Page 60 of Reflections of Peonies
Bryce glanced at Bryden. “Why do you need to talk to me right this instant? I talk to you every day.”
“I have to tell you a secret,” Brayden said, glancing at Anthony. “You’ll like it. Anthony told it to me.”
Anthony frowned at him.
“What secret?” Bryce scowled. “You don’t have secrets. Circumstances notwithstanding, you can’t keep a secret to save your life.”
“I know, I’m awful.” Brayden jerked Bryce’s arm, and Brycestumbled in his direction. “That’s why I’m going to tell you what it is!”
“Hey,” Anthony protested. “It better not bethatsecret!”
“You’ll get to learn about it before everyone else!” Brayden bribed. “BeforeJin!”
Bryce pursed his lips, contemplative. “I accept,” he said finally. He looked at Damen and nodded. “I will allow you to leave with my sister.”
“I wasn’t asking your permission,” Damen answered. “I was just going to let Titus kill you.”
Bryce ignored him. “But be quick about it,” he said, waving at us. “Do not betray my trust.”
“What the hell are you even talking about?” Damen grumbled but moved toward us nonetheless. “I don’t answer to you.”
Still, he stopped in front of me. “Let’s just get out of here,” he said, side-eyeing Bryce as he moved to stand in a circle with Anthony and Brayden. “Before that pain in the ass changes his mind.”
“Is this better?”Julian asked as he tucked a blanket around my legs. He’d pulled a thin chair next to the coffee table, and the others trickled into the room around us, taking various seats as he fussed around me.
“Y-yes,” I told him. He looked so stressed that I couldn’t resist my need to reassure him. I grabbed his hand before he could back away and smiled. “Thank you! You’re so nice!”
Julian stared at me for a moment before slowly blinking. “Right,” he said—although I wasn’t sure why he sounded so guilty—and squeezed my hand. Then he turned to the table andbegan removing various items from the small bag he’d brought with him.
“Finn—” Damen sat near me, his elbows braced on his spread knees as he looked at his brother. “I do have a question for you.”
Finn stood across the room and straightened at the sound of his name. “What?”
“How does your relationship with your quintet play into this?” Damen asked. “Does Bryce support you at all?”
“Yeah.” Finn shrugged. “Bryce has been helping too—although I don’t think he’s realized. I’ve had to rely less on Bianca since he’s gotten stronger.”
Damen’s lips turned down.
My heart raced as I looked between them. Was Damen looking for a fault with Bryce’s performance? That wasmyjob.
“Do you think he could support your contract with Kiania on his own?” Damen asked as Julian placed two blue pills and a bottle of water in my hands—I glanced at him, but he’d already returned to his medical supplies.
This wasn’t my usual medication. But…
I trusted him.
“I’ve thought about that—you know, theoretically,” Finn said, looking to the ground. I sipped on my water as he explained, “But I don’t think it’ll work.”
“Why don’t you just dissolve the contract?” Damen asked. “You can get another shikigami.”
“I can’t,” Finn replied, tensing. “Kiania said that even without me, a contract would still exist between them. And, well…”
Julian, who’d been unwrapping the bandage from my neck, froze. “That would kill her!” he protested. “Even with the medication, there’s no way Bianca would survive.”
“Yeah,” Finn replied. “I know. That’s what Kiania says, too. So, I don’t have a choice.”
“It’s blackmailing you?” Damen lowered his hands from his chin. “You definitely should have said something.”
