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Quinfina chuckled, the sound melodic. “I suppose the logic makes sense, but as I don’t know how a human’s genetics changed one way, I can’t tell you how to change one back.”

Zeke nodded like he understood. I hoped he did, because I didn’t. If I made it out of here, I’d need him to explain it again.

“Now, your late grandmother Bonnie,” Quinfina said, hand returning to my arm when I tensed at the mention of Grandma. “She’s the product of your Shyrlivi great-grandmother and a human man.”

Zeke scratched his cheek. “So she isn’t Shyrlivi?”

“No,” Cyn said. “It’d make her a half, though.”

“But wait.” I looked up, struggling to piece it together. “Wouldn’t that mean Mom wasn’t as much Shyrlivi as we thought?”

Quinfina nodded. “If Bonnie procreated with a human, yes.”

Caendra gasped.

My mouth dropped open. “No… how?”

If Quinfina wasn’t lying, Grandma slept with a Shyrlivi. I thought Papa was human. Had he hidden behind glamor too?

“Before she married your grandfather, another Shyrlivi came into your grandmother’s life. They formed a connection, and from that, Lillian—your mother—was born.”

“So you’re saying this girl is, what?” Rhistel said, crossing his arms.

Quinfina took a deep breath, and the look she gave me let me know the heaviest truth was yet to come.

I looked down when a hand settled on my ankle. With Ash holding one hand, and Zeke the other, I wasn’t sure who touched me until I saw Cyn’s hand.

He said nothing—didn’t even look at me—but the warmth of his hand was reassuring, even if a bit confusing.

I looked back at Quinfina. “Tell me.”

“Like your grandmother, your mother met a Shyrlivi—”

“Oh, now this is absurd,” Caendra said. “You expect us to believe all the women in her bloodline seduced Shyrlivi men who just happened to be around?”

Quinfina turned away from me, looking at Caendra. “I do. Shall I show you?” She lifted her hand, golden nail polish sparkling as she flexed her fingers.

Caendra blanched. “N-no. I wanted only clarification. You can continue.”

Ardvaen smirked.

I wondered what Quinfina was capable of that made the council wary. Could she “show” them her knowledge through visions?

Quinfina turned back, ignoring the council. “Your family didn’t seduce them. Neither your mother nor grandmother knew the men were Shyrlivi. They weren’t Nyrith mates.”

Ash brushed his thumb over my hand as he asked, “Then why did they keep meeting her family?”

“Another string supported by Fate’s intention. Raelynn’s parents met while Lillian was still pregnant. Greg acted as Raelynn’s father. Lillian didn’t know the man she slept with was Shyrlivi.”

Cyn’s hand tightened on my ankle.

“The Shyrlivi men after the first carried the secret of your bloodline forward. With every daughter born, their powers were sealed and their true nature concealed by glamors—even from themselves.”

Zeke moved closer to me when Quinfina confirmed why the women in my family sounded mentally ill without cause.

She drew a scant breath, eyes softening as she said, “This is why your grandmother, your mother, and you have seen our kind throughout your lives.”

I pulled my arm away from Ash and Quinfina to rub my eyes. “So, if Mom was part Shyrlivi, and she slept with a full Shyrlivi…” I pinched the bridge of my nose as a headache pressed against me.