Outlaw (Wolves of Royal Paynes #4) - Kiki Burrelli Page 0,65

his prominent chin at my wraiths.

My forehead wrinkled with confusion, but before I could ask, Claus began to explain.

"Demons don't have as much soul as a human. I am the only demon produced from my sire's ribs. Why mess with perfection?

"That means I have about half the amount of soul as my sire has, since souls diminish with each generation. There are some demon lines that stretch so long, they don't have any soul in them at all, but a soul isn't just a bargaining chip. It has a purpose. It's a driving force, what turns a hunk of gorgeous muscle…" He flexed. "…into a sentient being. So demons have wraiths. Technically, they are a part of you, though, it seems, on the outside, they have their own identity. They weren't always on the outside?"

I shook my head, using too much strength for how light it felt. My wraiths were demon soul replacements?

"Technically, you don't need them. You've got a bright soul shining in there." He stuck his tongue out like he found that fact distasteful. "And I'm not sure why they would suddenly burst out of you. I suppose if you'd lived a life of utter and complete happiness, with your every whim met, then maybe your demon side laid dormant?" He said all that like he doubted that was actually the case. The following silence made his eyes stretch wide open.

That had been my life with Diesel on our old pack lands. I hadn't constantly been smiling and laughing, but I'd always felt safe knowing I was just where I was meant to be. Diesel had made sure my life was perfect, saving me from ever having to face my demon side.

"Your nephilim power likely had something to do with that."

A record scratched in my head, halting all thoughts.

I whipped my head back to my demon brother. "I don't have a nephilim power."

Claus looked me up and down—ridiculous, since I sat at the table, and he could only see half of me. "Oh yes you do, demonling, and may I commend you. It's fiendish really. More insidious than anything I could've thought up. Leave it to the angels…"

"What the fuck are you saying?" Diesel barked, speaking the words in my mind.

With his nose lifted as though he'd been personally insulted Claus replied, "Quinlan attracts. He's a human lure. People get within ten feet of him and feel all warm and fuzzy." His black eyes found mine, staring me down. "You didn't get teased a lot growing up, did you? No one's ever rude to you at a grocery store."

That was a no to both, but what did that prove? Diesel made sure I didn't get teased, and if I'd ever traveled to a grocery store off pack lands, Diesel would've been there too, to make sure no one was rude to me.

"Demon." Sitka addressed Claus from the farthest corner of the room. He'd stayed pretty silent throughout everything, but I could feel his unease and knew it was because of his time in the Portal lab. That he addressed Claus at all was already shocking. "Are you saying Quinlan's power is that people like him?"

"Short version, yeah." He rolled his eyes. "An angel's charm."

I made people like me?

Sitka could disappear, Storri could persuade a herd of bears to dance the Macarena, and I got to never know if someone really liked me or if they were just responding to my charm.

I pushed my plate away, my stomach turning with vomitous intent.

Had I forced every single person in this room to care about me?

I'd cursed them without their knowledge or consent. My throat shook, my breath trembling as I searched for anything to make this not true. "But what about Pierce? He'd kept me locked away. That isn't something you do to someone you like."

Claus shook his head slowly, obliterating my hopes that I'd found the crack in his explanation. "For some humans, love becomes obsession."

All this time I'd wondered why? Why me? Why was Pierce so infatuated with me? I'd felt so sad for myself, believing the universe picked on me specifically.

I knew it now. The fault wasn't with Pierce, but with me.

Everything—the bomb that killed my mother, my being kidnapped, Diesel's years of grief over an omega he'd loved more than anything—it was all my fault.

14

Diesel

I felt my mate slump the moment his distress flooded my senses. There were so many possible causes, but I knew which was the culprit. He'd discovered so much about himself in