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“That’s settled then.” Damen smiled, and the moment shattered. He sat back with a confident, busy air as he flicked lint from his sleeve. “Then we’ll get started tonight. We’ll be there together, of course—all of us. But it will work out, as you don’t seem to be overly affected. So we can get right to it. I’ll ask Julian to pick up Chinese food to save time.”

This was all happening so fast.

He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like Chinese? That’s a shame. I’ve been craving some moo goo gai pan. Well, pizza is fine too, I suppose.”

What in the world was he talking about? I blinked at him, stunned. “But—”

“But we’re friends now, or did you change your mind already?” He seemed genuinely worried.

I did want to be friends. I shook my head.

“Well, friends don’t let friends be haunted by vengeful spirits.” He flashed me a triumphant grin.

I’d raised my finger, even though I had no idea why. I didn’t know what to say. I’d wanted help, but this… I was pretty sure I’d been outmaneuvered in some way.

“So, baby girl—” Damen sounded so smug.

I squirmed under the weight of his attention. What did he want? Plus, he was still using that terrible nickname. If I was going to be his friend, I didn’t think it was appropriate for him to be calling me ‘baby girl.’

“I might be pushing the boundaries of our budding friendship by asking, but why aren’t you afraid of me?” His tone was flirty, but his gray eyes had turned serious.

“Um…” Again, his bluntness left me stumped. I had been afraid of him—at least through the whole vengeful, potentially-being-murdered ordeal. But I also hadn’t been.

Not really.

Should I be? “Why?”

Was I going to die? It didn’t feel like it. And I’d faced enough near-death experiences to know when someone was a threat.

Damen Abernathy really wasn’t. Besides, we’d shook on our friendship. Kind of.

“Because I’m Damen.” And when I didn’t answer, he scowled. “Damen Abernathy.”

“Yeah.” The Abernathy family wasn’t that special. That’s what Finn told me, at least. “What about it?”

We were going to have to work on his ego. It could be my contribution to our friendship.

“You…” His lips turned down in a pout. “You really have no idea, do you?”

“What are you talking about?” I tilted my head, the early stirrings of betrayal turning in my stomach. Was he super important? “Are you going to tell me?”

“Soon,” he glared at his knees. “Your problems take precedence. Has anything new happened with the haunting since we last spoke? What do you feel?”

“Feel…” I bit my bottom lip. I hadn’t said anything about my abilities.

He shrugged. “When there’s a spirit nearby—what information are you feeling from them?”

How did he know?

“You do feel ghosts, right?” Damen looked like a man clinging to forced patience. What had disturbed him so?

“Y-yes,” I answered instinctively and nodded. I was both overwhelmed and relieved. He didn’t even find this to be even remotely weird, but rather, something expected. I could talk to him. “I saw a girl in the bedroom mirror last night. She told me to run.”

“She told you to run?” Damen glanced back at me. “Why?”

“I-I don’t know,” I admitted. A thought pulled at my consciousness. “But I think there’s more than that spirit now. It’s confusing, and there’s a lot of conflicting information. It’s hard to organize everything.”

Damen was writing on his clipboard. It was easier to think when his attention wasn’t solely focused on me. “We’ll figure it out,” he said. “Were you at the library to research the house?”

“Yes,” I admitted. “I wanted to try, but I wasn’t sure how—”

My statement was cut off as the double doors slammed open.

“Damen!” Miles stormed into the room. He was completely disheveled as he began to pace in front of the fireplace. He didn’t even glance in our direction as he tugged at his burnt-orange scarf. “I’ve been looking everywhere, but I haven’t been able to find—”

His worried rant ended when he spotted me, and I hid my lower face inside my turtleneck sweater.

Why was he looking at me like that ?

“You’re here!” he said. And before I could blink, he was already sitting beside me on the couch. “Did you get my note? Did you like the flowers?”

My face heated, and my stomach fluttered.

“Thank you,” I answered shyly. “I loved the flowers.”

“Good.” His face brightened in a cheerful grin. “Hyacinths mean ‘I’m sorry’ in the language of flowers.”

Somehow my skin grew hotter. However, my anxiousness melted as, after a moment, I was lost in Miles’s wholesome chocolate-brown eyes.

“I know,” I heard myself saying. “I’m a biology major. I love botany.”

My heart turned to lead the second I said it. I was being rude.

Yet Miles didn’t seem to think so. He sat up straighter, watching me as stars appeared in his eyes. “You like plants too?”

“Too?” I repeated. “You’re a science major?” I had never seen him around the department before, but the semester was still young.

And it wasn’t like I knew everyone.

“No, I’m majoring in pre-law,” he said. He tilted his head and gave me a curious look. It was almost as if he expected me to know this, but he took my ignorance in stride. “I’m focused on environmental law, though. Plants are a passion of mine.”

I didn’t know how it was possible for him to become even more attractive, but it had happened.

“So, what’s going on with you two?” Miles glanced toward Damen. “Are you going to have a slumber party after all?”

Damen snorted.

I was sure there was something behind Miles’s question, but his words had stirred a longing within me. “Slumber party…” I repeated. That was a rite of passage I hadn’t really partaken in, besides with Finn. “Really? ”

They were supposed to come over, and groups of three or more people were supposed to be held to a different standard. Technically, though, if they stayed for ghost-hunting reasons, it wouldn’t be considered a party.

