Chapter 16 #2
Abigail Geier stepped into the room, followed by the shadowing form of her husband. He lurked silently behind her as they both took seats on the other side of the table.
“You wanted to see us?” Abigail asked, her posture stiff with defiance. She crossed her legs and looked pointedly away from me. “We just happened to be in the area when you called. So Jonathon suggested we make an appearance.”
“Hey—” I began, trying to find my footing. How could she show such little respect? Granted, she was a Proxy, but still! “—you can’t just…”
My words trailed off as Jonathon turned his gaze to me. “Miles,” he said softly, “why don’t you just calm down and tell us what you want?”
“You know what I want!” I pointed at him, frustration boiling over. “How could you go behind my back like this? And after you were found out—how could you try to undermine us?”
“This wasn’t about you,” Jonathon replied, his voice calm, almost soothing. “We had to do what was best for Bianca.”
“What was best?” I couldn’t believe the audacity. “Did you know what they were doing to her in that ‘hospital’?”
Abigail and Jonathon exchanged a look before she spoke.
“Yes, we’ve heard. That wasn’t the plan.
But more importantly, you cannot keep her away from treatment.
You’re all acting rashly. Bianca is not well enough to be without supervision.
The incident with the Cole family proves that she will continue to put herself in harm’s way.
A decision had to be made. We paid good money to ensure she got the best care possible—”
“It wasn’t her fault she was kidnapped,” I cut her off, bewildered by her reasoning. “Besides, don’t tell me you care. You never even visited her when she was an inpatient. If you had, you would have noticed how she was being treated.”
Abigail looked away, her hands wringing in her lap. “She wouldn’t have welcomed a visit from us. But, yes, I do regret what happened with the staff.”
“I will take care of the nurses,” Jonathon interjected, his tone steady, making my skin crawl.
“No,” I said, mustering as much authority as possible. “I will do it. Just not yet—we’re still reviewing evidence.”
In truth, I’d already started dealing with them. Earlier today, I’d stopped by the hospital. Tracking down the nurses who had been in charge of Bianca was easy. They were all low-level witches, some barely able to muster any magic. Of course, they would be afraid of Bianca. But that was no excuse.
Their licenses had been revoked, and they were now relegated to housekeeping and caregiving duties under strict supervision for the next five years. It wasn’t enough. It was far from enough. But it would have to do… for now. We had other problems to deal with.
Jonathon’s gaze lingered on me, and I forced myself to meet his eyes. For Bianca’s sake, I couldn’t afford to back down.
Abigail cleared her throat, and I turned my attention to her. “Speaking of,” she began, fidgeting slightly. “I heard that Titus and Damen are pushing for the case to be reopened. I would like to—”
“We are retired,” Jonathon cut her off, his voice firm as he looked at her with concern flickering in his eyes.
But Abigail pressed on. “Well, I can help!” she insisted, her voice tinged with determination and desperation.
“That brings us to my second reason for calling you,” I said, feeling the weight of Jonathon’s displeasure even before I spoke.
“Titus has requested your assistance.” Abigail’s eyes lit up while Jonathon frowned, and I swallowed hard.
“He says you’re closest to the investigation; you’ve seen things firsthand.
Gloria and their team will be involved and have asked that you debrief them. ”
“Of course,” Abigail replied instantly, eagerly leaning forward in her seat. Jonathon, however, kept his gaze on me, clearly displeased.
“You’ve gotten bolder,” he remarked, his tone almost approving, though it only made me more tense. “That’s good. It must mean you’ve been training hard. You’ve completed your quest?”
“I’ve been working on it!” I snapped, defensive. Why was I the only one who had to come under scrutiny?
“Good,” Jonathon said, and to anyone else, it might seem like he was pleased. But he was upset—I knew it. “Then it means you can handle the complexities that’ll come with Bianca’s recovery. I’m sure you won’t act rashly then.”
“What are you talking about?” I sucked in a breath.
“Finn told me you were sleeping in the same bed,” he replied mildly. However, something in his eyes made it impossible for me to forget that he was still Bianca’s legal father. “That’s probably not a good idea.”
Apparently, Abigail hadn’t been informed and stared between us. “Have you lost your mind?”
My heart pounded as I took a steadying breath, trying to regain control. “You don’t have anything to worry about,” I told them. “We’re more than well aware of her boundaries. She seems to want the company. I think it makes her feel less alone.”
They both frowned at me.
“We know what we’re doing,” I continued, waving my hand. There was no way I’d ever hurt her. “So don’t worry.”
“Miles—” Abigail began, but I cut her off. I didn’t need to hear a lecture from them. They were the ones who’d lied to her for all these years.
“I need to leave soon to pick up Bianca from class,” I told them. “I don’t want either of you anywhere near her unless she seeks you out. And you are to continue keeping her existence a secret.”
Jonathon’s expression remained unreadable, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes. It unsettled me even more. I had to deal with my shadow-self, and fast.
My fingers dug into my arms as I waited for Bianca outside the Biology lab classroom. The sick feeling in my stomach hadn’t lessened, even after talking to the Griers. Abigail was in worse shape than I’d imagined. Her demeanor—short-tempered, paranoid—was too familiar. It reminded me of my mother.
She genuinely thought she was helping.
And Jonathon—what was he doing? He might have been my Paragon Er Bashou, but something about him unsettled me, something beyond his reputation. He was so powerful that being in his presence made me feel like I was constantly being tested, even if it wasn’t his nature to display his power by force.
He never pushed, raised his voice, or issued commands. He didn’t have to. The silence, the watchful eyes—that was enough. He was definitely judging me based on my training. He’d probably help train me if I asked… but I couldn’t.
He wasn’t a pushover. So why was he letting Abigail live this way? This wasn’t who she was.
