by Lyla Oweds
It had been my routine to go to her office after geology to receive my assignments for the conservatory. But with Professor Hamway gone, that wasn’t necessary.
Today, instead of coming here, I was supposed to meet Damen at the library. It had been the plan for him to check in on me again after French. And now, because of Bryce, I was going to be late.
Good assistants weren’t supposed to be late. This was a terrible start to my career. Norman was already watching for weakness. If I were late, he’d know.
I had to do a better job. Grumbling under my breath, I pulled out my phone and opened my texts. There were unread messages from the guys waiting for me. Continuations of random conversations I’d been having throughout the day. Julian checking in, Titus telling me he’d bought me something, and Miles sending French stuff I hadn’t had time to translate yet.
And there was Damen—telling me he was on his way to pick me up. It was him whom I responded to this time.
Me: I’ll be right there, I got sidetracked.
I pushed the send button as I turned, backtracking the way I’d come. It would take five minutes to get to the library from my current location, if I didn’t run. And I had no intention of running. I was nowhere near desperate enough to make a good impression.
Besides, Damen never had to know about my failure. I would just come up with a super professional reason for my tardiness.
The phone vibrated in my palm, and I glanced down.
Damen: Sidetracked doing what?
I frowned—he was a nosy one. Asking me questions before I could think of a decent excuse.
I couldn’t admit I hadn’t been paying attention. Then he’d think I was absentminded.
“Where did you get that phone?” A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts as a shadow fell over my path.
My fingers tightened around the device, and fury raced through me. Damen’s response was all but forgotten as my entire focus redirected toward the object of my hatred.
“Finn!”
How dare he show his face near me. Didn’t he know he ruined everything? I shook in rage as I studied him.
He was meticulous as ever, of course. His hair neatly combed from his face, and his clothing pressed. But there was something different about him too.
Lines around his eyes that hadn’t existed before. A flicker of doubt that passed over his gray eyes. He looked tired, almost as though he hadn’t slept. The perfection of his appearance was a desperate attempt to hide his exhaustion.
I almost felt bad for him. Almost.
“Bianca,” he started, his tone kinder than I’d heard in years. Reminiscent of when we first became friends. “I’m concerned for you. We need to talk.”
I wouldn’t fall for it.
“I don’t want to talk to you.” I moved past him, loathing the brush of his sleeve against my own. But he was in my way, and I wouldn’t be the one who stepped aside. “I’m meeting Damen, and we’re going to have an adventure.”
Before I realized what happened, I was trapped against the wall. Finn blocked me again, but outside of initially pulling me into a position between his arms, did not touch me.
My annoyance grew. All my pent-up energy was going to find a target after all. I was going to kick him. Screw Miles saying it wasn’t part of the plan; Finn deserved it. “Let me go. I’m angry at you.”
“You can’t go out with Damen!” Finn sounded horrified, panic rising his expression. “Or have adventures. Especially his kind of adventures. Don’t listen to a word he says. You don’t know what kind of person he is, but I do. He’ll only throw you away once he’s finished with you. He can never be happy with just one.”
How dare he. Once again, Finn had picked up on my insecurities and exploited them. What a jerk.
“You don’t need to tell me. I’m well aware of the fact that he has Norman too,” I gritted. “But I’m trying to make myself invaluable to him, even if this isn’t my forte.”
“Wait.” Finn blinked, and his arms relaxed slightly. “What?”
My heart raced, but I didn’t care how cute he was when confused. We had passed the point of redemption long ago. I only needed to think of the injustices I’d suffered.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my anger growing at the recollections. “You’re going to get in trouble. Someone is bound to walk down this hallway at any time.”
The sooner we got this over with, the sooner I could move on with my life. Besides that, he better not have been looking for me. He had to know that I’d never forgive him. Or did he think I’d get over everything so quickly?
Didn’t he realize that Damen would beat the crap out of him for coming near me? Maybe?
Actually, I wasn’t so sure about Damen.
Or even the others.
But Julian, he definitely would. Julian seemed to really hate him.
“I doubt it,” Finn responded. “The professors are attending a surprise faculty meeting. We’re alone, and we need to talk.”
And just how would he know the professors weren’t here?
But then my indignation faded as the implications of his words settled. My stomach dropped as another emotion—fear—crept over me. If he was right about this meeting—and from the confidence in his tone, he was—then we really were alone.
The last time Finn thought we were alone, he’d hurt me. At the reminder, my sore muscles began to tense and my mind blanked. If Julian hadn’t been there over the weekend, I had no idea what might have happened.
It was one thing to be brave and angry if there might be backup. But alone? This was not how I’d imagined my eventual showdown with Finn Abernathy.
I had to pretend this was okay. I had to get out of here.
“I’m leaving.” I pushed at his chest, only so I could try to duck under his arms to escape. But in an instant, Finn grabbed my hands, pressing my fists against the wall beside my head. The phone dropped from my grip and clattered to the floor.
Panic, the feeling Miles had chased away, began to spread under my skin. I was completely screwed now. I couldn’t best Finn in strength. And from this position, I couldn’t even kick him.
