Legend of the Touched (21 page)

Jason nodded again, still listening, his eyes glued
on the man.

"I had chosen her. At the time, Lynx was around
fifteen years into his marriage with Lenora and just named the
Great Lord of the Inero, if that says anything about how much older
he is than me. Caylen and I were married for a long time before we
had you and your brother. A lot longer than most couples waited to
have children. To be honest, for a while we thought something was
wrong. Soon she was pregnant and those fears faded. Until we
learned it was with twins.

"Don't get me wrong, we were happy, but nervous. You
know all of the stories about twin dragons. We were preparing
ourselves for complications. They never came. Every check-up things
cleared out and were normal. Caylen had a fairly easy pregnancy
actually. A blessing, because I don't want to think about losing
her or either of you. Things were good. It was during this time
that Lenora left Lynx which started his bitterness towards women.
They had been together for nearly twenty-five years. From what I
understand, she did it to get him to pay attention to her. The plan
backfired on her, obviously. With this bitterness, he started to
become power hungry to compensate, to prove her a fool for daring
to hurt him like she had."

That sounded a lot like his father, or was he now
only the man who raised him? Though Lynx had barely done that. He
and his brother had been passed off to a multitude of stepmothers
and mistresses when they were growing up. It was a miracle they
came out so levelheaded and grounded.

Oliver gave him a few minutes and took a bite of the
pie. He was cool and collected, and it was surprising. Almost like
he had been preparing for this day for a long time. "As my brother
grew more power hungry, he started with his manipulation games. It
had always been a talent of his when he was growing up, too. I
watched him many a times persuade our other brothers to do things,
and talk his way out of trouble with our parents. They loved him,
practically worshiped him. Our father knew Lynx would be his
replacement for a long time.

"Growing up we'd never been close. After all, he was
just about getting married by the time I was born. He doesn't look
that old at all, I know. I think he lies about his age now too. Not
sure why, but I'm sure inside of his head he has many good reasons
for it. He never took interest in our family, not until you were
around two years old. All of a sudden he wanted to visit us, to
meet you both. He called you the 'miracle twins'. It was confusing
and frustrating because he'd come at a lot of inconvenient times.
Always with gifts I should add, lavish ones.

"Then he cut to the chase. After around a full dragon
year of playing nice, he decided to let his ulterior motives be
known. One day he walked into our home and gave us an ultimatum. We
were to give up you boys, or he'd not only kill us all, but also
the entire town we lived in. So much drama for two little boys."
Oliver's voice got quiet towards the end of his speech and his jaw
tightened. He gripped his coffee cup with a much firmer hand.

By then, Caylen was crying. "What were we supposed to
do?"

It did sound like something the man he called father
would do. Lynx was more than okay with being over-dramatic to make
a point. He'd proven that with how the humans out in the country
were treated.

"It's because we're Touched," Jason whispered.
"That's the only thing he cares about because of some stupid
prophecy he's heard. He's power hungry."
And crazy.

"I'm sure that is the reason. I knew he'd take good
care of you both. I did everything I could to at least see you.
When the training session came up, I couldn't resist. However when
it was just you, I wasn't sure I believed them when they said you
were the Touched and chosen. I was hoping to get a glimpse of you
both at the same time, you see."

Jason let out a slow sigh. "This is...nuts. Yet, I
believe you. With everything I've seen him do and the gaps that are
filled now in my life where there were holes." He shook his head,
knowing how dangerous it was for him to buy the story so easily,
but having a hard time resisting the evidence. No wonder Lynx had
gotten so mad any time he had asked about his birth mother.

Oliver, his father, smiled. "Needless to say, Lynx
wasn't happy about my stunt. He thought I was going to try and take
you away from him. As much as I wanted to, I also knew better than
to do something so stupid. As a mercy, instead of killing me, he
banished me to this island."

"And I coincidentally come this way." Jason shook his
head.

