Page 35 of Whispers of Wisteria (The Garden of Eternal Flowers #5)

Damen POV

You hit a girl.

The accusation rang in my ears.

Kasai started berating me the instant she fell to the floor. The shikigami had been trying to get my attention before that, warning me that fighting Miles wasn’t the most brilliant idea.

But I couldn’t ignore it. The fact that Miles had her attention filled me with an emotion that I’d thought I’d long since moved past.

You hit a girl.

And not just any girl, but Bianca.

She was mine to take care of, to adore. I’d been waiting for lifetimes, and now, when we were almost there, I’d hurt her like she was nothing.

What the hell was wrong with me?

“You’re an idiot.”

For a second, I thought Kasai was back. But the burgundy velvet curtain ripped back with such force that it pulled against the frame. Bryce stood there, his stance coiled, and his expression flat in that dangerous way that told me he was working very hard not to escalate.

“So you still hide in theaters.” Bryce crossed his arms. “Though weeping backstage is certainly an improvement from crying in the janitor’s closet.”

“I am not crying.”

“You should be,” he said sharply. “Do you require assistance to get to that point?”

“You can’t stand there and judge me when you couldn’t even keep her safe,” I argued.

I regretted the words the instant I spoke them.

Bryce’s expression had been empty of his usual pompous loathing, maybe even slightly open. But his gaze hardened at my accusation.

“Fine.” His voice was clipped. “I didn’t want to be your friend anyway.”

The absurdity hit me like a ton of bricks, shattering past my darkening mood.

It felt like ages since I’d laughed so hard.

“What the fuck?” I asked when I could finally catch my breath. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“We’re going to be friends again,” he said, glaring at me with a pointedness that made me pause. “Or we’re supposed to be.”

He was serious.

The ridiculousness of the situation faded, and wariness set in. He stood there in silent expectation, already decided.

This didn’t bode well.

“Why?”

“Because Bianca said so,” he said, inspecting his perfect manicure.

I gave him an even look. She wanted us to be friends?

I highly doubted that.

Bianca had been consistently antagonistic towards Bryce. It was almost comical to watch. She wouldn’t want to risk losing me in this fight.

There was no way that’s what she wanted.

They were exactly alike—Bryce and Bianca—and always reading into things and hearing statements that didn’t exist.

Fae were literal, but some were more extreme than others: less able to assimilate. Luckily, I’d had years of experience to know how to approach this.

“What did Bianca actually say?” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. It’d been a long time since I’ve had to break down one of Bryce’s statements.

“That you have other emotions outside of being a self-righteous prat,” Bryce answered, his guard lowering once more. “It’s admirable how easily she sees through you while the rest of your quintet does not.”

Although his statement was factual, his tone was accusatory; my heart seized.

I stared at him.

She sees through me…

It became harder to breathe. Sure, that was what she was supposed to do, but damn.

I wasn’t ready for this.

I could never talk to her again.

“Don’t worry, she still thinks you’re an idiot,” Bryce offered, leaning against the wall. “It doesn’t help that you’re trying to push your fetish onto her. You know she won’t be into it the way you imagine.”

“I don’t want her to think I’m an idiot either!” I snapped. What did he know? She liked being taken care of.

Bryce shrugged. “I’m not sure why you think she wouldn’t.” His tone was almost accusing. “You’re trying too hard. Like the first time I saw the two of you together—when you came slamming into my office, raving like a lunatic. What the hell did you think I was going to do? You know me.”

Anger licked at my senses, and I glared at him. “I don’t trust you.”

You’ve surprised me before. The unspoken accusation hung in the air, and his glower moved from me as he pulled at his collar.

Good, he should feel guilty.

I never thought he’d abandon our bond.

“It’s not my place,” he said suddenly. “We can be friends, but I can’t be what you want. That was why it ended in the first place.”

“What?” But then the meaning behind his statement registered. “Are you talking about why you left me?”

“What are you, my ex?” Bryce rolled his eyes. “You make it sound as though we broke up.”

“We did break up, you asshole.” I pointed at him. My chest swelled with a reignited fury. “I risked everything to help you, and you left me high and dry. I almost died.”

“Yes.” Bryce’s eyes flashed, and he pushed from the wall, pacing. “I know.”

“You betrayed my trust,” I reminded him.

“I know,” Bryce repeated, still pacing. “But I had no choice. It was the only thing I could do.”

My laugh sounded loud through the space. I cut him off and pushed my finger to his chest. “I’d love to hear what convoluted reasoning you’ve thought up to justify that.”

