Page 15

His question cut through the stone that’d settled in my stomach. I was too tired to care much about how he knew, but knowing him—or Damen—they’d probably stalked my student records.

“No.” My hands shook as I pulled the jacket tighter around me. “I want to throw it all away.” My voice was firmer toward the end, my anger overshadowing my fear.

I’d started with nothing more than once. I could do it again.

Bryce didn’t respond, and Damen and Julian only glanced at each other. But as my brother moved past me, I couldn’t stop myself. My resolve had only lasted ten seconds .

“Wait.” I grabbed his shirt. Hopefully, he wouldn’t make fun of me.

He faced me, and I pulled him away from the others. But he was still too tall, and I tugged on his arm until he bent down.

“I need my rabbit,” I whispered in his ear.

Bryce’s skin turned pale, and his eyes met mine. “What?”

“I have a pink rabbit,” I told him. I was too weak to give it up. “Can you please get it? Jiayi knows where it is.”

Bryce’s expression was strife with dread, making me feel worse for asking. But I couldn’t lie and say it didn’t matter.

After a moment, he groaned. “Fine . ”

“Thank you.” I was near tears, and I hated myself. “I don’t want anything else.”

“It’s okay,” he said, pet my shoulder, and finally left.

I returned to Julian and Damen, who were conversing in low tones under another umbrella Bryce had given them. But I couldn’t see their faces, so I had no idea what they were talking about.

They stopped when they saw me, and Julian again reached for my hand. “Is everything okay? What did you ask him to get?”

I couldn’t tell them. They’d make fun of me. “Nothing important.”

Julian paused but then carried on. “That’s fine. Are you ready to go?” At my nod, he stepped beside me as we followed Damen. “We’re taking Damen’s car.”

“The Jaguar?” I asked, spotting the aforementioned vehicle.

Damen pulled out his key fob, and the engine turned over.

“We’re all wet,” I tried to warn him. Didn’t he realize? “We’ll mess it up.”

“It’ll dry.” Damen’s voice was still strange. “Don’t worry about it.”

Julian frowned at him but didn’t say anything as we approached the vehicle. The necromancer opened the passenger door, waiting for me, but I hesitated.

I glanced at him and then to Damen, who watched us over the hood from the other side of the car. What were they waiting for? Julian’s legs were much longer than mine.

“I’ll sit in the back,” I said.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Bianca.” Julian touched my back. “You can sit—”

“Just let her sit wherever she wants,” Damen interrupted. “It’s my car.”

I glanced between them. This tension, again, was making me feel sick. Perhaps I had made a mistake after all.

“I want to sit in the back.” I stared hard at the ground. “I want to lie down.”

Julian sighed. “Darling, you need to wear your seat-belt—”

“She can lay down if she wants!” Damen placed his hand on the top of his car. “Why don’t you stop telling her what to do?”

“Then why don’t you stop acting like an ass?” Julian glared at him. “I know you agree, so why are you arguing? You’re going to scare her.”

Damen’s eyes zeroed in on me, and I almost flinched from the burning intensity of his gaze. He was angry again. But I had no idea what he was upset about now.

That wasn’t true, actually. I did know what his problem was.

It was my fault that he’d been forced to allow Bryce into his home. But didn’t he understand? Once again, he was missing the bigger picture. Bryce would be completely at our mercy.

Once he cooled down, I’d help him see the light.

Plus, there was that other matter. He was a man. I expected him to be upset once he’d had time to reflect on it.

I turned from them, and before Julian could protest, I slipped into the back and curled into a ball across the seats. Damen and Julian both peeked their heads through their doors, but I didn’t want to see them. Not if they were fighting.

I pulled the hood over my face. “I’m going to take a nap.”

There was a moment of silence, then both doors closed. A second later, the vehicle began to move.

No one put any music on today, and the quiet remained for what felt like an eternity. My eyes were heavy, and I was on the edge of losing consciousness when they spoke.

“What’s your problem tonight?” Julian’s voice was almost indiscernible, but I saw the shadow of their profiles when I peeked through a crack in my shield. So, while their voices were muffled, I could vaguely discern their words.

“I keep messing up,” Damen said. “It’s worse than I expected. I don’t even know where to start. Should we bring in Gregory? This is much different than working with a victim in the field or in an office.”

“It’s obviously up to you,” Julian answered. “But until we figure everything out, we need to be careful.”

“Speaking of, there’s a difference between being careful and what you’re doing,” Damen argued. “You need to stop being so overbearing.”

