Chapter 196

Cocking her head, Livia frowned at him. "I don’t understand." Her eyes went wide as it hit her. "Oh my god, I get it. So, if they make vampires popular in movies and books, demons will become stronger because more humans are glorifying them. Same for witches and werewolves and everything else, yes?"

"Exactly."

"Holy shit. I wonder how much I affected them in my Twilight phase as a kid."

Joseph growled, "Those fucking movies! The "vampire" and "werewolf" demons were out of control. The "underworld demons" were pissed. They’d been top dogs for most of what"—he glanced at Leon—"like the last thousand years?"

"Mm, thereabouts, yes."

"Wait. Did I hear you say ‘top dogs’?" she asked, ignoring the twilight thing in favor of something more important.

"Yes, but now anymore," Leon nodded.

“Spiteful little fuckers, really. And always hungry!” Joseph pointed to a few thin white scars crisscrossing the back of his hand, scars she’d somehow never noticed before. “They like people meat, and they are not against a little cannibalism. They look all innocent, but lemme tell you, their teeth are sharp as fuck. Bloody hates them. And yes, for once, humans were right about werewolves and vampires hating each other, we were once allies but not anymore. Trust me. You don't want to know.”

And there goes that fairytale.

“This is all a lot to process,” Livia said, head already spinning from the overload of information.

“We’ll explain the demons here in the human realm in more detail later. It’s time, Livia,” Rhye directed, catching and holding her gaze. “How about you try to open your power to us first? If that doesn’t work, I’ll draw it out of you.”

Livia arched a brow at the bossy alpha, standing across from her.

Hot alpha.

It sounded far-fetched and fantastical, but it also felt right.

Hesitant to unclench the fist she kept around her power, she closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath. She tilted her head to the right, then the left, stretching her neck, then shook out her arms like she was warming up for the fight of her life.

“Relax,” Alpha Rhye prompted, like this was an easy ask, one she was making a bigger deal of than it was.

Bristling at Rhye’s dismissive tone, Livia opened her eyes and sent him a look. Maybe she was making a mountain out of what they saw as a molehill, but she hadn’t grown up knowing how to control her power. The opposite, actually, and it wasn’t innate to release it. She’d spent the last ten years trying to contain it, to dampen it.

To make it disappear so it would stop ruining her life.

It was only these past few weeks she’d even dared to try to loosen her hold, and look where that had gotten her?

One dead guy, two attempts on her life, three stalkers, and now she was in hiding. Granted, she wasn’t hating her seclusion, and it came with an impressive silver lining. Or three. But, letting down her guard and releasing her power went against every instinct she had.

Catching the look she gave him, Rhye smirked slightly, appearing pleased with her open show of irritation. She’d caught that look from him before, but she hadn’t understood it then. She did now. He was a pureblood. As such, he was likely used to being treated with deference and having people kowtow to him.

Holding up his hands in surrender, Rhye soothed, “I wasn’t trying to condescend to you. You need to relax or your power will sense danger and be on alert. Have you ever felt it trying to protect you?”

She took a moment to think about that.

“Yes.” The answer surprised her. All this time she’d thought of her power as something working against her. In many ways, it had, but there’d definitely been times it had reacted defensively.

Just recently, it had come to her aid when she’d been attacked by that creepy-as-fuck kid, er, fae, and had helped her fend it off. That’d been helpful.

At least it was something.

Trusting herself, and Rhye, she leveled out her breathing and slowly, so very slowly, reached inside of herself, where the well of power lived, and loosened her hold. It gradually rose, then slipped out of her in those familiar, little tendrils. She felt them beeline for the guys, felt them prodded and caressed the men like they were trying to coax their power out in return.

She heard Leon groan softly before he cut off the sound and almost opened her eyes. Did being touched by those tendrils feel as good for them as it did for her?

“Good,” Rhye murmured, his voice sounding slightly rough. “I can feel it. Well done, Livia. Now, more.” Rhye prompted.

Relaxing her grip further, she tensed, waited for it to surge out of her, resolving to not instinctively try and cut it off. Except it didn’t surge. Eyes still closed, she frowned and reached for it, trying to draw it out. Strangely, it felt like she encountered a barrier.

That’s new.

She reached again, trying to coax it out, practically cooing to it like it were a timid animal she was trying to lure out of its cage with yummy treats, but she couldn’t quite reach it.

Scrunching her nose and furrowing her brow, she tried again, and again.

“Nothing’s happening,” Joseph whisper-yelled.

Leon growled, literally growled at him, which was oddly scary. “Give her a few minutes. She’s doing great.”

A smile pulled at Livia’s lips, then quickly fell away as she focused, yet again, trying to draw it out. And once again, it refused to cooperate.

Blowing out a short breath, she grumbled, “It’ll flood out when it wants to, but now that I want it to, it’s playing hard to get.”

“Breathe, little sis. Centre yourself,” Joseph pressed calmly. “Now, try again.”

Rhye nodded in agreement.

“I… can’t. It just won’t cooperate.” Frustrated, she popped her eyes open and sighed.

Narrowing his gaze, Rhye studied her inquisitively, like she was a puzzle he’d very much like to solve. “Explain it to me. How does it feel?”

“It feels like there’s a barrier between us. I can coax out a little, but that’s it. When I try to pull more, the barrier flexes enough that I can touch it, but it’s preventing me from actually drawing it out. I don’t understand. It’s never done this before. Something’s changed.”

The three guys shared a look. Leon rolled his big shoulders and speculated, “Perhaps, this is a defence mechanism. She’s been away from supernatural folks and from the demon world almost all her life. Maybe her power sealed itself off so it didn’t fade. That might be why she survived.”

“It’s a good guess, but doesn’t explain why it’s suddenly unreachable.” Joseph’s amber eyes were practically glittering with intrigue. He seemed like a man who enjoyed puzzles and was intent on figuring her out. “Something recent must have triggered the change. You said her power flared when that little fucker of an fae attacked her. Maybe it’s a new development? A defence mechanism from being nearly drained?”

Alpha Rhye hummed pensively. “Perhaps. But, why wouldn’t it have responded in kind any other time she was hunted, attacked, or hurt?” He let the question hang in the air, and for a heavy moment, none of them spoke. “Maybe someone bound her power.” He shook his head. “That could explain why it feels almost muted and would account for the sensation of a barrier, but why they would bother is beyond me.”

“Fuck. If someone bound her power, that could also explain why she’s survived for so long. With it sealed away, it was protected from fading. It would also explain why shit changed when she was sixteen.” Leon glanced at each of them in turn.

“Wait. Explain,” she demanded, feeling like she’d been dropped in the middle of a conversation that had no context.

“Demon powers mature at age sixteen,” Joseph shrugged. “Think of it like puberty. Demon born with innate powers, but they fully emerge and strengthen upon our sixteenth year.”

Focusing on her, Rhye mused, “Let’s start with the easiest explanation. If your power is simply reacting from the fae’s attack, you should be able to coax it back out with practice and patience.”

Livia made a face that clearly said how little she liked the idea of waiting for who knew how long. She wasn’t especially impatient, usually, but what if it took months to lure her power out? Or years?

With the number of fae and rogue who had already targeted her, she wasn’t sure she could afford to wait that long. Not knowing how to defend herself from them put her at a hell of a disadvantage. One that could easily turn out to be deadly.