“Ah,” Sloan said.
I fixed Sloan with a stare, and she fidgeted. Erik opened an arm to her, and she joined him on the arm of the sofa.
“I just want you to steer clear of her,” Sloan told me carefully.
“WHY?”
“Grayson, don’t raise your voice at her,” Erik warned me. My brother would get into a fight with ease if it boiled down to his wife.
“Why am I meant to stay away from her? Because she might suffer a bit of heartbreak? Because I’ll get in trouble with the council?” I asked, dialling back.
Sloan sighed. “It’s more than that.”
“Sloan?” Erik looked at her.
I leaned forward. “Share with the group, Sloan.”
“I don’t have a definite answer,” she mumbled. “But I don’t think Quentin is mortal.”
“What?” Erik spluttered. “You didn’t mention this.”
“At least not fully mortal.”
“You’re crazy.” I laughed.
“Grayson!” Erik warned me again.
“So, she’s what then?” I asked. “Part nymph?”
Sloan looked at Erik, and he squeezed her hand gently. “Go on, love,” he encouraged.
“I think she might be a demigoddess.”
I stood up from the sofa, laughing. “You need more sleep because that’s impossible.”
“Is it?” she asked.
“Erik, talk to your wife.”
“What makes you think that?” Erik asked.
“When we touched, there was something there,” Sloan explained. “Her conception didn’t feel mortal. It happened all too fast and then —”
“There’s more?” I said incredulously.
“She’ll have children, but they don’t feel mortal either.”
“It’s not possible!” I began to pace the room. “It’s not possible because we destroyed every demigod centuries ago. We haven’t been allowed here for hundreds of years to avoid the creation of anymore.”
Demigods were dangerous. Not fully mortal and not fully divine, they had the best of both worlds. They learned how to hide their divinity to live among mortals and then caused trouble of catastrophic proportions. To stop it, all the elite had destroyed them and ensured no more would be made.
“You have no proof,” I said, stopping to look at her. “She’s completely ordinary.”
“Is she, Grayson?” Sloan asked softly. “You don’t think it’s strange how she’s had an alarming amount of success.”
“She’s worked hard.”
Sloan laughed. “I don’t deny it, but it still doesn’t sit right with me.”
