The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Realization swept through me in a wave of fresh anger.
“It was you,” I seethed. “Not the real Beckett who led me
into the Temple. You.”
“I’ve always known a clever girl lived behind the veil,”
he remarked and then shifted once again into the features
that belonged to him. It was a feat no less shocking than the
time before.
The knowledge that it hadn’t been the young, playful
wolven who’d led me into a trap brought forth a decent
amount of relief. “How? How did no one know? How had I
—?” I cut myself off. When I read his emotions in the
Temple, they had felt just like Beckett’s.
“How did you or our Prince not know? Or even Kieran or
Jasper? When changelings assume the identity of another,
we take on their characteristics to the point where it’s
extremely difficult to decipher the truth. Sometimes, it can
even become hard for us to remember who we truly are.” A
troubled look crept across his features but vanished so
quickly that I wasn’t sure I’d seen it. “Of course, our Prince
knew I was a changeling. As do many others. But, obviously,
no one expected such a manipulation. No one was even
looking for one.”
“Is Beckett okay?”
Jansen looked away. “He should have been. He was
given a sleeping draft. That was the plan. For him to sleep
long enough for me to take his place.”
My heart twisted. “But that didn’t happen?”
“No.” Jansen briefly closed his eyes. “I underestimated
how much potion a young wolven needed to remain asleep.
He woke when I entered his room.” He leaned back,
scrubbing a hand down his face. “What happened was
unfortunate.”
Bile crept up my throat. “You killed him?”
“It had to be done.”
Disbelief stole my breath as I stared at the changeling.
“He was just a kid!”