Chapter 15
Miles was already deep asleep by the time I mustered the courage to leave the bed. I couldn’t go through the door—light from the hallway seeped in through the gap at the bottom, and Julian might come home any minute. I liked him, but right now, I needed to be alone.
That left only one option: the window. It was heavy, but Miles didn’t stir. I grumbled, my mind drifting to thoughts of how to get back at Damen.
Structural integrity, my butt. There was no thought behind this disrepair. I knew the method behind his madness—he was too lazy to update his home. Hopefully, though, the roof was sturdier than it appeared. With my luck, it would cave under me, and I would land directly on top of someone’s head.
The tiles felt rough under my bare feet as I edged out the window. The waning moon provided just enough light to see, and I carefully made my way across the roof to the ledge.
I noticed that Damen’s bedroom light was still on, and I intended to give him privacy. But I was close enough to glimpse him through the shadows. He stood before a floor-length mirror, his reflection clear in the dim light.
Fury burned in his eyes, and an eerie, almost demonic aura surrounded him. The angles of his face looked sharper, and the darkness on his face had deepened. And, if I wasn’t mistaken, he seemed to be having a heated conversation with himself.
My brows furrowed, concern lacing through me. I would have to help him with his personal crisis later.
With that thought in mind, I pressed from the roof, trusting the branches below me to break my fall. When I successfully landed, I hurried away from the house.
I already knew where to go.
The first time I was here, I’d sensed it—a place where a creek cut through the forest and the moss grew deep. When I’d run from Damen a few days ago, it was the opposite direction. My thoughts had been in turmoil. It hadn’t crossed my mind to seek refuge there.
But this time, I was prepared.
It wasn’t so far. No one would ever even notice.
The clearing was no larger than one of the university’s lecture rooms. It was surrounded by thick foliage on every side—like natural walls separating this land from the outside world.
An old hunting cabin stood in the center, next to the creek.
It was little more than weathered two-by-fours and a tin roof, with no glass in the small window or door in the rough frame.
It looked old, as if a strong gust of wind would cause the entire framework to come tumbling down.
I found myself drawn to it despite the possibility of it collapsing on my head .
Moonlight filtered through the trees, and I approached the building. But the illumination didn’t reach the floor.
My heart was pounding in my ears, and a nervous energy was in the air.
But still, I was curious. Bracing myself, I stepped into the darkness.
I’d taken a few steps when my foot brushed against something soft. The object pulled back from me, throwing me off balance. The world tilted, and a strangled scream escaped my lips as I fell onto a warm, rigid form.
Arms closed around my back, triggering the panic hovering on the edge of my awareness.
My voice had barely escaped before a hand pressed over my mouth, throwing me into helpless silence as I was pushed hard into the ground.
“Bianca?” Finn’s sleepy voice broke through the blackness overwhelming my thoughts.
As he pulled himself up, and me along with him, his hand dropped from my mouth.
But he made no move to release my shoulders, and when he spoke next, his voice was only marginally more awake. “What are you doing out here?”
“Finn!” My voice broke as I stared up at him. My nerves were still on edge, but my heart rate was returning to normal, and my breathing evened out.
He wasn’t himself, otherwise he would have let me go already. We’d never been comfortable with physical affection in the past.
“Are you crazy?” I asked. “Why is silencing me your first reaction?” And besides that, “Why are you sleeping in the woods?”
Damen had been displeased with him. Perhaps…
“Is Damen making you sleep out here?” I whispered, almost horrified, because that was a bit much, even for someone like Finn.
His attention moved over my face. Whatever he saw there caused his mouth to dip, and he let me go.
“No, he did not.” Finn crossed his arms. His bangs fell over his face, brushing the top rim of his glasses. But he continued to study me. “I was doing something else and fell asleep.”
That was dangerous. It was chilly—he might have frozen to death.
Not that I cared.
“Why would you come out here in the middle of the night?” I wondered.
Finn pressed his lips together, and there was judgment in his expression. “Really?” he asked, pointedly watching me.
My face heated.
“That’s different!” I protested. I loathed this part of him—the times he’d call me out and make me feel six inches tall. “There could be an elephant out here!”
“An elephant,” Finn repeated, the amusement fading from his voice. “Ah, yes. I had forgotten about your plan .”
