Page 72 of Ghost
Jiayi’s mouth dipped. “Dark-haired, tall, muscular, attractive, good at sports, and majoring in pre-law? He has the highest GPA of the senior class, and is also the star of our soccer team. There’s been talk of him going professional. He’s here on both an academic and athletic scholarship.”
It sounded like it was the same Miles. But I didn’t know he was good at sports, or had good grades. But my Miles was all those other things, and the likelihood of there being another Miles Montrone was slim.
I nodded.
“Interesting.” Jiayi packed up her lunch. “I have to get to class. I only stopped because you seemed to be in trouble. I’ll see you Sunday.”
With that, she picked up her bag and little lunch box, and she left.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Miles
Darkness
I was late in meeting with Bianca, but it couldn’t be helped.
I had been pressured to meet with the Dubois brothers with Damen. It worked out that Brayden was on campus this morning, so there had been no better time for a group session. It had been uncomfortable, with Damen and Bryce glaring at each other and making snide remarks.
But in the end, we had reached an agreement. On two matters, actually.
First, Brayden had been assigned to look into any inconsistencies in the death reports for James and Rosanne Cole. As well as for any indication of who the girl haunting the house might be.
While we were meeting, he pulled up an initial history of the house itself. With the town’s records coming up entirely clean. Not even the names of the previous owner before Aine Hamway was listed.
Completely at odds with what Caleb Weaver had discovered.
Brayden had been happy to pick up this case. Once he found a mystery, he stayed on top of it with a single-minded determination that would rival all others.
Then there was also this: Brayden would look into Bianca’s background. No one had to ask him. He enjoyed research, and loathed not having answers to everything. Once mentioned that she had no clue of her parentage, he’d taken it upon himself to take care of her. If anyone could find out who she was, it would be him.
Then there was the second matter.
Bianca needed training. She was extremely powerful, but had no idea how to actually use her abilities. Unfortunately, while Braydencouldhelp her, there was someone with a bit more free time. And who could pull rank over the jiangjun to claim this responsibility.
That person was Bryce Dubois. As the Wood er bashou—the top ranking official—there was no one left to defy his wishes when it came to this topic.
However, I didn’t know how this was going to work. Damen had, gleefully, informed me that Bianca hated Bryce. Knowing Bryce, it was his fault. He had probably tried to impose his will over something stupid. He was so used to getting his way the move had become habitual for him.
Besides that, he wasn’t the best teacher. He normally spent his time making fun of his students behind closed doors, and picking at their imperfections. I wasn’t even certain why he was at this school.
I hoped he’d learn to be more sensitive. Bianca wasn’t in a mental place to be able to deal with his obnoxious behavior. I was worried about last night. Even with being empathic and not having control of that ability, there was something off with her behavior. And her abilities.
When she flashed yesterday, it was surprising, but not.
We had, after all, already stated she felt potentially powerful enough to be tongjun. And most high-ranking fae could do it. But knowing, and seeing it in action, were two entirely different things.
It also appeared as though she had no idea of what she’d done, she had been very upset at the time. And this morning, she didn’t seem to be affected by last night at all. I wondered if she even remembered what had happened. If she had, wouldn’t she have said something?
Damen warned us last night she might be blocking certain memories. So as far as we knew, she might only remember talking and going to sleep.
What happened to make her respond to my words in such a way? I had been completely joking when I stated she’d be hunted down and killed. But her reaction made me afraid to think about which part of my statement might have triggered her. The fear on her face… this went beyond anxiety.
I almost didn’t want to know. And I wasn’t sure why. Was it because it would hurt her to talk about it? Or because, if I knew, I’d lose control and accidently hurt someone.
Keeping my magic under control was difficult at the best of times, even with Damen’s help. With Bianca, I had hope there would be salvation. But if something had hurt her…
The thought made it dangerously tempting to cross that line. It would be so simple.
