Page 49 of Brandy Snap: Part Two

The delicacy and organisation required to keep the severity of her illness private was a great strain on anyone involved. But this was safer than the wider world finding out what she had done in the past when she had lost control.

She cleared her throat. “I’ve already told Caspian I’m leaving. I’m telling you before I inform our parents, because I know you’ll be the most vocal about it.”

That would fully explain the maelstrom of rage and grief Caspian had dealt with since we arrived home from the party.

Kai had locked himself in his nest, Caspian had shut himself in his gym, and I’d been left to piece together why my mates were more scrambled than I was after what I’d done to them both.

I had to discuss Melanie’s meeting with Caspian’s parents with them, but it was impossible to do when neither of them would talk to me.

“Can we at least tell Caspian now?” I asked.

She paused only briefly before she shook her head.

“He feels guilty enough about my illness. What would he do if he discovered the battle I’ve fought since I presented?”

“He would understand,” I lied. “It’s not as if he doesn’t know you’re ill. Telling him the extent of it will no longer make a difference when you’re apart.”

She pressed her lips together. Another tremble shook through her as she gathered herself.

“I don’t want to hurt him anymore,” she whispered.

From everything that had happened since she’d presented—every time she was triggered, or she lost control, or even a change to her nest she had not agreed to—I understood why she wished to keep it a secret.

And the weight I endured from hiding what she had done in the past was likely nothing compared to hers.

I also knew how my mate could be. If he knew the true extent of Camille’s illness, I was certain he would never leaveher side. Kai mocked me for acting like a hero, but Caspian was incorrigible. Even when Kai became our omega, it was not enough to stop him.

“Sin, it might be useful to control other people with, but my aura isn’t stable. I need someone to teach me.” Her frustration surged through her scent, building too quickly, but I couldn’t give up.

“Michael Farringdon is not the answer,” I replied coldly.

Michael must have found her. Though I didn’t notice him at the party, so he probably sent his trained staff to tempt her.

Anyone who knew what Camille was capable of would admit her illness was the same one Michael studied in his research centres.

But that was not the only thing he did there.

“You are safe here,” I insisted, even as her agitation grew. “We can protect you. We can—”

“Brother,please!” she gasped, clutching her chest. Her body trembled as pain flared behind her eyes. “Stop talking like you know what this is like!” She drew in a ragged breath. “You don’t have to live every single day scared you’re going to kill someone! You don’t have to lock yourself in your room because the pain is so intense that no one can come near you without risking their lives.”

I couldn’t tell her ‘it’s not that severe’, because I had seen firsthand what she was capable of when she lost control.

When the violence took her over, it was only Flint who could calm her, and all I could do was stand outside the door and listen to her screams.

She panted too hard, the bed frame and side tables rattling as they shook along with her.

Her power was already winding into me, squeezing my chest, but I didn’t want to let it go.

A lone tear rolled down a flushed cheek.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she whimpered. “I let my guard down at the party and almost hurt your mates. I could have killed them if I’d lost control…”

This time, my heart clenched in fear at the thought of their still bodies and lifeless eyes. If she’d truly succumbed to her power, there would be no guests left in the ballroom to tell what had happened.

“Yet you still had enough control to hurt Melanie,” I said coldly, remembering the way she whipped her hand back from Camille as soon as they touched.

“I just lost it for a second. I was so shocked I couldn’t help it,” she said as her tears quickened.