“You have no business dying for an Officer.” Bryce scowled. “What would Bianca have done if something happened to you?”

I stared at him in stunned silence, the wheels in my head coming to a temporary halt before I finally could manage, “Are you stupid?”

I had to ask, but I already knew he was.

I pulled back from him and stalked across the room. “Fucking fae.” I punched the brick—the same hand I’d hit Bianca with—and the wall shuddered under its force.

Idiot fae and their idiotic sense of nobility and self-sacrificing natures.

I didn’t realize I’d continued hitting the wall until Bryce’s hand closed over my shoulder.

“Enough,” he said, grip tightening as he tried to pull me back. “You’re bleeding.”

So I was. I stared at the broken skin across my knuckles. My chest ached, and a prickling started low in my throat.

We still had unfinished business.

We’d been best friends. We knew everything about each other. And he’d lied.

He might not have known where she was or what was happening, but he’d been proactive enough to realize I’d become too dependent on him.

When I could finally speak past the lump in my throat, I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

Bryce’s sharp inhale sounded loud in my ears, and his touch vanished. I turned before he could run, twisting the front of his shirt in my fist.

“Were you making fun of me the whole time?” I shook him, but he hardly moved. Instead, his glower deepened.

It’d been a long time since I’d seen him lose his temper.

“I thought you were better than this.” He grabbed my wrist. “Or are you as selfish as everyone thinks you are?”

I opened my mouth to respond, temper flaring when he interrupted. “It’s never been about you and your feelings. It’s about her. Trying to find her. Trying to keep her safe.”

“What?” That was the most asinine thing I’d ever heard. “How can you—”

Bryce continued, “If you’d known she was alive, out there somewhere, what would you have done?”

“Gone after her.” There’d been no hesitation.

“You’re too obvious. The moment people knew she was alive,” Bryce said, his tone razor-sharp, “they’d have started hunting her. Not just because she’s Mu—though that’s enough to get her killed—but because she’s a female fae.”

I frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

He gave me a flat look. “Don’t play stupid. You know some things aren’t meant to be in the open. Not when there are people who’d hurt her for it… or worse.” His gaze flicked away for a beat, like even saying it aloud was dangerous.

“It doesn’t matter. She didn’t even have a chance out there!” I snapped. “Just look at what happened.”

Even more than Eric Richards was now Jason mother-fucking Patterson.

I didn’t even want to think about Bianca being anywhere near them.

But because of her, we finally knew the two leaders were related. It was the break we’d needed—now all the evidence could be used together.

Bryce growled. “I know. That wasn’t the plan.”

“Then, genius, what was the plan?” I asked.

“She was supposed to come back,” he snapped. “She’s my sister. She’s a part of our family. We want her. We would never have abandoned her. She was never meant to be lost!”

I pressed my lips together. “You still should have told me.”

“Say you’d found her before us,” he said. “What would you have done? How would you have kept her safe? Every enemy you have will try to use her against you.”

Heat coiled inside my chest.

“Don’t you think I know that?” I asked. “You don’t think that I’ve ever stopped to think what might happen if people realized I care more about her than myself?”

Bryce’s expression had shifted into something strangely sympathetic. “Do you?”

“Do I what?” I snapped.

“Care about her more than you care about yourself?”

I froze, breath caught in my lungs, as the enormity of my admission weighed against my chest. I couldn’t answer, but it didn’t matter. Bryce wasn’t finished.

“It’s always been conjecture, of course…” He studied me. “That Huo had feelings for Mu. Most people wonder if you’ve ever been romantically involved, but nobody knows.”

“We haven’t.”

Bryce lifted an eyebrow. “Well, it certainly looks like you’re trying now.”

Yes.

I couldn’t deny it. But I couldn’t give in to it.

Not yet.

“It’s different now.” The stifling air was becoming almost unbearable.

“Yes,” Bryce said solemnly. “You’re jealous.”

Jealous?

“It’s not that.” I clenched my fists as a surge of indignation rose in me.

I was jealous, but I’d always been. That was something I’d grown used to feeling.

But jealousy was not what motivated me. It was an emotion I had to learn to control—even though I wasn’t doing the greatest job at it lately.

“She needs me.” For the first time in all our lives, she needed me. Mu was the source of my strength and my inspiration.

Bianca was still those things, but now she was something rarer, more fragile, just… more. She made me want to be better, not because she asked me to, but because I couldn’t stand the thought of letting her down.