"Coincidence or divine appointment. It doesn't matter
either way because you're here. That's all I care about."

"Yes." And the reason he believed all of it to be
true was because he felt a peace about it inside of his heart. The
most difficult task however would be how he was going to tell his
brother. Matt would never believe him.

Chapter Forty-Seven

The Oceina

"Hey, wait up," Alex called after Darien.

Darien stopped, curious as to what the guy wanted.
They were at the stage where they could make small talk without
wanting to kill one another. In fact, Darien almost went so far as
to start thinking of him as a friend. Alex was starting to not come
after Tai so strongly, so it made things easier. Never in his life
would he have imagined befriending normal humans. Tony had made
friends when he was in school, and it didn't end well for him. When
it came time for them to part ways for good, it was a painful
goodbye that left his brother lonely for quite some time. Watching
that was enough for Darien to not make a strong effort in making
friends of his own.

"Hmm?" Darien waited for Alex to catch up with him in
the hallway before continuing on his way to his next class.

"So I wanted to invite you and Tai to dinner with the
rest of us," Alex said.

"Yeah sounds good." As far as he knew, they hadn't
planned that far ahead with their big date. She'd like being with
all of her friends.

"Don't suppose you wanna hang sometime." Alex paused,
and Darien blinked a number of times. "What? I need a guy to hang
out with. You need a friend period. It kind of makes sense."

"You have a lot of friends you could be spending time
with." Darien pointed out.

"Female friends, yeah. I'm kind of tired of swimming
in estrogen. Guy friends, those are harder to come by."

"Maybe if you didn't hit on their girlfriends, they'd
wanna spend more time with you," Darien mumbled under his breath.
Thankfully, Alex didn't catch it, or if he had, he wasn't reacting
negatively. Louder, he said, "It'd be cool to try one of these
days. I'm not sure when I'm going to have time. Things at home are
complicated. There's a lot to do." And he wished he could elaborate
more on it to Alex. Being able to talk to someone who wasn't a
member of his family, who didn't understand all of the inner
workings of the dragons, and honor, and duty, would be a breath of
fresh air. He wouldn't feel quite as selfish when discussing his
frustrations. But he could never spill the secret, and he doubted
Alex would want to hear about it anyway. The guy probably didn't
want to get that deep.

Alex frowned. "Oh."

"Oh?" Darien raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds like an excuse."

"It's not, but I can't explain it so you'll get it.
That's why it's complicated."

"Maybe someday I'll be let in on this big mystery
then. Tai said something similar to me," Alex said.

"Maybe."
Doubtful.

Alex's eyes narrowed slightly. "Maybe. I'm going to
class, but we can exchange schedules sometime because I'm not
letting this drop."

"Sure thing." Darien watched him leave, unsure of
what to think.
Pretty sure he's not talking about hanging
out.
He'd need to be extra careful now.

Chapter Forty-Eight

The Inero

Gwen watched Jason as she tried to read her book. He
distracted her. All day he worked on some kind of house project or
paced. Nothing would settle him. She put the book down, unable to
take it anymore. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, but I'm thinking."

"About Oliver?"

Jason nodded. "My dad."

"Are you sure he's telling the truth?" Gwen thought
the story they'd been told the other night at dinner was a
plausible one. Truthfully, she did believe it, but it also seemed a
bit convenient as well. Oliver didn't give her the impression of
having a bad heart. She didn't get negative vibes from him like she
did many of the other men Jason called kin.

"There's no real way to be sure outside of
confronting my father about it. Or unless there's some kind of
record on file somewhere. A birth certificate? Do you think?" Jason
glanced over his shoulder at her, and she shrugged.

"If you're looking for some kind of proof, then I
would agree. There is bound to be something. Maybe a test of some
kind as well. I don't think you're the one who needs the proof
though." She reached her hands out for him to take, silently asking
him to join her on the couch.

