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Brayden jumped to his feet as Miles led me into the kitchen.

“Good morning!” he greeted as he bounded to my side, away from the sunny breakfast nook where he and Bryce had been conversing before my arrival. They were still wearing their pajamas, which made me feel less self-conscious about Titus’s boxers.

“How are you feeling?” Brayden asked, bouncing slightly as he stopped in front of me.

“Fine,” I answered, my voice almost a whisper. I clenched my fists as my shoulders tensed. Bryce—and Brayden, too—were my older brothers.

I wanted to ask them what they thought—what they knew. But I also didn’t want to know.

Did Bryce know who I was when I asked why my family didn’t want me? Did he think I sounded stupid?

Brayden raised his eyebrow at my response, and for a brief instant, his expression darkened as he glanced over me. But then he pushed his sleep-tossed curls from his face, rubbing his eyes. When he lowered his hands, the look vanished .

“What’s wrong, Bianca?” he asked, grabbing my hand. My attention drifted to where he held me; if I wasn’t mistaken, his hand was shaking, too.

So, even though my skin prickled, I didn’t pull away.

“Those don’t look like your clothes,” he said. “Bryce said you didn’t want anything from the Griers. Does that mean you need to go shopping?”

“Yes,” I replied, allowing him to guide me to the table. The bounce seemed to return to his step as we moved, and he led me to a seat between him and Bryce. Hopefully, he didn’t notice that I pulled my hand back into my lap when he let me go.

“I—” I began, studying the empty placemat. “I’ll be fine, though; I have money.”

“Do you?” Bryce asked, lowering the delicate coffee cup from his lips. “Since when?”

I turned my head and glared at him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Bryce replied, raising his eyebrow. He did not seem to fear me. “You’re the one who said you were poor .”

I pursed my lips. Did I? I didn’t recall this conversation. But no matter.

“I’ll be okay,” I assured them as Miles, who’d wandered off when we entered the room, returned and placed a coffee before me.

He ruffled my hair before turning back to the stove.

I wasn’t sure what he was making, but it smelled like bacon was involved.

As Brayden glanced after him, I added, “Bryce will give me my money.”

Bryce, who’d begun sipping his coffee, choked and began to cough. It took a moment for him to compose himself, but when he did, he shot me an alarmed look. “What?”

Playing stupid, was he? I wouldn’t be fooled. “Damen told me that since you’re my Er Bashou, you’ve been in charge of my funds. I want that money.”

“Oh,” he said, pushing his coffee away. “You can’t have it.”

“Why not?” Did he spend it on something stupid? Titus said he had enemies. Perhaps he dabbled in illegal things. That might be why his luck was terrible.

“Because no one can know you’re the Xing,” Miles replied nonchalantly as he continued to cook. “Bryce can’t access those funds without a reason.”

My heart dropped. My plans were ruined. How was I supposed to get clothing and everything now? Without my money, I had nothing.

Miles was studying me. His expression was sympathetic. “You know that I have no problem paying for—”

“No,” I cut him off. This was not a decent long-term plan.

“You know—” Brayden linked his hands under his chin. There was an air of nervous energy surrounding him, and his eyes searched mine. “—our family is—”

“No,” I refused again. My voice came out harsher than intended. “I am not taking money from them.”

Brayden frowned, lowering his hands. “But it’s your money! Our father has always set aside an allowance for three—”

“I don’t want it.” I pushed back my chair and dug my nails into the table. My stomach churned painfully. “I don’t want anything to do with it.”

“But why?” Brayden sounded genuinely distraught, and it made guilt rush through me.

“Isn’t it obvious?” My heart was racing, my earlier fears flooding back into me. The prophecy changed nothing. I used to think knowing why I’d been abandoned would help, but now it was worse. “He gave me away.”

I couldn’t blame Bryce for this. He wasn’t more than a handful of years older than me. If my parents had wanted to keep me, they would have found a way to make it work.

“Bianca,” Brayden began. “What are you—”

“Don’t make it worse in your imagination than it is. He was a bit distracted when you were born,” Bryce cut in, voice as smooth as ever.

My knuckles were turning white, but Bryce continued before I could speak. “But we are married. Use my account, and we’ll return the funds once you access your savings.”

Bryce still had that refined look to him despite his beaten face. No shame radiated from him, and he returned to sipping his coffee.

