Page 216 of Split or Swallow

“At first, maybe. But eventually, you knew. And you didn’t tell me.”

“I am telling you now.”

“That’s not good enough.”

Tem stepped back. She couldn’t bear to look at him. She was so sick of his evasions—his half truths—his twisted efforts to keep her in the dark. Tem was always the last to know. Even this most important, fundamental thing about herself—she’d had no idea. She was the last to be kissed, the last to be fucked. Do you know your own anatomy? Caspen had asked her once. Not at all, it would seem.

“How long have you known, Caspen?”

He didn’t answer.

“How. Long.”

The pause went on forever. Finally Caspen reached for her hands, turning them over so her freckles caught the firelight.

“This is a distinct feature,” he whispered. “Even amongst basilisks. It was no coincidence that you, a human, had such a rare thing. Your father has the same ones. That is when I suspected you were a Hybreed.”

Hybreed. Half human, half basilisk.

Tem had heard the stories just like everyone else—that such a creature existed. But they were stories: nothing more. Hybreeds were not supposed to be real. They were not supposed to be her.

“When I spoke to you using my mind, that is when I knew for sure,” Caspen finished quietly. “Only basilisks can communicate with one another that way.”

Tem stared down at her freckled palms. There was a pattern to them, she realized suddenly. All these years and she’d never noticed that she had exactly twelve freckles on each palm—evenly split—with three freckles beneath each finger except her thumbs.

Tem shook her head. She pulled her hands from his grasp.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Because I did not want to frighten you.”

“Right,” she spat. “Because we both know I am so easily frightened.”

“Tem—” he reached for her again but she smacked his hands away.

“Don’t.”

There was silence as they stared at each other, and Tem felt anger—true, unstoppable rage—begin to flow through her. Her chest was tight; it was becoming difficult to breathe. She fought to stay calm, asking her next question with her fists clenched:

“Why would you make me do the ritual if I’m not even human?”

“I did not make you—”

“You know what I mean.”

Caspen’s face was drawn. It pained him to see her like this. But Tem didn’t care.

“Only humans are subjected to the ritual. Nobody would suspect you were anything else.”

To her surprise, his response satisfied her. What better way to convince everyone she was a human than to put her through a ritual that only humans were subjected to? But she still didn’t understand why he’d done it.

“Why would you want everyone to think I’m human?”

“To protect you, Tem.”

“From what?”

“Everything,” he brandished his arms wide. “My father. My world. My quiver. If they find out you are a Hybreed, they will—”