Page 67 of Reflections of Peonies
“I’ll feel what I want!” Damen growled. “You can’t stop me. Like I told you earlier, I refuse to let it happen again.”
“But you took care of the contract,” Miles interrupted them. “So there shouldn’t be an issue anymore. Bianca—” he addressed me. “Do you feel it?”
“Oh!” I’d been following their argument, and my attentionreturned to myself at Miles’s question. I released Julian’s hand and touched my face, then my chest.
What was I supposed to be looking for? I glanced around the room. My attention returned to Damen.
My chest might have felt a little lighter, but other than that, I didn’t notice a difference. “What did you do?” I asked him.
He’d better not have done something to Finn and Kiania.
When Damen’s only response was his mouth thinning, Miles cut in. He sat forward and pulled the sleeve over my arm, showing off the clean skin beneath.
“Kiania wouldn’t give in,” Miles explained. “But—to divert the need to use your energy—Damen convinced Kiania to allow him to enter the shared contract without dropping the other bonds. Now he’s contracted with both Kasai and Kiania. You don’t need the medication anymore.”
“Um,” I began as a nervous energy rose through me. “Can you do that?” I asked Damen. “Will you be okay?”
Damen’s impassive expression was all the answer I needed.
“Damen!” My breath caught. Kasai was already mooching off him, and now he had made it worse. He was so stupid! “What if you die?”
A shadow crossed his features. “I’m not going to die.”
“Oh, so you’ve done this before?” I quipped, holding his gaze. “You know this? You don’t even know how the bond works!”
“I’m not going to die,” he repeated, frowning. But his refusal to answer spoke volumes.
I crossed my arms, mentally daring him to lie. After everything I’d done for him, he’d better not.
Finally, he sighed. “Kiania wants to stay in this realm. We need to think long-term. I need you, and Finn needs to be able to do his job. I offered a compromise, and it was accepted.”
“But—”
“In any case, you have something else to do. Don’t worry about this any longer.” Damen leaned over Julian and touched his finger to my forehead.
I wrinkled my nose. What was he talking about?
“You need to focus on yourself,” Damen said, his voice suddenly light. “And when you feel up to it, you need to go shopping. Bryce thinks he’s going with you. He hasn’t shut up about it. What do you want me to tell him?”
Damen looked hopeful, most likely assuming I’d say no. But now I was mad at him.
“I wouldloveto take Bryce shopping with me,” I told him. “We’re going to be very close one day.” Besides, he still owed me a ring. I couldn’t pretend to be a lawfully wedded woman without one.
Damen’s expression dropped, and his mouth dipped. “Well, okay then. If you want to be close to Bryce so badly, you should also practice using your abilities with him,” he said. “They can teach you until you can access your mentors. Nothing is holding you back anymore.”
“Really?” I asked, my annoyance dropping. Did I get to go through a training montage? I should create a playlist. “Who is my mentor?”
“Gregory,” Damen replied. “Caleb Weaver.” He looked slightly hesitant as he added, “Declan.”
“Declan?”
“Your biological father,” Damen said. “He’s the Paragon Er Bashou of the fae. It’s his job to oversee most of your physical and spiritual training. He trained Bryce and Brayden.”
My thoughts blanched. “No—no thanks.” I pushed my hair over my shoulder. “I’ll pass. I thought Gregory wasyourmentor.”
“Gregory is fae,” Damen answered. “He only advises me because Michael, my Elder Er Bashou, is dead.”
“Oh,” I replied. I looked around the room. “Are all of you still in training?” Julian was supposed to be learning how to read memories and murder, and Miles was supposed to do witchy things.
