Page 13 of Change
Besides, I was kind of hoping to see the two of them come to blows. Damen had spent so long trying to excuse Finn’s behavior that it’s gotten rather old. And—unlike Julian—I could trust Damen to not murder the blonde.
Then again, Finn was a very skilled martial artist.CouldDamen defeat him? The older brother was a bit spoiled, which could have made him soft.
I wasn’t entirely certain who’d win.
I didn’t like not being sure. Now I was curious and needed to know—for my own edification.
Finn launched into the first monologue. “You have no idea what’s going on; even the Overseers come to me first. You spend so much time with your head up your ass that you’ve become a disgrace among onmyoji. So, no, you can’t hope to win against me—anyone can see that.” Finn pointed at me. “Even Bianca’s not rooting for you.”
“Hey!” I protested, lowering my coffee back to the table. My face grew warm as Damen’s cautious gaze landed on me. “I never said that! I’m always on your side.”
“But you think Finn is more responsible.” Damen’s frown turned into an all-out scowl.
Well, that wasn’t necessarily correct—but it wasn’t entirely wrong either. Even when doing his evil bidding of manipulating me and keeping me in the dark, Finn had done so with a religious dedication that only the truly committed could pull off.
I had yet to see Damen see a single thing through on his own. Then again, I also hadn’t known him very long, and Damen was a complicated man.
Who knew what was going on inside his head?
Finn’s mouth curled, and the chattering of the coffee-shop patrons grew even more distant. “See?” He sounded so proud.
Damen’s confident expression dropped, and the silence in the room sounded large as guilt twisted my stomach into knots. Sure, sometimes my thoughts got away from me, but I’d never meant to hurt his feelings.
“No!” I twisted in my seat, throat closing as I grabbed onto Damen’s sleeve. Despite everything, he was the one who’d started everything—bringing me out of the dark place where I’d been. Sure, he was relentless and pushy, but if it hadn’t been for that, I’d be nowhere. Damen had a way of pushing past boundaries and achieving the impossible. It was his infectious energy that made everything happen.
After all, he’d convinced me to be his friend, hadn’t he?
Everything else was minor details. That’s what I was for—to make sure plans went smoothly. “I believe inyou!” I told him, and his eyes widened. “I do! You can do anything when you put your mind to it!”
Even with the power of my will, right now, I was certain that he could beat Finn to a bloody pulp.
Damen blinked and shook his head once, his glasses briefly reflecting the bright café lights. “Well, that’s good to know,” he stumbled over his words, moving back an inch.
The man normally oozed confidence, so I couldn’t imagine why he was faltering now. The air between us grew warmer as I asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.” He cleared his throat, no longer meeting my eyes.
My pulse was beginning to race as worry coursed through me. I pulled at his hand, trying to undo whatever this was between us now. “What—?”
“Oh, this is justdisgusting.” Brayden appeared, slapping his hands on the surface of the table. His voice lacked his usual light natured timbre, and his playful eyes blazed in annoyance. “I’m taking my break and I have to walk in to seethis? Mysister-in-lawis off-limits, Abernathy!”
“What?” Damen blinked rapidly and stepped back, pulling himself out of my reach. I twisted my hands in my lap. My discomfort grew as awareness began to seep into me once more.
We were still in quite a public place, and more than half of the inhabitants of the room were watching us with undisguised curiosity. There was even a group of girls in the corner, pointing in our direction and whispering frantically amongst themselves.
“Andyou!” Brayden rounded on Finn, who was sitting back in his seat, glaring at the table. “How could you let this happen?”
“Why do you think I’mhere?” Finn’s reply was barely discernible through his clenched teeth. “There’s only so much I can do. It’s like he doesn’t even care.”
At this, the dumbfounded look faded from Damen’s eyes, and his jaw locked as his expression closed. “I care.”
“Well, you have a strange way of showing it. Your irresponsibility astounds me,” Brayden snapped. Then he turned to me. His eyes seemed brighter somehow, skin glowing. I froze under the force of his anger, suddenly unable to breathe. He studied me for a moment, the roar of coffee shop chatter pounding through my head as the tan room closed in around me, before he looked to Damen once more. “If she becomes a target because ofanyof you, don’t make the mistake in thinking your rank alone will save you,” his words were a low hiss, but echoed loudly in my ears. “Bryce and I let the incident in the forest go, but we won’t overlook such a huge lapse in judgement again.”
He’d threatened Damen before, but that’d seemed more in good-natured fun.
This, however, was not a joke. “Brayden?”
He moved at the sound of my voice, his hand wrapping around my arm in a quick motion as he pulled me up. I stumbled to my feet, falling into him, but he hardly seemed to notice.
Although, from the way that Finn’s eyebrows suddenly drew together and Damen’s jaw tightened, the two of them had seen.
“Hey—” Damen lowered his head, and his tone held the hint of a warning.
But Brayden interrupted him as he grabbed my purse. “She’s not yours,” he said, voice at a conversational tone now. He moved back, pulling me with him, as his fingers shook around my arm. “So stay away.”
I expected Damen, at the very least, or even Finn, who could be hot-headed himself, to respond, but neither brother did. Instead, my last glimpse into the coffee shop was of Finn’s slightly apologetic frown and Damen looking away, dark fury pouring off him in waves.
I could only stare at the two of them helplessly as I was whisked away, wondering what just happened.
