Page 145 of Hidden

“I know that!” My face heated and I ducked under the edge of the window. Pressing my cheek against the stones, I began to count my breaths.

I couldn’t face him. He had seen—

“Bianca, can you look at me please?” His voice had returned to the measured calm with which I was so familiar. “I want to talk to you.”

“No. I don’t want to talk to you.” My racing heart was echoing with force in my throat. Mu was a moron. I didn’t have to face anything. “I’m just going to stay up here forever.”

“You will, if you don’t snap out of it.” Julian’s tone changed slightly. There was something darker, more commanding in his voice that had never been present in the past. “You’ve locked yourself away, trying to escape the world around you. But you can’t hide for the rest of your life.”

“Watch me.” The coldness of the rough stones began to numb my face. “You’re not even supposed to be here anyway,” I muttered, closing my eyes.

A scratching sound pulled at the edge of my senses, but I didn’t move. I was just so tired.

“You’re not allowed to hide from me.”

Julian’s voice came from above me, and I screamed, jumping back from the wall. I landed ungracefully on my butt as I clutched at my chest, willing my heart to slow.

He had,somehow, scaled the building. And now was crouched in the window, his head tilted as he studied me. “Are you all right?”

“You scared me! How in the world did you climb up here?”

He raised his eyebrow, briefly glancing behind him, down the tower, before he returned his attention to me. “I’m an assassin,” he said slowly.

“That’s what you say.” I didn’t believe it. Outside of him punching Finn, I’d yet to see him harm even a fly. Besides, he was a vegetarian—which meant that he held some regard for all living things. “So that means you can climb walls like aninja?”

His lips pressed in a line and he remained in silence, his eyebrow slowly rising as he continued to watch me in that same unnerving way. And now that he was here, it was easier to tell.

It was Julian in front of me, yet it wasn’t fully him either. There was something dark in his gaze, something deep and ancient. Different than the Julian I’d come to know.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Julian.” His voice moved over me, deep and melodious. “But, at the moment, I’m also Shui. The veil that separates us is thinner in the astral realm.”

“How can that—”

“Have you spoken with Mu? Being here would make it easier for him to connect to you.” He tilted his head. “You seem braver now.”

“I am not brave,” I protested, crossing my arms. I was still on the floor, my feet straight out in front of me and the skirt of the green robes bunched around my knees.

“You are,” he said, a hint of the old Julian returning to his voice. “Before, you would never argue with me, but now you’re not afraid.”

“Why are you in my head?” I frowned at him. Did he think I was going to rush into his arms after he’d done the exact opposite of what he promised? “I know what you did. I am very angry at you. I am going to push you right out of that window.”

“You’re extremely violent when you’re not scared.” Julian stroked his chin, studying me. “Now we need to take that energy and redirect it to your real life. Do you remember why you ran away?”

What was he talking about?

“I—” I’d started to protest, but then recollection slammed into me, taking my breath away.

Aly.

All this time, I’d known my mother. And I’d never known. From my earliest memories, she’d been there. She was the one who taught me everything I knew about spirits—despite being one herself. She saved me.

Then she was devoured by a demon because I hadn’t been strong enough. She’d told me to never follow a bad spirit, but I hadn’t even noticed until it was too late.

I could never go back. I couldn’t face Bryce and Brayden. And there was no way I could meet my biological father now, even if I wanted to. How could I ever tell my family that my mother’s spiritwasn’tat peace, and it was entirely my fault?

Julian’s presence washed over me, and I blinked back the dots of darkness that had been swarming in my vision. I’d been on the verge of fainting, and I hadn’t even realized.