Page 6 of Reflections of Peonies
The rest of my quintet, myself, Bryce, Brayden, and Finn, were gathered in Titus’s conference room, and there was a somber mood present as we watched Damen pace near the head of the table. My blood was roaring with a need for action, and my fingers flexed in my lap as I resisted the urge to grab Finn and find out everything he knew.
But, unfortunately, Damen would never allow me to hurt his brother.
“So—” Brayden braced his forearms on the table, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “What’s going on? What happened?”
“Besides you two allowing her to be taken?” I asked. And no, I would never not hold that against them. “We need to talk, but we’re still someone short.”
I didn’t blame them for wondering, though. The only people who knew the purpose of this meeting were my quintet. Although, I was certain that Finn suspected. Since arriving, he hadn’t stopped tapping his fingers on the table and looking nervously toward his brother.
Brayden frowned. “What was I supposed to do, lie down in front of the ambulance?”
“You weren’t the only one there.” I shrugged, hoping to goadBryce into a response before Damen lost his temper. “Bryce, do you have anything to add?”
Why hadn’t he said anything yet?
Damen grabbed his phone and threw it at a vase. “This is your fault!” he said, pointing at Bryce.
The fae, in return, simply looked at him.
I hoped Damen was being strategic. We needed him in order to keep Titus in check. Unfortunately, however, Damen wasn’t known for his ability to handle strong emotions.
Titus, in the meantime, wouldn’t talk to anyone. At the moment, he was unable to maintain his human form, and the white dragon remained curled in a corner behind us.
If set loose, Titus might destroy everything to get to Bianca. And he wouldn’t be subtle about it. Mass murder tended to attract attention, which was the last thing Bianca needed.
“Who else knows who she is?” Damen turned to his brother.
Finn had flinched when Damen pointed at him, but his jaw tensed before he answered. “I can’t—”
“How could you not tell me?” Damen asked.
“We didn’t have a choice.” Finn’s mouth pressed in a thin line, and the tension in his frame was tangible. “There are a lot of reasons it had to be this way—”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses!” Damen snarled. “You don’t follow orders from anyone other thanme. Who is in on this? Is Norman?”
Finn grimaced. “No, not Norman. There’s Hanah, Kayla—”
My heart raced. Both Do YunandKayla? That meant my only loyal Officer was Anthony.
“—and Do Yun is her therapist, obviously, so he knows too,” Finn continued, glancing at me. “But she mostly ignores him. Besides them, Jiayi was pulled in because she’s Bianca’s roommate,” Finn added. “We needed another presence at the school.”
“This has been going on for a long time,” I pointed out. “What Proxies are involved?”
Finn’s gaze traveled back to Damen, his tone wavering. “My mom and Lee…”
Damen stopped breathing—had he really not suspected? Lee Sao was a surprise, however.
“How did it start?” I pressed.
“Bianca was dying. Your mom tried to save her, but it wasn’t enough. So we had to call Kayla and Do Yun,” Finn said; the haughtiness was completely gone from his expression. “Don’t be mad at them. They saved her life.”
“Don’t tell me who to be mad at,” I told him, even as anger swelled in my chest. “Why did no one get me, or even Anthony? What about my grandfather or Mai? We’ve always been here—and we’re stronger than them. What happened—why was she dying?”
Finn grew pale and looked away.
“Was it your fault?” I was going to kill him.
He flinched.
