The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Chapter 4
“Good gods,” I croaked, pressing away from this—this
thing before me.
“Did I startle you?” Jansen/Beckett asked in the young
wolven’s voice—coming from a face identical to Alastir’s
great-nephew.
“You’re…you’re a changeling.”
He nodded.
I couldn’t stop staring at him, my brain unable to
reconcile the knowledge that it was Jansen before me and
not Beckett. “I…I didn’t know they could make themselves
look like other people.”
“Most of the changeling bloodlines that are left are only
able to shift into animal form or have…other skills,” he said.
“I’m one of the very few who can do it and hold another’s
form for long periods of time. Want to know how?”
I really did, but I said nothing.
Lucky for me, he was in a talkative mood. “All I need is
something of them on me. A strand of hair is typically
enough. The wolven are incredibly easy to replicate.”
No part of me could comprehend how anyone could be
easy to replicate. “And would they…know that you’d done
this? Taken on their appearance?”
Still smiling with Beckett’s boyish features, Jansen shook
his head. “Not usually.”
I couldn’t even begin to process what it would be like to
take on another’s identity or how someone could do so
without the other’s permission. It felt like a great violation to
me, especially if done to trick someone…