Chapter 6 #2
Finn, who had been stacking the dishes near the sink, paused and shot me the strangest look, but neither boy noticed. Instead, they’d glared at each other as they pushed through the doorway and left the room.
“Okay.” Finn stepped beside me and slapped his hand beside my plate. “So what are you planning? I know you’re not staying here to help me.”
“I’m going upstairs. I have things to do.” I set my fork on my plate.
Finn’s face pinched with suspicion, and his glasses slid down his nose. In fact, he looked almost cute in that apron.
No! He could not look cute!
A numb sort of horror rushed through my chest, and I shook my head, slapping my cheeks. What in the world was wrong with me? What happened to my sense?
This was Finn ; I could never forget what he’d done to me. This was the man who preyed on my innocent, trusting nature for many years. He’d hurt me—physically and emotionally.
There could be no redemption. Yet. Not until the stakes between us were evened out. Balance existed in nature, and it was not within my right to defy the laws of nature.
And…
He’d already given me one gift, even though it was for my birthday. And he had helped me a lot since then. Why? What game was he playing?
“Go upstairs then,” he said, flipping the dishcloth over his shoulder. He grabbed my almost-empty plate. “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them you’ve gone to bed already.”
He crossed the room, leaving me staring after him in despair, my heart racing like a rabbit and my cheeks growing warm.
What was wrong with me? Why was it becoming harder and harder to stay angry?
And why—even though I’d finally gained family and friendship in others—did I miss the way Finn and I used to be together?
Darn it .
I hardly had time to bask in solitude when a knock sounded at my door. Damen poked his head into my room before I could do more than shove the book under my blankets.
“Hey,” he said, and his attention moved to my lap. “What are you reading?”
“N-nothing!” My voice squeaked. “Just something I found in Miles’s room!”
“Oh,” Damen pursed his lips. He hesitated, seemingly on the verge of a confession, before he shook his head. “That’s nice. Listen. There’s a bag in your closet. You should pack some warm clothing to hike in for tomorrow and then go to bed. You need to get some sleep.”
Hiking? I lowered the blanket back to my waist. “What for?”
“Titus was able to pinpoint the general area Miles ran off to, so we’re going to go fetch him in the morning,” Damen replied.
“What?” I sat up straighter. “Why not now?”
Damen frowned. “Because it’s nighttime,” he replied. “And he is perfectly okay. He ran off to the mountains—probably for one of his rituals. We’ll leave for the trails in the morning and will find him. Okay?”
I nodded, glancing at the window. Why did it have to be so dark?
Damen hesitated at the door, and I looked back at him. “You…” he began. “You’ll be happy now?”
“Yes!” I clasped my hands against my chest. The pressure in my heart was already beginning to lift. “Thank you!”
“Ah,” Damen said, looking away. “Good.”
Titus POV
I leaned back in my seat and rubbed my eyes.
“Are you sure this is a good time to go?” Maria asked, leaning forward and bracing her elbow over her crossed knees. Her usual composed demeanor cracked with concern. “You might lose your traction in the Eric Richards investigation.”
“We don’t have a choice,” I told her, glancing at my phone. Damen said Bianca was already showing signs of improvement just knowing we’d found Miles.
But still, this felt like such a waste of resources. Miles was probably having the time of his life out there—befriending wild animals and frolicking through the forest while whistling his irritating tunes. The idiot probably didn’t even want us to come after him.
It didn’t matter what he wanted though. Bianca needed him— we needed him. We’d barely had time to come together as a complete quintet before he decided to run off into the wilderness. His timing couldn’t have been worse.
Not to mention what his absence was doing to Bianca. Damen’s assessment of her attachment disorder and separation anxiety wasn’t surprising, but it still made my jaw clench. We were supposed to protect her, not cause her more issues.
“Keep the momentum going while I’m gone,” I told Maria. “What is Matheus’s status?”
Maria nodded. “He’s been throwing some feelers out, but nothing is coming up under the ‘Eric Richards’ name. He’s looking into alternatives now.”
I glared down at my desk.
“You know,” Maria began, almost hesitantly, and I glanced at her. She bounced her leg and was no longer ready to meet my eyes. “Do you think it’s time to bring in Pearson?”
“What?” I growled as my muscles tensed.
“You’re not exactly in top form, and—”
“No,” I interrupted. “Shifters are too intimidating to Bianca. The last thing we need is the Paragons and Elders intruding.”
I wasn’t even sure who’d be worse—Pearson or Blake. But either one of the Er Bashou Officers would scare her.
“She talks to Gloria,” Maria pointed out. “And me.”
“You are a female,” I interrupted. “She is afraid of males. You should know that—you’ve read the files and examined the scene.”
“Yeah,” she replied, finally looking at me. “Matheus said she was scared of him.”
I frowned.
“I just thought it might be helpful,” Maria shrugged. “Pearson is your father. You can’t avoid him forever.”
Watch me.
“We plan on maintaining minimal involvement with the Paragons,” I said. This was Damen’s decision, but one I wholly agreed with. “Jonathon and Declan have agreed to hold back on debriefing the rest of their quintet.”
“Hold on.” Maria placed her palm in the air. “They don’t know about Bianca? What are you doing?”
“Declan hasn’t even met her yet,” I pointed out. “And Jonathon has been hiding her from his quintet for ten years. This isn’t the right time.”
Maria was scowling. “Jameson is going to kick your ass.”
“Jameson isn’t a shifter,” I pointed out.
“No, he’s worse. He’s an onmyoji who, right now, can even defeat Damen,” Maria argued. “He’s going to kick both your asses—right after your father is done with you . Do you even know how to handle having a mate?”
No.
“I’m fine,” I told her, suppressing the shiver that shot down my spine. “I have a few thousand years of instincts to—”
“Don’t give me that shit,” she interrupted. “You’ve never had a mate before, and now you’re about to go traipsing around in the woods with her. Are you going to be able to control yourself?”
I clenched my hands into fists and sucked in a breath, inhaling the sharp copper scent of broken skin and blood. “I can’t have her worrying about me. Not when she’s already focused on Miles.”
“Well, after his mission, things will be better,” she argued. “What are you going to tell her then?”
I glanced at her. “What mission?”
“Miles.” She pursed her lips and tilted her head. When I didn’t respond, she narrowed her eyes. “The ritual that he needs to complete by the end of the month! Do you not pay any attention to him?”
My face heated under her accusing stare. She wasn’t wrong, but…
Tu had always gone his own way and wasn’t close to me. But now, with those judgmental eyes glaring at me, I was beginning to feel guilty. “I knew he had a graduation project, but he skipped it last year, so—”
She crossed her arms. “Well, now maybe you should try to learn more about him. It could make your quintet stronger.”
But I already knew more about Miles than I wanted to—like Tu’s not-so-subtle self-insert romance novels chronicling his greatly embellished romantic escapades with Mu.
We’d originally bought his books to support his writing career, even though he’d never once admitted that he was writing.
But discovering they were thinly veiled fantasies had crossed a line we couldn’t un-cross.
So, Maria was wrong. We paid plenty of attention to everyone in our quintet.