Guilt gnawed at me. What was I supposed to do? Technically, my job was to oversee my Officers—even the Proxies. But they were much stronger than me, so I had no leg to stand on.
Besides that, I couldn’t help but worry about their comments regarding Bianca. They had known her longer than us—what if they were right?
I would rather die than hurt her. I had no choice—I had to get stronger, to get better, to become someone worthy enough to take care of her.
Even now, I could scarcely breathe. She was only one room away—with a door separating us—but it felt like eons since I’d seen her last. What in the world could be taking them so long? It was only a three-hour lab—whatever was on those petri dishes couldn’t be all that fascinating.
Before I reached for the door again, I caught myself. I couldn’t interrupt his class. Bryce would get all pissy, and now we had to live with him. I forced out a low breath.
Bianca was perfectly fine.
The door opened, and students milled into the hallway, Bianca among them. She saw me instantly and crossed the space between us, a thin smile on her lips .
“Hi,” she said, but something was wrong. She wouldn’t look me in the eyes and shifted her weight nervously from foot to foot.
“Bianca?” I reached for her.
But instead of answering, she sidestepped my hand and headed straight for the exit. She moved quickly, and it took me a moment to snap out of my confusion and follow her. The crowd thinned as we neared the library, and I finally caught up with her as we rounded the corner of the building.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I tugged at her hand, pulling her to a stop beside me.
“I want to quit school.”
I blinked, stunned. That wasn’t what I’d expected. I thought she’d complain about Bryce again.
It wasn’t until she shifted nervously that I realized I hadn’t responded. “Why?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. After all her lectures about my classes, why would she suddenly want to drop out? “Did something happen today?”
We’d expected she might receive more attention, and we’d done our best to accommodate our schedules around hers.
And when none of us were near, Kasai followed her.
All the professors had gotten a memo informing them she was married to Bryce, and rumors had spread across campus already.
No one should have been bold enough to give her any trouble.
Maybe we’d missed something?
“I’m sorry,” Bianca murmured, avoiding my gaze. “I know you had this whole plan, but I don’t know what I want to do anymore. I’ve been on edge all day. I don’t think I’m ready to come back.”
I was taken aback. I’d thought she might be frustrated with Bryce, but not this. “I thought you wanted to work in research?” I asked gently, my concern deepening. I wanted to comfort her, but I had to be careful. Damen said that even a simple touch could trigger her .
Bianca’s shoulders tensed.
“Hey,” I said softly. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want. You have the rest of your life.”
She looked at me with relief, and I reached out carefully. She wrapped her small fingers around my wrist and held my hand between hers. “Are you angry?” she asked.
Had I misheard her? “Why would I be angry?”
If she wanted to take a break from school, it was her decision. It had nothing to do with me.
“Because you wanted to tutor me in French,” she whispered, looking away. The guilt in her expression twisted my heart. “Even before deciding this, I was thinking about switching to Chinese. Who cares what Damen says? He isn’t my boss.”
“Chinese?” I was surprised. It was far more complex than French, though perhaps not for us.
She nodded, biting her lip. “Damen said that when I remember more about my past lives, I’ll understand it.”
“So, Damen thinks you can’t take Chinese because it’s cheating ,” I said, nodding. I tried to hide my smile. This kind of argument was familiar. “Well, technically, he’s right. But he’s the only one who cares. He’s just jealous.”
“What?” she asked, blinking her large, innocent hazel eyes at me.
She didn’t know what that look could do to a man. She could ask me never to eat a pastry again, and I would agree.
I almost forgot what we were talking about. But then she tilted her head, and clarity hit me.
She was waiting for an answer. I could daydream later.
“Damen took Spanish,” I replied, focusing on my breathing.
Now it was worse! Her scent was everywhere. She smelled like spring: roses and freshly turned earth. My skin prickled, and I fought against the urge to pull her to me .
“Damen’s dad pushes him to learn new things, not to rely on past lives.
We’ll only remember fragments of old languages.
Our first life holds the most power,” I explained.
“Nobody cares what we study. I’ve taken both French and Chinese.
Julian took Chinese. Titus studied…” My words trailed off as I tried to recall.
He focused on so many different things that I usually ignored him.
Wasn’t he finishing another doctorate? Geology?
Show-off.
“What did Titus study?” she asked.
“Spanish this time,” I muttered, “but he’s into languages for fun. He knows Arabic and Japanese and is obsessed with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.”
Bianca’s eyes widened. “He studies languages for fun? Who does that?”
“Weird people,” I muttered. “Overachievers.” Did she not realize that Titus was a total nerd? When he wasn’t busy with work, he was either tinkering with machines or buried in library books.
I spent my time in the library with a purpose. My environmental advocacy firm needed to launch, and I was determined to make a difference.
Titus, on the other hand, was driven by obsession, not curiosity.
Normal people found joy in simple things—long meditative walks, full moons, or tending a garden. I used to enjoy the feel of earth between my fingers, growing herbs with Mu. Cooking from scratch also had its charm. Mu had been a great sous-chef, and I bet Bianca would be the same.
My thoughts wandered. What else was fun?
Relaxing by a summer brook, feeling the cool water on your feet while working on a grimoire, or reading a book .
Andreina Bellini’s mindful erotica, especially Sinful Response , was a secret pleasure of mine. Just thinking about my hidden collection stirred something deep inside.
“There’s nothing wrong with taking a break,” I said, gently brushing my fingers through her hair. “I’m not upset about the French or anything else. Given what’s happened, taking a step back makes sense. However, I do have one suggestion…”
Her nervousness touched the air between us, and her voice was breathy when she asked. “Yes?”
“But you need to be the one to tell Titus,” I said softly. “He won’t be angry, but he’ll be hurt if you don’t let him know.”