One side of Casteel’s lips curled up, and I tensed at the sight of the smirk. “I know what my actions would’ve caused.”

“And yet?”

“Here we stand,” he replied.

I inhaled sharply as I felt the hot burn of anger break through the walls that his father had built. “Yes, here we all stand, apparently determined to irritate the hell out of one another. Not me. I don’t want to irritate anyone—you know, the person who was attacked not once but twice and then shot in the chest with a crossbow,” I snapped, and both their gazes shot to me. “And yet, I’m the one who has to tell you two to knock it the hell off.”

The King blinked at me. “Why am I reminded of your mother, Cas?”

“Because that sounds like something she’d say,” he replied. “Or probably has said, minus the being shot part.”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, well, as I said, I’m not an Ascended, or at least not like the others. We all can agree on that, right? So, would you happen to know what I am?” I asked, and then an awkward laugh escaped me. The sound earned a few curious stares from the wolven. “That sounded extremely weird to say out loud.”

“I’ve heard far stranger things,” Casteel commented, and that earned him a curious glance from me. “She does not feel like anything I’ve felt before,” Casteel said to his father, his tone shifting from that deadly calm that was always a warning of very bad things to come. “But she’s not mortal any longer.”

It was very bizarre to hear that, despite already knowing it.

“No, she is not.” His father studied me so intently that it was hard to stand there and not react. Especially since that kind of scrutiny had only ever accompanied someone staring at my scars. I didn’t think he even saw them at the moment. “And you’re not a vampry. None of them can walk in the sun or be among our kind so soon after the change and be so calm.”

“I didn’t think so,” Casteel said. “Can you explain what happened?”

His father didn’t answer for a long moment, and as I focused on him, I truly felt nothing from him. “It has to be her heritage. Her bloodline,” he said. “Somehow, it played a role in this. She feels…I don’t understand how she feels.”

Warning bells went off, and it had everything to do with the sudden biting taste of conflict filling my mouth. Did he know more than he was saying? Instinct told me that he did. I glanced around the chamber, seeing only the wolven among us. I took a deep breath. “Alastir told me who I’m related to—”

“I can only imagine what Alastir has told you,” King Valyn cut in. “Some of it may be true. Some of it might not be. And there are things my wife and I may be able to confirm for you.”