Page 85 of Ashes and Lilies
“No,” I told him. “But it’s not from today.”
His forehead wrinkled as he watched me. Already, I could feel the rising heat. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“She’s been sexually abused,” I said. He stopped breathing, and I added, “She didn’t say anything outright, but the signs are pretty clear.”
I could see the fire burning in his eyes as he looked back to the house. “I suspected,” he said. “But I didn’t want to say anything unless I knew for sure.”
I crossed my arms. “What made you suspect?”
“Things she says, and her behavior. Plus, Finn told me,” Damen replied, pinching his nose. “Two years ago, he was looking for advice regarding a friend he’d thought had been assaulted. She refused help, and he had no idea how to approach her.”
“But he doesn’t have any friends,” I pointed out.
“Except Bianca,” Damen added. We would agree to disagree.
“What do you want to do about it?” I asked him.
We had to follow his lead, even though I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to track down the fucker and rip him to pieces, then put him back together and do it all over again. I wanted to make him die a painful death a million times over.
“Nothing yet,” Damen said. He touched his chest as he allowed his gaze to drift toward the house. “There’s not anything we can do unless she either comes to us or it comes out in a way that we can no longer pretend ignorance. We don’t even know the full picture. Until then, it’s too early to push her.”
I opened my mouth, but he cut me off. “Leave Finn alone.”
I frowned.
“You owe him that much, at least,” Damen continued.
“Then—” I began. I hated that he was right. A sense of helplessness began to turn with my rage, and there was nowhere for me to direct it. My attention moved to my hands; it would be so easy to find out everything we needed to know and take care of it. But now I couldn’t. “—what do we do now?”
“Follow her lead,” Damen replied. “She needs to have a sense of control while also learning that it’s okay to explore uncomfortable feelings. I’ll work on getting her to open up later.”
I looked at him again, and he narrowed his eyes. “What?” he asked.
“Aren’t you the one about to exorcise the ghost that she, very specifically, asked you to spare?” I pointed out.
Damen scowled. “That is different.” A chill shot down my spine as he crossed his arms, and a steady resolve settled over his frame. “She is in danger. There’ve already been two attempts to take her, and we’re no closer to bringing down Alexander Cole than we were at the start—and that is if he’s the one behind all this. Plus, we’ve no idea why they want her. She’s too kindhearted, and it will come back to hurt her in the end.”
He was right. It was almost always the same in every lifetime.
“I think my grandfather has figured out who she is,” I muttered.
“Gregory hasn’t,” Damen replied. “And Joe wouldn’t tell him —not yet.”
“No,” I agreed. “He wouldn’t.”
The old man would be more inclined to let everything play out and see how long it would take Gregory to realize it for himself—if only so he could hold the other man’s lack of situational awareness over his head later.
I knew this because that’s exactly what I would do.
Bianca POV
Finally, Bryce had begun to prove his worth.
Miles and I had surveyed Professor Hamway’s garden, and it seemed to be in decent order. Plus, the house wasn’t in complete disarray as most signs of the events from a few nights prior had been removed.
Still, it was odd, and there was an uncomfortable tenseness present as I watched Damen sharpen a knife from his ghostmurdering setup on the other side of the living room.
Titus had also arrived, but he and Julian were conversing with their backs turned to me near the fireplace. Meanwhile, Miles was slouched in his chair beside me.
