Page 55 of Shadows of Nightshade
I already knew about the monitoring. That was a condition of me getting the phone.
That wasn’t so bad.
But Titus wasn’t finished. “There’s a program running in the background, too—it’s custom-made. Certain words—or phrases—trigger it to run when they are searched on the browser, and the program randomly displays misleading information.”
I couldn’t breathe. Misleading… information? “W-what?”
Damen was deathly still. “What is it filtering?”
“I haven’t been able to break the pattern yet,” Titus responded. “But it seems like anything with a violent or sexual nature. There’s even some paranormal terms.”
“So it’s basically a custom parental control?” Julian asked. “I didn’t think he knew how to write programs—isn’t he majoring in criminal justice?”
“No,” Damen shook his head, and the mask of his anger fell away with it. “He hasn’t cared about that in a long time.”
“He’s majoring in electrical engineering,” I said.
How could he not know Finn’s major? Even though he’d betrayed me, I couldn’t help but feel a smidgen of sadness for the blond jerk.
“It’s an older program,” Titus argued, shaking his head. “I don’t know if he’d have been able to write this on his own. Could he have gotten help from family?” He looked at Damen when he said this, and my heart sank further.
Family.
I touched my fingers together in front of my lips, barely able to feel the breath of my words. “My father might know how to do it,” I offered. “He’s a security engineer.”
“But,” Julian interrupted. “Do you think he’d help Finn?”
It wasn’t a hard question. Would they really work together in order to run my life? Did they really think I was that pathetic?
I nodded, even though it hurt my heart to admit it. But, “Why?”
“Bianca—” Damen crossed the space between us and sat beside me. He pulled my hands, holding them, as he asked, “Can you think of any reason why they would go to this level to shelter you? Is there anything in your past we should know about? We want to help you.”
“My past…” I pulled back, but Damen didn’t let go. “You know about my past. It’s fine.” The heat was rising in my face, but there was nothing to be said.
Damen sighed, and a muscle in my thigh twitched. His strong frame tightened, and the lines around his lips deepened. He didn’t believe me—and I didn’t blame him. “I guess it makes sense for you not to trust us.”
He knew. He was disappointed.
He was going to end it—
“Bianca, I am an onmyoji,” he said suddenly. The flames from the fireplace threw orange shadows across his complexion, and something in his features shifted, becoming more pointed. “And within the five practices, I practice onmyodo.”
A pointed silence took over the space, and I tilted my head, watching him.
Waiting for something more.
“O… kay?” That was it? Well, that was boring. “What’s an onm…” The rest of the world fell from my tongue—it was going to take practice—and a lot more times hearing it—before I would be able to get it right. “That thing?”
And what did he mean, five practices?
Damen did, in fact, seem mildly offended, as evidenced by the distinctive turn of his mouth, but braved on with his explanation, nonetheless. “Onmyodo is an occult-based science-based in Taoism and other Chinese-based sciences. Most of us have a familiar, or shikigami, that we summon during spiritual warfare. Our practitioners vary in skill and focus—including tarot reading, fortunetelling, and using non-human spirits as familiars—but I am an expert in all above areas due to my title.”
There was a catch in the air, trepidation. This was the subject that the boys were hesitant to broach.
I could feel it too, but I was sure, for a different reason. Despite the dire mood, my blood was beginning to sing in an excited rhythm, and my breath echoed in my ears.
“What title?” I asked. Was it what made him so special?
