Page 97 of Brambles and Bellflowers
Miles frowned, but the tension remained heavy in his squared posture.
“Julian watches over you too,” I pointed out. “When I’m making a mess of things, he helps me communicate so your feelings aren’t hurt. And what about when he thanked you after you helped him keep his control with Finn?”
“Actually,” Miles interrupted with a frown, “he never thanked me.”
“And sure,” I ignored his statement. “Titus gets annoyed with you, but you usually start it. I know you told me to read The Hobbit to annoy him, but he wouldn’t have dropped work to come after you if he didn’t care.”
“And what about you?” Miles shifted, his jaw locking.
“Me?” I blinked.
“You said ‘everyone’cares about me.” Miles shrugged. “But only three out of the four most important people in my life made it into that little speech. How do you see me? Normally, we would have grown up together, but we didn’t. I’m not blind. I know you don’t look at me like you do at Titus or Damen. And you’re far more comfortable with Julian than me. You must have been fine without me there.”
Whatwas this stupidity coming from his mouth?
“It wasmy ideato come get you!” I pushed my fist against my chest. “I was the one who wanted to come after you the most. I evencleaned your room.”
Did he even understand how horrible that’d been? Even now, there were still dark corners left unexplored.
Miles opened his mouth, but I wasn’t done yet.
I closed the distance between us, poking his chest. “And how am I supposed to learn how to trust you if you just up and run away?”
“I wasn’t running away,” Miles pouted. “I was going on—”
“—A journey of enlightenment.” I sighed. “I know.”
“Besides, you don’t need to worry about me. You’re Damen’s bodyguard, not mine,” Miles protested, stepping back and waving his hand. His eyes flared with the stirring of a deeper emotion, and his body shook. “You keep trying to protect me, but that’s not your job.”
The argument faded from my lips. “What?”
I was Damen’s… bodyguard?
“Oh, he hasn’t told you yet?” Miles chuckled, and a mean smirk curled at the corner of his lips. “Of course not; it would ruin his image. He’s still trying to impress you. He’s never cared about impressing you before.”
I blinked at him, not liking this darker side of him. “What are you talking about?”
“Mu is Huo’s closest confidant. This means that, usually, Damen would never do anything without consulting you first. He depends on you,” Miles said. “However, he’s also our weakest link—and he knows it.”
“What?” I blinked. So hewassupposed to run his plans by me?
“Besides, no one in their right mind will attack me or Titus.” Miles shrugged. “Titus, for obvious reasons, and it’s just bad taste to attack religious figureheads. And most people are too afraid even to approach Julian.”
“Why?” I hadn’t noticed any reason why. For all his posturing and self-proclaimed doom, he seemed normal enough. Although, now that I thought about it, that one kidnapper had been pretty scared of him.
“Because Julian hates humanity,” Miles replied, giving me a strange look. “The three of them do—that’s what makes them separate from you and me and gives them greater access to their abilities. But while Titus and Damen are more outwardlydestructive, Julian specialized in torture in the past, plus he can murder an entire household without anyone even being aware of his presence or leaving any trace that he’d been there.”
I frowned. Had this happened already?
“Plus, it’simpossibleto lie to Julian,” Miles said. “Even if someone withstands his questioning, he can still discover a person’s secrets through his abilities alone. While Titus is our front line of defense, Julian is the one who kills anyone who makes it past him.”
I stepped back and shivered. Miles was still watching me but didn’t comment on my reaction.
Instead, he continued, “Which brings me back to my original point. Yes, you’re Damen’s bodyguard. Huo is the figurehead of our group and historically has been the most targeted. Anyone who bypassed Titus and Julian—Jin and Shui—usually do it through trickery, and you’re the expert in spotting a person’s true nature.”
My heart was pounding as I stared at him. Why did it seem there was a ‘but’…
“However—” Miles narrowed his eyes, and my mouth went dry. There it was. “Nobody has targeted Huo in multiple lifetimes—not once his weakness had been made clear.”
