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“There are ways,” Julian answered for me. He’d grown still at Uncle Gregory’s words and spoke slowly, as if he was carefully weighing every word. “In certain types of rituals, and if blood magic was involved. Any necromancer should be able to figure it out once they know what to look for.”
Dr. Kohler shot her son an almost indiscernible look, and I realized that sometimes it must be really weird being the parent of someone who might know more about your own abilities than you. After all, it was the parents who were meant to teach the child.
“I wasn’t aware of that…” she said slowly.
“We have plenty of necromancers around.” Uncle Gregory pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up with the movement. “I never eventhoughtto ask Joe or Jordan for help. They’re going to kick themselves over this. Why isn’t this common knowledge—you should know better than to keep an ability of this magnitude from the council.”
“There are a lot of things that aren’t common knowledge, and for good reason. Some of whichweneed to talk about.” Julian’s voice was cold, but his anger moved like a tangible thing between us. I was grateful that he wasn’t looking at me. “For example,puppets.”
The self-assured expression dropped from Uncle Gregory’s face while Dr. Kohler only seemed to grow more confused. “This isn’t the time,” he said as he looked away.
“No,” Julian agreed, and his ice-cold fury sent a chill down my spine. “It’s not. Still, tell my grandfather to be ready.”
I glanced between the two of them, a sense of foreboding cresting over the tumult of Julian’s anger, and I reached for him.
My fingertips brushed against the back of his hand, and his eyes softened as our eyes met. “We’ll discuss it later.” Whether he was talking to Dr. Stephens or me, I couldn’t tell. “Bianca, is there anything you need?”
I pulled my hand back, touching my lips. Everyone was looking at me with a sort of pity that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Yet, I couldn’t even voice my thoughts.
This was so frustrating.
“Leave her alone for now,” Titus spoke suddenly. “You’re overwhelming her.”
The dragon stood in the doorway, lounging as if he had every right in the world to be here. Which, I guess, he probably did.
But at least he was looking better than before. I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep this time, but even his hair seemed freshly washed.
“It is,” he replied, “thanks for noticing. But you’ve only been out for a day. Julian’s helped a lot with your recovery. They put you on medication, so you’ll probably hurt more later.” He stepped into the room, gazing at me with an energy that almost dared me to protest.
My hackles rose, but Julian responded first. “You canread her thoughts all the time now?” He sounded mildly curious, but not at all jealous in the way I’d expected him to be.
“So it seems.” Titus was giving me an even look that caused my stomach to knot. “And Idohave the right to be here.”
I fought the urge to growl at him, but it was difficult. But how dare he just presume—
“You’ve accepted the mate bond,” he replied. “That’s the way it works. It looks like we’re both going to have to get used to certain things.”
Really?
I wanted to be angry, but the way he said it made me think I was missing something.
What didTitushave to get used to? He could only benefit from this situation. Most people wouldkillto partake in my most brilliant thoughts.
I knew Damen wanted to read my mind, he said it all the time. Although it was probably good that he didn’t know what I was thinking. His feelings were easily hurt.
“Likethat.” Titus slumped into my window seat. “I really don’t want to hear your thoughts about Damen.”
“I do!” Julian perked up. “Are they as amazing as I’m imagining?”
I glared at the two of them.
“Bianca.” Uncle Gregory’s voice was a cold glass of water crashing over my head. “Can you talk about it through Dr. Ducharme?”
Titus straightened in his seat, staring wide-eyed at the man.
“Don’t give me that look.” Uncle Gregory waved off the dragon’s stare. “There are things that need to be discussed, and this way, she’s not being pressured to answer. On top of that, we need to discuss next steps. Jonathan is furious. He’s saying that we failed.”
“If she’s not willing to talk about it, then she’s being pressured to answer,” Titus replied, unphased at the older fae’s refusal to back down. “You’re the doctor, you should know why she’s not talking. It’s a symptom of severe trauma.”
