Daniel Taylor and the Dark Legacy (15 page)

Marla made a growling noise at her. “Damn it, Sirina, take your hands off of my brother! He’s not yours yet!”

Sirina smirked arrogantly. “White just isn’t his color. This hospital gown is simply awful.” She pulled his sheets down abruptly. “As the future Overlord of the underworld, he needs a woman at his side who knows something about fashion.”

“It’s about time to bring him home, don’t you think?” Marla walked up to the head of the bed. “His mind has been wandering for hours between the worlds; that could cause permanent damage to his body.”

Smiling lasciviously, Sirina replied, “That would truly be a shame.”

Daniel was floating through the darkness. The only thing that he could see was a billowing veil. Whispering voices flitted past him like flashes of light — sometimes he understood what they were saying, and other times they seemed to transmit images. Atrocious images, full of suffering and violence. He even perceived emotions, but only feelings of deception, power, and ambition.

Just a moment ago, he had been lying in his bed, writhing in pain. He knew one thing for certain: Only Marla or that other witch could be behind him being trapped in this strange place. He remembered now: Marla had roughly awakened him, and the other young woman had pulled his blanket down to his knees. They wanted to convince him to let them into his head. Evidently, they had succeeded.

The last thing he remembered was his bedroom door opening. He hadn’t wanted his mother to see him in this state, but it was Vanessa. As she wrapped her arms around him, he knew that nothing bad would happen to him. She was there; she would protect him. His mental walls collapsed, and he immediately lost consciousness.

For a long time, Daniel floated weightlessly in this eerie twilight of images, thoughts, and feelings. He had hoped that he was only dreaming; but when he opened his eyes and saw a mane of fire-red hair, he knew right away that the demons were responsible for his condition. He groaned, frustrated.

“Where was I?” He sat up, and the room spun around him. Damn, it felt like his skull was about to burst! “Where in Hell …”
I’m in a hospital!
he realized, rubbing an itchy spot on his arm. He looked at it and saw a smear of blood oozing from a small wound. Then he noticed the IV bag hanging from the stand next to him.

His injuries heal more quickly than those of normal humans
, he heard Sirina say in his mind.

Marla nodded.

“What have you done to me?” Daniel’s heart was racing.

“So many questions, my sweet,” Sirina said.

Marla pushed her aside. “The high lords separated your mind from your body and linked it to the mental network. They had to use violence, since you wouldn’t allow them to do it the easy way. Now you’re fully connected.”

“What?!” Daniel had been wondering what all the voices and images in his head were.
Oh, God, they actually did it!
He felt as though his psyche had been raped. “The high lords?” he asked cautiously, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. The motion made his unbuttoned hospital gown slip off one shoulder, earning him a voracious look from Sirina.

“The high lords are powerful demons, the most gifted mind readers on the Council,” Marla explained. “You have to try to shift the signatures they left behind to a certain part of your mind, like a file folder on a computer desktop.”

“Aha,” he said. He was only half listening to her, and understood nothing in any case. He just wanted to get away from these crazy women who had done God knows what with him. Daniel suddenly felt so different. His head was spinning, and he felt a tingling sensation running all throughout his body. He automatically headed toward a small wardrobe, where he found his clothes.
Thanks, Mom
, he thought as he took off the hospital gown and slipped quickly into his underwear, taking care not to expose himself to Sirina’s lustful stare for too long. Clearly he wasn’t fast enough, since he heard Marla’s voice behind him hissing, “Sirina, stop gaping at his ass!”

Sirina giggled. “He has the body of a future Overlord.”

Daniel would have liked to grab her by the throat. He controlled himself as best he could and stepped into his black jeans. He found an MP3 player at the bottom of the wardrobe. He sighed in relief. Vanessa had been here. She was okay. He knew these hellspawn were capable of anything.

“What was in the IV?” he asked, turning around.

Marla raised an eyebrow. “We think there was something in it to suppress your demonic genes. That must be why the doctors gave you a blood transfusion from your father earlier as well.”

“Peter was here to donate blood to me?” A sense of hope rose within Daniel. Dad hadn’t forgotten him after all!

“Peter?” Sirina laughed uproariously. “You idiot, James Carpenter is your real father. Didn’t your foster mother ever tell you that?” She gave him a conniving grin as Marla told him the truth about his parentage: “Your birth name is Silvan, first son of Kitana and James Carpenter.”

“James Carpenter?” Daniel didn’t understand anything anymore. A whirlwind was spinning through his head.

“He’s a watcher!” She spat the word at him contemptuously.

“A watcher?”

“Don’t interrupt me!”

“Marla!” Sirina called. “Careful how you speak to your future ruler!”

“He’s still my brother, and I’ll speak to him however I please!” Marla pushed her hair out of her eyes. “In any case, you yourself just called him an idiot.”

Sirina puffed out her chest. “As his future wife …”

“You’re my sister?” Daniel interrupted her rant. He stared at Marla in astonishment.
Could be — after all, she’s a major pain in the ass. Aren’t siblings always like that?

“I’m your
half
-sister, two years older than you and a
full-blooded demon
!” she stressed arrogantly.

“Better and better. ‘Full-blooded,’ what hogwash.” As Daniel buttoned his trousers, he took a closer look at the woman. He had to admit that Marla really did look a little like him; at least, they had the same black hair. He was almost proud to have such a pretty sister.
Such nonsense. Demons, half-sisters, bah!
Then he looked over at Sirina.
Not a bad figure, but she’s so incredibly annoying. I can’t stand her personality!
The red-haired woman had continued talking to Marla. Their words seemed to go in one ear and out the other without leaving any information behind. Daniel simply couldn’t handle it all. Too much had happened to him recently. Too much craziness.

