“The traitor?” Shay looked even more confused. I was completely bewildered by the conversation. None of the Searchers appeared surprised; apparently this was old news to them.

“Yes, yes.” Silas drummed his fingers on the table. “The portent of the Scion was that a Keeper, a powerful descendant of Eira herself, would abandon his kind, turn against them, and his heir would cause their downfall. The child of that Keeper is the Scion.”

When Shay continued to frown at him, Silas flipped through the pages of his notebook, turning it to face Shay. “It’s right here.”

“That’s in Latin,” Shay said.

“Don’t you read Latin?” Silas asked, incredulous.

“Not without a dictionary,” Shay snapped.

“Silas, most of us don’t read Latin as ably as you can,” Monroe chided.

“Can we move along?” Connor had put his head in his hands.

“Wait,” I said, throwing him an apologetic smile. “I’m telling you, even if the Keepers are magic-laced humans or whatever, there wasn’t any of that on Shay. He didn’t have their scent. I know Keepers, but I never identified Shay as one of them.”

“Yes,” Monroe said. “I know that. But that’s because Shay’s mother was human.”

“His father betrayed the Keepers for love,” Adne said.

“Why?” Shay still looked dumbfounded. “Why did he leave the Keepers?”

“Oh, come on, Adne, that’s so cliché,” Silas said. Adne glared at him, and he just stared back at her.

“It’s cliché because love matters, Silas,” Tess snapped, eyes misting over. “It’s one of the few things on earth that actually makes people take risks.”

I met Shay’s eyes, feeling heat rise in my cheeks.

“Right.” Silas sounded bored. “Anyway. He left because Keepers, loving their power as they do, have forbidden permanent unions between their kind and humans. Tristan eloped with Sarah and attempted to hide out with her. Birds and bees . . . baby.” He pointed at Shay.

“So how did you find him?” I asked. “If he was hiding, then how did the Searchers even know that the traitor from the prophecy existed?”

“We didn’t have to find him,” Monroe said. “He sought us out.”

“He did?” Shay’s eyes widened.

“Yes,” Monroe said. “He wanted protection for his wife and child. He knew who he was; he knew we would give it. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

“The Keepers found them?” I asked.

He nodded. “On the Aran Islands. We thought we’d isolated them, kept the location in absolute secrecy, but we failed. They took the family, killed Tristan and Sarah, andBosque Mar kept Shay under his guard. Until now.”

Shay stared blankly ahead; his hands were still trembling.

“I don’t understand why he’s not a Keeper,” I said. “Doesn’t it matter who his father was?”

“It matters for the prophecy,” Silas replied. “But in terms of his essence, his being, it’s the mother that matters. It’s always the mother that matters.”

“Huh?” I frowned.

Tess smiled. “Because the power of creation rests in women.”

“Gloat all you want, Tess. At least I get to keep my figure.” Connor patted his flat stomach.

“Battle of the sexes aside,” Silas said, “Tess is right. The mother’s essence always seems to dominate, determines the nature of the child. That’s why you only perceived him as human—in all respects he was. His father’s use of the Nether’s power didn’t pass on to him. The only sign of his mixed ancestry is the mark.”

“What do you mean, the mother’s essence always dominates?” I asked. “Has this happened before?”

“With the Keepers, no,” Silas replied. “None but Tristan ever dared repudiate the Keepers’ taboo on reproduction outside their own ranks. The reason we know about the pattern is because of the era of the Harrowing.”

“But that was just a war,” I countered. What could it have to do with children?

“Alliances form for many reasons,” Monroe said quietly. He turned his face away from the rest of us, his eyes suddenly distant.

Silas nodded. “In the years leading up to the Guardians’ revolt, the ties between Searchers and the wolf soldiers grew very strong—in many respects. The records tell us that children from resulting partnerships always reflected the mother’s line. If the father was a Guardian, the child was a Searcher, if the father was a Searcher, the child remained a wolf.”

My eyes widened. “Searchers and Guardians had children?”

“A very long time ago,” Monroe replied; his jaw tightened and he continued to look away. “The Keepers did their best to wipe out all those offspring, to sever the ties forever.”

My hands were trembling. “But Guardian females can’t just have children—”

I stopped, feeling heat rushing up my neck into my cheeks. I hadn’t meant to say that. The words had just blurted out. So many secrets about my life had been spilled, but this was one I’d wanted to keep stashed away.

When I spoke, it brought Shay out of his own far-off thoughts. “What?” He looked at me sharply.

I stared at the table.

No. No. I don’t want to talk about this. It was too private. And too horrible.