Chapter 193

Chapter 193



"What is a changeling?" Livia asked.

Leon kept his gaze focused on Livia, but he caught Joseph’s brows shooting up in shock.

"You don’t think… "

Rhye sounded just as stunned when he questioned, "Are you sure? Demons stopped doing that, what, seven hundred years ago? How would she have survived? "

"What?" Livia murmured.

Rhye held up a hand to silence them, still staring at Livia. "You don't know anything about it?"

She shook her head, her gaze bouncing between the three of them before returning to Rhye. "No. What is it?"

 

Rhye saw Joseph reach out and lay a hand on her knee, twisting the fingers of his other hand into the long strands of her white blonde hair. He knew his brother had to be feeling the urge to prevent her from experiencing the horror they all knew she was about to feel. To his relief, he didn’t sense any of Joseph’s influence ghosting over her.

 

She wouldn’t appreciate having her emotions manipulated, but more importantly, it would muddy the magic he’d evoked and make judging her reaction impossible.

For his own sake, Rhye was still trying to hold onto his suspicions about her, but after hearing nothing but truth in her voice, that distrust was rapidly crumbling to dust. Even if it hadn’t been, he was nowhere near immune to her. He could admit, to himself at least, that if he’d been able, he would’ve been sorely tempted to supplant her emotions with something softer, something less... painful, regardless of the effect it would’ve had on the spell already making his head ache.

 

Drawing in a slow breath, Rhye held her gaze. "A changeling is a demon child who is taken to the human realm and left with a human family. The human child is taken back to the underworld, the demon realm, in their place."

 

"But?" Livia asked. Needless to say, there was a big "but" in Rhye's words.

"You are… Your blood could make a human turn into a demon. A new hybrid of demons."

"You mean, that's why Francisco needs me? I mean, he was nice at first, but he became possessive over me. That's why I escaped when given the opportunity."

"How long have you been captured by Francisco?"

"A year or more. I was his prisoner. When I didn't do what he asked, he tortured me and hurt me. He wanted my magic. My blood, willingly given."

Rhye growled. Anger stirred within him. His fury sprang to life. Certainly, he was going to kill the bastard when given the opportunity.

"So about this changeling?" Livia changed the subject.

"The reasons varied. For a time, it was thought new blood was needed to strengthen failing magic. It didn’t, so the practice fell out of favour. The demon child must be brought back to the underworld or risk angering the gods."

 

"And the demon babies? Did they give a fuck what their lives would be like, growing up not knowing why they were different?" She demanded, her delicate features twisted with outrage and no small amount of hurt.

 

Rhye shifted slightly, wishing to hell he didn’t have to tell her. The betrayal and grief he could feel from her tore at him. That she was trying to conceal them behind anger was salt on the wound. Her first instinct was to hide any weakness, even here with them, and he knew, without question, that she trusted them more than she had anyone else in a long time.

It was Joseph who answered, "No, little sis." "The demon child was left in the human realm to die. They were babies that were either born sickly, deformed, or had broken magic. They would’ve died anyway. It was thought kinder to let them fade slowly under the love of a human mother. And it was easier on the demon mother to be spared the pain of watching their child pass, to instead have a different child to nurture."

 

"How did you all know this?"

 

"Well, Livia, we have a massive library for that reason. Dimitri liked to educate our kind from time to time. Werewolves were knowledgeable about non-human folks." Leon answered.

Then Livia widened her eyes, remembering those demon babies. She reared back. "W-what? What about the ones who didn’t die?"

"To my knowledge, there haven’t been any who survived being denied the magic of demons. Eventually, all demons cast out will fade and die."

"Then, how did I survive? If I’m a ‘changeling’ like you think, why didn’t I die?"

"That is the question, isn’t it?"

"I don’t understand."

"The fact that you survived many years outside of the demon realm is strange enough, but none of us can sense from which Court you hail… or why you were a witch." Rhye shook his head. "Your power feels different, Livia. I can sense its strength; we all can, but it’s muffled."

