by Lyla Oweds
“Besides,” Julian interjected, touching my hair, “because the people are on our side, the college is safe. So long as you stick to your schedule and don’t go off alone.”
“If I can’t stay with you, I’ll send Kasai,” Damen said. “It’s possible that Miles can’t be there. If he’s not, stay close to Bryce.”
“Why would Miles not be there?” I asked, perturbed. He’d better not be skipping. I’d already memorized his schedule. There was no reason for him to—
“He may meet with Daniel Cole in the afternoon,” Damen responded. “Don’t worry, that counts as an excused absence. As his Xing, Miles has the right to demand meetings with those under his jurisdiction. To check in on them.”
“Which one is Daniel?” It was difficult to keep them straight.
“Daniel is Garrett Cole’s son. He’s a few years older than us, and has never participated in our circles.” Damen brows furrowed. “It’s a fairly new aspiration of his to run for a local office. So it won’t look suspicious if Miles checks in on him.”
“What about you?” I asked. It sounded as if Damen planned on leaving too.
“I may be going to visit my father,” Damen replied. “He’s a business partner of Garrett’s. I’m hoping to convince my father to make dinner plans. I want to see him. Titus has a meeting with Alexander tomorrow as well.”
“I don’t like this.” Julian was frowning at Damen. “I can—”
“Your normal routine,” Damen interrupted. “You don’t stalk through the campus anymore. Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Finn too.”
Finn.
My focus zeroed in on Damen, my hackles up. “What?”
Damen raised his eyebrow. “Baby girl, are you scared of him? There’s no reason to be. He wouldn’t try anything now.”
I growled at the thought. No. I wasn’t scared of Finn. Not at all. What I felt for Finn was…
Well, I was going to punish him.
There was a big difference.
Julian seemed as pleased as I felt. He narrowed his eyes at Damen. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“You trust Bryce. But you don’t want to talk about Finn?” Damen rolled his eyes. “Don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t worry, he’ll stay out of your way. I’ll let him know you don’t want to talk.”
And then he was gone. This seemed to be a pattern with him.
“Did he just walk out of the room again?” I wondered. What did he think he was, some kind of king? Or maybe Batman. “He doesn’t even say goodbye!”
Julian threw himself to the bed beside me, hiding his face in the pillow. “Finn.” He spat the name out like a curse, the word barely discernible through the muffling.
“Yes, Finn.” I laid back down, covering my head with my forearm. “What did he ever do to you anyway?”
Julian stiffened, and after a second of silence, pushed himself up. His blue-eyed gaze met mine. “What?”
“You hate Finn.” I pointed out, hoping this wasn’t supposed to be a secret. “Your feelings seem to be deep-seated. Something happened before me. What did he do?”
It was probably something evil. Julian was such a gentle person, and Finn not so much. Knowing Finn, he might have kicked a puppy. Or maybe beat up Anthony or another innocent, harmless person. I’d put nothing past him.
Julian’s mouth dipped, and I knew what he’d say before he spoke.
“That’s for another time, I think. It’s a long story.” He shifted, pulling the blankets over the two of us and pressed his lips against my cheek. “I’m not going to send you to sleep tonight. You look exhausted enough on your own. And you should still be feeling the effects of Titus’s concealment.”
“Julian?” I blinked at him as he reached to the bedside table and turned off the light, throwing the room into darkness.
“If you’re going to act normal tomorrow, you need rest,” Julian replied, pulling me close to him. His arms surrounded me, and our legs entwined as my face pressed into his chest. “Goodnight, dearest.”
“Goodnight.” I fought back a yawn. He was right, I was exhausted. It had faded once the connection between us severed. But now that I focused, the melody played once again.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Bianca
Night
The next morning was a slow, rainy one. When I woke up, Julian and Miles were already gone. So were Bryce and Brayden. I didn’t know where anyone else had slept, and I never asked. But from the looks of things, I’d doubted they’d slept much.
