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Anthony’s eyes widened for a brief second before he threw his head back in a loud laugh. “Oh, he did?” he gasped out a moment later, ignoring the looks being levelled in our direction. “Ignore him, he’s just jealous. Anything looks ‘fun’ to him.”
“Jealous?” Why would Damen be jealous of anyone? It seemed like the outside world worshipped the ground he walked on.
“Because if he’s unhappy with his life, and he wants everyone else to suffer too.”
At my blank stare, Anthony sighed. “Before Bailey, Titus and Damen were best friends. After that, they began to drift apart and he latched onto Bryce. They dideverythingtogether up until a few years ago.”
“What happened…” I started to ask, but Anthony had already continued.
“There were issues in the Dubois household, which ended with the Abernathy family’s involvement. They’ve barely been able to stand each other since. As for why he’s jealous, I think it’s because he hates anything that reminds him of what he’s been missing.”
“That’s so…” Stupid. We were really going to have to work on his issues. But that felt like a really mean thing to say out loud. “Insightful.”
“Thanks.” Anthony grinned and pointed to his temple. “Iammajoring in the human sciences. I know things.”
“Okay.” I changed the subject—I only had the mental capacity for one emergency at a time. Damen’s pettiness was not one of them. “So back to Miles. Why are you stalking him then?”
“Yes.” Anthony snapped the notebook shut and pointed it at me. “Well, no one really cares where he goes. It only came up because there’s a rumor that he’s working some sort of major spell—people who live at his apartment building have reported erratic behavior and, quite frankly, he’s scaring them. We’ve been trying to monitor.”
“We?” My chest grew tight with tension. “Why wouldn’t someone come to me?”
After all, it wasmyjob to look after Miles. But—since he’d asked so nicely—I’d let him continue with this mysterious thing he’d requested. I even worked hard to controlmyinsecurities, although knowingwherehe was helped curb my anxiety greatly.
Yet, how could I have failed so miserably?
But come on, he’d only been staying at his place for aweek! What in theworldcould he be up to?
Anthony lowered the notebook slightly and tilted his head. “I am coming to you.”
“Earlier.” I rubbed my temples.
“This isn’t late.” He didn’t seem to understand why I was annoyed. “It’s procedure. We’re not meant to bother any of you until we’re really sure that there’s something to worry about.”
Panic seized me, and I grabbed my chest. “Is there something to worry about?”
Of course there was! People were being frightened out of their homes!
What did they want me to do? Bite him again?
“No, not really.” Anthony shrugged. “Not that I noticed. You just looked bored, so I thought you’d want to help. Especially since you’re his controller. Also, it’s not like we can go to Miles with our concerns about Julian until we figure this out first.”
“Julian?” Now the mood really was turning somber, but the necromancer had seemed fine the last we’d seen each other. “What’s wrong with Julian?” Then, another glaring mystery. “Who is ‘we’?”
“Us.” Anthony gestured to himself. “The officers. It’s our job to look out for the mental and physical health of the entire Xing quintet. We’re also your guards, researchers, and fighters.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to not let my annoyance show. Brycehadsaid something similar, so it wasn’t entirely new news.
Even though I thought that had more to do with us being siblings.
“Julian?” Now back to that.
Anthony shrugged and looked away guiltily. “I don’t know. He’s always been off, but it’s getting worse. I’d been hoping that with Miles back that…” His words trailed off and my annoyance vanished.
On one hand, the idea of being under observation and babysat was rather insulting. However, even though I didn’t entirely understand it yet, or what responsibilities this role would entail, I did know that the boys and I were something of a figurehead. Peoplewouldlook at me, whether I liked it or not.
It was kind of nice to know that someone was there to have my back.
Besides, that expression wasn’t one of a nosy busy-body—it was of a brother concerned about his sibling.
