Caim let out a sigh. “Well, I’m relieved to hear you didn’t do it, but that doesn’t change the fact that someone did. Do you know any fae who might be willing to help them? Or someone who could have been tricked into it?”
“Tell me about the illusion,” she said. “How elaborate was it?”
“Pretty elaborate,” I said, ignoring the sharp glance from Caim. He didn’t want me to speak to them, but standing here like a good little girl wasn’t in my bones. I needed to help. “The whole inside of a warehouse. Really convincing. They made it look abandoned and full of dust when it was the total opposite.”
Her gaze sharpened on my face. “You’d need someone quite powerful for that level of skill. That narrows it down a great deal.”
“It would be someone with some witch contacts,” Bael added. “They’ve been using a painted seal. To mute our powers.”
River ripped her gaze away from me, her eyebrows shooting up toward her hairline. “Mute your powers? Now thatisinteresting.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” Phenex grumbled. “These cult assholes have created at least a dozen demons already. You need us, and our power, if you want them gone.”
“And as much as you don’t like us, you’re going to hate them,” Caim added. “They won’t be wearing ‘masks’ or hiding their nature in any way. Their monsters are free.”
River tsked, her brows pinched with worry. “Recently, there’s been some division between the fae. Some didn’t like my rule, and they split off to make their own damn court. I hear they’ve gotten in deep with some witches.”
Caim straightened. “Do you know where we can find this other court?”
She pressed her lips together. “No. I haven’t kept tabs on them. We fae aren’t like we used to be. I care little for power. I just want my people to live in peace. If that means some want to break off from me and do their own thing, then so be it. I never imagined it would lead to this.”
At the word ‘this,’ her eyes slid back to me. Something dark and twisted skittered down the back of my neck, and I had the distinct urge to scream and run, but I held my ground.
“I’m guessing this is one of their creations?” River asked. “She doesn’t look like the terrifying monsters you’re describing. Are you certain they’ve all gone dark?”
“What? No.” Caim edged in front of me. “Eva is mortal.”
River let out a snort. “I always heard you were the jokester, Caim, but that’s not very funny.”
“It’s not a joke,” he said in a dark voice. “Eva is human. To be clear, I did wonder after she escaped from the cult. But I can smell her humanity. And her wounds don’t heal the way a demon’s do.”
River’s brow arched as my heart thundered in my ears. I suddenly wanted to get out of here. I didn’t like the direction this conversation was going. It felt wrong. It made my insides twist.
I wasn’t a demon. What an insane thing to think!
And yet...there was something odd in Caim’s voice. It was almost as if he wasn’t completely shocked by River’s words.
As if he’d suspected this all along.
“What’s going on, Caim?” Bael asked as he edged up beside me. He’d picked up on it, too.
Caim’s jaw flickered. “I’m not sure. We need to hear what River has to say.”
“It’s the orb,” I said in a rush. “The one the cult had. They were using it, along with demon blood, to transform themselves. That’s what you sense is wrong with me.”
That had to be it. Nothing more.
“Eva, I thought I told you...” Caim said through gritted teeth.
River locked her eyes on me and sidestepped Caim. She dropped a hand on my arm and nodded. “Tell me what happened.”
“While Charlie—the leader of the cult—was trying to do the demon ritual thing, I sneaked up behind him and knocked the orb out of his hands.” My chest constricted. It was difficult to talk about this.
Even though Charlie had turned out to be an actual psychopath who had never truly cared about me, his death still felt like a punch in the gut. Partially because I’d been the cause.
Life was precious. The last thing I wanted was to rip someone else’s away from them. Someone I’d once trusted with my entire soul.
I continued my story, pushing the negative feelings aside. “The orb exploded when it hit the ground, and some of the shards grazed my skin. The cult said some of the magic got into my blood that way. It’s how they were able to use me to transform themselves into demons.”
