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It was all the confirmation I needed.
“Finn claimed they wanted me to finish medical school.” I was sinking. “But she didn’t want to say anything because they thought I’d lose it.”
Kayla was silent a moment. Her expression was all the answer I needed, but she verbalized it anyway. “You were a very angry person back then. She wanted you to focus on getting past what happened with your father.”
My heart sank as my deepest fears were confirmed. “It was my fault…”
“Not only you,” Hanah interjected, her gaze travelling between the two of us. “Damen was too immature. Miles was having attacks all the time. Then after Kiania, no one knew if she would live. She was afraid of people—of everything. Mom worried that any exposure to the paranormal would trigger her. Or bring her to the council’s attention. You were all growing up still. Then there’s the fact she’s scared of men. We didn’t know how she’d react.”
Honestly, after knowing everything, I was surprised she was doing as well as she was.
But she hadn’t been afraid of me—she’d said it herself. I was so thankful the companionship we shared in past lives was enough to bind her to us without fear.
The echo of Hanah’s words ran through my mind. And something else she said, earlier when she’d broken Bianca’s story to us, now stood out. “But you never agreed.” She’d been angry at the mention of her parents. “That was why you wouldn’t go home.”
“That’s true.” Hanah crossed her arms. “I don’t think lying is ever justified, no matter what happened in her past.”
I agreed, and was just about to say so, when she continued. “We still don’t knowhowshe ended up in the system. Or how she ended up where she was.”
I tapped my chin. “She was a foundling. She was left at a hospital at birth.”
Kayla raised an eyebrow at the sudden turn of the conversation, and Hanah’s frown turned into confusion. “Yes, that’s what Eric Richards told my mother.”
“But…” Something wasn’t adding up. “How did she get to the hospital? She was born at Whisperwind. Bryce won’t say how he did it. Who took Bianca, and where did they go?”
Hanah’s frown deepened. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “But she does have proper foundling paperwork.”
I ignored her musings, continuing with my own. “And who were her first foster parents?”
Kayla was watching me, her expression devoid of answers. And I knew I’d stumbled onto something which no one—outside of one person—held the answers.
“Bianca says her ‘first parents’ were killed in front of her,” I explained. “But Titus pulled up her records. She lived two places before Abigail adopted her. She was briefly with an older couple before Eric Richards. They are now dead. Before that, there are no names.”
“She admits to havingthreeprevious homes. But she won’t talk about it,” Hanah muttered. “Do you thinkyoucould find out who the first couple was?”
If it was anyone other than Bianca, then yes.
However, everything inside me warred at that thought of forcing her to disclose anything she didn’t want. Unless she came to us, we might not ever know.
Her severe aversion to addressing anything that had happened to her, even ten years later, made me feel that getting an answer from her was going to be next to impossible.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, rubbing my temples. “I can offer suggestions for her to sleep or calm. But she knows I’m doing it. I won’t force her to recollect memories that clearly cause her distress.”
Hanah seemed hesitant. “Why won’t you just look? Will she let you? It has to be easier.”
“I made a promise.” And that was all she needed to know. Even if it meant we’d never have answers, I would never betray her trust. Doing so would destroy everything that ever existed between us.
Hanah’s lips pursed, and she cocked her head, but before she could speak, another sound echoed through the space.
“Hanah?” Bianca sounded unsure at first, but then she’d crossed the distance between us. She held on to my arm as she stared at her sister. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Nineteen
Bianca
World
My breath caught, and nervousness ran through me, causing a shiver to shoot down my spine. I hadn’t been sure, but her reaction had been confirmation.
