“Madeleine.” His brow creased as he paced back and forth within the dome. “I can scarcely count the number of insurrections you’ve committed since your arrival at Camelot. Your capture was unfortunate, and leaving the boundary of Camelot could have been overlooked as a side effect of your echoes, but attacking a fellow Natural…” He hissed, his Flame simmering. His skin crackled with white-hot sparks as he stared at me. “You escaped your confinement, attacked a Natural in a human village, and returned with a mortally wounded demon.”
“Elijah is a victim,” I snapped, my power wrestling against my control. “He’s not the enemy. He saved my life more than once. I’ll say the same thing I said to Ramona—I couldn’t repay his sacrifice with death.”
“He’s a demon, Madeline,” Wilder stated. “Demons manipulate and lie to get what they want. He’s using you to get into Camelot.”
“How do you know?” I demanded. “Have you spoken to him?”
“I don’t need to. There’s only one thing he can be.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I can feel his presence. He’s not possessed, and we eradicated Human Convergence with the death of Mordred.”
“You didn’t.”
He strode across the uneven ground and stopped in front of me. “Are you questioning me?”
“Someone has to,” I replied, jutting out my chin. “Power has gone to your head, Wilder. I don’t even recognise you anymore. You look tired, you know.”
His lips thinned and I knew I’d hit one of his carefully guarded buttons. My mutation gurgled, excited by the prospect. His power wasn’t infinite.
“What details did you leave out of your capture?” he demanded.
“I can’t be sure of my allegations, but I believe the Balan wants something inside Camelot,” I replied, compelled to answer as a Natural. “I assumed they would use me to get to it, but Elijah helped me escape before they could torture me into compliance.”
“And what was his reasoning for helping you?” he demanded. “Demons always have a price.”
“Elijah’s conditions were to assist him in finding a cure for his mutation. Nothing more.”
“And why didn’t he come to us?”
“Because he believed we would treat him with open hostility and cut him up into little pieces to study exactly what he is.”
“We always help those who seek out the Light,” Wilder stated, quoting the Codex.
“His fears are my reality,” I snapped. “You of all people should understand. You faced a lifetime of prejudice, but you turned out to be Excalibur. I didn’t.”
“This isn’t the same. That demon is in full control of his actions. You weren’t.”
“That’s shite and you know it,” I exclaimed. “Our world isn’t just Light and Dark anymore. They’re evolving to survive.”
“What are you saying?” Wilder demanded.
“I’m saying that Elijah and I are the same. The haters were right about me, I just didn’t know it until they captured me.”
“You’re—”
“A demon-hybrid.”
“Impossible.” He shook his head, shocked. “If you had a live mutation, I’d be able to sense it.”
“Maybe Excalibur isn’t as absolute as everyone wishes you were.” I held out my hand. “Go on. See for yourself.”
Wilder slid his palm against mine and I felt his power reach out. The moment it connected, he jerked his hand away and stared at me, celestial Flame simmering in his eyes.
“Madeleine…”
“Scarlett saved my soul, but Mordred’s death didn’t eradicate my mutation. Out of all the Naturals who were altered, I was the only one who wasn’t completely taken over. Those that were, kept their souls, right?”
“It latched onto your soul when Scarlett…” Wilder shook his head in disbelief.
“You saved my Light when you killed Mordred, but the mutation never left. It lay dormant until they activated it—a precursor to the evolution we’re seeing now,” I replied. “Which means this is who I am, and it’s not going to change. Not even the mighty Excalibur can free my soul and return me to the Light.”
When it came down to basic DNA, I didn’t even think I was the same as Elijah. He’d been altered either through possession or in a laboratory, while an accident created me. Scarlett had the best intentions when she saved my life, but no one knew what would ultimately become of me.
I was a bridge between two worlds, a connection between night and day. One that could be used for good…or evil.
Elijah’s words from the road in the Highlands came back to me and I almost crumpled to my knees before the Inquisitor. He had been trying to force me to open my mind and evolve because he’d known what I was all along. I’d gotten a taste of it when I nullified Thompson’s barrier and now, I knew my soul had been irreversibly altered.
I was a shadow—neither Light nor Dark. If I could develop my power and evolve…then no one could stop me.
In the wrong hands, I had the potential to become a weapon of mass destruction.
“I’m left with no other choice.” Wilder held his hand out, palm up. “Hand over your arondight blade.”
“Do you understand what I’ve become?” I whispered.
“Yes.” There was a note of sadness in his voice, but he didn’t back down.
I slipped my arondight hilt from my belt and placed it in Wilder’s palm. If Elijah was right, I never needed it, but its loss was akin to losing a limb. “Do with me what you will but know I’m the only person who can help you find what the Dark is looking for.”
“The time for bargaining is over,” Wilder stated. “I will pass final judgment in due course.”
“Elijah was only looking for help,” I said. “Please don’t punish him for my insurrections. Remember that I came willingly.”
The Inquisitor’s expression gave away nothing. He lifted his hand and the dome shimmered and dissolved, returning us to the full view of Camelot.
Trent and another Natural emerged from a side alley and each took one of my arms, firmly holding me. I knew it was all for show. Wilder understood I could fight back and
