the hospital at the start of Miles’s insane plan, and it was only because I hated to see a grown man cry that I let him win at board games.

He’d been trying my patience at every turn.

Besides, how dare he ask why I was here—Gregory wasmymentor.

“I don’t chase anyone.” I loosened my tie. “Not anymore.”

Bryce rolled his eyes. “You’ve just been making eyes atmy sisterinstead. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you sneaking peeks at her. Don’t forget, none of you can date.”

Well, that was the rule. But Bryce was forgetting one very important detail.

“Nowhere does it say we can’t dateeach other, you moron.” I smirked. I’d been thinking of this, after all, for almost a month now. She might have to pretend to be someone she wasn’t in order to stay close to us now, but when it was revealed who she was, there was nothing to stop her from beingwithus either. We wouldn’t be breaking a single rule.

All that was left to deal with was Titus’s prophecy. But I was sure that with proof, eventually, the council would change their minds.

If not, then we could just do it anyway. He knew it as well as I did, and his stricken expression spoke volumes. There was absolutely nothing Bryce could do to stop me—

“Damen Abernathy.” Declan uncrossed his legs, pushing from Gregory’s desk as he stood to his full height. The man was eye level with me, and his dark emerald eyes glinted dangerously as they held mine. He had deep brown hair, and his aura seemed to turn the same shadowy color as the mood in the room darkened. “I’ve never had a problem with you. But if you touch my daughter, I will break every bone in your hands.”

My throat went dry, but I forced my expression to remain calm. Gregory only raised his eyebrow, unhelpfully watching his niece’s husband threaten me, and Bryce was now the one grinning victoriously.

Damn, I’d forgotten how terrifying Declan could be. If I was still in high school, I’d probably back down. But I wasn’t a dumb teenager anymore. Fuck this, I was a twenty-two-year-old man. Legally, I was an adult and perfectly capable of making my own life choices.

“You can’t stop me,” was my brilliant response, and for some reason, it came out as a question.

Declan didn’t say a word, only cocking his head curiously as the temperature in the room continued to drop.