Page 122 of Change

Whatever, and however, they’d chosen to hide Bianca, it had not only weakened the bond between us, but also the early stirrings of the mate connection.

How—

My fingers twitched. Although invisible to the naked eye, I could feel the tendrils of the old forbidden magic. The veil separating the dead and living had grown thinner, and—although it wasn’t even my realm—I could hear the cries of the damned faintly whispering in the distance.

It couldn’t be. I still didn’t want to believe it. Those records had been destroyed. I’d done it myself.

Besides, there were very few people in this world who could call upon that level of power.

Damen and Titus might not have noticed it, not at that age.

But I’d brought along the witch.

“That’swhat Damen was talking about? That magic has been banned,” Miles said, stepping closer to me. A chill passed through me as the witch’s authoritative presence grew stronger. “It seems like the onmyoji and witches aren’t the only ones breaking the rules these days.”

They never were.

I felt sick as his attention wandered down the darkening hallway. He was judging, and he was right to do so.

But he didn’t even know half of it.

Maybe I had been too hard on Damen—and Finn too. It was a terrible feeling to have one of mine under the subject of such scrutiny.

“No.” I reached for him, but my limbs were sluggish and weak. The procession moved toward the furthest door down. It mocked me, the failure of my oversight weighed on my consciousness, making it difficult to move.

Not that it would matter. There was no use trying to escape anymore. He’d seen too much, and there would be questions no matter what happened next. There was no holding back the avalanche once it started.

I knew—before even looking—what we’d see.

Damen was right.

It was a formality; that’s what they told Damen and Titus at least. To make sure that they, at least, could confirm that the individual was one of us.

But that was a lie.

There was no good reason to parade around a dead infant in front of two children, after all. Not even to appease Damen’s stubbornness, as he refused nothing else other than to see Bailey for himself.

There was no reason why they couldn’t have stopped him.

Unless they still needed to seal the magic.

And the most effective way was to target the heart of the quintet.

“Bailey.” Damen cried in front of the linen-covered baby bed. Titus stood, hands to his mouth, some feet away, speechless. The emerald and gold embroidered trim stood out starkly against the crisp white cloth, and the fabric was meticulously parted to reveal the still newborn.

“I feel it,” Damen said, touching the edge of the basket. “But it’s almost gone already.”

‘No,’ I wanted to say, ‘That’s not what you feel. Get away from it. Don’t touch it.’

But, of course, my warning would make no difference now.

I reached for him anyway, even as his hand lowered. My chest constricted as I was unable to stop what had already transpired.

“I’m sorry,” Damen said, touching his finger to the back of its hand.

I was slammed back into awareness, coughing and sputtering on the musty rug-covered floor. Miles was very much in the same situation beside me.

“Well?” Damen leaned back in his seat, his voice low with caution. “From that expression, it seems youdidfind something.”