Page 13 of Hidden

No wonder Damen looked so lost. I felt the same. We had been so obsessed with who she was, and the danger that she’d been in, that we hadn’t been focused on her.

We were moving too fast. We were already failing.

But nothing good would come from wallowing in self-pity.

Damen fell back, subdued. With him out of the way, I focused on Bryce.

I wasn’t sure how he was still conscious. But he was pushing away from the two of us, holding his face.

I reached for him, but he raised his arm in response. “No,” he wheezed. “Forget about it.”

Forget about it? His face was already swelling, and it looked like he had a broken nose. “Bryce—”

He staggered to his feet, then Brayden and Anthony were at his side, helping him stand. Bryce ignored them. “Don’t bother,” he told me, and avoiding eye contact, the three of them left the room.

Miles stepped beside me, looking equally guilty.

Bianca’s top officers were our best bet at keeping her safe. And Bryce had been pummeled to a pulp. I should have done more to help him.

At the same time, I felt strangely detached about the situation. Now that I thought about it, Damen wasn’t wrong. How had Bianca become the Xing to begin with? What about Bailey?

Brycehaddone something, I was certain. Or he knew about it, at the very least. The only thing that had kept me from hurting him myself was the self-loathing in his eyes.

We would have to talk to the Dubois family. There was no way this was a coincidence.

“Julian?” Miles looked at me, devastation on his face. “What do we do? I can’t even…”

My chest heaved under the weight of the added responsibility. Miles was supposed to be the level-headed one—but he was barely able to function.

It would have to be my responsibility, for now.

“First”—I faced the broken window—“we need to find Titus. Finn.” The other man was moving toward the door. He paused mid-step, glancing at me. “You’re staying with us.”

Chapter Three

Bianca

Demand

The hallways had been unnaturally silent for a while, and I’d been left alone with my thoughts. I didn’t know how long I’d been here, but it felt like forever.

Dr. Reed visited me frequently. So did Julian. But he hadn’t come in a while.

I didn’t know what she expected from our short sessions, but as time went by, she seemed to be happier. That seemed like a good thing. It probably meant I wasn’t dying.

Just like before, I was treated differently than other patients. The aides didn’t interact with me, only doing their jobs. They brought food, sometimes a change of clothes. They also brought me my medication.

I took it, because if I didn’t, I knew they could force me to. That much had been made perfectly clear.

Unlike before, the staff was a tiny bit friendlier. I wasn’t certain why they’d changed, but I suspected it had to do with Julian’s presence.

I wasn’t sure what to think about that.

Others had been afraid of him, too, and I couldn’t imagine why. Was there something I hadn’t noticed? Try as I might, I couldn’t find a single reason for anyone to fear Julian.

It made no sense.

He was one of the kindest people I’d ever met. And out of all my friends, he and Miles were the easiest to talk to. Despite everything, I considered myself a pretty good judge of character.