Liam settled beside her, his shoulder warm against hers. "It's time you knew everything."
His voice dropped low. "Years ago, a wealthy man's wife fell ill. He sought a healer but witnessed something forbidden, my mother shifting forms. Humans fear what they don't understand. He took her, harvested her organs believing they would cure his wife." Liam's jaw tightened. "Both women died. He's hunted us ever since."
The elder leaned forward. "I foresaw you coming.
"We're vanishing, Chloe, Liam continued. "When I found you in that cemetery, I didn't know fate had connected us." His voice broke. "Your father served the hunter. I believe he sacrificed your mother to protect you. He knew we were hiding in the marshes." Liam's eyes glistened in the firelight. "I killed him, didn't resist, no more
