Page 87 of Ashes and Lilies
“We—Miles is afraid of the ghost,” I explained. After all, my duty was to protect and guide my fellow quintet member. “So we’re going to go do something else.”
Bryce opened his mouth, and I wasn’t sure I’d like what he had to say, so I continued before he could speak.
“You’re here now,” I told him, using his weakness against him. “I’m sure you can figure out something to do to help.”
“I’m going with you!” Brayden lunged between me and Miles, and pulled me to him. “I, too, dislike exorcisms.”
On a normal day, and if I were a normal person, I might have something to say in return—some way to convince him that his presence was unnecessary.
However, the only thing I could focus on was the heavy weight of his arm over my shoulders. For all intents and purposes, he was, for the moment, a stranger who was much larger than me.
“Bianca?” Brayden called my name, and it was then that I realized the atmosphere in the room had turned dark.
I glanced at him, finally able to breathe, and saw that he was looking at me.
“F-fine,” I told him, moving out from under his arm. “You— you can come with us.”
The pressure lifted, and my thoughts returned to our escape. I wiped the back of my hand on my pant leg and focused on the rest of the room.
Damen had stopped sharpening his little knife and was glaring at the floor. Meanwhile, Julian and Titus watched our conversation with expressions I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret.
It probably had nothing to do with me, though.
“We’re leaving now,” I said, returning my attention to Damen. Since I was annoyed that he was ignoring my request, I was about to add something snarky, maybe bold as ‘Do you have a problem with that?’ because, honestly, I was surprised that he didn’t, but then he looked at me.
“Okay,” he said. His smile seemed forced and a bit sad, if I wasn’t imagining things.
Well, I couldn’t just go like this. I put my hands on my hips and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing’s wrong withme,” he replied, and now there was anger there too.
I was even more certain that my initial analysis of Damen had been correct—he was a weirdly sensitive man. But what could have set him off this time?
Or did he want me around that much? He was rather needy.
I crossed the room before I could second-guess myself and grasped the bottom of his untucked, burgundy tank top.
“There’s no reason to miss me. It has to be this way,” I told him. “But I’ll be back.”
How could he not see that this was a golden opportunity? My absence would provide the perfect excuse.
The expression fell from his face as he blinked. “What?”
I looked around, making sure—but we were safe. Bryce was busy lecturing Brayden.
I cupped my hand around my mouth and told him, “With the brothers separated, he is vulnerable. I’m giving you the perfect opportunity to strike. Besides, then you can also use my absence as a reason to suck his energy and make him cry.”
“What?” Damen took a step back, looking rather disturbed.
That was a positive sign. It meant he understood. My research had not been entirely in vain.
So long as he followed the plan that I’d only just created, Bryce wouldn’t be able to bother us for at least a week.
Which would give me enough time to come up with the next thing.
“Good,” I told him. Typically, I was more composed than this, but enough time had been squandered. Damen had been left with his instructions, and considering that they’d all be wasting a lot of time and energy very soon, mayhap he’d follow them.
“Have fun.” I petted his arm, then walked away.
