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Chapter Four
Skylar
I was still fixating on the bombshell that Fern dropped. And the fact that she was like me, a half shifter. I had never met another like me. Though I’d never felt like I belonged in the human world, that was where I tried to blend in the most. I avoided supernatural politics and never sought out any pack.
My father had told me he’d been forced out after his decision to marry my mom. Since I thought she was human, I figured shifters didn’t like half anything. Now, I know she was a demon. Which meant his reasons for leaving might have had more to do with her heritage than the fact that she wasn’t a wolf.
There were so many questions left unanswered. Both my parents were dead and I didn’t have any other family ties. I didn’t even know which pack my dad had hailed from when he was younger. From what he did discuss of his childhood, memories of surfing and playing at the beach, I always assumed it was somewhere warmer than were we lived but I didn’t know which coast even.
It seemed too painful for him to discuss so I didn’t press. I should have. Knowing a little more about myself would be very helpful right now. Could I do demon magic? Would my magic be enough to destroy the stone or would we need a stronger demon? Thankfully, as far as I knew, we still had Elias on our side. But knowing I could help would be nice.
Being able to use demon magic or shift would give me an advantage in a fight. I could use that with the odds we were facing.
I wasn’t going to be able to put off figuring out my feelings for Xander. If he was my mate, I needed to know. It felt selfish and wrong to want to have sex with him for personal gain in terms of being able to shift. Was it wrong if there was attraction there?
In any other situation, I would have been up for a one-night-stand at the very least. The problem now was that if we did have a bond, it was forever.
That was a very long time for someone who wasn’t used to relationships.
“Here it is.” Gerald held a large leather-bound book in his hands as he walked back into the room. “We’ve tried to decode it to see if there was anything we could use in here. But we’ve never had a demon on our side.”
He set the book in my lap. I held it, carefully, afraid to damage the well-worn cover. It was cracked in a few places and the leather had signs of wear on the edges where it had been touched frequently.
Carefully, I opened it, wincing at the sound of the binding cracking. The pages were made of thick, yellowing material that didn’t feel like the paper I was used to in other books. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it looked old and fragile.
Black ink was scrawled all over the pages in twists and turns, in neat columns, and sometimes even upside down. It was a mess that was impossible to follow. In addition to the unusual layout of the words, they weren’t written in any language I recognized. The characters and symbols weren’t in the alphabet I was familiar with. This was something else.
“Demonic.” Xander brushed his fingers over the pages. “Why didn’t you tell me you had this?”
“I didn’t think it was necessary,” Gerald said. “Lola knew of its existence. As the keeper, it was available to her but she never asked to see it.”
“I should have known about this as Alpha,” Xander said. “We should have had this translated years ago.”
“We’ve tried. Demons are illegal. Even if someone could speak the language, they often can’t read it. And if they can, they’re not going to admit that,” Gerald said.
“Can you read it?” Fern asked.
I looked up, startled that she was asking me. Her expression was expectant, hopeful even. Was I supposed to be able to read this? “I didn’t even know I was part demon until a few days ago.”
She frowned. “There goes my theory that it’s an inherited language.”
“I was hoping she could read it,” Gerald said. “Alas, it looks like another dead end.”
“When we said we had a demon on our side, we weren’t talking about me,” I said.
Fern’s brows rose. “Oh?”
“There’s a demon who says he’s formed a mating bond with her.” Xander growled.
“I’ve heard of that,” Fern said. “Some of our most powerful ancestors had multiple mates.”
“He’ll help us,” I said, trying to change the subject. The last thing I wanted to talk about with Xander’s grandparents was my complicated love life. Which, prior to yesterday had been non-existent.
“Take it with you,” Gerald said. “It’s no use to us anyway.”
“If we can, we’re going to destroy the stone,” Xander said.
“Good,” Fern said. “About time someone did.”