He did so with a heavy sigh and soon his face rested
in the curve of her neck. "No, I'm not. My brother is blinded by
'Father'. He'll need hard evidence, but if I can convince him of
the truth.... Do you have any idea what that could do? How things
would change? It'd be a miracle. We need to go back home
first."

"I'm happy for you. I know you love Lynx, but I'm
glad you can have a real family with people who won't use you." She
stroked the hair behind his ears, smiling.

"He's not all bad," Jason murmured against her skin.
He began to plant small kisses along her neck that made her giggle
from the tickling. She tilted her face so she could see him better
and when their eyes met he smirked. "You like that huh?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe as in yes." He kissed her skin again. This
time it was slower, and more sensual. She couldn't help but let out
a quiet moan. His smirk widened, and the loving gaze in his eyes
changed. The once thoughtful and innocent sparkle inside of them
faded to something dark and dull. His pupils changed from their
usual chocolate brown to black.

The affection he tried to give her as he continued to
kiss her became rougher, almost as if he were desperate. It was a
turn off. She pushed him away, trying to be gentle and playful
about it so as not to bruise his ego.

"Maybe as in, not right now but another time." She
let out a quiet, forced, laugh.

"But I love you. Don't you love me?" The tone in his
voice was sly, slimy, and manipulative. Never before had he spoken
to her in this way before.

Gwen glared at him. "What's gotten into you?"

He grabbed her by the wrists and forced her to lie
down underneath him. "Nothing, and I'm tired of getting into
nothing, being denied. What's the big deal? If you love me, there
shouldn't be any problems."

When she looked up into his face, she didn't see
Jason, the man she did love and care for. All she saw was the shell
of his body and a monster living inside of him. The black eyes
staring her body up and down were nothing but cold and uncaring.
With one swift kick, her foot landed in the middle of his chest and
knocked him off of the couch. She shook her head, looking at him
with tears in her eyes. Jason held his head in pain and rocked
himself up onto his knees.

"Get out," he yelled. At first, she thought he was
talking to her. As she stood to leave the room, not wanting to be
by him right now anyway, his hand shot out to grab hers. This time
when she stared into his eyes, she saw him again. Jason. And there
was nothing but fear in his wide eyes.

"Don't leave me," he whispered.

Gwen touched his face ever so gently, almost afraid
to in case whatever switch had gone off in him earlier happened
again. Her anger faded into confusion, and then pity. He really was
possessed. There was no more denying it. His theory had been
correct.

"I won't," she promised.

Chapter Forty-Nine

The Oceina

Tai stood in front of the television, blocking
Darien's view of the screen completely. He sat up and raised both
of his eyebrows as though he were surprised. Good. That was exactly
how she wanted him to feel. She walked towards him and offered her
hands for him to take.

"You need to get up and stop rotting your brain on
that thing. You need a better way to let your mind rest. Something
like happy thoughts."

"I do have happy thoughts," he said softly.

"Not as often as you used to. And I want to change
that."

"All right, I'm all ears."

She opened and closed her fingers, trying to urge him
to take her hands. He finally did and she pulled him up from the
couch with a quiet grunt.

The feeling of his hands around hers had her feeling
warm all over. The nerves she had been feeling earlier were fading.
All day she had been in angst over what he would think of this
idea. It was nothing more than a last attempt at finding some way
to relax him. Nothing else she tried had worked. Hopefully this
would be the one that did. She led him out of their master bedroom
and into one of the many empty rooms that was connected to their
suite. On the floor were several catalogs, paint swatches, and
doodles she had put in her notebook during school. Doodles of
things he liked, of her and him, of cute baby animals.

"What is this?" he asked and looked down at
everything spread across the off-white carpeting.

"This," She waved a hand over all of the things on
the floor, "is hopefully going to become your happy place. Or
office. Either works. You need both right now. I know you don't
like doing your work in the bedroom, and you don't want to use your
father's old office." She paused and he nodded at her, his head
moving slowly. "And maybe we could work on putting together a place
for Ethan too...."