Page 15 of Brambles and Bellflowers
“Damen Chastity Abernathy,” he said quietly. His dark emerald eyes glinted dangerously, and his aura turned to the same darkness as his deep brown hair. “I’ve never had a problem with you, but if you so much as touch my daughter, I will break every bone in your hands.”
My throat went dry, and I barely resisted the instinct to step back.
I might die.
But I couldn’t afford to let him push me around. Jameson would murder me.
I swallowed, keeping my expression neutral, but my pulse pounded in my ears. I had two choices—play it carefully or say something stupid.
“What if I’ve already touched her?”
I wanted to punch myself the second the words left my lips.
The air turned deadly. Bryce glared at me as Gregory sighed. He removed his glasses and leaned back in his chair. “Mr. Damen—”
Fuck.
“You have a way of saying things that invite early death,” Gregory said mildly. “Would you like to try again?”
“It was a joke,” I offered.
What was going on? I’d never seen them like this before. It was true, then, that fae men went crazy about their women.
Gregory’s gaze was still ice-cold. “Do not joke about Bianca like that again.”
I shook my head.
“Right,” I replied, desperately trying to ignore the line of sweat traveling down my spine. “Anyway, why are you all here?”
I glanced at Declan again and added, “Bianca is supposed to meet me.”
“What’s she doing on campus?” Bryce interjected. “I thought she was busy looking for clues so that she might further stalk Miles.”
That was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard.
“She’s not looking for clues! She’s sad!” I told him. “That’s why I asked her to come—to get her out of the house. I’m taking her to meet Julian later.”
“She’s not sad.” Bryce raised his eyebrow. “She’s angry. Why else do you think she’s rooting through his stuff? She’s trying to figure out where he’s gone so she can knock some sense into him.”
“I know her better than you,” I argued. “And Bianca isn’t going to hit anyone.” At least not yet.
In the past, Mu wouldn’t have hesitated to smack Tu for doing something stupid. However, Bianca and Miles’s relationship had a different dynamic.
I knew, in part, that was why Miles had left. He was at a critical point in his studies and would have to step outside his comfort zone. Bianca was fragile now, and it was time for Miles to grow up.
“Just wait,” Bryce said, rolling his shoulders. “You’re too focused on flirting to see the obvious.”
“And what’s that?” I crossed my arms. How had this conversation, once again, turned against me?
“Hanah is right,” Bryce responded. “You’re underestimating her, which makes your lot, minus Miles, no better than Finn. No wonder she doesn’t respect you.”
“What in the world are you talking about?” I shot back.
“Miles was the only one who believed in her abilities while we were dealing with James Cole,” Bryce said. “She knows it too—why do you think she gives him gifts?”
“Shecan’tuse her abilities,” I protested. “Not fully.”
Not while this bond existed between her and Kiania. I might be taking the heat off her, but we’d never explored this connection.
