Page 107 of Hidden

I’d slapped my hand over his mouth, and my face engulfed in fire. “Hetoldyou?”

Finn’s cheeks darkened, and he jerked away from my touch. “I heard them talking about it. He thought it was funny, especially since Tu was a priest in many past lives. He said—”

“Miles was a priest?” I gasped, covering my own mouth. “But he’s a witch!” How could this be?

“He had also taken a vow chastity at one point in time.” Finn shrugged. “That’s why Damen and Titus were going to use your assumption to annoy him.”

“Damen is picking on Miles?” My racing heart began to slow. And, for a moment, it felt like we were back in high school again—gossiping together on the roof of the school.

“And Titus too,” Finn reminded me. “He’s not happy aboutThe Hobbit.”

Damen was being influenced by his affiliation with unsavory demonic beings, I was sure of it. But then, if Miles worshipped Satan, how did that work? Wouldn’t antagonizing Miles be a conflict of interest?

“This is exactly why you need to focus,” Finn said. “You’re already going off on a tangent. But without learning to harness your abilities, you’re not going to be able to determine what is part of your sensitivity and what you should ignore.”

I frowned. “Brayden said I need to compartmentalize my emotions. To distinguish my feelings and outside influences. I can’t trust what I feel. Now you’re saying I can’t believe in what Ithink.”

“No,” Finn answered. “What you think isyou, including your clairvoyance. But you’ll need to know how to sort your thoughts, to determine which items need to be followed up on.”

“But I research everything.” I was already one step ahead of him.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know.”

“Is that aproblemfor you, Mr. Stalker?” I couldn’t keep the derision from my voice. Why was he acting as though he was the one inconvenienced here. “No one asked you to sort through my search history.”

Finn shot me a wary look, then cleared his throat. “That’s why I’ll teach you, first, how to meditate. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you just bestill.”

“I’mstillall the time.” I didn’t want Finn to be my teacher. The weather was becoming cold, and I’d catch pneumonia if he made me sit under any waterfalls. “Why can’t Damen teach me? Julian won’t like this.”

“Do you honestly think Damen can sit near you and not be distracting?” Finn scoffed. “Wouldyoube able to focus with him breathing down your neck? If you tell Julian what we’re doing before you have control of it, he’llmake sureDamen is the one to teach you.”

A mental image of Damen holding Professor Hamway’s ruler flashed through my mind. Yes, he would be very stern. When he snapped into his professional mode, he was quite scary.

It would probably be for the best that Damen didn’t teach me a thing.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “How does someone meditate?”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Bianca

Changes

Finn’s instruction sucked.

I was bored after five minutes, and then he complained I was a terrible student. But Finn had no idea what he was doing, because I couldsobe calm and collected when the situation called for it. It wasn’t my fault meditating was impossible.

“Clear your mind,” he’d said. “Focus on breathing.”

That was impossible. Any time I attempted to still my thoughts,memoriesresurfaced. When that happened, it got harder to breathe. And, after a second, it became impossible to miss the very strange patterns that the moss spread out in over the stone.

So really, I was observant. And that was a commendable trait.

Finn didn’t understand. So it was almost a relief when he told me the lesson was over and to sneak back to bed.

Sunday passed with the same lackluster excitement as Saturday. The day began with a lesson with Brayden, during which neither of us brought up Kieran. Then there was a quiet lunch with Julian and Miles. Titus had been gone again, and the day ended with Damennot quitebeing ready to show me my new room.

Then Finn sentKianiato wake me up in the middle of the night in order to meet him.