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“You don’t know what you are.” It wasn’t often that I was surprised, but life in the Third Realm wasn’t nearly as regulated as my own. If Annalise had thrown him away, he likely arrived with no knowledge of his parentage.

It couldn’t have been easy being dropped helpless in a foreign world.

A Kakian demon wandered up to us, nostrils flaring. “Other,” he proclaimed.

I raised a hand to gesture for him to step back and Zaynan slipped from my fingers, his long limbs caging the man as he ripped into him. The scent of blood rippled through the air and the energy shifted, every soul in the vast space instantly attuned to the violence occurring right under their noses.

A frenzy didn’t worry me, we were too cultured for that. But there were a time and a place, and this wasn’t it. As I dragged Zaynan away from the body, he dropped the man’s head and lifted his gaze to mine. It was silver.

Extending my nails, I fanned them around his face and held his head down before I whispered in his ear, “Fix your eyes—now.”

His chest heaved under his exhalations, and blood dripped from his restored fingernails, but he didn’t move. “Guards!” I bellowed. Two hurried over. “Clean this up.”

I had to get Zaynan out of here and quickly, until I understood what the hell Annalise had done.

If Kiam couldn’t spell or ward the man, it was unlikely I could, either. So, I didn’t bother trying.

“Would you like to fight every vampire and Kakian in this room?” I asked him.

His eyes glittered when I mentioned the demons. “There are some that I would enjoy consuming.”

The confidence was mildly endearing. “You wouldn’t survive sixty seconds.”

He smirked. “You don’t know me.”

“I don’t need to.” His energy wavered, his instinct to fight me maneuvering for dominance. “Don’t,” I warned him.

Once he calmed a bit, I waved my hand over his face and hands, removing the demon’s blood and chunks of flesh skewered onto his nails. Casually, he watched the motion, and then he scanned the room.

“What is this place?”

“The First Realm. Your new home.” Still holding onto him, I tried to steer him to walk and had to nudge his legs with my knee. “Move.”

We navigated our way through the buzzing crowd and into the hallway. Zaynan examined everything, clearly taking notes. “You can let go of me now,” he said.

“I won’t.” We turned the corner, moving down another corridor.

He shook his head, attempting to dislodge the bit of hair hanging over one of his eyes. “Where are you taking me?”

I unlocked the door at the end of our path. “To your new quarters.”

“This doesn’t look very hospitable.”

Unfortunately for him, it wouldn’t be. Not until I knew what we were dealing with, exactly.

As we descended into the lower levels of the palace, he began squirming. Not enough to free himself, but just enough to try and subtly loosen my grip. He didn’t seem to believe I would notice, but my grip refused to relent.

Before we entered the main space, I backed him up against the wall. “Do you have any idea what you are?”

He lifted his chin. “I’m a vampire.”

“Yes, I am aware. Do you know the other DNA that is knit through your cells?”

A flash of hurt shot through his gaze. “I never met my parents.”

“Your mother is a pure blood vampire. She is our Queen.” I had his full attention. “Your father, however, had Fae blood.”

Zaynan wrinkled his nose. “I’m not a fairy.”