This couldn’t be happening. Not again.
Perhaps someone had ditched their meeting. Maybe someone was nearby. “Hel—”
My shout was cut off as Finn pressed his left hand over my mouth. His right hand was more than enough to hold both my wrists securely above my head.
Terror was clouding my thoughts. I felt faint from it. Finn’s actions had layered on a level of helplessness I hadn’t felt in ages, and proved how much larger he was than me.
I had always known that, of course. But it had never really seemed threatening before. Never, until recently, had he ever used his strength against me.
I was helpless as I stared at the man who’d been my only friend for a decade.
He gazed back at me before his expression morphed from anger into something sad.
“Bianca.” Finn sighed. “You should know I’m not going to hurt you. I would never…” He paused, his vision landing on my exposed forearm. Regret settled into his expression. “I would never intentionally hurt you. I’m sorry about the other day. I lost my temper. I didn’t realize how close…”
His words trailed off. And I, still unable to speak, continued to watch him.
“Please don’t look at me like that.” He sounded pained. “I only need to talk to you. I haven’t been able to get you alone before now. You’ve been avoiding me, and Damen and Julian are on my ass. I wanted to see you first. It’s not fair that you won’t talk to me. I deserve that much.”
My fear faded at his words, and reckless fury rushed through me once again.
He was acting as though I’d done something terrible by avoiding him. Did he honestly believe I’d show up to our nightly meetings at the Starbucks? How dare he play the victim. Of course I avoided him. I didn’t want anything to do with him. He’d lied to me for years.
His betrayal had had me locked in a
n asylum.
“You look like you have something to say,” he said, reading the anger on my face. “I’m going to move my hand. Don’t scream.”
He released my mouth, and by the time his hand touched the wall, I was so full of hatred I couldn’t even think properly.
“You lied to me.” I felt so useless, it was impossible for me to smack him. And right now, I wanted to pulverize his face. If only I had laser vision. “If I could, I would turn you into a stone and throw you from a cliff. Then I’d grind that stone into a powder. Then I’d take that dust and scatter it into a small pool of water in the desert. And when the water evaporated from the heat, I would have an elephant go and urinate into that hole.”
“That’s…” Finn looked hurt, but masked the emotion. He raised his eyebrow and his mouth dipped. “That’s really specific.”
“I’ve had a lot of things to work though, no thanks to you.” I glowered. “My own emotions, first of all. But now I also need to get used to dealing with feelings that aren’t even mine.”
His eyebrow dropped and his lips thinned. “You know. Just how long have you been off your medication?”
“You’re not going to try to deny it?” I couldn’t believe the nerve of this guy. “Since you’re suddenly being so honest, where’s your morphing bird, dog thing?”
“My shikigami?” The word flowed from his lips as if dabbling in the paranormal was an everyday occurrence for him. Which it probably was. “First of all, Kiania isn’t a bird. Nor is she a dog. But it doesn’t matter. Why do you care where she is?”
I hated him so much. “I need to care. I want to know if I’m going to end up hospitalized again. Like I was when I saved your life ten years ago.”
“What? When you…” His mouth twisted in confusion. “I think you’re misunderstanding—”
“Finn!” A deep, gleeful voice echoed from the end of the corridor. “About fucking time!”
Finn stiffened—but didn’t release his hold on me—as we both turned toward the newcomer.
Chapter Six
Bianca
Found
A male, who held himself in a similar manner as Julian, languidly strolled toward us. But his physical aspects, and posture, were the only similarities between the two of them. While Julian’s face was soft and wise, this man was filled with youthful excitement.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you?” he asked, his focus on Finn. “I’ve heard you’ve been up to some exciting stuff!”
Finn watched him warily, but remained unmoved over me. I almost missed the hitch of his breath, which was the only indication of any discomfort or fear that he might have. “What do you want, Anthony? Can’t you see I’m busy at the moment?”
I had suspected the man’s identity, but the confirmation made my heart lurch. It was the first meeting between myself and my soon-to-be faux brother. And Finn had me trapped against a wall. What a world.
“Oh, yes.” Anthony reached us, his curious, brown eyes turning toward me for a moment before they trailed back to Finn. “I’d heard you found yourself a friend. Somehow. You should know that—”
“I’m not his friend!” I protested, ignoring the flash of hurt as it crossed Finn’s expression. Much more important than sparing Finn’s feelings was making sure that no one got any weird ideas about me. “He has me trapped against a wall. Does this look friendly to you?”
“I don’t know what you’re into.” Anthony shrugged. “Finn’s always been a bit strange. He has weird kinks that even Julian won’t touch.”
Kinks. “I’ve heard that before....” Why did it sound so familiar? But the way he phrased the statement caused me to recall my first foray into unrestricted Google access. Last night, and the very first thing I’d dared to look up. “You mean like BSDM? People actually do that for fun? Finn does that?”
I felt sick as the world faded around me. Of course Julian wouldn’t touch such depravity. But then reality crashed back into me, courtesy of almost falling to the ground. Finn had released my hands and stepped back, putting me between him and Anthony.