“My …
our
mother — Kitana — was the daughter of the current Overlord, Xandros,” Marla said.

“Cool, my grandfather must be pretty famous,” he exclaimed sarcastically.

“Don’t be a smartass!” Marla glared at him, enraged. “Kitana’s firstborn son was destined to take over the throne one day — but then she made the mistake of falling in love with a watcher.”

“She fell in love?” Danny gaped at her, astounded. “I thought that demons didn’t feel love.”

“She wasn’t perfect,” Marla murmured, avoiding his eyes.

Yeah, well, who is?
Daniel thought. He asked, “Who’s
your
father, then?”

Marla looked surprised. She hadn’t expected him to be interested in her life. “He’s a member of the Council.”

“Aha,” Daniel responded, still completely lost. “What’s he like as a father?”

Marla stared at him, her mouth hanging open. “This isn’t about me! Xandros wanted to kill you at first — he foresaw a great danger to our race, should a hybrid ascend to the throne. But Kitana hid you away well. As punishment for her treachery, when they found her, they killed her!” She suddenly looked very angry.

“What kind of logic is that?” Daniel scoffed, despite his shock at hearing that Marla’s mother had been murdered.
His
mother. “First Grandpa Demon wants to bump me off, then he wants me to be his successor. You’re all nuts.”

“It’s … complicated.” Marla herself didn’t seem to be entirely convinced, but she went on undeterred. “I wanted to prove myself more worthy than my mother. I promised the High Council that I would find you, since there’s still a chance we can turn you into a proper demon. But that has to happen soon. We can’t waste another second!”

“Why does it have to happen so soon?” he asked.

“You can only belong to one side or the other; you have to decide, or it will destroy you. Your body is almost mature. That’s why you’ve been changing.”

Daniel felt overwhelmed by this strange conversation. He just wanted to keep living a normal life, graduate from high school … “I have to choose a side?”

Marla took a deep breath and rolled her eyes impatiently. “Watcher or demon.”

“What is a watcher?”

“You don’t know anything, do you?” she yelled at him. The other demon, who had been sitting crossed-legged on the bed and quietly following the conversation, shot her an angry look.

“Leave him alone,” hissed Sirina, getting up from the bed. “He needs time to process all this.”

“Thanks,” Daniel told her sarcastically. He pulled on his shirt, slipped on his sneakers, and opened the door a crack to see whether the coast was clear. Except for a few visitors and patients, there was no one in the long corridor. He just wanted to go home, back to his mom and Vanessa.

“If you’re looking for your real father, he’s already gone. He doesn’t want anything to do with you, just like Peter,” Sirina whispered in his ear.

“My real father?” Daniel suddenly realized what she meant. He hadn’t really understood it all, even though Marla had tried to explain it to him.
Then Mom is
…

“Not your real mother. Kitana is.” Sirina interrupted his thoughts. “And — just to review — your real father is a certain James Carpenter, have you got it now? If we ever catch him …”

Marla took a deep breath. “Sirina, don’t distract him! Silvan has to make a choice soon. He can learn about everything else later.”

“Do I really get a choice?” he muttered, but his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
Mom isn’t my real mother? But … why hasn’t she ever told me that I’m adopted? What connection does she have to the demons? Why didn’t my real father want me, either? Is there something about me that repels everybody?
Daniel was so angry and frustrated that he thought the ground beneath his feet might split open.
They’ve all been lying to me!

“Oh, yes, you get to choose; you have to come with us of your own free will. Only you can decide who you’ll become in the future. But I think this is an offer you can’t refuse, hmm, Danny-Boy?” Sirina smiled at him sweetly. “You get all that power and … me.”

Daniel felt like someone had just kicked him in the stomach.
My real mother was a demon?
He remembered what Marla had told him in his bedroom earlier that morning. Now the pieces of the puzzle were coming together, although he still had so many questions.
My mom isn’t my mom, and I’m a half-demon, and Marla is my half-sister.
Hadn’t he always wanted a big sister? Or had some part of him always known that he actually had one?
My whole life is a lie!

“The truth hurts, don’t it, lover?” Sirina purred, stroking his cheek with one of her long talons. “Yes, they’ve all been putting you on; even your sweetheart found out before you.”

He spun around to face the red-haired demon. “Vanessa knows that I’m adopted?” This shock was greater than all the rest.
Even Nessa!
He hadn’t expected that, least of all from her.

“It’s true. You must hate her for that.” In her whole life, Sirina had never wanted anything so badly as how much she wanted this young man. Now that he was linked to the network, she could feel exactly what he was going through, since he hadn’t yet learned to close off that part of his mind.
Your anger makes you stronger, Silvan. Let it out!
she sent to him.
They all betrayed you. You’re one of us now. I know that you’ll turn away from your fake family and this human trollop and come to join me in the underworld.

“Never,” he whispered, his voice shaking, and left the room.

Sirina seethed. “What kind of loser is he? He’ll never have the makings of an Overlord!” But she wanted him anyway, at any price. The throne was his if he was willing to accept it. “I’m just going to take him, right now!”

“Leave him alone, Sirina. He’s not ready yet. He has to
want
to come.” Marla laid a hand on the other demon’s shoulder. “Soon he’ll know where he truly belongs, even if I have to show him myself.”