Pippa's POVI must have dozed off at some point because the next thing I know, I’m in a dark room, lying on an uncomfortable bed that smells badly of dust. I am tucked into a sleeping bag, and my boots are gone. Groaning softly, I unzip the bag, and unwilling to put my feet bare feet on the filthy floor, I sit on my knees and lean over the edge of the bed, searching for my boots.Adrian put them right next to the bed. I slip my shoes on and finally allow myself to look around. I can’t see much in the dark, and there’s no moon tonight, so there's no light coming in from outside, but I can make out something that may or may not be a dresser, a single chair and an open door on the opposite side of the room.The bed, if you can even call it a bed, groans and squeaks loudly when I get up. I freeze. Holding my breath, I prick my ears, and wait to see if Adrian heard me, but no one shows up.Everything in this place is noisy though. The floorboards squeal with each step I take, and every tim

Adrian's POV I lie on my sleeping bag, listening to Pippa’s even breathing and the rustling pages of the book she's reading. She’s adapting quickly to her new reality and keeping herself occupied. I asked Joseph to sneak into town to get her some books and magazines. Most days she’s out and about, exploring our surroundings, and at night she reads by the dim light of the oil lamp. When she's outside, I always stay close by, just in case she needs me or gets lost, but no matter how far out she goes, she always finds her way back. She’s one with nature, as her kind often are, and doesn’t need me at all while she’s out there. Joseph was wrong. She’s not a Halfling. She’s definitely half Lycan, but her other half is demon. Cambions we call them. Although I’m not even sure we can call Pippa a Cambion. As far as I know, a half-Lycan, half-demon Cambion has never existed. The old people called them changelings because they are so adaptable. Like chameleons, they can change their whole pe

Caspian's POV I veer off the road and into the forest, following the beat-up old car as far as I could, running until I almost launch myself off a cliff. I reroute back to the road, but there are too many cars for my comfort. Frustrated, I roar as I lose sight of Adrian’s car. I turn and run back to the cabin, hoping my mages were able to put out the fire and find some of Pippa’s or Adrian's DNA. They’ve used everything they could gather from her flat and the rectory and they need fresh material to work with. “Nothing,” Niall says when I reach him two hours later. “Did you check at the stream?” I ask. “Yes, Alpha. Nothing. It's very strange. Not even a strand of hair.” “Not so strange for her kind. What about Adrian" I ask, knowing it's futile. "Did you find any of his DNA?” Niall shakes his head woefully. “He knows better than that.” “Fuuuuck!” I scream and turn my rage on the nearest target - a young warrior who just joined our ranks. His eyes widen in fear and he spins arou

Pippa's POVWhen Adrian said we were going home, he literally meant that we were going home.Fifty kilometres outside of the town where I grew up, he pulls the car off the road and opens his door. “Get out,” he says.I am exhausted. We drove for half a day and night, and this time I couldn’t sleep. I’m tired and cranky and not in the mood for games. “What are we doing here?” I ask“Right over that hill is a farm,” he says. “It belongs to the church.”“I know,” I say, “it used to be a work farm for-” I make air quotes -“incorrigible youth.”“Yes, and they ended that program, but the farm has gone unused for years.”“I know. Owen goes…went there once a month to help out with repairs and such.”“The grounds haven’t been deconsecrated.”“Yes, and?”“It has a small chapel…a place we can hide if Caspian comes back. He won’t go inside the church.”“It’s so strange. You go into churches all the time. Has it never occurred to them that if you can do it, they can too? Or do they think you’re sp

Pippa's POV “I’m a what?” “A Cambion.” My head spins like a wild merry-go-round, and I can’t think clearly. I’m half demon. He just said it. How can that even be? How is that possible? “I…I’m the antichrist?” “Noooo,” he says. “That’s not how this works. The antichrist is a very human notion. There’s no such thing.” “How can I have a demon parent? Demons can’t die.” “Yeah, no, they can. It takes very specific spell work, but they can absolutely die.” I have gone completely numb. I swear I can't feel anything from the eyebrows down. “But…how? How could I not know that I’m this…this thing? ” “You’re an orphan.” “But…shouldn’t I feel it?” He gave me a lopsided smile. “You do feel it, sweet girl. You said so yourself. You feel wrong and like you don’t belong.” “But…that means I’m evil, right? I’ll go to hell or…or something. I have to. I’m half demon.” He folds his hands around his mug. “You are not evil. You are incredibly good. So good that I’m afraid I’ll…” he shrugs and sip