Page 149 of Hidden

“I can’t stop you from blaming yourself,” he said—correctly guessing those concerns hadn’t been driven from my mind. “But Icanpromise you they’ll be more upset withthemselvesabout the situation than they are with you.”

But that wasn’t fair—no one besides me had been there. “But—”

“The only way you’ll know is by confronting it,” Julian said, rising to his feet and pulling me with him. “Isn’t it scarier to wonder whatmighthappen rather than face whatwillhappen? In most cases, a person’s imagination is far harsher than reality.”

Since when washeso wise? “Yes…” I grumbled.

“Like Bryce,” Julian pointed out. “He’s not so bad once you get used to him.”

I shot him a dubious look—surely Julian wasn’t trying to reassure me usingBryceas an example. “We still have our issues…”

He made a sound under his breath, and his smugness pulled at me. There were very few people in the world who were more annoying than Bryce.

Speaking of—

“What about Finn?” I rebutted. “He grows on you—like a strain of incredibly invasive bacteria destroying its host. I didn’t even realize I’d been infected for the longest time. Are you saying he’s not as bad as we imagined?”

Kiania had been telling me something of the sort.

The humor fled from Julian’s expression, and there was no denying the coursing, hot anger that filled the air.

“No.” His voice was clipped. “Finn is far worse than you can imagine. Damen has him around for monitoring purposes, but I want you to stay away from him. You’ve only witnessed a portion of what he’s like when he loses control. And with the bond with Kiania the way it is, who knows how this has affected him.”

That didn’t make any sense. I’d seen Finn angry before. What could be worse? “What—”

My question was cut off as the world fell out from under my feet.

I woke with a gasp, choking as a coughing fit ransacked my body. Warm hands moved over me, and someone pulled me into a seated position as they pounded on my back. Then once my breathing had evened out, the hands proceeded to poke and prod at me.

The bright light hurt my eyes, and I covered my face. “S-s-stop!”

There was a rustle, and suddenly Damen’s warm skin pressed against mine. He’d crawled onto the bed, pulling me against him.

Everything hurt.

My throat was raw, and my skin felt dry and brittle. I’d been changed into another nightgown at some point, and the fabric was rough against my skin.

It felt as though I’d been dragged over gravel. It hadn’t been like this the last time Julian used his powers.

“Welcome back.” Dr. Reed’s dry greeting was the only other sound in the room. “Especially considering the circumstances. Just how long were you expecting to be gone?” She sounded almost disappointed, and terribly angry.

I’d never heard her sound like this towardmebefore.

I lowered my hands, peeking at her over my fingers, to note that she hadn’t been talking to me at all. Instead, her attention was on Julian, who was blearily blinking himself into wakefulness in a plush red chair at the foot of the bed.

What happened? When Julian used his powers before, it didn’t seem like any time had passed. But from Dr. Reed’s sharp words, that wasn’t the case this time. And—unlike then, Julian was dazed too.

Confusion rippled through the space between us, and our gazes briefly locked. His blue eyes were uncharacteristically brighter than usual as the remnants of his power faded. “How long—”

“I arrived shortly after you began.” Dr. Reed pursed her lips as she put her hands on her hips, the room chilled under the force of her anger. “Then Miles woke up, and you didn’t. We had no idea what happened. It’s beenhours.”

Julian opened his mouth to speak, but she turned to me, her stern expression fading. “Andyou.” She pressed her lips in a thin line. “You’ve had us worried to death. What in the world happened?”

My breath caught, and on the tip of my tongue was my usual denial: ‘Nothing happened’, ‘Everything is okay’, or even ‘It doesn’t matter’. I could refuse to talk about it.

I could go back to my usual self, refusing to accept the reality directly in front of me, and live in fear of what might be.

But I was tired of living like that. I wanted to change.