Page 13 of Whispers of Wisteria

Brayden lashed out again, cracking the brick, then slumped forward and rested his forehead against the broken surface. As he breathed, the heavy air seemed to move inward.

I wanted to run, but I couldn’t move. Dr. Stephens said that fae men weren’t human, but I hadn’t thought about what that meant until now.

Slowly, his shoulders relaxed, and when he straightened, his presence seemed to retreat.

But it still felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice low.

“Wha-what did I do?” My voice squeaked even though I tried to control it.

Brayden turned and guilt—along with something else I couldn’t recognize—showed in his eyes. “You don’t know?”

Maybe I wouldn’t be scared if I did.

He sighed, clearly able to read the answer on my face, and rubbed his knuckles over his eyes. When he dropped his hands, his gaze had softened, and he was the Brayden I knew again.

“Don’t worry,” he said, voice light. “That wasn’t your fault. It was Damen’s.”

I stepped back when he reached for me.

“Bianca, I’m so sorry,” Brayden said.

“You can punch through brick?” I asked, voice shaking. I didn’t think even Finn could do that—although his style was scary in its own destructive way.

Brayden glanced at the cracked wall and back to me. “Yes,” he said cautiously. “That’s nothing. Still, I never wanted you to see it.”

“What—what did Damen do?”

“You were transferring your energy to him,” Brayden said, finally lowering his hand to his side.

“O-okay?” I managed. I didn’t even know what that meant. “Is… is that bad?”

“Not always,” he said. “But there was how it looked, Bianca.”

“Um…” I curled my fingers against my lips. “H-how does it look?”

He sighed. “Energy transfers are natural between quintets, but you’re meant to be in hiding. Most people don’t know you or why you were giving energy to Damen.”

I blinked. “But… I—I was just trying to help—”

“I know that,” Brayden interrupted gently. “But others might say he was taking it. Especially since he’s Huo.”

My breath caught. “He—he wouldn’t do that—”

“He wouldn’t,” Brayden agreed. “But that won’t stop the rumors. You can’t be seen giving Damen energy.”

“Okay…” I would try to be better.

“On that note, you need to be very careful when you’re in public with Julian,” Brayden continued.

“J-Julian?” I tilted my head. “Why?”

Brayden looked at me, voice serious. “It’s okay for others to give a Xing energy, but taking from one is a serious crime. No one can see you receiving his energy. There’d be an investigation into why you took it.”

I bit my lip.

But I’d often encouraged Finn the same way, and he never said…