Betrayal - By Lee Nichols Page 0,10

dispelled ghasts better than we did.” Her eyes flashed at the memory. “Then your mother and Neos fell in love, and she started losing her powers. When she became a liability, the Knell wanted her out. Neos immersed himself in the old lore, searching for a way to help her regain her abilities, but nothing worked. He even dabbled in Asarum.”

“What’s that, some kind of satanic rite?”

“It’s an herb that boosts ghostkeeping powers. Extremely addictive—and dangerous.” She shook her head. “Neos grew more and more distraught and guilty and he started to change. He became … twisted. Obsessed with the old lore, with the powers. Finally, your mother left him and started an affair with my brother.”

Ick. I held up a hand. “I don’t need the details.”

“No.” She frowned. “It’s not something I like to think about, either.”

I waited, but she just sat there staring into space. Finally, I said, “And then?”

She jerked slightly. “Oh! Well, your father thought that the Knell mistreated Jana—your mother. Tossing her aside when she wasn’t useful anymore.”

“And you?” I asked.

“I thought … I thought Jana had been unfair to Neos. He loved her so much, he’d lost his mind trying to save her.” She licked her lips again. “I tried to get Nathan, your father, to break it off with her.”

My parents were the madly-in-love types, as close as any couple I’d ever seen. It had always been obvious to me and Max that their relationship came first, that we were just a by-product. “He’d never do that,” I said.

“No,” Rachel agreed. “He accused me of only having the Knell’s interests at heart, of not caring about him or Jana.”

We sat in silence a moment. “You two haven’t spoken since I was a baby?” I asked.

“I tried to apologize but … in the end, he was right. After we fought, I lost myself in the Knell.” She smiled tentatively. “Which is why I’m so happy you’re here. You’re like a second chance. I never meant to hurt your parents,” she said, leaning forward intently. “I loved them. I hope you believe that.”

“Sure,” I said. Like me and Max. We fought sometimes, but we always loved each other. Even if he did totally bail on me when I needed him most. “Did the lady in the tapestry have a brother who looked like Max? I mean, is that normal, for a ghostkeeper to look so much like her ancestors?”

“She’s my ancestor, too.” Rachel’s gaze grew hard. “I don’t look like her. But then—”

She stopped as Bennett came back.

“Yoshiro’s ready for us,” he said.

I smiled at him, and not only from affection but also from relief. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Rachel. I had to admit, I could use an aunt, since my parents were AWOL. But there was something disconcerting about her, like she wasn’t quite comfortable in her own skin. Maybe she was just worried that I’d hate her like my father had.

“Are we ready for him?” I asked, standing.

“He’s quite formidable,” Rachel said. “But don’t let him intimidate you.”

“As long as he can help me, I don’t care.”

“If he can’t help,” Bennett said, “nobody can.”

“Yoshiro’s the heart of the Knell.” Rachel put her hand on my arm, ushering me toward the door. “Well, maybe not the heart—more the brain.”

“You’re getting a rare audience, meeting him in person,” Bennett said. “I’ve only seen him once. Usually he stays in his archives.”

But I wasn’t listening; I was staring at Rachel’s hand. My skin felt tingly under her palm, almost like I was touching a ghost, and I jerked away.

“I’m sorry.” She smiled apologetically as we headed into the hallway. “I don’t know why that happens. I’m a communicator, but sometimes my power gives off static shocks. Or spectral shocks, I suppose.”

I glanced at Bennett for reassurance, but he seemed preoccupied, like he was marshaling his strength to meet Yoshiro. I wished we could hold hands.

I nodded vaguely at Rachel, caught between my pleasure at reuniting with a long-lost relative and my sense that she wasn’t quite … normal. Maybe she seemed a little off because she was family. I’d need to get used to the idea.

So I decided to like her. Finally, a family member who was still willing to talk to me. That had to be a good thing, right?

As we headed upstairs, Rachel confided about how daunting she found Yoshiro, until we stopped outside a set of elaborately carved wooden double doors. A couple of male ghost servants stood on either