Aisling stepped inside the library. She stared, somewhat taken aback by the state of things. “What happened?”

Oz looked around. Books laid scattered, torn off the shelves and thrown around on the floor. Cracks cut through some of the bookshelves, splinters jutting into the books. A puddle of milk leaked onto the floor near the food scattered out of the dropped basket. Lumps of spider thread stuck on the floor, ceiling, and walls, and scorch marks stained the walls and floor.

Snap! A shelf gave out, and all its books toppled down.

Turning slowly, the books thumping to the ground behind him, Oz looked at Aisling. “You happened.”

“Oh.” Aisling had the good graces to look embarrassed.

“You’re going to clean this up. You and Linnea.”

“Yes, of course.”

Linnea frowned. “I’m the one who got attacked, so why am I—”

Oz fixed her with a glare. “Linnea.”

She crossed her arms and sighed. “Fine.”

Linnea closed her eyes and focused. Her body shifted, and the spider parts of her vanished, replaced by ordinary human legs once more. Her robes, which had bunched up around her hips, fell down as her body changed. Tired, she ran a hand through her red hair and closed her eyes. “Ugh.”

“The silverleaf powder wore off, finally?” Oz asked.

She shook her head. “That wasn’t normal silverleaf powder. That was… something far more potent. Whoever sent the assassin with that was not only convinced that you were a fey of some kind, but determined to force you to reveal yourself.”

Oz frowned. “Why would Professor Keane be so sure about that?” He barely knew me, and based on the competence of the rest of his mad plan, I really doubt he figured that out about me.

Linnea gave him a look. “Was it Professor Keane who gave that assassin the silverleaf powder? Or did someone else do it?”

Or did someone else slip that in with Professor Keane’s poison-based attack strategy? Someone a little better at subtlety, who thought they could blame their attempted reveal of my supposed feydom on Professor Keane? Oz put a hand on his chin. Interesting. But who would do that?

Unless it was someone who knew Ossian would summon something here, and assumed, reasonably, that he’d summon a fey or demon, not a soul from another world. In other words, the person who manipulated Ossian into summoning me!

Oz grinned at Linnea. “We can always ask the man himself.”

“The boy himself,” Linnea corrected.

Aisling looked from Linnea to Oz. “What does that mean?”

Oz shook his head. “First, make up with Linnea.”

Aisling stiffened. She glanced at Linnea.

Linnea sighed. “Yes. I’ve always been a demon. Since the beginning. I was born a demon, and I’ll die a demon. Sorry I was born like this, is that what you want?”

“Have you…” Aisling bit her lip and looked away.

“Eaten humans?” Linnea sighed. She rolled her eyes.

“What does that mean?” Aisling snapped, rounding on Linnea.

Linnea took a deep breath, frustrated. “You know I came from the Northern Wastes, right? The Northern Wastes, which were overrun by demons.”

“Overrun by your fellows,” Aisling muttered.

Linnea looked down. When she looked back up, her eyes glittered with a fierce rage, something she’d suppressed for a long time. “But that’s not true. That’s not the whole story. Something happened. Something changed. A flood of incredibly powerful demons poured in from outside and overwhelmed all of us. Demons, humans, fey, it didn’t matter. That wave of new demons pushed all of us out. Like wildfire, those demons consumed the entire Northern Wastes, and we had no option but to flee.”

She looked at Oz. “Humans, fey, and demons mixing together. You can imagine what happened, right? Humans and fey can get along, but demons are everyone’s enemy. We’re vile beasts that spread evil, do evil, and eat everyone’s babies for lunch. When we were all pushed together by those new, more powerful demons, the humans and fey turned on the demons without hesitation. They tore us apart. I watched my entire family die. My siblings, my parents… we were never very close, because there’s hundreds of us, but they all died, one by one. Out of all of my siblings, I was the best at transforming. That’s the only reason I survived. That, and…”

“Lif?” Oz guessed.

Linnea nodded. “Lif. He realized what I was, but he took me in and hid my aura.” She reached to her neck and fished out a necklace, not unlike the one Lif had offered Oz.

“Oh,” Oz said, surprised. So far, that sounds pretty wholesome. The way she acted around him, I was sure there was something negative between them. But maybe…

“And as soon as I became his, he began to use me.”

Ah. There it is.

“How could I refuse? If I didn’t sleep with who he told me to, he’d reveal me. If I didn’t kill his enemies, didn’t poison the mages who threatened him, he’d stop hiding my aura. I thought it was only for a short while. Until we escaped the Northern Wastes. I thought I could handle it. If it was only that long, only a few months.

“But once we escaped the Northern Wastes, I found myself in a prison by another name—the Mages’ Quarter. Surrounded by mages, all of whom consider me the root of all evil, who will not hesitate to kill me on sight, it was only then that I realized I was a fool. Lif wanted me as his tool. Not temporarily, but forever. And I was the fool, trapped in his schemes. There was nothing I could do but dance in his palm.”

“Have you ever tried to escape?” Oz asked softly.

Linnea shook her head. “Of course I tried. I tried constantly. He knows my aura. No matter where I go, he can follow. Even if I throw away the pendant, he swoops down when I least expect him. There’s nothing I can… nothing I could do.

“But now I’m revealed, so… I don’t know what happens now. I’ve been holding it together, but I’m panicking on the inside. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to survive. I don’t know… I’m free of Lif, I guess, but now…”

Oz nodded. “Now, you stay in the library, that’s what happens.”

Linnea shot him a look. “That can’t work forever. Eventually—”

“Eventually, we’ll figure something out, I’ll be stronger, and this won’t be a problem anymore,” Oz replied firmly. Linnea had a rough time of it, but now? She might be stuck here, but at the very least, I won’t let anyone hurt her anymore. She doesn’t deserve to be treated that way. Like a rabid dog, held on a tight leash.

Aisling frowned. “Did you eat people?”

“Does it matter?” Linnea snapped. “Would you treat me differently if I said no? Would you believe me? I’m a filthy demon. No matter what I do, it’s all the same to you mages. I’m evil, an evil ball of filth, and I deserve to be destroyed.”  

“If you don’t eat people and don’t practice demonic techniques, then you’re the same as a fey,” Aisling said.

“I won’t eat people. How about that? Is that acceptable?”

“And demonic techniques?”

Linnea threw her hands up. “You humans defined demonic techniques as ‘techniques used by demons,’ among other things. I cannot escape that definition, nor am I about to throw away my demonic bloodline and years of cultivation to make one human happy.”

Aisling crossed her arms. “I mean techniques that cultivate death, suffering, or injury to empower the user. As long as you are not inflicting suffering on others to grow stronger, then—”

“Then, are you going to go around smiting every mage who kills monsters to steal their power? Even if we disregard the lives of all demons as pure evil who deserve to die, half you mages take out fey beasts the same as demons, and absorb their qi all the same. And you’re going to quibble over me causing suffering, when so many of you grow fat and strong on the suffering of beasts, demons, and monsters?” Linnea’s eyes shone, but not with rage this time. A hint of mischievousness glimmered in their depths.

Oz nodded to himself. If she’s messing around, then she isn’t worried about Aisling anymore.

Aisling’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “You equate demonic techniques with monster hunting?”

“They’re the same thing, from my perspective,” Linnea said, putting her hands up.

“Not even close,” Aisling growled. Her hands curled into fists. “The things you demons—”

“Good, good. It sounds like we’re all on the same page!” Oz said, clapping.

“We aren’t,” Aisling grumbled.

“Close enough,” Linnea muttered.

Oz patted both of them on the back. He grinned. “Now that we’re good friends again, why don’t we clean up my goddamed library, huh?”