Page 46 of Hidden
It took me a minute to realize that we had parked. Damen and Julian were both turned in their seats, staring at me.
“W-what?” My voice shook. Their dismayed faces were outlined by a faint light from the outside. Their expression compounded my panic.
“The reason you believe that is because no one has ever respected your boundaries,” Damen said in a gruff voice. “But when you’re with people who care about you, who respect you, they will not get angry at you for saying no.”
“I was one-hundred percent sincere when I said you could use that word with no repercussions,” Julian added.
“Then…” I still didn’t get it. Then what was Damen so upset about? “Then why did you get angry in the first place? Why have you been mad all night?”
The air grew heavy, and I sat up. My focus remained on them, but now that I could see outside, I realized we’d arrived at Damen’s house.
We should have gone inside, but this was more important. I needed to know. Otherwise, I would never understand what I’d done wrong.
“What were you angry about?” I almost pleaded for the answer, my mind going over their conversation. “What do you blame Bryce for?” They looked as though they had been caught doing something wrong, and I couldn’t help but feel it had to do with me. My pulse spiked. “What is it? What did I do?”
Julian sucked in a breath, causing a ripple of movement from the front seat. “No, you didn’t do anything.”
“We should talk about this inside.” Damen was already reaching for his door.
“No.” I was tired of games. “I’m not going inside until you tell me the truth.”
“Bianca…” Julian began, distress lacing his tone. “We really should go inside and talk about this with Miles and Titus. They are just—”
I wasn’t ready to hear any more excuses. “Tell me now.” I needed to know what I’d done, so that I could never do it again.
“Bianca.” Damen gave up trying to leave. “We talked to Finn.”
“Okay…?” Confusion overshadowed my fear. What did it matter if they spoke to Finn? The worst he’d do now was tell embarrassing stories about me, or talk about my childhood bullies.
But none of that explained why they’d be angry. “You’re upset because people picked on me in school? Because he did beat them up quite a few times. He even got suspended for it once.”
“What?” Damen growled and his jaw clenched again. “No, he didn’t say that. I’m talking about…” His voice trailed off, and his eyes scanned my face. “You didn’t talk to Finn about your adoptionat all?”
Dread began to pull at my awareness, and I hadn’t forgotten that Julian had access to my medical records. I thought Dr. Reed had kept that aspect private.
And what was this about Finn?
“Why would I talk to him about my adoption?” I said slowly. “He knows nothing about my past. It’s none of his business.” Julian watched me in trepidation. “What are you talking about?”
“Finn… and Hanah told us about Eric Richards,” Julian replied, his voice soft. “We know—”
“Hanah?” My voice cracked. With every passing second, the car began to feel smaller. The sound of the rain became distant as my focus zeroed in on the boys. “You know my sister? And what exactly do you allthinkyou know?”
“Hanah is a witch. She’s Miles’s second, actually. Like Brayden’s relationship to you,” Julian said. “We didn’t realize who she was until Bryce saw your adoptive parents in the hospital…”
I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything other than this. “What do you know?”
“We know who Eric Richards was, and what he did,” Damen said, his gaze holding mine. There was an anger there, deep but not directed toward me. This time, I didn’t doubt it. “Titus already started investigating. We’ll find him. We know he’s a torturing scumbag who tortured and sold little girls. He doesn’t deserve—”
My hand had been hovering over the door handle since the beginning of this conversation and as soon as it became obvious what was happening, I escaped.
I hadn’t made it ten feet before the doors slammed open behind me. Damen’s alarmed yell reached my ears.
“No,” I shouted, spinning to face them in time to see them freeze their advance. My hand shook as I pointed at them. “This is none of your business.”
“But Bianca”—Julian reached for me—“we’re here to help you. We are supposed to work together. You don’t need to go through this alone.”
“Alone?” My voice was slightly hysterical now, but I didn’t care. Titus and Miles had rushed onto the porch, and my next statement was directed to them as well. “You can’t just come into my life and try to make everything better. It’s too late. I’ve been dealing with this since I wasfive, when the first parents I’d ever known were murdered in front of me. And I survived,alone, until I was adopted. If Finn knew this whole time, if everyone knew…”
