“Not always,” Dorian agreed. “But often. And certainly in Storm King’s line, if you and Jasmine are any indication. She got water. Ysabel got air. You were the lucky one to inherit it all, furthering our thoughts that you’d be the heir’s mother. But look ... look at the resemblance. You and Ansonia were mistaken for each other.”

He was right, I realized with a sickening feeling. Up close, Ansonia and I didn’t look alike, but from a distance we shared similar features. All of us did: me, Jasmine, Ysabel, Pagiel, and Ansonia. I’d thought it was funny that the clinic in Ohio had accepted my siblings so easily. Suddenly, that was no longer a joke.

“Oh God,” I said.

Dorian’s gaze was far away. “And Pagiel’s power has grown—considerably. We haven’t noticed it because of everything else going on.”

“He’s my nephew,” said Jasmine in despair. No one paid much attention.

I closed my eyes as something else occurred to me. “And he’s already begun his invasion of the human world. None of us knew it. He doesn’t even know it.” I opened my eyes. “Kiyo was right. Prophecies do fulfill themselves in unexpected ways.”

And speaking of Kiyo ... the most startling thing of all hit me. Isaac and Ivy. If this was all true—and I was beginning to think it was—Isaac wasn’t Storm King’s heir. He wasn’t the first grandson. He really was an innocent, not a conqueror of worlds. He was free of the prophecy. Free to live his life.

Hope and joy blossomed within me, though I kept it to myself. This revelation was dearer to me than anything else we’d discussed ... but it wasn’t relevant to the larger problem. There would be time to bask in this news later.

“His raids just got a lot more serious,” I said. “If there really is truth to the prophecy ... well, then. What he’s doing has the potential to develop into a lot more.”

Dorian said nothing, and I wondered what he was thinking. He’d agreed to stopping Pagiel before, as a favor to me. Now that Pagiel’s activities had become something more ... what then? Where did Dorian’s loyalties lie? He’d just professed all this devotion to me, swearing he’d do anything for me. But that was before he’d found out the cause he’d long supported was under way. I couldn’t read him, and that made me nervous. My walls went back up.

Jasmine used the silence to again interject, “Pagiel’s my nephew. Isn’t anyone else freaked out about that? We were practically dating.”

“Did you sleep together?” I asked bluntly.

She looked taken aback. “Well, no ... but you know, we like kissed ... and did other stuff... .”