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“She’s with Bryce. Are you looking for her, or looking to run away?” I asked, noting the way her skin paled. “You knew who she was the whole time. Is that why you wouldn’t come outside when we visitedThe Ivy Garden?”

“I’m not hiding fromherany more than Kayla is running fromyou,” Hanah replied. “Stop your posturing;youdon’t scare me.”

I frowned at her because she was right. The only people in the world besides my quintet and my own brother who didn’t fear me were Hanah and Jin. Even Catalina—Miles’s third officer—tended to steer clear.

It was a bit refreshing. Usually officers were still wary. So I always wondered, “Why not?”

“You pretend you don’t care that people are scared of you, but you do. You hate it. You like to take care of people. That’s why you’re in medical school. You want people to see you helping others and not just the scary bits.”

I frowned at her. “Maybe I’m in medical school because I want to learn how to kill people more effectively.”

She laughed. “Sure, Julian. Whatever you say.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s true.” Kayla raised her eyebrows as she studied me.

“Which?” Hanah asked.

“Both of you knock it off.” I ignored their teasing and studied my cousin. “That’s not why I’m here. Why don’t you confess?”

She pulled at one of her black curls. “Confess what?” she asked, even though from the guilty expression on her face she knew exactlywhat.

“I don’t know,” I said, unperturbed by her aversion. “How about the depths of your actual involvement with Bianca? Finn mentioned you’ve been helping contain him.”

“Who cares?” She continued to avoid my eyes. “Finn and I have an understanding. You don’t know him like I do.”

The way her cheeks darkened and her continual refusal to look in my direction caused alarm to rush though me.

“Don’t tell me that you have feelings for him?” Even though I asked, I already knew. “Kayla, how could you?”

“It’s really none of your business, Julian,” Kayla said, her tone somewhat snarky. “You don’t own me.”

“Kayla, he’s violent, unpredictable, and already put one man into a coma. Then when his victim was on the verge of recovery, he broke into the hospital and paralyzed him. There wasnoreason for that.” I couldn’t believe her stupidity. I would have thought after seeing my father she’d know no matter how charming a man is, you couldn’t trust one who was evil at the core. And Finn was one of those people.

Instead of helping her understand, my words caused her expression to turn fierce. “You’re one to talk, you hypocrite.” Her eyes glittered with anger.

“Kayla?” For the first time in my life, I found myself wary of my cousin.

“You may be my superior, and you may be infinitely more powerful than me. But that’s no excuse.” Her eyes flashed, and her finger pressed into my chest. “You don’t control my life, nor what I do in my free time.”

“What?” My heart thundered. That was no excuse for lying to me.

They’d kept Bianca a secret.

The entire situation made me sick. The recollection made me want to kill again for the first time in a long time, and it was taking everything in me to bury that feeling.

It wasn’t just that Bianca’s existence had been kept secret. It was more.

The bond between Mu and myself was unique, and it was my job to be there for her always. No matter what our lives, or the situation. And now she’d grown up basically alone.

All because no one could trust me.

That’s what pissed me off the most. I screwed up, and my selfishness impacted her. Because of my actions, no one thought I could handle the added responsibility.

If Kayla wanted to be stupid with Finn, that was her business. I just needed to know, was it really because of me?

“It was afterhim, wasn’t it?” I asked. “That’s why no one said anything. They thought I wasn’t able to handle it. Everything else is just an excuse.”

The snark left her expression in an instant. “Julian…”