Damen and Titus were sitting in the kitchen, talking and eating. But when I trudged into the room, blanket trailing on the floor behind me, conversation stopped.
“What happened to the living room?” I glanced behind me, in the direction of the aforementioned location. I had to be dreaming. Because even the coffee table and couch were exactly as they’d appeared before last night.
“I fixed it,” Titus said, a hint of pride in his voice. His eyes remained unmoved from me as he sipped his orange juice.
I glanced at his shirtless form, which was decidedly less terrifying than full-out nudity, to the refrigerator behind him. It appeared that, too, had been replaced. “Really?”
Damen gestured toward the appliance with his coffee mug. “Miles fixed that one,” he explained. “Julian is searching for the entryway table today. That one is a bit harder to duplicate because it’s an antique. He said it’s Finn’s fault though, so he’s making my brother help.”
It was too early for this nonsense. I groaned, dragging myself the rest of the way to the counter and taking the seat in between the boys. “How much do I owe you?”
Titus shot me an incredulous look while Damen moved to the coffee maker.
“Nothing,” Titus stated, sounding as if I’d said the stupidest thing in the world. “Why would you think you owe anything?”
“Because I take responsibility for my own debts.” I faced him. I held the blanket to me, fighting against the morning chill. Even though, from the smooth state of Titus’s chest, he wasn’t cold in the slightest.
I tore my gaze from his skin, meeting intense green. From his smoldering look, he knew the thoughts that had been racing through my mind.
Good. Perhaps then he’d put on a shirt before he froze to death. It wasn’t my fault he couldn’t feel the fluctuations in temperature. Between him and Miles, I was going to have to be vigilant.
“I told you, I’m a poor college student,” I pointed out, accepting the coffee that Damen slid across the counter to me. “Not to worry, though. I’ve already been making plans.”
The amusement fled Titus’s expression; wariness took its place. “Plans?”
“I’ve started a notebook,” I said, holding the beverage under my nose. Even the warmth of it was enough to bring comfort. “And I’ve been organizing my thoughts. Once this adventure is over, I’m going to look into ways for undocumented girls to earn money.”
“Why would you phrase it like that?” Damen slammed his hand on the counter, causing me to jump as my attention snapped to him. He seemed to be a mixture of horrified, and something else. “Of all the possible ways…”
Why was he so weird?
I lowered my mug, in case he might have another outburst. “I am a girl,” I said evenly, watching him for signs of erratic behavior. “I have no documentation. And I need money.”
Titus was pinching the bridge of his nose. “Even I know better than that. Google is dangerous.”
How could a search engine be dangerous? “Why?”
“Never mind,” Titus replied, shooting Damen a look. “You don’t need to pay back anything.” I opened my mouth to argue, but Titus continued, “But if it means that much to you, you’re quite wealthy on your own. You don’t need to resort to drastic measures. Just put it on an I.O.U. and when you publicly embrace your role, pay us back then.”
It felt like time had stopped, and my focus shot between the two of them. “What?”
Titus seemed surprised I was shocked. Meanwhi
le, amusement replaced the horror in Damen’s expression. “Yes, quite.”
“What?” It was the only word my mouth seemed capable of forming. This was too much. But then, if it wasn’t a lie—and from their faces it didn’t seem like it was—then there was only one other question. “How?”
Titus nudged my hair, urging me to sip my drink. Damen was smirking now, and leaned over the counter. “First of all, we’re reincarnations.”
I set my mug on the table, frowning at him. “Yes, I know. But—”
“At some point, you’ll remember aspects of your past lives,” Damen said. “Each of us has accumulated wealth throughout the millennia. And we’ve invested throughout the years. We’d planned to never become a burden on the families we were born into. Besides that, there are certain monetary rewards and benefits to being us.”
Titus nodded. “That’s true. While some of us are better at investing than others, we still have—”
“Where’s my money?” I was so ready for this. Was there a special bank for me to go to?
