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I held perfectly still as he stroked his fingers down my cheek. Magic tingled between us.

I let out a slow breath, leaning into the sensation without thinking, my whole body going warm and molten. “It’s never been like this before.”

He lowered his hand. “Your magic is celestial. My guess is you’ve never been touched by someone with magic akin to yours.”

“I’m nothing like a devil.”

He stiffened, and I had the odd feeling that I might have actually offended him. “Perhaps not, but the magic is still similar. Just as it is akin to goblin magic.” He thought about it. “Of course, there may be another explanation, something more likely considering this has only happened to you now.”

I waited for him to go on.

He studied me as he thought things over. “Was your mother the last being from another realm to touch you?”

I instinctively tensed at the mention of my mother, then I forced myself to relax and think about it. Werewolves and vampires were from our current realm. Even most goblins and elves had been born here. But Mistral hadn’t. He’d said so himself. “I can’t be sure,” I answered finally, “but probably.”

“That is likely the key then. Although I must warn you, now that your magic has been unlocked, it may not take myself or Mistral to amplify it further.”

I crossed my arms, huddling in on myself. “So this isn’t going to stop?”

He smiled like it didn’t really matter. “Not as long as you are around myself, or Mistral. And maybe not even then. Your magic calls to me, Eva. It did from the start, but it’s stronger now. It will call to others too.” He stepped close again. “You shifted fully tonight.”

My head whipped up. “What?”

“When you were frantic to reach Braxton, you shifted fully. Once, to escape your captors. Then the second time, to reach him.”

“You were watching and you didn’t help?”

“I told you. I would not have let you come to harm.”

Shaking my head in irritation, I thought about what he’d said. That strange dizziness, then suddenly being where I didn’t think I was. “I’m only half celestial,” I muttered. “I can’t shift fully.”

“And who told you that?”

I wasn’t sure where I had first heard it. Probably from Dawn or another night runner. Dawn had introduced me to my magic, when without my mother, I had been clueless.

But—

I had heard of other night runners who could shift fully. Usually they had celestial magic from both sides of their family lineage. I didn’t, my dad was human, but my mother… I couldn’t remember much, only vague flashes, but I knew in my bones that she had been powerful.

“I believe you will be able to find your mother, Eva.”

I stared at him, my mind muddled with a mixture of magic, confusion, and lingering arousal. “Yeah, and what? Turn her in for some bounty? We don’t even know what this person wants with her.”

Fire flashed in his eyes. “Simple girl, do you not realize? If you can shift fully, you can also find the person offering the bounty on your own. You could reach them, where even I cannot. As I told you, the sword will fulfill our contract. You need not ever confront your mother, if that is your wish.”

My jaw fell open. Was he right? Was I really capable? “And you would really leave it at that? The sword, then you’ll leave me alone?”

He gave me a wicked smile. “As long as I obtain the Realm Breaker, I will consider the debt repaid. That can either occur from your mother being turned in, orfrom locating the person who offered the bounty in the first place.”

I let his words sink in. It was what Mistral wanted too. But when it came down to it, even if we managed the impossible, only one person could have the sword.

But maybe that was a problem for another time. Maybe first, I could actually find my mother.

“I’m willing to try,” I decided.

His smile broadened. “Then I will see you tomorrow.”

He departed in a flash of darkness, leaving me feeling confused, alone, and maybe a little bit hopeful.