Page 78 of Married to the Devil

The fact that he can still manipulate magics outside of the fae realm and his appearance probably means that he was born here with a mixed heritage. From what I know, fae bloodlines are flexible with abilities and attributes skipping generations.

Every so often, you’ll hear about a human with no knowledge of our world manifesting fae attributes. I’d never thought to wonder what happens to them until I met Katarina. She didn’t know she was a witch for most of her childhood, and the discovery that fae blood is what gives her the ability to bypass wards only occurred recently.

“I don’t know if it’s possible to weave the magic tightly enough to nullify all the variabilities the magic can manifest as.” I frown. I’ve tried a few methods that I thought of while waiting for Rowan to complete his deep dive into research, and this was the one I thought might work. One can’t very well pass through a ward if they can’t use their magic, can they?

But there are infinite pathways that fae magic can take and trying to guard against all of them is overloading the capacity of the charm.

When we’d told Rowan our worries, he’d said that he hadn’t heard of the ability of bypassing wards and would need some time to research it. Which is a fucking relief for the implications that witch magic is vulnerable to the fae, but that doesn’t change the fact that people have been taken and the wards left intact.

And a certain dragon’s mate has proved that it’s possible to bypass wards.

There have been no new missing persons that we know of, but Fiona let slip during my training yesterday that the territory still feels on edge. I escaped her kind teachings this morning because she’s a part of the team that is checking on the Sova family lead.

Rowan opens one of the ancient books in front of him and gestures to the symbol on the page. The writing isn’t a languageI understand, but the symbol looks like a family crest. Instead of an animal though, it’s a plant.

“I’ve been as thorough as I can with the collection of books I have, but there was in fact one family line that had the ability to bypass magics.” Rowan frowns at the yellowed page. “Their name is hard for me to pronounce, but it translates to roughly to Nightshade.”

My heart sinks even though Katarina’s existence attests it was possible all along. “So whoever is doing this, may have a Nightshade working for them?”

Rowan’s scholarly expression flattens. “It’s unlikely. They were systematically exterminated a few centuries ago. They pissed off the royal court. The kill order is still active for any stragglers, which by this time is mostly humans who manifest that ability.”

I control my face. It’s a good thing Katarina never went digging for family, and that she has Kalos’s protection.

“But it’s possible,” I say.

Connors has been good with taking Ben’s position in checking my assumptions through this process and interjects. “If that’s the case, and this family is so rare, that’s one person at most who would be invading these people’s homes and subduing them without anyone being the wiser.”

I frown. Some of the families taken had upward of four adults. One person would have to be very well-equipped.

Which makes it more unlikely.

“Is it possible we’ve gone the wrong direction with thinking this is a fae magic thing?” Andrew of the expressive face asks. This is the first time he’s loosened from his awkward stance since Ben left this morning.

I hum, considering. My mind did get stuck on fae magic because I know what Katarina can do. “You don’t think fae are involved?”

Andrew shakes his head. “We know they are, especially with tracking the Sova family. But it sounds like fae magic is finnicky in the fae realm, let alone here.”

Rowan shrugs in agreement. “The fae can make spelled objects, similar to witch’s charms. Those are more stable, but it would be a considerable expense. Not to mention that it would utilize a spell that no one has ever made before.”

And if we don’t know how the charm functions, we wouldn’t be able to counter it. Another dead end, but I mull the details around in my head.

Andrew continues past Rowan’s doubtful expression, casting a wider net. “What if it’s not that they are bypassing the wards, what then? Could a witch spell do this? Or even glamour? Would a ward work if someone is in disguise?”

“A ward works based on intention. A disguise wouldn’t work against it. Can fae magic commingle with a ward and rewrite it?” I ask Rowan who shakes his head.

“I considered that when you approached me. I spoke to my brother about this project. He’s a ward master, and he confirmed what I suspected. Fae magic and the way we draw wards here have no chance of commingling. Wards are too meticulous of a magic.”

“And your brother knows not to spread this around?” Connors asks.

Rowan’s lips twitch. “He’s not a talkative one.”

“Your brother can craft wards and be fae?” I ask.

“Ah, no.” Rowan scratches his head. “Sorry, we’re half siblings. His mother is a witch.”

I sigh. Witch wards do not play well with anything. Even crafting charms to boost them requires a lot of skill.

One misplaced line on a ward, and the whole intention can change. I think on that, and we brainstorm some more, Andrew throwing in interesting questions since he’s not very well versedin magic, but it all leads us back to the fact that we don’t have enough information.

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