Page 119 of Reflections of Peonies
All this new information... She wasn’t just a fairy princess.
She was better.
It was everything I’d ever imagined, but something was still missing. I bit my lip, glancing at Brayden. I wanted to ask, but the words were stuck in my throat.
“What is it?” he asked, gently urging me on.
I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the warmth rise to my cheeks. “Do you have a picture of her?” My voice wavered.
“Of course.” Brayden tugged at my hands, waiting for me to open my eyes. And when I did, he smiled. “You only had to ask.”
He looked at Bryce, and my attention turned to the other man. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a heart-shaped locket. By the time he’d finished opening it, the edges of my vision had turned black, and the sound of my heartbeat was all I heard.
I couldn’t speak. I pulled my hands from Brayden, holding them out as Bryce handed me the small frame. The gold felt hot against my skin, and nervous excitement flooded my body. As my attention wandered to the picture itself, my breathing shook. A long-haired brunette woman with rosy pink lips and large eyes smiled back at me.
It was at that instant my world stopped.
The sound of my name echoed through my awareness—Brayden calling for me, first as a question and then in alarm.More commotion pressed in from every direction, fuzzy details in a background that continued to fade from my awareness. Julian was here now, but it didn’t matter.
My body felt numb. It was so cold.
Nothing mattered anymore. I wanted to respond, to scream. But I couldn’t. I was trapped in my mind as Alyssa Dubois’s face stared back at me.
Someone tried to pull the picture away, but I reflexively held it against my pounding chest. I’d let go of her once and couldn’t do it again.
It was my fault. How could I have been so stupid? Why hadn’t I realized?
The things she’d told me, the things she knew about me. The way she’d sing to comfort me in the dark.
I should have made the connection.
Bryce had been wrong.
Her physical death might not have been my fault, but the destruction of her soul had been.
19
Damen POV
Finnand I were meeting in the library when Julian’s shout set off alarm bells in my head. Abandoning my brother, I followed the sound toward Bianca’s room.
I entered just in time to witness Julian slapping Bianca on the cheek.
My blood rushed through me as I moved to them. “What the hell, Julian?”
Hardly glancing my way, Julian shook her shoulders. “She won’t respond—I had to try something.”
“Well,that’snot going to work,” I snapped at him. What was he even trying to do?
I ignored Julian’s hovering and touched her cheek. “Bianca? What’s wrong?”
But there was nothing, not even a glimmer of recognition, as she stared dimly past me.
I stepped back and allowedJulian to move Bianca into a chair, focusing on her form as she remained detached from the world around her. Her head was cocked to the side, and her eyes were vacant. She didn’t respond to his urgent questions or even seem to notice our presence.
A knot formed in my throat. I had witnessed this behavior before, in my undergraduate days.
“What happened?” I demanded, turning to Bryce. “Did you push her too hard again?”