“What are you talking about? BDSM? I’ve already explained that it’s—”
Anthony inched closer to me, which was somehow comforting. And it was that which reminded me of my righteous indignation enough to interrupt Finn’s statement. “Titus went through my phone,” I informed him. “We know you’ve been tracking where I go and restricting my Google searches.”
“Finn.” Anthony grinned, sounding positively gleeful. “What in the world have you been up to?”
“This is none of your business, Anthony. I’m leaving.” Finn stepped back again. “I’ll talk to you later, Bianca.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.” I crossed my arms. He could communicate to the air for all I cared, but I wanted nothing to do with him.
“I don’t think so,” another voice interjected at the same instant, the sound causing my ex-friend to freeze in place.
I almost did as well, as my earlier preparedness had been unseated. No longer was I ready to face him. No longer were my plans perfected.
Besides that, how long had he been lurking about? If he was here the whole time, why hadn’t he stopped Finn earlier?
As if I needed another reason to dislike him.
A breath later, Bryce Dubois stepped from the adjoining classroom. His arms were crossed, and he wore a thunderous expression. In fact, he looked different than how he’d presented himself in any situation we’d been in before.
He was scary.
However, he was focused on Finn, not me. “I think you’ll have to talk to us sometime.”
“You!” Finn snarled, his glare entirely on my arch-nemesis. “What are you doing here? None of this is your business.”
Anthony appeared to be surprised to see Bryce as well, if the emotion behind his raised eyebrows could be interpreted correctly. But he didn’t radiate the same level of hatred that Damen, and now Finn, seemed to hold toward the man.
For the first time, I was curious—what had Bryce done to make both Finn and Damen hate him so much? Despite Damen’s story earlier, I didn’t imagine that it was all because of Bailey.
There had to be more to their story.
“You’re wrong.” Bryce touched his collar with a smug grin. “It became my business when you harassed my pupil.”
“I know exactly what you are to her. And don’t be so full of yourself. You’re not even supposed to be here, and you make a mediocre student-teacher.” Finn’s face was more passionate than ever before. “Bianca’s been complaining about you since the semester started. This has nothing to do with biology, and, therefore, nothing to do with you. So, go away.”
“Who said anything about biology?” Bryce didn’t seem to notice that Finn let slip I’d complained about him. “I’m on different business. Consider it supernatural teaching, of sorts. I’ve finally found my protégé.”
Oh my God. My breath hitched in horror as my blood turned to ice.
This was worse than anything I could have imagined. Bryce was clueless, and he had no idea that one day I was going to be his boss. I was the master. He would have to answer to my bidding.
Sure, keeping it secret was the plan, for some reason. And yes, it was true that Bryce might have been trying to be kind, without realizing his own days were numbered.
But still, it was too much.
“Are you serious?” Finn moved closer to me, crossing his arms. It almost seemed as though he was trying to hide me from Bryce’s view. “An Er Bashou doesn’t take on students. It’s not a part of our responsibilities. What are you plotting?”
“An Er Bashou also doesn’t hide from their quintet,” Bryce replied without pause, not answering Finn’s question. “My relationship with Miss Brosnan is not your concern. This is our realm. Do the others know you’re lurking about?”
“I’ve been here. It’s not like it’s a secret.” Finn tensed. “You all could have called me up at any time.”
“While this is fascinating, I also don’t care,” Anthony interjected, waving his hand. “I’m more interested to know your intentions toward my sister. I’ve heard she’s gotten into a mess because you abandoned her to the mercies of a vengeful spirit. That’s irresponsible of you.”
“You’re all being dramatic. You two need to leave me to my business,” Finn said, continuing to shield me from Bryce. His attention was so focused on the other man, he didn’t even respond to Anthony’s statement. “Everything would have been fine if Bianca had just taken her medication like she was supposed to.”
“Medication?” Anthony tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
Finn’s words reignited the fury burning inside me.
“No.” I pushed at his back until he moved to look at me. There was not even an ounce of shame in his eyes. “Everything would have been fine if you hadn’t lied to me from the beginning. If you hadn’t tried to convince me I was crazy. You should have listened to me when I came to you from the beginning.”
“I didn’t need to help you.” Finn frowned at me, his jaw tight. “If you would have stopped poking into things and just trusted me, you’d be fine. That particular spirit is harmless so long as you don’t capture its attention. If you’d taken your medication, it never would have noticed you. You never would have been in any danger—”
“It doesn’t matter if I stopped. It never worked anyway!” I stomped my foot. Cliché, but my frustration was bordering on explosive. “I told you there were things in that house. That they were trying to kill me. You ignored me. I’ve hidden these things from you for years because you wouldn’t listen. And now there’s an evil spirit trying to kill me.”
“Hold on,” Bryce interrupted, his tone cautious. “You, Finn Abernathy, messed up? What happened? You should have easily been able to tell if there was a malicious spirit about.”
“I didn’t mess up anything,” Finn argued stubbornly. “I checked it out personally. There was nothing there that would have harmed her.”
