Page 8 of Ashes and Lilies
“What are you up to, baby girl?” Damen materialized behind me. He looped his arms around my neck and rested his chin on my head. “Are you having a problem with Mr. Weaver?”
I blinked, stunned by his sudden appearance and his awareness of what was happening. Wasn’t he supposed to be inside doing investigative work?
Was he stalking me again?
“An officer told me you were talking to someone,” Damen said, speaking directly in my ear.
I bit my lip, ignoring the warmth radiating from his chest. How did he know what I was thinking? I hoped he couldn’t read minds. Considering the thoughts I’d been having lately, that would be embarrassing.
“And no, I cannot read your mind. Your every thought shows on your face. It’s adorable and endearing.” Now, he sounded amused, and his chest shook in silent laughter. “You must be terrible at poker.”
That… jerk! How dare he use his psychological magic to do things. He’d never know if I was good at poker because I’d never play with him in this lifetime.
I stepped away from his warm embrace and turned to face him. “How would you know what my face looked like anyway? You weren’t even facing me,” I said.
“Your body language is also very expressive. Did you know that even the most minuscule twitch of your muscles can tell a story?” Damen smirked, stepping closer to me. His finger touched my cheek. “And I have every intention of becoming fluent in how you speak. I’ve been working on it already. I believe I’ve been doing rather well, actually.”
My mind screamed in both horror and embarrassment. But mostly horror. What was he saying? It was so… so…
Stupid.
He had to be testing my resolve. There was no other explanation for this over-the-top behavior. He couldn’t really be flirting with me—it was too terrible.
But how long would this continue? Would I be shunned if I succumbed and ruined the boundaries of our friendship? I hadn’t been with them very long, but they were nicer friends than Finn had been.
I would simply have to get better.
“Oh, come on, you lovesick fool.” Mr. Weaver’s chastising voice cut through my thoughts. “Stop dilly-dallying with the Abernathy spawn. There’s pork to be examined. You can do whatever foolish girly thing you want afterward.”
Although Damen couldn’t hear his words, the heat was still flooding my face. The headache returned with a vengeance. I turned to Mr. Weaver, unable to stop the annoyance in my voice. “Will you stop being so mean to me? Why can’t you just go away?”
Pain exploded through my skull, causing a white light to spike in my vision. All senses faded. When I returned to myself and processed what was happening, I was crouched on all fours, puking my guts out.
“Bianca!” Damen exclaimed as he held my shoulders. As my barfing slowed, he kept me steady against him. He sounded distraught and a bit unsure of what to do—evident in his clumsy but very sweet attempts at wiping my mouth with a cloth handkerchief.
As I stopped, he pulled me into his arms and sat cross-legged on the ground. I had no energy to think—except maybe to wonder what he thought aboutthisbody language. He didn’t remark on it, though; his voice was soothing as he rocked and cradled me against him. “Baby, don’t worry. You’re okay now. I’ll take care of it.”
Baby?
What happened to my other nickname? This one was even more infantizing. I was no one’s ‘baby.’ But I couldn’t begrudge him taking such liberties… the man was now well acquainted with my bodily fluids. That kind of bond had a way of breaking down barriers.
Then, the last part of his statement was registered. He’d take care of what?
My blood turned to ice as I saw that my suspicions were confirmed. The shikigami—in all its flamboyant bird glory—floated between Mr. Weaver and us.
He couldn’t exorcise the ghost! He’d said he wouldn’t do that around me!
Mr. Weaver gazed coolly at the bird, neither seemingly afraid nor surprised. The old man turned his attention from the bird back to me and frowned. “Are you quite finished making a fool of yourself?”
The bird bristled, and Damen’s arms tightened around me. “Don’t talk to her like that!”
I glanced at him. This was the second time I’d seen him interact with a spirit, but the first time I’d seen him speak to one directly.
So, I was right. I narrowed my eyes at the shikigami—it had something to do with this.
“Hey.” Damen squeezed my shoulder. “Is he giving you trouble?”
This was not the first time that I noticed Damen as eager to jump into a fight as his younger brother. Who did he think he was, my bodyguard?
