“What? Why?” Then I gulped. What had happened when I wasn’t in control?

“She tried to hurt me. My demon came out, and they fought, but it was over quickly.”

I jerked to my feet and darted to the farthest corner of the room. With my back to the wall, I looked at Kellan, still on the bed. “You…” My voice trembled. “You’re not my brother. You told me that before—the thing happened.”

He settled back against the wall and sighed. “Yes. I told you that.”

I swallowed, nervous now. “What does that mean? You’re here because of me.”

Kellan started to stand up, but I shot out my hand. “Please don’t. I’m freaked out. I can’t… Just stay there. Please.”

He sat back down, and I relaxed. His eyes searched mine intently as he spoke, “I’m here because my human side is bonded with your human side. I’m here because of you, for you.”

“How—how do you know?”

“Because you came to me when you were a child. You weren’t in control of your powers, but they were too strong back then. The messenger was mixed with your human side. The two of you flowed together naturally, and you wanted to find your soulmate. You were a child. You didn’t know how frightening your powers were to others, but you came to me. My father felt your presence.”

“What, like a house? Like I literally came to your house?”

“No.” He shook his head, looking sad, almost wounded. “It was through magic. Your presence found mine. My father felt inside of you and found where you were, that you came from demons. He didn’t understand your existence, how you could live in a home of demons when you were half-messenger, but he sent me here. For you. Because of you. I’m here because you wanted me to come here.”

I gaped at him. Had he grown two heads? Had I? “None of this makes sense,” I sputtered out, but it did. Clamping my eyes shut, I tried to ward of memories. They were coming at me fast, hard, too frightening for me to remember. “No, no, no, no. I couldn’t. I hadn’t…”

Then Kellan was in front of me. His hands took my wrists and he lifted them around his head. “Hug me. Please.” He urged me closer, and then I jumped, going into him. I clung to him with my eyes closed, burrowing into him.

The memories kept coming, and I remembered being a little girl. My mother had just read a book to me. I was the princess, and I needed to find my prince. She tucked me in bed, kissed my forehead, and said goodnight. I hadn’t gone to sleep, though. I crawled out and went to my window. As I placed my hand to the window, I closed my eyes and wished to find my prince. I wanted my own fairytale so bad, and I wished with all my heart. Something left my body. It sailed through the window, gliding seamlessly, and looked back once. My body remained in the room with my eyes closed so tight and my lips pursed together, sitting there in my pink princess pajamas. My blonde hair had started to grow, and it flowed over my shoulders, shining from the moonlight. I looked like I was praying, but then I looked back in the air, floating over the forests. I floated over lakes, over houses, over cities.

Then I went somewhere dark. I didn’t know where, but I grew scared. It wasn’t where I wanted my prince to be, and I tried to go back. I couldn’t. Something had taken hold of me. It clamped a hand on my ankle and drew me close. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. Then it pulled me tighter and looked into me. Red eyes pierced through me, and I felt something behind it. I tried to peek around him, but he wouldn’t let me go. He didn’t want me to see, so all I could do was whimper in his hold. Tears ran down my cheeks, I felt them on my skin, and knew I was crying in my own home.

“Dad, let her go,” a little voice spoke up.

I prayed he’d listen to him.

He did; he let me go. I flew back home, and when I slammed into my body, I ran to my bed and curled in a ball. I remembered closing my eyes and wishing that I would never remember that again—I never wanted to feel that terror again. I only wanted to be a little girl.

“Oh my God!” I curled my fingers into his arms. “That’s when it happened, when I didn’t want to be what I was. I wanted to be normal. That’s when I…”

Kellan kissed my forehead. “It’s when you created this.” His hand lifted up my sleeve and touched my tattoo. “This banded her inside of you, but she broke free tonight. That’s why the binding has changed. She’s separated herself from you, from your hold.”

My eyes bulged out when I saw the one silver line. It was at the bottom, separate from the rest that were now jumbled together. “I don’t understand any of this. This is all too much.”

Kellan lifted me and went to his bed. He lay down and pulled me back into his arms, then he rolled and propped himself above me, looking down. His finger traced the side of my face and trailed down my jaw, back up to the other side before his palm spread wide and he cupped my cheek, cradling my face in his hand. “That’s what I mean when I said that I came here for you. I’ve always been here for you. You made that spell that night, and you couldn’t see your parents any longer. You couldn’t even see your mother, even though she’s human. She frightened you too much because you always saw the demon that she loves. You saw that in her.”

“Gus and Vespar’s dad.”

He nodded. His eyes looked haunted. “For a while, you wouldn’t let yourself even see them. There was too much demon in them, but then I came. Your mother let me in. She knew why I had come. She knew what you had done that day and she blamed herself. She said she shouldn’t have read you that book, but she didn’t know it would bring you to me. Ever since then, I’ve been in charge of you. You’re mine, Shay.”