Page 71 of Bond of Passion

Chapter 24

The text from Eidolon hadn’t been urgent, but Deja was still in a panic as she headed toward his office.

When she got there, he was sitting at his desk talking to Lore’s mate, Idess. The statuesque brunette smiled as Deja entered. Deja smiled back, but after the morning she’d just had, what she really wanted to do was cry.

She’d finally gotten the truth out of Tavin, and it was even more devastating than she’d thought.

Someone had taken out a contract on Gristlen. And Tavin had tried to save her from it. Sure, he’d ultimately killed her like an asshole, but she’d seen his regret, felt it. His agony. He was hurting more than she ever would have guessed, and it struck her that she should be happier about that than she was.

That was so messed up. And who the hell had wanted her dead? As a princess in a royal family, she supposed it could have been anyone. It wasn’t as if the Neethul were a beloved race. Even within Neethul clans and houses, there were warring factions. Her clan had completely wiped out another clan just a year or so before she died.

So, yes, as a princess, she’d been a target, and the motive behind the hit could have been as petty as her mother looking at someone wrong, or as consequential as an attempt to start a war. Maybe it was time to do a little sleuthing, no matter how much she didn’t want to contact her family.

She’d be living a true crime podcast. Which, she supposed, was kind of cool.

Eidolon invited her to sit. “Don’t mind Idess,” he said. “She’s helping me recover a document on my computer.”

Looking up from the screen, Idess rolled her eyes. “Eidolon can put a broken body back together after a hellhound attack, but he can’t operate a computer.”

“I get that,” Deja said. “I’ve never had great luck with technology either.” She was getting better though, thanks to Ronnie’s instruction, Eileen’s video games, and their podcast mystery hobby.

Eidolon cast Idess a look of total vindication and then turned back to Deja. “Thank you for coming in. How’s Tavin doing?”

“He’s recovering very well,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound like a liar, especially because the doctor gave her a once-over that made her glad she’d grabbed a jacket before she left Tavin’s place. The last thing she wanted to do was explain the new dermoire on her arm. As it was, she had to keep her hand tucked in the pocket because those pesky glyphs went right to her fingers.

He seemed satisfied with her answer and got down to the reason he’d called her in. “I wanted to talk to you about your DNA sample.”

Oh, shit. “Is there a problem?”

“No, nothing like that. We had samples of Neethul DNA, but until you, we didn’t have any from a Neebless.”

And you still don’t. She nodded as if she weren’t terrified by the direction of this conversation.

“I know that your species are related, but I was never clear on how.”

“I don’t think anyone knows, honestly,” she said. “There are a lot of theories, myths…but no one can say for sure.”

He gave an absent nod. “Well, now that I have samples from both, I’ve had the lab working on comparing them.”

“Okay…”

“They’re identical.”

Her heart shot into her throat. Of course, they were identical. She was a Neethul. She didn’t know why she looked like a Neebless, but she’d died a Neethul. Everyone from Sheoul-gra had come back into the bodies they’d died in. Everyone. She might be a different color, but everything else was exactly the same.

She had to tell Eidolon the truth. “I, ah…look. I’m sorry about—”

“Except for one thing.”

Her stomach twisted into a knot. “What?”

“There’s an inactive gene in the Neethul sample that we haven’t been able to figure out. You have the same gene, but yours has been activated. We determined that the gene is responsible for the distribution of dialanin, the color-producing cells in most humanoid demon species.” He took a drink of the steaming tea on his desk. “Now, here’s the really interesting bit. That gene is also connected to a group of cells I believe are responsible for compassion. So, whether you are born a Neebless or a Neethul depends on whether or not that gene activates. Are there ever any Neebless infants born with lighter skin?”

She had no idea, but it was rumored that Neethul infants were born dark every once in a while. When it happened, the child was considered cursed, as was the female’s womb, so a ceremony was performed to cleanse the female with the sacrificed infant’s blood.

“I really don’t know,” she said. She truly knew nothing about the Neebless except that the Neethul shunned—or even sometimes killed—them.

“Hmm.” Eidolon sat back in his seat. “It makes me wonder if any Neethul are ever born with darker skin. I would imagine it happens. And I’d bet the infants don’t survive the day. They’d want to get them out of the gene pool.”