Damen frowned at me. “That’s rather rude.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. He was redirecting me. Or maybe he’d stolen it for himself. He didn’t seem like the kind of person to spend money wisely. “You said it’s my money. Why shouldn’t I ask for it?” Besides, I had things to pay off now, thanks to them.
Owing money, owing another person… This was one of my worst nightmares.
“Typical.” Titus quirked his lips. “Damen have you ever known her to accept gifts without conditions? She is fae.”
Damen tilted his head, studying me in a way that caused me to bristle slightly. “They are particular.”
“I like food,” I pointed out, hoping Damen might get the hint. He’d failed so much in that already. “That’s not weird.”
“You also like jewelry,” Titus added, his eyes trained on the pin in my hair. “What else do you make exceptions for?”
“So what? I like glittery and shiny things,” I argued, touching my hair.
“Didn’t you give her milk once?” Damen asked, glancing at Titus. “Miles told me.”
“I did.” Titus nodded. “And she accepted it.”
Damen stroked his chin, seriously contemplating this ridiculous conversation. “What difference does it make if the gift is a material good or currency?”
I groaned, stepping back from the counter. “This is stupid.” I glanced at Titus. “It was bad enough when you bought thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment, but I let it slide. However, now that I have options, none of you are giving me this. Tell me how much I owe you, and I’ll repay the money with interest.”
In the end, Damen and Titus had acquiesced to my demands. And Titus agreed to put together an accounting of my debts. With that settled, I returned to campus for my usual Friday schedule.
However, even though no one had mentioned it this morning, I couldn’t erase Lily, Rosanne, and James’s faces from my mind. My heart still felt what they’d gone through. Yet, they were gone now. If the Cole family wouldn’t target me, which I doubted despite Damen’s words, then things should have been over.
But my sense of impending doom was worse now than ever before.
I half-expected Rosanne to return, to judge me. To accuse me of breaking my promise.
I wanted my anger from last night to return. I should have been annoyed with the boys, for hiding things from me. But I couldn’t. The situation felt familiar, somehow. And it had only been days since we’d gotten to know each other.
And I was hiding the truth from them as well.
Besides, despite not wanting me to use my abilities in the ways I had, they hadn’t stopped me either. In the end, they supported me when I helped Lily. They didn’t interfere when I’d confronted Rosanne. Even James, they went along with trying to talk to him first, before moving to their last resort.
Bryce’s accusation rang through my thoughts. I should have been stronger than this. Perhaps it was my medication. I didn’t know. I was only certain that I had a lot to learn.
As much as I loathed to admit it, I would need a certain person’s help to succeed.
It was a Friday schedule. So, biology with Bryce was the first class of the day.
I half-expected smirks to be tossed in my direction. However, Bryce hardly looked at me at all. In fact, he really didn’t look at anyone. Instead he sat at his desk reading, while we had free study. And he looked as tired as I felt.
To make matters worse, I wasn’t the only one to notice the dark circles under his eyes. The girls near me chattered about him all period. Not only was it distracting, but every word made me feel worse for my part in his current state.
Then there was Finn. He was supposedly guarding me. It was obvious he wanted to talk. He was hovering outside of the lecture hall when I’d arrived. But once he spotted me walking with Damen, he’d run off.
I should probably talk to him one day. I would consider it once I returned to my dorm.
My French lecture dragged as slowly as biology.
The strange feeling I’d felt Wednesday was present again. So much that it began to make me uncomfortable. It felt as though something was studying me, mocking my poor phonics. I suspected Kasai was nearby, but I wasn’t certain enough to make the accusation.
Finally, after a grueling period of paranoia, the classroom began to empty. The air was heavy with expectation now, and I quickly packed my items, rushing to leave. As I zipped my bag, I glanced up, noticing that there was only me and one other left in the room.
