Page 43 of Hidden

Bryce’s hand lowered, and the look he shot me was close to panic.

“No,” he hissed, his eyes flickering to Damen. “Don’t call me that. Anything but that.”

“Why not,Daddy?” I fake-pouted in response. I loved this. His reaction was bringing me great enjoyment during tenebrous times. I didn’t understand why he was complaining. From what I understood, it seemed a common thing to address your significant other as such.

I thought it might be embarrassing—and weird—but the fact it horrified Bryce was everything.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Bryce reached for my hand. “And stop saying it!”

“Daddy!” I began to pull my hand out of his reach. “Why—”

Damen snatched my hand, cutting off my question. He basically elbowed Bryce as he pulled me to my feet, and I was dragged behind him as he faced Dr. Reed.

She was watching us with a bemused expression.

“Can we leave?” he asked, his hand hot over mine.

She smirked, the first time I’d ever seen her wear such an expression.

“Yes, Damen.” She handed him a paper. “But make sure she goes to see Do Yun on Monday.”

That brought up a good question. “What day is it?”

She turned back to me, her smile fading. “It’s Thursday. You’ve been here almost a week.”

Aweek? I had no idea! Would I even be able to go back to class? “What—”

Before I could ask if it was hopeless, Damen stalked forward, pulling me along behind him. He didn’t stop to greet the nurses who smiled at him, nor did he acknowledge the guard at the door. He moved with a singular purpose until we reached the parking lot.

It was raining again—a cold autumn downpour. It drenched us instantly, and I shivered.

Still, Damen didn’t pause.

We didn’t make it ten feet past the sliding glass doors before Julian caught up to us. He jerked on Damen’s arm, dragging us to a halt.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He was furious. Without even waiting for an answer he released Damen, turning toward me. “Here.” His voice gentled as he draped a coat over me and pulled the hood over my head.

It was large—the bottom hem reached my knees—and warm. My hair was already stuck to my cheeks. He bent toward me, uncaring about the rain, and pushed some wayward strands away from my face. “Better?”

I stared at him, unsure how to respond. Julian had cursed,andhe was angry.

Damen spun around, his eyes wide. He had lost the force of his fury. “I—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Julian snapped before focusing on me once again. “Bianca.” He voice was soft. “Are you warm enough? You don’t have shoes on, can I carry you? Let’s get you out of the rain.”

Didn’t he care his own shirt was plastered against his skin. Wasn’thecold? I shook my head. “I’m okay.”

I wanted to redo this last hour. I wasn’t sure what I’d done, but between Damen’s growing look of dread, and Julian’s obscured rage, it felt like I was drowning.

“Okay.” Julian held my hand. “Let’s go, now that you’re not forced to walk in the rain in only a thin, white hospital gown,” he said accusingly. He glanced at my feet. “Are you sure…”

I shook my head. I couldn’t let anyone see me being carried out.

“I’m stopping home to pick up some items.” Bryce was suddenly behind me, holding an umbrella over us. “Are you sure you’ll have room for us? Doesn’t Titus live there now?”

“Titus always lived at my house.” Damen’s posture was subdued. “He used his house to store some of his collections.”

“Oh.” Bryce sounded confused. “Well, I’ll be there later tonight. Bianca”—he touched my shoulder, and my heart jerked—“do you want me to stop by your room and pick up anything? You room with Jiayi, right?”