“This is still so weird,” Brayden said, laying his head over his arms. The tension fled from his frame, and he latched on to the new topic. “Did Dad say anything about you marrying her?”

Bryce shrugged. “He thinks it’s stupid. But he understands. Though—” He glanced at me. “There’s the matter of your Biology class. I’ve canceled everything for today. This afternoon, I need to go before the administration to pretend to plead with Mr. Abernathy for my job—”

“Hold on.” I held up my hand. “Damen?”

“Dean Abernathy.” Bryce’s brows furrowed.

“Finn still hasn’t told you? His father is the top shareholder and superintendent of our college.

The Abernathy family owns several educational establishments, including the primary and secondary schools that you attended.

Dean knows who you are, of course. Damen told him last week. ”

I gaped at Bryce. Finn had never even hinted…

“Finn’s dad owns the college?” I repeated, recalling past events. “Is this how Finn could close off portions of the library? Or manipulate the teacher’s schedules?”

“Partially.” Bryce frowned. “I’ve spent some time with him since the semester started. He’s admitted to having some skill in hacking these days, which makes sense. Although it was a bit surprising, considering his interests don’t normally lie in that direction.”

“How does that make sense?” My voice rose an octave. How could Bryce say something like this so casually? “It doesn’t make sense to me!”

“Finn’s mother, Rhea, is the founder and CEO of a global internet conglomerate.

She’s a genius in software engineering,” Bryce said.

“But neither Finn nor Damen were interested in their businesses. Damen is terrible with technology, and Finn used to follow Damen around everywhere. When Damen decided to focus on law enforcement, Finn wanted to be with him. But when Finn contracted with his shikigami, everything changed.”

“What…” I began. I’d known that Finn once wanted to be the chief of police. But I’d never known why. I also knew Damen and Finn used to be close. When we first met, Finn gushed about him constantly.

“What does his shikigami have to do with anything?” I asked.

“Kiania was one of Huo’s most frequently contracted shikigami,” Miles said, sliding some serving plates onto the table.

He pushed my chair back toward the table before he slipped into the seat opposite mine.

“No one outside Huo can sustain a connection with it, although many onmyoji have died trying. Kiania expected to be contracted in this life, but Damen decided to contract with Kasai instead. We thought it was over, but no one expected Finn to contract with Kiania, and since his ceremony was private, no one was there to stop them. Once a contract is established, only the shikigami or onmyoji can change the terms.”

“Finn refused to break the contract.” Bryce cut in as he spooned scrambled eggs onto my plate, and I began to eat as he continued, “He stubbornly insisted that he was strong enough, but everyone was afraid he was going to die. His health declined, and his parents fought. Dean couldn’t convince Finn to change his mind.

Rhea is a divination master, but she only knew things would eventually work.

Over summer break, they divorced because they couldn’t agree.

Damen continued to live with his father.

Finn began to attend one of the sister schools while living with his mother. ”

“I was out of the country, but I heard he was in pretty bad shape.” Miles pushed the bacon toward Bryce. “But eventually, Finn pulled through and can maintain the contract now. No one questioned how because since then, he pulled away from his quintet, our group, and wouldn’t associate with anyone.”

Bryce was stacking bacon on my plate. My dish was packed in front of me, but a question lingered in the back of my mind that made it hard to focus.

“Wasn’t it my fault that he hid from everyone?” I whispered. “We both transferred into the school around the same time. I started a few weeks after the year began.”

Bryce, who’d begun to butter my toast, froze, and three sets of eyes focused on me. “How did you become friends with the lout anyway?” he asked finally, putting the knife away.

“So—” There was something I needed to know before I could answer that question. “A shikigami that’s actively sucking the life away from an onmyoji wouldn’t happen to look like a dark shadowy figure and feel like a demon, would it?”

“Maybe,” Bryce replied, looking at me evenly. “They’re a bit more unstable than shikigami in equal partnerships, although there’s always a demonic undertone. Why?”

“But they’re not demons,” Miles interjected, and when Bryce and Brayden shot him a look, he added bristling, “Well, they’re not! Damen doesn’t appreciate the stereotypes.”

Well, that cleared up a lot. Now, everything Finn had been whining about was beginning to make much more sense. He and I would have to have a very important discussion later.

“It’s fine,” I told them and grabbed my fork. “No reason to worry.”

“You’ve met Kiania.” Bryce placed his hand on mine. “When?”

How dare he ask me a direct question!