Page 36 of Balance

Neither things I cared much about.

So for me and Finn, dinner was spent in silence, and by the end of the meal, Damen and Bryce were actually discussing things in a rather amicable manner.

While there was no laughter to be had, they were passionate about the same things. This sudden friendship didn’t bode well for my escape plan.

Finn began to clear off the table as the clock chimed seven. Lately, if the evening was quiet and we were mostly alone, Bryce had taken to lecturing me about genetics. He was still holding a grudge about me dropping out of school, and his class.

I had to make my move now, or I would spend the evening in the living room being crushed under the weight of Bryce’s instruction.

I interrupted Damen, mid-lecture, and waited until they turned their attention to me. “I was just wondering, who ended up winning your last chess match? I heard you were making bets.” It was an honest question anyway; no one had told me what they even gambled on.

“I did, of course.” Damen turned up the cuff of his shirt. “Why do you ask?” he suddenly blinked at me, leaning his face toward mine. He seemed to have reached a conclusion of some sort. “Are you impressed?”

I fought to keep my expression still—this wouldn’t work if I hurt his feelings. Besides, ‘impressed’ wasn’t how I’d describe my observations. It was more like… disappointed.

If I did recall, they both had room for improvement.

“Don’t lie.” Bryce leaned forward, pressing his forearm into the table. “I was about to beat you when you threw a tantrum again.”

“You wish,” Damen replied, turning back toward Bryce. “There’s no way you could win against me.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Absolutely.”

“Um…” I needed them to occupy themselves, but not by engaging in a fistfight in the middle of the kitchen. “Why don’t you play again? That way you can know for sure.”

“I already know for sure.” Damen growled, glaring at Bryce.

“Stop embarrassing yourself.” Bryce waved his hand in the air, looking down his nose at Damen. “Everyone knows you have no idea how to protect your queen.”

Damen flushed, shooting to his feet. “I dare you to say that to my face!”

“Iamsaying that to your face.” Bryce examined his fingernails.

“Let’s go.” The onmyoji made a rude gesture and pointed toward the door. His eyes sought out mine, expectation heavy in his voice. “Bianca, want to watch me kick his ass?”

On any other occasion, I’d love to witness Bryce’s defeat, but with the two of them…

It would be like watching equally unskilled toddlers attempt to box. They really should be stopped, for their own safety. Someone might lose an eye.

But this was all part of my plan.

If I gave it five minutes, they wouldn’t even notice I was missing.

“You can go ahead first.” I twirled some leftover pasta onto my fork, hoping that they couldn’t hear the deception in my voice. “I’ll finish up here and then clean the kitchen.”

Finn, who had been organizing the dishes in the sink, paused, shooting me the strangest look, but neither boy noticed. Instead, they’d continued glaring at each other—a short battle of wills—as they pushed through the smaller doorway, leaving the room as they muttered threats to each other under their breath.

“Okay.” Finn was beside the table the second Damen and Bryce were out of earshot, his sudden appearance made me jump, and he slapped his hand next to my place, a white dishcloth still in his grip. “So what are you planning? I know you’re not staying here to help me.”

“I’m going upstairs. I have things to do.” I set my fork on my plate, glancing up at him.

There was nothing he could do to me right now; one yell from me, and Damen would be here within a second.

Finn’s thin, pale face was pinched with suspicion, glasses slowly sliding down his nose, and… he lookedalmostcute in that apron.

No!