Page 78 of Knotted By the Triad

“What the fuck?” she finally whispered.

“I checked the records several times,” Kai said. “Your name, parentage, date of birth, and shifter category are all here.”

Zuri stared at the folder. “You said there were four.”

“Yes. The second infant was a witch, identified as the daughter of a seer. Her name was Ciori.”

Zuri jerked in my arms. “What did you say?”

Kai's brows drew together. “Ciori.”

She stared at him as if he'd spoken a name no one in this world should know. “What's the next name?”

“Kenadi. The records identify her as a vampire.”

“Oh, my God.” Her fingers tightened around Daemin's. “And the fourth?”

“Brielle. Cheetah shifter.”

Zuri covered her mouth. Tears gathered in her eyes, and I wrapped my arms more securely around her as she stared at the documents spread across Kai's desk.

“What happened to them?” she asked.

“Sometime after the four successful procedures, a witch discovered the facility and took the four golem infants. From what I can tell, she believed she was rescuing the children themselves. The researchers sent people after her, but she was believed to have escaped to another realm.”

Zuri slowly lowered her hand. “Does it say who the witch was?”

“Yes, her name was Ellora Nightingale. It says she had the ability to realm travel and to block the abilities of others, rendering them unable to shift or use their magic.”

“And the original children?”

“They were returned to their families after the golems were taken. In your case, the records eventually match what we already know. You ended up with your grandmother. Your ability to shift was transferred to the golem. That’s why your omega traits never fully appeared. The researchers watched the four of you for a few years, until the lead scientist died and your files were archived. Without the golems, there was no reason to continue watching the four of you.”

“Yes,” Zuri whispered. “My grandmother. No omega traits.”

Something about the way she said it bothered me. I looked at Daemin and found him already studying her.

“But Zuri's dragon has been talking to her,” he said.

Kai looked at him. “What?”

“She told me she never heard her dragon before she met us. She couldn't communicate with her, couldn't shift, and didn't feel her the way she does now. Her healing is changing too.”

I remembered our wedding night and the sweet fragrance that had filled the room. She was supposed to be a cold omega.

“Her scent isn’t the perfume of a cold omega,” I stated, staring down at her.

Zuri closed her eyes. The records told us what had happened to her as an infant. She shouldn’t be able to hear her dragon. She shouldn’t have such a sweet scent. Only her golem should. A golem that would look and sound just like the real Zuri. Kai must have reached the same conclusion. He closed the folder instead of reaching for another document.

“Zuri, you don't owe us an explanation simply because I found your name in these records. If there's something you're not ready to tell us, I'll wait.”

Her eyes opened, and she stared at him for several seconds before looking at Daemin and then me.

“You're all going to think I'm crazy,” she whispered.

“No, we won’t,” Daemin said.

“You haven't even heard it yet.”