Chapter 1 #2
“Oh, do carry on, children .” Dr. Kohler waved at us, seemingly distracted. “And Julian, don’t forget to be here bright and early tomorrow morning.”
A surge of annoyance radiated from Julian and he paused, hand on my waist, and glanced at his mother. “I’m not on the schedule until tomorrow afternoon.”
“I changed it,” she said, pointing her pen at him. “It shouldn’t offend you. You seem to love adjusting everyone’s routines.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed, and he turned from her, pulling me closer to his side.
He stepped to the door, leading me along with him, and shame stabbed through my chest. While Julian was annoyed at something, and Dr. Kohler had tried to get on my nerves, she had also given me some insight into Miles.
We couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.
As we reached the door, I shot Dr. Kohler a look under Julian’s arm. “Bye,” I mouthed, catching her eye. “Thank you.”
Her mouth turned up at the right corner, and she nodded once in goodbye.
“Julian?” I waited until we were halfway down the long, sterile-looking hall before pulling at his sleeve.
He hummed in response to my question, and our pace slowed as he moved his touch from my lower back and grasped my hand.
But he still didn’t look at me—he seemed distracted.
“Julian.” I tugged his hand, determined to get an answer. “Is there something wrong between you and your mom?”
They’d seemed fine the last time I’d seen them together, the day I’d woken up after Julian and I bonded.
We turned the corner, and he glanced at me, pulling out a badge and swiping it over a black box on the wall to unlock the double steel doors blocking our path.
“Why would you think there’s something wrong?” he asked, peering into the nurse’s station as we passed.
“I know there is.” A sense of foreboding filled me—Julian was generally laid back, but he did seem to have a bit of temper regarding me.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have tried to get him involved with the conflict between me and his mother.
“Don’t worry about what I said. I know I’m messed up. I was just defensive.”
“What?” Julian faltered slightly as he angled himself to look at me. We were moving toward the glass-walled lobby now, almost to the outside. “You’re not messed up.”
I shook my head. “I am, but I’m getting better!” I reassured him. “Just know that sometimes I say mean things when hungry.”
“You are getting better.” Julian slowed down, placing his hands on my shoulders. The lobby was empty, except for one bored-looking receptionist playing on her phone.
“It’s not your fault at all.” Julian spoke with such calm assurance that my nerves began to settle. “She’s mad at me, and I’m not so happy with her right now either.”
“Why?”
He pursed his lips, his expression torn between the apparent desire to explain versus the drive to leave this place.
Was he running from someone?
“Julian!” a male shouted through the room, startling the receptionist into dropping her phone and pressing her hand to her heart.
With the echo, it was impossible to tell which direction the sound came from, but then Anthony rounded the corner from where we’d just come.
He spotted Julian, and his gait slowed. “There you are.”
Like Julian, Anthony also wore scrubs, although his were black and he wore no shirt under them. While Julian had styled his curly hair neatly, Anthony had covered his entirely with a red bandana.
“Oh. Hi, Bianca,” he added, his posture deflating slightly as he spotted me. “How are you?”
Julian’s hand fell from mine, and I twisted my fingers behind my back nervously. I hadn’t really had any time with the Er Bashou since our adventure with James Cole. “Fine…”
A pregnant pause followed my statement, broken only by Julian pulling me back to his side again. Immediately, my breath evened out, and I couldn’t fathom why I’d been nervous.
“What is it?” Julian asked his brother, redirecting Anthony’s attention from Julian’s hand at my waist.
My pathetic response echoed in my head. How could I not think to ask about his well-being? He must think I was the rudest person ever .
Anthony had already moved on, addressing Julian. “Thank you for your help.” He shifted nervously, pulling at the purple band around his wrist. “She’s doing much better now,” he added, voice lower than before.
Julian nodded, his lips thin. “Good, then spend time with her tonight and tomorrow. You’ll have some time. I’ve just been given the early shift.”
The shyness faded from Anthony’s expression, and he straightened. “You got into trouble?”
Julian shrugged. “She’ll get over it. She doesn’t stay angry for very long.”
“Yeah.” Anthony frowned. “For you, maybe, but we all know why.”
“That’s not why.” Julian’s hold around me grew tighter. “If you would just talk to her, then maybe—”
“No,” Anthony interrupted, crossing his arms. “It’s not her business.”