A male classmate I only recognized by appearance. He stood near his desk, directly next to the only exit from the room. He should have been packing, but apparently had been done for quite some time. He stood, his long, lean fingers moving over the strap of his bag as he stared directly at me.
I wasn’t in the mood for this.
Trying to pretend I hadn’t noticed him, I hurried for the door. But before I’d moved past him, his hand shot out and grasped my own, pulling me to a stop.
“Excuse me.” His voice was smooth as silk. Yet, for some reason, caused me to shiver. “Do you have a moment?” His touch was like ice on my skin, and the beginnings of panic rippled through me.
He was as tall as Damen, and thinner than Julian. And he wore long, black clothing that hid most of his skin. His hair was so blond that it seemed almost white. And how long it was, I couldn’t tell because he’d tied it behind him, the ends tucked under his shirt.
I couldn’t think of a word to say in response.
“I thought so,” he continued, disregarding my non-reply. His pale blue eyes locked on to mine. “It’s obvious now. I wonder why Bryce didn’t reach out to me. They must know.”
He was still holding my hand, and after last night, I was especially sensitive to this fear. My skin was clammy, and I felt sick as his eyes roamed over my face. Yet, I didn’t dare look away.
He felt both familiar and dangerous. Almost like Bryce, or even Brayden. But unlike those two, there was something tainted hiding in this man. Not stronger than them, but definitely darker.
He didn’t seem to notice my scrutiny. Instead, he grinned. Again, ignoring the fact that I hadn’t said a word.
“Hello, mistress,” he bowed. The danger melted from his expression, and into something much more welcoming. Suddenly, his voice and mannerisms became reminiscent of a time long past. Before I could object, he raised my hand and ran his lips over my knuckles. “While this is unexpected, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I look forward to working together in the future.”
“Working together?” I asked.
“My name is Xavier Renouf.” His lips quirked as he released my hand and straightened from his half-bow. “My services are under your command. I look forward to the many changes that your presence will bring.”
Xavier…
If I recalled correctly, Damen had said Xavier was my third—the Tongjun. But that didn’t explain how he knew.
“You know w
ho I am?” I said.
“Of course.” Xavier raised an eyebrow. “The draw is instinctual. Although, I must admit, the feeling has only grown stronger in this last week. Before that, things were murky, at best. You could have simply been a strong medium. But now it’s undeniable.”
“Undeniable?” I didn’t see how. I still had so far to go. That was proven last night.
“You’re my mistress.” His eyes flickered over my form once again, almost appraising. “Your appearance might be unconventional, but I don’t see anything wrong with this turn of events. Even though I don’t know your name, I’m certain of my role.”
My face flooded with heat—I’d been so flabbergasted that I’d never introduced myself. “My name is Bianca Brosnan.”
“Bianca.” My name rolled off his tongue, as if he was testing it out. “How very fitting,” he said finally, grinning. “We’ll be a good team, you and I. Where are you off to next?”
“I have chemistry.” I hoped he didn’t plan to follow me there. If he started hanging around me too, I would definitely be noticed.
Of course, Xavier offered the very thing I hoped to avoid. “Excellent, I shall escort you.”
“It’s okay.” I pulled my hand from his and waved. “There’s no need for you to walk all the way across campus with me.”
Xavier frowned. “But, mistress, even with that annoying parrot hovering about, I—”
“Parrot?” He couldn’t possibly mean—
“The demon-creature, of course.” Xavier’s other eyebrow had risen to join the first. “Surely, you feel his presence. The leech has been perched outside the classroom window for about an hour. His hell-laden eyes observe your every movement. While it is true that he is a formidable warrior who has slain millions, he is young. He also isn’t us. I insist on accompanying you—”
Kasai. I knew it.
“Come with me,” I told Xavier, walking past him. “I want you to tell me everything you know about shikigami.”
Kasai’s presence receded as we left the room. Knowing him, he was probably tattling on me. But I didn’t care. Xavier fell into step behind me as we headed toward the Science hall.