Page 41 of Balance

I tried to keep my tone calm, impartial, but apparently, I failed. That was, if Finn’s fearful look and sudden tension meant anything.

“What did you do now?” he asked his brother.

Damen was lounging in the front passenger seat while Titus drove. Bryce and Julian took up the second row. They also snapped to attention—both pulled from their books—at my statement.

Damen twisted to face me, a broad smile lighting up his handsome face. “What’s wrong, baby girl?”

What was this air of innocence? He must be picking a fight, because there was no way he’d thought this might end well for him.

“Damen didn’tdoanything, Finn,” I said, picking a card from Brayden’s hand. At least, he hadn’t done anything in this instance. He never did anything, including communicate. He just expected everyone to listen and obey. “That’s the problem.”

Damen’s beaming smile faltered slightly.

However, Julian’s glee grew more profound with every passing second. The necromancer shut his textbook, shoving it into his bag before he reclined in his seat, crossing his ankle over his knee and draping his arm over the headrest as he turned to face me.

“What did Damennotdo?” he asked, his expression not giving away the unbridled excitement coursing through our bond. “Please tell me.”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Damen asked, wariness threading through his voice.

“You told me you had no idea where Miles went,” I said, grumbling that Finn—who carefully picked a card from my hand—hadn’t chosen the maid. “So how long were you going to lie about it?”

“You’d better check that attitude.” The humor had entirely fled from Damen’s expression. “I’m glad you’re gaining confidence, but don’t think you can speak to me like that either. If you want to talk, then talk like a normal person. I’m not about to let you push me around.”

The temperature dropped, and Julian’s good-natured gaze turned icy. He glared at Damen, his lips thin, with the air of an underlying threat to his demeanor. “Watch it.”

“She’s picking a fight, and I’ll gladly engage. But not over something this stupid. We both know this is not the problem,” Damen snapped back, fire burning in his voice. “She’s been redirecting her anger onto me, and I’m not having it. I refuse to passively accept disrespect.”

“I knew it!” Julian straightened, mouth falling open. “Youaretrying to piss her off.”

“Stay out of it, Julian.” Damen flashed his teeth at him. “This is between me and Bianca. Now”—He turned his burning gaze back to me—“are you ready to talk about what’s really bothering you, or not?”

My face flushed and my heart was thundering. I was balancing precariously on the line between anger—because how dare he talk to me this way—and fear.

What was really bothering me?

Damen was acting no better than Finn. Keeping secrets, expecting me to comply without question, and then not telling me about things that affected me directly.

Titus’s face was carefully blank, his knuckles white on the wheel, and Julian’s jaw was tightly clenched as the animosity poured from him. Neither one of them, I knew, would disobey Damen’s orders. It was hard to get mad at them about it.

I just wish I understoodwhy.

What was this compulsion that—when he spoke—I wanted to both argue with him and please him? When this dark expression fell over him, and his gaze flared, why did it cause my pulse to soar and emotions to swell?

This was wrong. Why did I feel this way? I took a deep breath, wishing that the windows were open. The fresh air would help clear my mind, because, and I didn’t understand it, I really was losing control.

This was stupid—there was no reason to be upset. Damen and the others had taken care of me this far. I was acting like a brat. What was wrong with me?

“I-I’m not angry,” I said, setting down my cards and fisting my hands in my lap. My nails dug into my palms, the pain further grounding me. “I’m not picking a fight. I’m sorry.”

Something shifted in Damen’s expression, but the look was shuttered a second later. This time, when he spoke, his tone was more measured, calm. “Now, what are you trying to ask me?”

“H-how did you know where Miles was?” I asked, staring at my hands. “You didn’t tell me…”

“I didn’t knowanythingfor sure, except that he had a graduation requirement.Normally,we wouldn’t bother chasing after him. Miles likes his alone time. But you were upset. Because of that, Titus and I researched places that had more paranormal activity than usual,” Damen replied, his tone curt. “We were finally able to track down a tour guide who had seen him.”

“Oh…” I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and the fight drained from me in an instant. Shame threatened to swallow me whole. I could barely breathe from the weight of it.

He hadn’t lied or hidden anything from me at all. In fact, he’d been trying to find him the whole time. How could I have gotten so emotional?