I glanced at Damen. He caught my eye and winked. “Maybe. That’s what friends do, after all.”

“Oh, you’re friends now?” Miles asked. “ Everyone will love that; we’ve been wanting to be her friend, too,” he added as he squeezed my shoulder. “Good job, Damen!”

I didn’t have time to languish at the moment. There was one thing I still didn’t understand.

“I have a question.” I sucked in a breath, acutely aware of their suddenly serious gazes on me. “And it might sound stupid. But can you promise not to make fun of me if I ask?”

“Sure,” Damen said shortly. He was scowling at Miles—he was possibly the moodiest man I’d ever met. Still, I believed him.

“You two—” I looked between them. Damen’s mood dropped, and they both leaned toward me in rapt attention. The dread that’d been filling my stomach grew stronger. Did I jump to another weird conclusion? “I never really asked, but you are ghost hunters, right?”

Their silence was enough to cause my anxiety to choke me.

If this had been nothing but a series of coincidences, then it meant that I was nothing more than some random girl who just showed up on Damen’s front porch one day.

That would be so embarrassing.

Miles blinked, but as he opened his mouth to respond, Damen spoke first.

“Not exactly,” he said, resting his chin over his fist. “But kind of. You could say that we’re experts in our paranormal specialties. And we can help you.”

What the fudge did that mean ?

Still, I’d made assumptions. It was all I could do not to hide my face in shame. “I thought you were ghost hunters! I can’t believe this…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Miles rubbed my back. “But why would you think—”

My phone rang, interrupting his question.

My heart leaped as I snatched my purse off the floor. “Sorry,” I apologized. Finn’s interference was the only thing that could have made this moment worse. “I have to take this.”

Leaving the room wasn’t an option. That’d make it way too obvious, and Damen was already suspicious.

I didn’t look at them as I answered. Hopefully, they’d stay quiet.

“Hello,” I greeted pleasantly.

“Bianca!” Finn was upset. Finn rarely got upset. He was mostly cool and calculating—the calm to my panic. Well, unless something made him mad. Then I tended to be the logical one.

“Where are you?” he asked me.

“Um…” Was he still looking for me? I thought he’d given up by now. “Somewhere,” I answered. “It’s fine.”

But what if he was looking for me for a reason? I should have texted him. I pressed my hand against my thigh. What if something happened to my parents or…

Well, it had to be them, because I didn’t know anyone else. My pulse began to race.

“What’s wrong?” I breathed, frightened.

“When you say ‘it’s fine’, it’s never fine!” Finn sounded furious. Even so, I was relieved. No one had been hurt. He was only angry with me . That was the lesser of two evils. “Are you hiding something from me again?”

Then his words were processed, and my heart skipped a beat. “I’m not— ”

“Who are you with?” he interrupted.

“Um…” Crap. “I told you I might go to the greenhouses…”

“I just left the greenhouses,” he snapped. “Bryce said he hasn’t seen you all day.”

My eyebrow twitched through my panic.

Bryce. Why did Finn have to bring him into it? I didn’t like the idea of them talking about me. “What, are you friends with him now?”

How would they even know each other?

“Stop changing the subject,” Finn rebutted. “Where are you?”

“I—” My thoughts raced as I tried to come up with an excuse. Something that wouldn’t sound suspicious at all. “I’m at a friend’s house.”

“Who?” Finn asked. “Does this person have a name? Don’t make me track you down. I’ve been fighting to let you keep your independence.”

I frowned, disturbed despite my anxiety. What did he mean by that?

“Just tell me before something happens.” He sounded frantic.

“What do you think is going to happen?” I asked.

“Bianca!”

Fear flooded me, and my blood turned to ice. I didn’t understand. Why was he getting so worked up?

But I couldn’t tell him. How would he react if he knew I was meeting his estranged brother? Plus, he’d figure out how Damen and I came to know each other.

I was such an idiot.

My hands shook. I needed to respond, but how? Finn was getting more furious by the second.

There was a harsh movement as Miles ripped my phone from my hands and moved beyond my reach. My vision stayed hazy as I stared at the large, pacing man .

“Just who do you think you’re talking to like that?” Miles’s rolling accent had changed into something harsh, and it hurt my ears.

I jumped to my feet, desperate to put an end to this disaster.

I’d barely taken two steps before Damen intercepted and held me against him. He made a shushing noise in my ear, but I hardly heard him. My focus was on Miles.

It felt like my world was about to come crashing down around me.

I didn’t hear Finn’s reply. But the sight of Miles’s stony features was enough to fill my body with dread. Despite that, I was aware that Damen’s arm was shaking over my collarbones. I couldn’t fathom why he was angry. But I was grateful that he hadn’t been the one who took my phone.

Finn would have recognized his brother’s voice for sure.

“She’s fine.” Miles glared into the fireplace. “It’s none of your business who I am—you’re scaring her. Now get a grip before you even think to contact her again.”

With those words, Miles pulled the phone away from his ear and disconnected the call.

“Sometimes I don’t understand why you put up with him,” he growled.

“Good job controlling your temper,” was Damen’s dry reply. “Well done.”

Miles’s movements were tense as he turned off my phone and looked at Damen. “Oh, stop. I had to do something before you did.”

I held Damen’s arm as my lips turned numb. “Finn is so angry…”

What was I going to do now?