Page 133 of Captive of Secrets and Storms

“Which truth are you referring to?”

I want to slap his stupid, handsome face.

“The fact that I’m part F-Fae.” The word catches in my throat, and my lungs constrict as I struggle to breathe. “How long have you known?”

His tongue clicks the roof of his mouth.

He turns a page. “A while.”

“How long?” I snap.

He finally looks up, a dark strand of hair falling over his eye. “Do you want the honest answer?”

“Yes,” I hiss.

He cocks his head to the side. “I suspected the night I first saw you.”

I rock back on my heels. “What?”

“It was quite obvious, really.” His attention returns to the diary, turning another page, continuing to speak as if we are discussing something as mundane as what we ate for breakfast, and not a truth that fundamentally changes the course of my life.

“Your heritage was made even more apparent once I witnessed your power the first time you connected with the curse.”

He means when the darkness in Darius’s chest attacked me.

Gods…

Did the darkness know what power I possess? Is that why it reacted to me so violently?

I snort.

Of course it did.

I should have known.

How did I not know?

I cross my arms and stare at the diary in Rian’s hands, cursing myself for how blind I’ve been.

Maybe I didn’t realize the truth at first, but after my light manifested—after hearing Anders describe human healing magic—I knew I was different.

Why didn’t I question why I was different?

Anders.

Oh…shit.

“What is it?”

My head snaps up. Rian’s gaze flickers over my face. His brows draw together.

There’s no point in lying. “Anders knows I have the diary.”

His body stills. “Oh?”

I bob my head. “He’s the one who told me who it belonged to… I told him Juniper gave it to me. That she was a Brownie. Do you…do you think he knows what I am?”

Gods damn it.