“And I told you that you need to control your temper,” Julian rebutted. “It doesn’t do any good for her to see you acting like you’re angry with the world.”

“I am angry!” Damen growled. The car slowed as we pulled down a bumpy road, and a moment later, the movements stopped.

I’d been holding my breath throughout the conversation, and as their words became more heated, I pressed my hands over my mouth.

My stomach turned as my mind screamed in warning. What were they talking about?

“Bianca?” Julian glanced back. It was brighter here, and he must have noticed my movements. “Darling, did you just wake up?”

I hadn’t been asleep but didn’t want to correct him. “Why is Damen angry? Did I do something?”

“No,” Damen replied, tone tight. I sat up and noticed that we were in front of his house. The extra light was from the too-bright open bulbs on the patio, but I was far too preoccupied to be happy at the sight.

Damen rolled his shoulders, and his voice was more relaxed when he added, “It’s not you.”

“What would you have done?” Julian asked.

“Well—” I looked away. I knew I’d upset him more than he’d let on. Why else would he want to talk to his mentor? “When I freaked out when we were kissing… well, he was really mad,” I said.

Damen had also turned around in his seat. “Yes, but it wasn’t because of anything you did,” he said, and even though I could tell from his gaze that he was sincere, it still didn’t make sense.

“But—but what else would it be?” I asked. Damen blinked at me, and my chest felt tight when I added, “Is it because I used the word?” I touched my lips. My initial fears had been right after all. “That I asked you to stop?”

“That isn’t it at all,” Julian replied. “We would never be mad about that, and we will always stop.”

“But men can’t just stop!” I argued, pushing my fists against my knees. “It doesn’t work that way!”

They did not reply, and the outside light outlined their horrified faces. Their expressions compounded my panic. “What?” I asked.

I hadn’t said anything that wasn’t an already well-known fact.

“The reason you think that is because no one has ever respected your boundaries,” Damen said gruffly. “But when you’re with people who care about you, who respect you, they will not get angry at you for saying no.”

“I was one hundred percent sincere when I said you could use that word without repercussions,” Julian added.

“Then—” I began, hugging myself. “What’s wrong?”

“We should talk about this inside.” Damen was already reaching for his door.

“No,” I told him. “I’m not going inside until you tell me.”

“Bianca…” Julian began, distress lacing his tone. “We really should go inside and talk about this as a group. Titus and Miles are—”

I didn’t want to hear any more excuses. “Tell me now.” I needed to know what I’d done so I could never do it again.

“Bianca,” Damen said, turning back to me. “We know about Eric Richards.”

“What—what about him?” I said.

Julian watched me in trepidation and said, “My mother told you there was an investigation.”

“Y-yes, and as I told her, nothing happened,” I argued. My voice cracked. With every passing second, the car began to feel smaller.

“Bianca—” Julian began, glancing toward Damen. But I interrupted him.

“What are we t-talking about?” I pressed myself closer to the door.

“Bianca, everyone knows what Eric Richards was doing,” Damen said. “They were already gathering evidence before they found you. You don’t need to protect him.”

“What does everyone think they know?” I could scarcely hear over my pounding heartbeat.

“You don’t need to be afraid,” Julian added gently. “He can’t hurt you anymore— ”

“ What does everyone think they know ?” I repeated my question. Why was my voice trembling?

“We’ve seen the reports and the notes,” Damen told me, his gaze holding mine. There was an anger there, deep but not directed toward me. This time, I didn’t doubt it. “We know that he bought and sold children and what happened to them. And we know that you were one of them. We know that—”

I’d had my hand on the doorknob since the beginning of this conversation, and as soon as it became apparent what was happening, I escaped.

I hadn’t made it ten feet before the doors slammed behind me. Damen’s alarmed yell reached my ears.

“No!” I shouted, turning toward them. They froze when I pointed my hand in their direction. “This is none of your business!”

“But Bianca,” Julian said. “We’re here to help you. You don’t need to go through this alone. You can talk to someone. You can talk to us.”

“Why?” My voice was slightly hysterical now, but I didn’t care.

Titus and Miles had rushed onto the porch, and my following statement was also directed to them.

“You can’t walk into my life and try to make everything better.

I’ve been on my own since my first parents were killed in front of me, and I’ve lived this long without needing to talk about everything that happened after.

So why bother now? It’s not going to change anything. ”

“Bianca—” Damen began, but I ignored him.