“Don’t say it like that.” The warmth spread down my chest. How dare he forget—he should have been spending every waking moment visualizing the moment of his doom. “And don’t make fun of me!”
“Who says I’m making fun of you?” he drawled. “But, really, why are you out here? I’d have thought my brother wouldn’t let you out of his sight. Why do you think he hasn’t argued that you’re sleeping with Miles?”
Damen. I narrowed my eyes.
Yes, that reminded me. Someone ought to be aware, “Did you know he talks to himself in the mirror?”
“Damen?” Finn tilted his head. “Yes, he does that sometimes. ”
Funny, Finn didn’t seem to be concerned. Was everyone in his family just very odd? “And you think this is normal? He seemed very angry.”
He shrugged, something distant entering his expression. Then he pulled from me, moving to his feet. And without another word, he left the building.
I scrambled up and followed him.
Finn never walked away from a conversation. He wanted me to come. And sure enough, he was already sitting cross-legged at the edge of the water.
I sat on my knees and tucked the white gown around my legs.
“It works best with mirrors or slow waters. But this will work for a demonstration,” Finn replied, frowning at one of the small pools.
“What are you going to show me?” I leaned forward.
“One of the ways an onmyoji can scry.” Finn pressed on my shoulder, forcing me back. “We can use it for fortune-telling.”
“You see the future?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief from my voice. “Since when?”
Finn shot me an even look. “Since always.”
“Are you still learning?” I asked. “Because you had to know I’d hate you. Plus, we almost died.”
His gaze returned to the water. “I’ve always known you were going to hate me, Bianca. But seers also don’t know everything. We can only glimpse bits and pieces. However, what happened with the Cole family is my fault. I should have been paying more attention.”
My breath caught. “Is that an apology?”
“No.” Finn didn’t even hesitate.
I should have known. Finn would never apologize. But I still had to ask. “What about the fact that you lied to me? Do you admit that you were wrong? ”
“I wasn’t wrong,” he said.
My temper flared, heat rising to my face.
But then he glanced at me, his mouth a thin line. “But I do regret having to do it.”
The quasi-admission made me pause. It wasn’t an apology, but from Finn, it was an olive branch.
Should I accept it? I wasn’t sure. This was why I’d been avoiding talking to him. His betrayal still ran thick through my blood. But as things unfolded, it was becoming harder to keep him as the sole focus of my anger.
“What is scrying?” I asked.
“It’s the practice of focusing your attention on an object to limit distractions from the outside world.
When you’re concentrating, it becomes easier to use your third eye.
It’s also easier for onmyoji to communicate between realms with reflective surfaces.
” Finn gestured toward the water. “I use water, usually in a dark bowl. Damen likes scrying with mirrors.”
“So Damen was talking to someone?” I asked.
“Sure,” Finn replied, shrugging. “If he was angry, then it was probably Belial. He’s a bit kinder to the other Overseers. But Belial and Damen fight a lot.”
“What’s an Overseer?” I asked. “I thought you were in charge.”
“I’m Damen’s Er Bashou.” Finn squared his shoulders. “I’m an Officer. My focus is in this realm. However, four Overseers run things in the Underworld for Damen. He checks in on them from time to time.”
“The Underworld?” Damen had mentioned this before. “Does he go there frequently?”
“He can, but hasn’t in this lifetime,” Finn answered. “It takes a certain amount of power to transverse between realms, and he’s been limited. ”
A sense of foreboding filled me. “Or he was .”
Finn frowned, glaring out over the water. “He still is.” He sounded sullen. “At least until we can test your bond with Kiania.”
He was going to talk about Kiania? My fists tightened over my knees. “What about—”
“Damen is taking everything personally, so he hasn’t thought this through. What this bond has potentially changed ,” Finn continued. “I’ve been doing research myself over the last few days. You’re a strategist. You always have been. But you’ve never been clairvoyant before.”
“What in the world are you talking about?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“‘ What should you do if you think you’ll be used in a cannibalistic ritual ,’” Finn quoted. “Because of recent events, I’ve started reviewing your past browser history.”
“That is not how I phrased it!” I couldn’t believe he was bragging about this now. “And it was a real concern!”
“Why?” Finn asked. “What made you think something like that would happen?”
“I had reasons!” I snapped. I didn’t need to explain myself.
My heart was racing as I panicked. What else had I searched? Did he know about my illegally acquired reading material?