I glanced between the two of them, putting the pieces together. “Is that why you’re fighting with your mom?” I asked Julian. “Because Anthony was supposed to be working instead of you?”
I’d always heard that siblings were supposed to cover each other’s backs. What a kind, brotherly thing for Julian to do.
I doubted Bryce would ever do the same for me. He was already overbearing and rude. He would sooner rat me out than lie for me, and then tell me it was for my own good.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen him yet today. He had better not be up to something.
Julian glanced at me, his annoyance soothing into a calm mask. Even so, he couldn’t hide the hint of sadness—and something darker I couldn’t quite place—through our connection.
“It’s nothing.” He ruffled my hair, then booped my nose. “Do you want to get something to eat?”
What I wanted was to not be left in the dark. Then again, this did seem to be a family matter. So, really, it was none of my business.
Besides, now Julian had brought up the promise of food. “Okay.”
“Wow,” Anthony said, eyeing me with humor. “Finn really was right.”
Finn was rarely correct about anything. “About what?”
“Never mind,” Julian interrupted, hand at my lower back as he guided me back to the front entrance. “Let’s go. We have to go home. We have things to do today.”
What things? It’d been rather boring lately. Even so, my heart was suddenly racing, desperate for a change in routine—and something else.
He’d said home . The word brought up a magnitude of feelings I didn’t quite understand yet.
While Damen had created a bedroom that reflected my personality—minus the naked cherubs on the ceiling—and the boys had been very welcoming, I had to admit that it was hard to feel like I belonged.
But I knew why. I wasn’t an idiot. And it had nothing to do with the fact that the house remained in such disrepair.
No, it didn’t feel like home because there was a missing piece. Nothing had been the same since Miles’s disappearance.
And nothing would feel right until he was back.
The house felt dark, and a lazy silence rolled through the space. I poked my head into the living room, where a giant fire roared. Brayden and Finn were there, sitting with their noses in their textbooks.
I blinked at Finn—this was possibly the first time I’d witnessed him reading anything besides a laptop screen.
“Bianca?” Brayden looked up from his book, closing it slightly and using his thumb to mark his place. “Is everything all right?”
“Where’s Bryce?” It had been too quiet, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was up to something.
“Bryce?” Brayden raised his eyebrow, and even Finn glanced up from his book. “ Why ?”
“I want to talk to him.”
Finn frowned. “Do you really?”
“You stay out of this!” I snapped. I’d been avoiding Finn since our last meditation session. I loathed the way my heart began to race while in his presence and how it was becoming more difficult to remember—and latch on to—all the evil things he’d done.
“I don’t have to have a reason,” I told him, ignoring the growing heat in my face.
Finn cocked his head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Don’t fight,” Brayden interrupted, glancing between us. “Bryce is working with Uncle Gregory. He’ll be back tonight.”
Darn. My anger deflated. There was nothing left to do except read or kill things in a shooting game. But I wasn’t in the mood.
“Are you bored?” Finn asked, setting his book aside. “We could—”
“No!” I stepped backward, trying to calm my racing heart. My thoughts scrambled, trying to think of anything other than forced socialization with Finn Abernathy. “I’m going to clean!”
“Clean what?” Brayden asked. “Damen’s greenhouse? It is in bad shape.”
“No,” I replied. “I’m going to clean Miles’s room! He’ll like coming home to a nice, organized space.”
Brayden scoffed out a laugh. “Really?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea…” Finn’s lips pressed in a line. “He’s a boy .” He looked pointedly at Brayden. “You don’t know what kinds of things are in his room.”
“Oh, please.” Brayden waved his hand in the air and leaned back into his seat. “Like Miles has anything remotely terrifying in his room. And she’s right; think about how grateful he’ll be. It will be awesome.”
Finn slumped forward in his seat, bracing his elbows over his knees. “I don’t know if that’s the right word to describe it. He might get angry.”
Whatever Finn thought was a terrible idea was the best idea, in my opinion.
“Okay, I’m doing it.” I turned from them, already planning out the supplies I’d need.
Paper towels, glass cleaner, probably bleach, or hospital-grade disinfectant.
Honestly, it was the laundry that concerned me the most. The clothes should probably be destroyed, but it would be wasteful. I would try to salvage them first.
“Miles is getting a chore chart when he gets back,” I muttered, scrubbing a stubborn carpet stain.
I still hadn’t gotten near two dark corners of the room, but I was almost sure something was living there. Rodents, probably.