Chapter 55 Bloodline
BLOODLINE
RAE
“Igave her the tome, yes.” Quinfina lifted a hand when Zeke’s father opened his mouth to protest. “The book holds superficial spells incapable of harming anyone. But the heart of the book carries a special incantation from many generations ago.”
Cornaith rolled his hand. “And that is?”
“A way to move Fate’s hand.”
Zeke’s father shook his head. “You gave a human the ability to control someone’s fate?”
“Rhistel,” Caendra said, her slender fingers grasping the sleeve of his robe. “Let her finish.”
“No one controls Fate.” Quinfina extended a hand to me. “The book acted as a tool. It gave her the opportunity to bring to fruition what Fate intended from the beginning, opening the door. That is, if she needed it badly enough.”
Lymsrana stepped around Ardvaen. “What are you saying? Our sons were meant to go to Earth and meet her?”
Quinfina lowered her hand. “I don’t know any other way she would meet them.”
Cornaith stepped forward and pointed an accusing finger at me. Ash’s hand squeezed mine. “She bewitched them with illusion magic!”
Quinfina shook her head, the chains that dripped from her bouncy curls tinkling. “She didn’t.”
Ezra’s jaw ticked, watching his father.
A vein stood out on Cornaith’s temple as he gritted his teeth. He looked ready to blow. He inhaled and turned to Amra.
Ardvaen stepped forward. “If she’s not attempting to manipulate them with illusion magic, then can you explain what she is doing?” His piercing eyes met mine. “What we just witnessed…”
Caendra shook her head. “Her eyes… they looked like Cyn’s eyes when he shifts to his alternate form.”
My eyes?
I looked at Cyn, remembering his midnight eyes that gave nothing away.
He looked at me for only a moment before focusing on his parents again.
“A human shouldn’t be able to use magic,” Rhistel said.
Magic?
“I didn’t do that,” I said, looking at the judgmental eyes of Zeke’s parents. “I’m serious. I saw the magic too, but it wasn’t me.” I looked at Quinfina. “I don’t know how to use magic.”
Cornaith spun around. “You now see how she lies, boys!” He sneered at me. “You may be able to whisper pretty words to weaker infernals, but not to my son.”
“I didn’t—”
“She speaks the truth,” Quinfina said. “She didn’t use the magic of her own volition. But it is her power.”
“Power?” Zeke looked between me and Quinfina. “She has powers?”
She nodded, gaze settling on Ash. “Our eldest heir’s devotion to her unlocked the seal placed on her powers.”
Lymsrana frowned, looking as thrown by the words as I felt. “How does a human have powers?”
“They don’t. Not pure humans.” Quinfina moved to my side and placed a gentle hand on my arm. “Your father placed a seal on your powers shortly after your birth.”
I recoiled, my nose scrunching. “Dad? He didn’t have powers either.”
The more Quinfina revealed, the more confused I became.
She expected me—and everyone else here—to believe I had magic but hadn’t used it to manipulate the guys. Her words backed the theory that I’d tricked them.
I’d hoped she’d help by explaining the book situation, but now it felt like she might be signing my death warrant for me all over again.
“Not your human father, no,” she said, oblivious to my inner thoughts. Her hand tightened on my arm.
I looked down at her hand and then back at her unyielding eyes.
She couldn’t be saying what I thought she implied… could she?
“Raelynn here is the child of her mixed mother and her Shyrlivi father.”
“Mixed? Mom was white.”
Quinfina chuckled. “No, dear. Your mother was three-quarters Shyrlivi.”
“You’re shitting me.” I glared when Cyn snorted, then I looked back at Quinfina. “How?”
“This is preposterous,” Cornaith said.
For something so “preposterous,” he didn’t stop her. None of the council moved—hanging on her every word. Guards ringed the unconscious audience and crew, while others hauled bodies away, leaving only the princes, the council, Quinfina, the triplets, and me.
“A long time ago, your great-great grandmother mated with a Shyrlivi during one of his trips to Earth.”
“Mated? Like, they had sex?”
Cyn turned away, but I heard his laughter. Asshole.
“No. Well…” Quinfina’s glossy lips curled into a soft smile. “They did, or you wouldn’t be here. But it was something more. Your great-great grandmother was his Nyrith.”
“How is that possible for a human?” Ezra asked the moment she finished speaking, as if he needed the answer immediately.
It was the question of the week. How could a human be a Nyrith for a Shyrlivi?
“Fate works in mysterious ways.” At Ezra’s unimpressed stare, she smiled. “It’s the best answer I have for you, Young Master. Even I can’t say what Fate intended all those years ago. But I can say what happened as a result.”
“Spit it out,” Cornaith snapped, but he cleared his throat when Quinfina turned to him. He inclined his head in apology.
It seemed not everyone tolerated his holier-than-thou attitude.
I liked Quinfina more already.
She turned back to us, giving the council her back—a move I hadn’t expected. Did the spiritual advisor hold more power than them?
Her hand once again tightened on my arm. “Your great-great grandmother’s biological makeup shifted when they completed their soul tether. She ceased to be human.”
I kept my eyes on her as she explained, turning my world upside down.
Murmurs and gasps rose behind her, but her gaze remained on me.
Amra twirled one of her rings around her finger, speaking softly. “I’ve never heard of this in all my time researching our history.”
Cornaith glanced at her, eyes narrowed, and her lips pressed into a fine line.
“They kept her existence a secret from both the council and the people of Elyrdin. She remained hidden on Earth.”
Ash scratched his beard. “How do you know?”
Quinfina tapped her temple.
Zeke’s warm hand slid over mine on the slab—the first time he’d touched me since the kitchen. “She sees things like me, but she’s much more powerful.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, grasped his fingers, and looked back at her. If I spoke to him, I’d burst into tears. I needed to stay level-headed.
“Your great-great grandmother eventually had a Shyrlivi child,” Quinfina said, releasing my arm. “Her father sealed her powers and cast a potent glamor over her, so she presented as nothing more than human.”
“How was he so powerful?” Lymsrana said, stepping near where we sat.
Quinfina looked at her. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment, then Lymsrana’s eyes widened. She schooled her expression so fast I almost missed it.
What happened between them?
“So why didn’t he make her human?” Zeke asked, distracting everyone. “If he’s able to seal powers, why not change her? I mean, if humans can change into Shyrlivi, why not the other way around?”
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.
“Then Raelynn is almost a full-blooded Shyrlivi. Nearly indistinguishable,” Ezra said.
My gaze snapped to his.
That couldn’t be true.