Page 57 of Reflections of Peonies
His focus shot to me. The dread had left his expression, replaced with surprise. “Why are you sorry?”
My heart lurched. Didn’t he realize? “I didn’t know it was bad.”
“Oh, please.” Finn rolled his eyes. “That’s just…you.”
I stared at him. How was it possible to be so full of guilt yet still want to punch him in the face?
Why was he so infuriating?
“Finn!” Damen snapped, and Finn’s attention shifted back. “Stop acting like an idiot and answer my question. Why didn’t you come to me?”
“I don’t know!” Finn threw his hands in the air. “Lee was handling things, and he and Trinity told me to wait. Plus, you would have discovered who Bianca was, which they didn’t want.”
“I can understand the Council. But do you know why it was so important thatwedidn’t know who she was?” Damen asked.
“Er,” he began, glancing at me, then Julian. A strange expression passed over Julian’s features, and when he blinked again, he seemed stunned. But Finn returned his gaze to his brother and responded, “No particular reason.”
However, Finn’s answer seemed to make sense to Damen, and his severity melted into contemplation. He touched his chin and began to pace.
10
Julian POV
I barely paidattention to Damen. Bianca stood, looking worriedly between us, and all I could focus on was her vulnerable form. Seeing Finn near her made the protective swell rising inside me harder to ignore.
This feeling had been touched upon the first time I heard her cry out in pain, and I needed to step in to defend her, but it had been growing stronger with every unassuming motion she’d made toward me since.
I was Shui, and—to me—she was the embodiment of hope. There was no one more important to me than she. Never before in all our lives had she taken on such a vulnerable form, and yet, she still trusted me so implicitly. And within the span of a few moments, I might have broken everything.
“Bianca,” I began, stepping toward her, and when she moved back, pulling her hands behind her back, my stomach sank. It wasn’t worth it. “I’m sorry.”
She looked at me, her large eyes wide in wariness, and I could scarcely breathe. I would never again give her any reason not to trust me. I never wanted her to be afraid in my presence, for that would be the purest form of torture.
“It will be fine,” I told her, and she blinked at me. “From this point forward, unless you ask it of me, I will not do anything to Finn.” Because Damen was right—even though she denied it, he was her best friend.
Finn stared at me, but I ignored him.
“Oh,” she began. Relief crossed her face, and I knew I’d made the right choice. “Okay then.”
“Then please, can you trust me to look at your arm?” I asked, holding my hand to her again. Her large eyes stared at me, and I added, “We’ve restarted your medication; I would just like to check on a theory.”
And with that, she allowed me back in. I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding as she placed her hand in mine. “Y-yes,” she replied, and my vision lingered on her pale, pink lips.
She was tiny—I could easily close my hand around both her wrists—and her delicate form felt so fragile under my touch. A bright white bandage still covered her neck, and she’d winced when lifting her arm. My senses hummed under my skin, on full alert, the instant our bodies made contact. She might not complain, but she was in pain.
Just the very idea of someone hurting her, treating her roughly, filled me with a quiet fury that was not appropriate for this moment.
“Thank you,” I told her instead, and lifted her wrist. She held still as I rolled back her sleeve, exposing her arm to the elbow.
My thoughts quieted as I frowned down at what I saw.
Bianca POV
“Julian?” I asked, glancing at my right arm. But I wasn’t sure why he’d be so moody. I was healing rather well.
My oldest bruise had almost returned to my usual pallor. That was the bruise I’d acquired when Julian had scared Finn away at Professor Hamway’s house, initially leading to Bryce’s nosiness.
The second was more recent. Even so, the fading handprint where Finn had grabbed my arm with his giant hands was practically gone.
