Page 77 of Change
“I’m here,” he said, tucking her into his lap despite her protests. “Nothing can get to you now.”
Bianca’s frame suddenly relaxed, and her shoulders rounded as her head fell forward slightly. Yet, despite the fact that she’d seemed to have surrendered, there was an underlying tension in the room that caused my stomach to tighten and my fingers to dig into my palms.
It was quiet—and right now, Bianca needed that. But, still, all I wanted was to kick something.
Especially when the evidence of abuse still hung heavy in the air all around us. It was obvious—but I still needed to be sure.
“Is this—” I’d waited until Bianca’s chest began to rise and fall in sleep before asking.
“Yes.” Titus cut me off before I could even finish my question. “It’s where she… stayed.”
At his confirmation, every item began to take on a new meaning. My attention wandered to the thin mattress, the broken window.
Her shaky recollections echoed through my thoughts. This was definitely the room where she’d been brutalized; yet—in distress—she’d come here to hide.
There was a part of her that still considered this to be the safest place she could be.
My hands shook and I reached for my necklace, squeezing the charm. A rising heat was burning under my skin as every stark detail branded itself into my memories. If the charm were just any gold, it would have melted and warped.
But it wasn’t just another gold piece. It’d been designed by Mu and charmed by Shui and Tu—passed on to me and cherished through every lifetime. The fae, necromancer, and witch had combined their abilities in order to minimize the deadliest, most direct, portal to the underworld into one small object that’d then been trusted into my keeping.
But I didn’t even wear it for power. After all, any semi-decent onmyoji could open a portal to hell if they tried hard enough.
No, it was precious because it was a piece of someplace far away, and not something I could remember clearly, but still called to me.
After all, no longer residing in the underworld was just one of the sacrifices required to maintain my position as Xing.
“Damen.” Titus’s low growl cut through my thoughts, and he moved to his feet, still cradling Bianca. He’d wrapped his arm around her shoulders and the other under her knees, as she remained passed-out against him. “You can’t,” he warned, even though we both knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop me.
But—
“I’m not.” My hand fell back to my side as my attention drifted across the broken chair.
Humans were vile.
I’d spent my whole life trying to understand—to see why both Mu and Tu felt sympathy for them. And I’d thought I’d gotten a pretty good grasp on human nature—I did have a Doctorate in Psychology, after all. I was beginning to believe.
But the studies were flawed, based on theories from biased teachers who wanted to create order out of chaos. Maybe most peoplewereinherently evil. How could I have ever thought they’d be worth saving?
Despite that, nothing good would come from crossing that final line. Bianca would, at least, be very sad.
And for some reason, the thought of Bianca being upset bothered me more than anything else in the world.
I glared at the chair. “Not yet.”
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of it in the future though.