Rhye felt Leon’s and Joseph’s gazes zero in on him when he hesitated. He knew they were wondering if he was finally going to decide to trust her.

"So, either my mother was a witch and my father was a demon or both?"

"We aren't sure, little sis." Joseph answered.

Even with the truth spell, it was a risk. Though the chance that she could outwit a truth spell was small, so small it was nearly impossible, he had to admit the tastes he’d had of her power told Rhye she was strong. That he didn’t know which powers she possessed or from which court she hailed was unsettling. As a pureblood werewolf, he was usually in the know, and the mystery surrounding this woman drove him to the brink of distraction.

 

While Rhye hadn’t sensed a flare of power, that didn’t mean it was completely impossible that she might be using an ability or conjuring magic of her own. If that were true, it would make it feel like the spell was working, when in reality, it wasn’t. She could be lying. She could be a spy. Or maybe she truly didn't have any idea about the power that cloaked her true power. He knew it was ancient, but how strong? How powerful?

 

However, it was only a remote possibility... and Rhye wanted to believe her. He wanted to stop battling back the pull he felt for her.

"I thought you were a spy sent by Dimitri or Francisco to glean information from us," Rhye admitted.

"About fucking time," Leon muttered under his breath.

Rhye spared his beta a look, then focused back on Livia. "I assumed you were muting your power intentionally, to make yourself feel like a banished demon."

"And you don’t think that anymore," she surmised.

"Mm," he hummed noncommittally. "When you said you were working with your powers, you mentioned only releasing them in tendrils. Have you ever tried to release more than that?"

She immediately shook her head. "No. I was—am—afraid it’ll flood out, and I won’t be able to pull it back in."

 

Leon nodded. "Try now."

Rhye saw her stiffen. Before he could reassure her, his brother smoothed his hand up and down her leg, gaining her attention. No humans would know or be affected. You're safe, little sis. This place was enchanted. We won’t let it get out of control."

She frowned at Joseph's uncertainty. "How can you be sure?"

Joseph winked at her and tipped his head. "Because Rhye, here, is the only one who had the ability to use dark and light magic at once."

"Oh!" She made a startled sound and gave Rhye wide eyes. "You’re kidding."

"Nope!" Joseph said cheerfully, but the look his brother gave him was taunting.

 

Rhye didn’t know what he expected her reaction to be, but the slow grin she gave him wasn’t it. He was wary of the delight sparkling in her eyes, so he narrowed his own.

"Something amusing, little witch?" he murmured.

 

"You’re um-amazing," she chuckled.

Leon rolled his eyes and ignored their visible flirting.

 

Rhye lifted a brow, his own slow smile decidedly predatory. "Be careful, little witch," he purred.

Her expression progressed from startled to interested before settling on fascination.

"Would you like to see how I did it, Livia?" He coaxed, his voice a low, seductive invitation.

But if she kept staring at him like that, he was going to show her exactly how powerful he was.

Before she could say ‘yes’—and she most definitely was about to—Joseph chuckled and shook his head.

"Come on, little sis, before you tempt Rhye any further. A male can only take being looked at like that for so long."

Livia blinked and looked up at him with a confused frown. "Tempt?"

Rhye muttered something under his breath, then smiled down at her and helped her to her feet. "Come. We’ll go to the basement to test your power. It's shielded, so if you lose control, it won’t pulse past the walls."

Her expression faded back into one of uncertainty and worry. Turning, she pinned him with a searching look. "Can you really help, if it goes haywire?"

Rhye pushed himself to his feet and rounded the table to stare down at her. Unable to fight the need to touch her, he caught the ends of her hair with his fingertips.

"I can. You’ll be safe," he promised, marvelling at how soft and silken the strands were before he made himself release her.

The trust in her eyes as she gazed up at him was more seductive than the wide-eyed fascination, and infinitely more detrimental to his self-control.

"OK. I trust you. alpha."