phone. “Leesa Rhineheart hunted me down some thirty-five years ago. She wished to become a werewolf.”
“That’s not—”
I cut the rest off, but Henry’s gaze nevertheless rose to mine. I shivered. Now that he’d gotten an agreement about not being prosecuted for his actions in this matter, his mild-mannered projection had fallen by the wayside. What I saw in the darkness of his gaze was the souls of all those he’d killed in the long years of his life.
There were hundreds.
His mouth ticked, though the movement was too small to call it a smile. “Anything is possible if you have the power and knowledge, though something like this is not without its risks for the receiver. She was made well aware of this.”
I was betting that wasn’t the case, but I kept that thought to myself.
“Did you grant her request?” Ashworth asked. “And did she pay your blood price?”
“Yes and yes.”
“Did she say why she wished this?”
“She believed being a werewolf would make the man she desired both love and marry her. I daresay a love spell would have been easier in the end, but she wished the full journey.” He shrugged. “Who am I to shatter such dreams?”
“And was the spell successful?”
“In that she could shift shape, yes.” Another twitch of the lips. Another chill stole through my soul. “Unfortunately, neither of us were aware she was pregnant at the time. Powerful magic, be it light or dark, can sometimes invade and twist the cells of embryos, and the price paid can be horrendous.”
His gaze met mine again. He knew, I thought with horror. He knew about the wild magic. My grip on the chair back tightened yet again, but I met his gaze evenly and tried to restrain the fear churning through me. There would be consequences for that knowledge; perhaps not now, but definitely sometime in the future.
“This is what happened to Honor?” Ashworth said.
“Yes. She was born in a state of incompletion—neither human nor wolf, but a mix of both.”
It was a statement that immediately had me thinking about any children I might have with Aiden if our relationship did get that far. While Honor’s state was a result of the dark magic used to alter her mother’s DNA, it did present a rather stark reminder of what we might one day face.
Did I have the right to risk that? As much as I eventually wanted children, perhaps Katie’s statement that it would be better not to risk such a fate was in truth the only way to move forward.
But Aiden was an alpha. The desire—need, even—for offspring to continue his lineage was paramount. He would never have that with me.
I swallowed the bitter pill of realization and tried to concentrate on the ongoing conversation.
“And you raised her?” Ashworth was saying, “Trained her?”
“Of course. That was the price.” He hesitated. “Though I will admit I wasn’t expecting her to be infused with darkness, which of course made her far more useful.”
Meaning blood-wise, no doubt. Was it any wonder Honor was so screwed up?
“Was she also capable of using dark magic?” Ashworth asked.
Henry nodded. “It was more a force than a spell, though she was in the end quite capable of manipulating it into certain spells.”
“Such as appearing to disappear?” I asked.
His gaze rose to mine again, sending another shiver through me. “Yes.”
“What about Leesa?” Ashworth said, drawing the dark witch’s attention again. Deliberately, I suspected. “What happened to her?”
“She initially returned to the reservation but I believe was rejected most brutally by her man.”
“Do you know what happened to her after she gave birth and fulfilled her part of the bargain?”
“She stayed with me, of course. She had no place to go, and I had no desire to raise a child until she became useful.”
Meaning grown enough to become a source of blood and maybe even magic, given it also ran through her veins. “Is Leesa still alive?”
His gaze rose briefly. “No. The magic that enabled her to transform began to physically tear her apart, and she killed herself. Honor took her back to the reservation and buried her. I believe it was then that she vowed to take revenge on those who had so brutally rejected her mother.”
I hesitated, not really wanting to draw any more of his attention but nevertheless needing answers. “Do you know why Honor would be seeking vengeance now rather than when her mother died?”
He made a somewhat dismissive motion with his hand. “It was simply a matter of timing—she was too