Page 37 of Origins
“Let go,” I tried to hide my panic. “Please, you’re hurting me.”
“Who was that man?” He didn’t budge. “You aren’t supposed to talk to people!”
“No.” I was on the verge of a panic attack. How had I never noticed his cruelty before?
“You’re sick, Bianca.” Finn let go of my face. His finger traced my jaw—gentle, despite his words. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. Just tell me what happened, and I’ll fix it. Who did you see?”
“It was no one. Just a friend.” I tried to move again. To knee him, or do anything at all in an attempt to get away.
However, he felt my movement and pressed in closer—causing a stab of agony to shoot through my almost-dislocated shoulder.
“Please let go,” my plea fell on deaf ears. Finn’s gentle touch turned hard again. This time, his hand gripped my throat. My pulse echoed in my ears.
I had imagined us holding hands, or hugging, for such a long time. I had yearned for his affection. But he wasn’t that kind of person. Now he was touching me, but not in a way that I could have imagined.
“Bianca, I’m going to ask you one last time. Who did you—”
I was released the same instant that Finn’s sentence was abruptly cut off, but I was unable to hold my own weight at my sudden freedom. Julian stood beside me before I could fall. His gentle arms wrapped around my waist; and, once I regained my balance, he positioned me behind him. Putting his own body between Finn and myself.
In the brief instant that our eyes met, Julian’s gaze was soft. However, when he turned towards Finn, his demeanor was anything but.
Finn staggered to his feet—he had been thrown into a thin table, and it had broken into pieces on the floor around him. But that was the least of my concerns, even though I knew that I’d have to replace it. I was still in shock—staring at Finn back from behind Julian’s arm.
Finn’s blond hair was in disarray, and he jerkily readjusted his glasses. Blood dripped down from the corner of his mouth, and I couldn’t help but to follow the line it made as it began to stain his shirt.
Had Julian punched him? I hadn’t even seen…
“What are you doing?” Julian’s voice held a tremulous ferocity that had me shaking in fear. Or maybe I was shaking because I had been physically attacked? I wasn’t sure…
Finn’s eyes were hot with violence. “Julian!” He didn’t even spare me a second glance as he glowered at the man in front of me. “What are you doing here?”
I could see Finn putting the pieces together in his mind, and could tell the exact second when everything clicked. “It was Miles on the phone! I knew he sounded familiar.” His focus shot toward me, and his glare held the promise of retribution. “Bianca, you went to seeDamen?”
Chapter Twelve
Rush
I wanted to respond, but my heart froze at Finn’s accusation.
We had already passed the point of no return, and I had never been good at confrontation. Earlier, I had foolishly fained bravery with fury. Now I felt none of that…
Past experiences taught me two ways to survive in such scenarios: strike first and escape, or pretend the problem didn’t exist. Neither of which I could do at the moment.
However, Julian seemed to have everything under control.
“It’s not your concern to know who Bianca spends her time with, or even what she does.” He moved more fully in front of me.
I felt cowardly—and I knew I was weak—but at the moment I didn’t care. I could only force myself to breathe in Julian’s calming scent as I tried not to hyperventilate.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Finn snapped at Julian. “So stay out of this. This is between me and Bianca. She’s my problem. You lot have your own responsibilities to deal with—mind your own business.”
My body felt numb as I rested my head against Julian’s back, stunned as Finn’s words echoed in my mind.
A problem. He only saw me as aproblem.
Julian tensed, but Finn wasn’t done yet. “Why are you here anyway, Julian Kohler? Don’t you have dead people to—”
“That’s enough.” Julian’s words crashed over the room like a wave, and a feeling of intense fury saturated the air. “Bianca is a person—not a problem, responsibility, or your own personal toy. If you cared so much about her, you would have taken her seriously from the beginning.”
