Page 240 of Infernal Secrets

“That’s okay. I’ll teach you.” His fingers resumed tracing patterns on my skin. “You know, I can’t wait to see what your alternate form looks like.”

I tensed.

“Rae?”

I buried my face in his shirt.

“What is it?”

I lifted my hand, examining it as if I’d suddenly sprout claws at any moment.

I’d avoided acknowledging the truth since we returned to Earth, not ready to face the life-altering reality my time in Cholian revealed.

I wasn’t in denial.

I knew I wasn’t human. Not wholly.

I felt something stir inside me when Ash threw himself over me in Cholian. My eyes turned black like Cyn’s.

Zeke took the hand I held up, startling me out of my thoughts. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“No, I’m fine.” I looked up at his face. “I’m just trying to reconcile the fact that I’m not human anymore.”

“Well, technically you’re still partially human.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Though, from what Quinfina said, you’re barely human.”

“That doesn’t help,” I mumbled.

He squeezed me against his body. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make it worse.”

“You didn’t.” I sighed and glanced at Cyn.

He stood leaning against the wall across from us, arms folded over his chest.

He didn’t look angry or agitated. He seemed calm, like seeing me in Zeke’s arms didn’t bother him the way I expected.

I stared down at my hand before looking at Cyn again. “How do you change your hand?”

“What?”

“Your alternate form.” I dropped my hand to my lap, and Zeke immediately grasped it. “If my eyes were like yours, then I figured maybe my hands might be too? Ezra’s looked the same, but his blue eyes didn’t disappear from the middle. His eyes weren’t all black.”

“Your eyes weren’t like mine.”

I frowned, glancing at Zeke. “Y’all said…”

“Your eyes were black, but your skin had a pattern coming from your eyes like Ezra’s Void markings,” Cyn said, scowl deepening.

“Maybe she’s a Void,” Zeke said. “If her magic was suppressed…”

Cyn shook his head. “No.”

“How do you know?”

“Because she didn’t kill everyone when she protected Ash after her magic surfaced.”

My mouth dropped open.

“We should tell her,” Zeke said, meeting Cyn’s eyes over my head.