Chapter 49
My heart rate sped up, and my breathing turned to short pants. “Explain.”
It was the only word I could get out. The millions of questions swirling in my mind were all tripping over each other and tying themselves in knots.
Colt ran a hand through his hair, the different colors in it catching the light. “We all come from different supernatural families. Ones that have made their homes here for generations.”
“The founding families,” I croaked.
Surprise lit his eyes. “Doing some research?”
I flushed. “I knew something was going on, but you were being so secretive.”
Colt sighed. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure how, or when, to tell you. It should’ve been your father’s choice whether to let you in on this world.”
My heart thudded in my chest. “He was different, too?”
Colt nodded. “He wasn’t a supernatural himself, but he was a carrier of one of the lines. We’re all different species. I’m a wolf shifter.”
“Like a werewolf? It’s not a full moon.”
Trace snickered, and Ronan elbowed him.
“It doesn’t work like that,” Colt explained. “I can shift anytime I want—since the age of thirteen.”
“Oh.” I stared at the guy I’d known practically all my life. “Does it hurt?”
He shrugged. “It’s a good kind of pain.”
My gaze shifted to the rest of the guys, landing on Ronan. “You and Declan are dragons?”
The moment the words left my mouth, I started to laugh. It came harder and harder until tears streamed down my face. “Wolves and dragons? I’m losing my mind.”
Declan squeezed me tighter. “You’re not. It’s all real.”
“We’re dragon shifters,” Ronan explained. “All shifters gain their abilities around the age of thirteen, but it takes us longer to master our abilities because of our size and the whole flying thing.”
“The whole flying thing…” I echoed, still disbelieving, even though I’d seen it in action.
“I’m a caster,” Dash said, a little of that easygoing air making it back into his tone.
“Just don’t call him a witch like you called Colt a werewolf,” Trace muttered under his breath.
Colt smacked him. “She’s new to this. Cut her some slack.”
Dash gave me an encouraging smile. “Casters are very similar to witches with a focus on the earth as the source of our magic.”
“Magic…” It was as if all I could do was repeat back certain words.
I shook myself, trying to regain some of my focus as I turned my gaze to Trace. I remembered the purple lightning bolts that had erupted from his hands. “What are you?”
All amusement fled his face. “Incubus.” The single word held no emotion. Nothing beneath the three syllables at all. It was as if the word itself were dead.
I thought I’d heard the term before, but I couldn’t remember what it was. And it wasn’t like whatever I’d seen on a TV show or read in a book would be accurate. “What is that?”
Trace didn’t look away as he answered. “A demon.”
I swallowed hard. He’d called the shadow creature a demon. Trace was like that?
Colt moved toward me. “Not all demons are evil. It just means that they derive their power from the darkness in some way. Incubi get their power from sexual contact.”
I swallowed hard as I remembered the scene in the dark hallway at school. Trace bringing Mimi to climax and then cruelly cutting her down. He’d been using her. For power.
Trace’s gaze kept locked on me. “I told you to stay away from me. Told you I’m not good.”
“Stop it,” Dash chided, then turned to me. “If Trace doesn’t have that kind of connection for too long, he begins to starve. He would wither away into nothing at all.”
My face softened as empathy flooded me. I couldn’t imagine being forced into that sort of thing just to stay alive.
“I don’t need your pity,” Trace snapped.
“It’s not pity. But I am glad to understand you a little better.”
Trace’s jaw worked back and forth, but he stayed silent.
I turned back to Colt. “What am I?”
It was such a simple question but so weighted.
Colt took the stool next to me and Declan. “All of our kind form bonds. Typically, they’re of the same species, but they need to be matched in power. Sometimes, the leaders of each faction are too powerful to be paired with others of their kind.”
My gaze swept around the room. “You were paired together?”
Colt nodded. “When our abilities begin to manifest around thirteen, a mark develops.” He stood, sliding the waistband of his shorts down to reveal what looked like a birthmark in the shape of a crescent moon.
“You all have it?”
“Yes. We’ve known since it appeared that this would always be our brotherhood,” Colt said.
Declan’s arms tightened around me, and my heart ached for him. Because whatever the reasoning, he had been on the outside of the group.
“I don’t have a moon like that,” I said softly. I wasn’t sure if they thought I was a member of their group, but I wasn’t.
Colt’s expression softened. “I know.”
“Then what am I?”
“You’re an anchor.”
I’d heard that word more than once now, but it made no sense on its own.
“They are the cornerstones of our world. They balance our power and help our bonds unite. Without them, anyone with supernatural abilities would go insane over time. And each anchor is tied to a bond. Their strength must match their bond’s.
” Grief swept over Colt’s face. “But not all anchors’ abilities manifest.”
My heart clenched as Darius’s words echoed in my mind. “Her gift never manifested.”
“Mine didn’t,” I said slowly.
Colt shook his head. “If it had, we would feel it, and a compass mark would’ve appeared somewhere on your body on your sixteenth birthday.”
Memories shot through me at Colt’s words. My mother’s fury when she realized it was my birthday. “Where is it?”
Ronan moved closer. “What is it?”
“My mom burned me on my sixteenth birthday.”
The entire room went electric.
I swallowed, forcing myself to meet their gazes. “Could she have burned off my mark?”
A frisson of hope slid through me.
Ronan shook his head. “It’s impossible to remove the mark by any method.”
That hope died, and pain ricocheted through me. “So, I’m some sort of supernatural dud?”
Declan squeezed me tighter. “Don’t talk about yourself like that.”
I shoved off his lap, needing space. “I don’t get it. If I don’t have any abilities, why did you bring me here?” It was only risking exposure for them when they didn’t need to.
The guys all shared a look, but it was Ronan who finally spoke.
“Because you’re our mate.”