Page 14 of Change

Chapter Four

Bianca

Ties

Brayden led me through the library entrance, then silently past the neatly lined shelves and computer units to the back of the building. He was moving almost too fast for me to keep up, and I wouldn’t have been able to if not for him holding my arm.

But the part that had my heart racing wasn’t our strangely brisk speed, but rather the change in his bubbly personality. He seemed angry, and worried, and outside of a quick nod to the librarian, didn’t acknowledge anyone who questioned him as we moved past.

By the time he’d pushed through the doorway of the faculty exit, I was already half convinced that he’d been exchanged with another man-bun wearing, hipster-clothed clone, and my throat was beginning to close in fear. That was the only thing holding back my voice.

We arrived in a fairly short hallway with dirty yellow walls and tan laminate tiles—the same escape that Damen had given me when the two of us were hiding from Finn. It was dimly lit and empty. Not a dozen feet away was a thick olive door, leading outdoors. So, with nowhere for anyone to hide, it was quite obvious that the two of us were alone.

“Damn it!” Brayden dropped his hand from my arm and the purse to the floor before he spun around and punched the wall. The sound was loud, and the move startling. I jumped, my hands fisted at my sides as I forced myself to watch.

Something was wrong with my brother, and the only people who could defend me had just allowed me to leave with him.

Well, unless Miles had come to study. Was it possible that he’d be in the library by now?

Brayden struck the surface again, leaving a small hole in the wall this time. He slumped forward, resting his forehead against the surface.

A cold sweat had broken out over me as I watched him, still unable to move even though this seemed like the perfect time to run. But where would I go, and more importantly,what was going on?

Then he sucked in a deep breath, and the tension rolled off his shoulders. When he stood back up, he no longer seemed angry. “I’m sorry,” he said suddenly.

“S-s-sorry?” My voice squeaked, and I squeezed my fists more tightly as I wrapped my arms around my stomach. My nails were digging into my palms now, but I didn’t care. “W-what’s wrong?”

Brayden opened his eyes at my question, turning his face to me. The storm seemed to have passed, but I’d yet to be reassured. “You don’t know?”

Maybe I wouldn’t be scared if I did.

He sighed, clearly able to read the answer on my face, and rubbed his hands over his eyes. His knuckle looked raw. When he looked at me next, his expression was back to his usual happy-go-lucky.

“I’ve just been here all night, and I haven’t slept at all. Don’t worry, what happened out there wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know.” He reached for me but stopped when I instinctively flinched and stepped away.

My nervousness intensified, and my breath hitched. Those words were usually an indicator that everything that followed wasexactlymy fault.

A troubled look wavered in Brayden’s eyes before it quickly vanished. “You were transferring your energy to Damen,” he said, slowly lowering his hand back to his side. “It’s something only quintet members can do.”

“Oh.” I blinked at him, my legs shook with the urge to flee, but I remained unable to do so.

He frowned. “Talk to me.”

How could I say anything right now? I was still trying to calm my thoughts from the unexpected turn my morning had taken. “S-s-sorry.”

Brayden pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long-suffering sigh. “I’m usually much better at this.”

“W-what?”

“Patience,” Brayden answered, peeking at me. “Empathy. Unlike Bryce, who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word. It’s one thing to feel emotions, but we fae need to work to study how to sort through them. And there are some high-ranking officials who got their roles because they excel in other topics but lack basic common sense. I’m sorry for scaring you. I had to do it that way. But…” He glowered at the wall. “That was uncalled for. I lost my temper.”

The knot in my chest was starting to loosen, and so did my fists. “Why?”

“First of all, while you didn’t know what you were doing, Damen did; and he could have stopped you any time.”

If what I was doing was so bad, then why—

“Though, to be fair, he hasn’t had this sort of connection until now—so it’s new to him in this lifetime. He was probably thrown off course too.” Brayden almost seemed to be muttering to himself at this point, and he stroked his shadowed chin. “Still, there was the way you two were acting—anyone with eyes could see that the two of you were flirting.”