The Spirits Knew Who Was Lying Chapter 08

The Spirits Knew Who Was Lying Chapter 08 The Bond Worm

I brought out a compass and a spirit blade-the kind passed down to cut through what ordinary steel cant touch. I sent the spirit that had been clinging to her on its way. Only then did Lily’s body finally warm She let out a long, shaking breath.

“Thank God for you.”

I nodded, watching her. “Now tell me. How do you really do it? How do you touch a belonging and hear the dead?”

Before I could finish, she slapped my hand away. “Why would I tell you? People like you exist to be used

I stared at her.

“What did you say?”

She lifted her chin. “You should be flamed I even noticed you. How else was I supposed to build myself up?”

Her smile was sharp now. “Fine. I’ll stop playing medium. I’ve got enough followers. I’ll just sell products. Easy money.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I already figured it out.” My voice was quiet. That trick with touching belongings? A cover. The real way you’ve been doing it is the bond worm you planted in me. Am I right?”

I’d known something was wrong the first time she undercut me. I asked my senior brother to look into her.

She’d gone to the borderlands six months ago. When she came back, she was different. Suddenly she was a spirit speaker. Suddenly she was competing with me. It never made sense.

I went through everything. Old photos. Trips. Until I found it—a travel picture where she was sitting right behind me. That was when she did it.

I pulled down my collar and pointed to a faint mark on my chest, A flower, half-hidden, like a bruise that never healed.

“I didn’t notice at first. I thought it was a birthmark. But it kept appearing, fading, coming back. Then 1 realized what it was.” I met her eyes. “A worm. You’ve been using it to know what I know. To hear what I hear. The touching? Just theater. Isn’t it?”

Lily’s face went blank. Then she shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She stood up fast, already backing toward the door. “I paid you. Don’t come at me with this crazy talk.”

The door slammed behind her.

I watched her go and smiled.

The chat was on fire.

Is Lore telling the truth?”

“I don’t know. Lily denied it.”

“Remember when that family slapped her? They went home and found the donation papers exactly where Lore said they’d be. She’s never been wrong.”

“Lily came crawling to her for help. That says enough.”

“What’s a bond worm?”

I reached into my collar, fingers finding the mark on my chest. I pressed down. Pain shot through my ribs hot and bright. I didn’t stop.

The viewers watched in stunned silence as I dug into my own flesh, through skin and muscle, until my fingers closed around something that didn’t belong there.

I pulled it out.

A black worm, no bigger than a pea, squirmed in my grip, its mouthparts slick with my blood. I dropped it into a glass. It thrashed once, twice, then lay still.

The chat erupted.

I looked into the camera. “Watch her now. You’ll see Lily Shaw fall apart. Fast. Partly because the worm is gone. Partly because the spirit I sent away tonight? It wasn’t the only one following her.”

I held up the glass. The worm twitched.

‘I only sent away one.”