Page 38 of Ghost
“I beg to differ.” Julian narrowed his eyes at Miles. “The true nature of a person doesn’t change overnight. Sometimes people are better at hiding their darkness. You cannot trust Finn or his motives.”
“No, I agree.” Miles pinched his nose. “Finn always had narcissistic tendencies. But he was functional, and allowed himself to be controlled. He worked well with others—he needs it. But now he’s been without his group for so long…” Miles finished, levelling a look in Julian’s direction.
Julian pressed his hand to his forehead. “I’ll talk to him again.”
I had no idea what they were talking about now, but I couldn’t ignore the tug in my chest. Finn in those dayshadbeen different. Commanding and controlling, yes. But he had also been curious and fun. I had thought we related on many topics.
That kinship was one reason I tried to save him in the first place.
“Finn wasn’t always this way,” I agreed. “After what happened with my parents, he always seemed depressed. I always avoided the topic because it started a fight. There were times when I felt like he regretted it.”
I felt tiny under their reproachful looks—they didn’t agree with me. “I’m not saying that what he did was okay. I’m only telling youwhyI continued to trust him afterwards. I never thought that he was actually manipulating me.”
“You were definitely being manipulated. Don’t doubt that for a moment.” Julian glanced at Miles again. “Did we find out how Finn and Bianca’s parents are connected?”
“Titus is still looking into it.” Miles’ gaze shifted to me. “Do you recall anything? Such as why your parents accepted only Finn as your friend? Did it ever seem like there was an unusual relationship there?”
I numbly shook my head. Since the weekend, I had brainstormed for anything odd. But nothing stood out. That was why it had been such a surprise to consider that my father had possibly worked with Finn to track my phone.
Speaking of, it had been over a day since I’d spoken to my mother. I had refused to touch my phone since the revelation. The boys had suggested I continue with my normal routine. But I couldn’t force myself to open that line of communication again.
Hearing her voice would only hurt.
“Bianca?” Julian’s thumb had returned to tracing patterns on my hand. “What’s wrong?”
Blinking out of my thoughts, I realized there was no use worrying about it now. With the boys’ help, I’d be free to live for myself anyway. “We got off topic with Finn. You’ve still never explained why Kasai speaking upset you.”
Julian’s lips pressed in a line; he was unhappy I avoided his question. But, thankfully, he didn’t push the issue. “We aren’t upset that hecando it. We’re surprised. It’s not something that should be possible right now.”
Noticing my confused look, Miles piped in. “Our abilities are dependent on each other. We are four parts of a whole, which make up a cycle. Damen gives me strength, and I affect Titus. Titus, in turn, helps Julian. If Damen is strong, then we’re all stronger. If he’s weakened, the same happens to us.”
“Why does everything start with Damen?” I wondered. “And how can he control his abilities? Something to do with diet and exercise?”
Miles snickered, but quickly masked his smile. “There’s nothinghecan do to improve his strength, no matter how much that haunts him. Because the reality is—he’s our weak link.”
“It’s a cycle,” Julian repeated Miles’ earlier words. “But our cycle is incomplete. We are meant to be five, not four. I’d lend my support to a fifth person, who in turn would circle back to Damen. With a complete cycle the possibilities are limitless. Our fifth died a long time ago, when we were very young. Shikigami mindspeak with their summoners. But Damen, by himself, cannot provide his shikigami with enough support to physically speak in this realm.”
I thought about Finn, and wondered how many other onmyoji existed. “Couldn’t someone stronger than Damen, another onmyoji, be able to help him? Or with powers similar to the person who died?”
They both shook their heads without hesitation, and Julian responded, “First, the person who died was a medium. His role is unique in our world, as are our roles—only one such person can be born into this position every second generation. Which brings up the second point. Therearea fair amount of onmyoji. Abilities are passed on within genetics. Anyone with a particular type of ability originate from common ancestors, which makes them easily traced. We actually have a library for this information. It is rare to find someone with any sort of ability without knowing their family. However, thereisno onmyoji stronger than Damen. He has a mark that establishes him as the archetype of his field.”
Julian’s tone when he said the word ‘archetype’ made me pause. And I decided against pressing for details about the trait Damen might possess.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this was why Damen—and the rest of the boys too, by extension—couldn’t date.
Outside of that, something else stood out to me.
“You can trace a person’s family by their abilities?”
Chapter Fifteen
Damen
Lines
“Are you doing alright? You should be getting tired,” Titus asked, his voice impassive. But I knew him well enough to read the underlying thread of concern.
That was one thing about Titus you could depend on. He might have been angry at me—and it was deserved, because I was angry at me too—but he still cared. And to answer his statement: Yes, I was drained.
