Page 129 of Brambles and Bellflowers
“Although Finn made me a cake and gave me a present.” She pursed her lips, eyes darkening as she was pulled deep into a memory. “I’m not sure why. I thought he’d be eviler now.”
Finn!
Red flared across my vision, and my fingers clenched.
I was going to kill that fucker. He knew it was her birthday and he hadn’t told anyone! The ass was trying to make us all look bad!
“Why are you so angry?” Bianca frowned, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
“Never mind…” I wasn’t annoyed with her, but… stupid Finn. He could have at leastwarnedus. But Damen should haveknown—what was he thinking? How would we ever be able to make up for this.
22
Bianca POV
Miles breathedin deeply before holding his breath. Why was he upset?
Was it still because of my birthday?
“It’s okay.” I placed my hand on his arm. “You can always bake me a cake.”
This would be a good homecoming. I’d been craving some German chocolate—
Miles scowled. “I’m not making you a cake!” he snapped as he stepped past me. “Let’s just go.”
My heart fell as I frowned after him. He stalked forward in the dark, using the lantern to smack wayward brush out of the way.
Why wouldn’t he cook for me? You’d think that after everything he put me through—
But then he stopped and turned to me, grasping my hand. “I’m not doing the same thinghedid,” Miles continued, pulling me closer to him. “I need to do something even better.”
“But—” I began.
I liked food.
My ears popped before I could complete my thought, and a tingle passed over me. My breath felt lighter as the heaviness surrounding the area seemed to lift, and I looked past Miles to the sky. “What was that?”
“Hm?” Miles followed my line of sight as he furrowed his brows. “Oh, Kathleen’s barrier dropped. I should be able to use my magic again.”
“She must have been pretty powerful,” I responded. “It feels different now.”
He looked at me, raising his eyebrow, and said, “Different how?”
“Like…” I began, pondering. I scrunched my nose as I added, “The sky has cleared, and the energy feels calmer.”
Miles glanced to the right, considering. “Well, Kathleen was a blood witch. There was a heavy undertone present in her magic. But I’m surprised you could feel it.”
“Um.” I touched my fingertips to my bottom lip. Wasn’t I supposed to? “It was the same when Daniel Cole tried to kill me,” I told him. “It was all over the room—I could hardly breathe.”
Miles scowled. “I’m sorry,” he said, too low to pick up, but I could see it on his face. He looked away. “You shouldn’t have had to take care of things on your own.”
“I didn’t,” I reminded him. “Finn was with me.”
His scowl deepened.
“What?” I blinked. What was that face?
“I’m sorry,” he said again, pulling me to him before I could speak. The breath was knocked from me as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I could no longer see his face, but he made sure to speak into my ear. “I’m in charge of the witches, and until now, I haven’t been strong enough to control them.”
