Page 39 of Infernal Secrets

I didn’t have a strong attachment to my own family, but I knew what it felt like to have someone so important I’d give my life to keep them safe. I might have centuries ahead of me, but sacrificing every one of those solitary days without them would be worth fading into the void.

Rolling onto her back, she looked at the ceiling and released a weary breath. “There isn’t much to tell. Grandma wasn’t like other grandmas, but in some ways, she was like any grandma a little girl could hope for.”

I wanted to take a photo of the way the rising sun created sharp shadows around her mouth when she smiled at an unspoken memory.

“Grandma and Papa took me to the beach a lot growing up.” She turned her head on the pillow to look at me. “Did you know she used to pick me up from school whenever I was sick or just wanted to come home? Whenever kids made me feel bad, she’d take me to lunch or to the mall.”

“No, I wouldn’t know that.”

She smiled again—but it lacked warmth. “Of course not. Rhetorical question.”

I took a risk, sliding my hand across the bed to play with a few strands of her hair. When she either didn’t notice, or chose not to stop me, I twirled it around my finger.

“I loved her. All of her.” Her gaze drifted to the ceiling again, and her voice took on a faraway quality. “Which is more than most people in my family could say. Except Mom. She understood her the same way I do.”

“What way is that?”

She glanced over at me. “Can others see you like this?”

“Like what?”

“In this form, disguised as a human.”

My brows drew together, thrown by the subject change. “I’m not disguised.”

“But Cyn’s horns—”

“I’m still a Shyrlivi like this.” At her confused expression, I chuckled. “Think of our cooler accessories as armor. We shift into our armor when we want to. It isn’t another being we hide inside a human-type body. We are the same person, but we change our form. Some choose to stay in that form all the time while in Elyrdin; others put away their armor until they need it—or want parts of it.”

“So it is a disguise, not showing the other parts.”

“No.” I flicked the tail of the hair wrapped around my finger, searching for the right words. “I mean, I guess it could be seen as a disguise, but we’re not hiding who we are. Okay, well… yeah, it’s convenient on Earth, but we look like this in Elyrdin, too. We’re born looking human—we’re just not human. I guess you could call us shapeshifters, but we didn’t come up with this form to hide.”

“Okay, the shapeshifter thing makes sense.”

I buried my face in her pillow and mumbled, “Good. I had no idea how I could explain it any differently.” I turned my head at her lighthearted giggle. Her scent, like roses and fruit, filled my lungs, and my heart skipped with a sudden awareness that made me uneasy. But she didn’t notice my frozen state as she continued.

“So humans can see you in this form?”

I cleared my throat. “Y-yeah.”

“What about the other form? The badass armor form?”

“I think armor wasn’t the best way to describe it. But no, humans can’t see our other form unless we want them to. We can shield ourselves.”

“Is it that way for all the other demons?”

“Hiding?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re the only ones allowed on Earth. Ezra’s dad doesn’t let anyone outside the council—or me and my brothers—come to Earth.”

She pushed up into a sitting position, crossing her legs beneath her. “I’m not even gonna ask who Ezra’s father is.” She shook her head. “Brothers? The others are your brothers? Y’all don’t look alike. Well, Cyn and Ezra kinda do.”

I laughed. “Nah. Ezra and Cyn are cousins. Ezra’s dad and Cyn’s mom are siblings. But the rest of us aren’t related. We call ourselves brothers because we grew up together. They’re more family to me than my parents.”

“Well,” she said, tugging the hairband from her tangled hair. She slipped it onto her wrist, shaking her hair loose. The dark ombré waves cascaded down her back. “It seems either Ezra’s father allows more through than you realize, or there’s another way out.”