Souls of Fire (32 page)

“No,” Aaron said, his voice mirroring the anguish he was undoubtedly feeling, as everything he had ever believed went up in smoke and landed at his feet in heaps of ashes ― broken truths, “you can’t be my father … my father is dead … my parents died …,” he belied Malcolm’s words, though I, and probably Malcolm and Aidan as well, could tell he actually believed him, even if he was unwilling to admit it.

“I have a brother?” Aidan suddenly shouted at Malcolm, “I have a brother, and you never thought to mention it?”

“Aaron is your twin-brother,” Malcolm answered, his voice low and filled with regret. “I’m sorry I had to keep this from you, but I had my reasons.”

“What reasons could you possibly have to separate twins?” I asked, my tone incredulous. “Everybody knows you don’t separate twins!”

“I did not separate them,” Malcolm answered calmly, “though I do admit that I could have reunited our family years ago, and chose not to. Though I had my reasons, I did indeed keep them separated. But never think that it was an easy decision. Nothing is ever only black or white … and things are complicated.”

“If I hear ‘complicated’ one more time, I don’t know what I’ll do,” Aaron threatened, his anger getting the best of him. He seemed ready to throttle someone; that someone looked suspiciously like Malcolm.

“You were taken from us,” Malcolm said softly, looking into Aaron’s eyes as if to gauge his reaction.

“It was my fault,” Malcolm continued, “I knew of the curse, I had spent half a lifetime studying it and the dark magic at its core; I had conducted every kind of research … finally I had stumbled upon the very real and frightening possibility that my own sons could be connected to this horrible destiny.

I didn’t want to believe it … refused to acknowledge the truth behind my findings. I chose to ignore reality, following other leads instead.

To my detriment, other scholars among my people followed the trail leading to my flesh and blood. At the time this happened, I was not the leader of the Haven, and things were done differently then. Many believed the only way to save the world was to meticulously hunt down and kill those connected with the curse.

Many years ago there had been one other instance where someone cursed was born. She was, indeed, the first reincarnation of Morrigan.

The difficulty behind this curse is that it cannot be stopped by killing the chosen, because the curse will move on to the next in an endless line of pre-ordained vessels.

But it seemed the leader of the Haven at that time did not believe the curse could ever be undone, and instead decided to hunt down all those who were destined to bring about its conclusion.

When Morrigan was eight years old, the Haven managed to find her. They abducted her and took her to a secret gathering in a chamber underground, where they killed her during a ritual.

What they hadn’t known, was that Adam Wright was at that gathering. He had secretly snuck in among our family and had witnessed the gruesome murder of an innocent child.

When my own people found out about my sons’ possible future involvement with the destruction of our world, they decided to take measures into their hands once more and eliminate the threat. They came for my boys in the middle of the night, unaware that I had chosen that night to go hunting in the woods around the castle.

As earlier hunting trips had shown that it was impossible for you boys to be together without fighting, I alternately left one of you behind with your mother.

The night they came, I had taken Aidan with me and left you behind.

They tore you from your screaming mother’s arms; in a last desperate attempt to defend you and herself against the men threatening you, your mother accessed powers of such a dark and powerful nature, that she was unable to control them … they burned her from the inside out and left nothing but ashes in their wake.”

At this, Malcolm needed a moment to get his trembling voice under control. It seemed, even after all these years, he was having a difficult time talking about that night and his wife’s sudden death. I could only imagine what Aaron and Aidan were feeling right then.

“They took you to the same place they had killed the girl many years before. But before they could put an end to your life, Adam, who had made it his life’s mission to find out everything he possibly could about our society, and to stop future murders of the kind he had witnessed, got to you in an unguarded moment and managed to remove you and the Grimoire from their clutches.

Meanwhile, after what had happened with my wife, the Haven was split into many factions who all took different stands about what had to be done to ensure our survival. Some were peaceful, some violent, some murderous and without remorse. A war had broken out among my family, tearing us apart and weakening us from the inside out.

I secured allies, used my powers, and managed to step up and obtain leadership, ordering my people to stop hunting you and Adam down. Some members of our society did not recognize me as their new leader and deserted.

I have fought for a peaceful solution ever since. I do not condone murder, no matter the circumstances, and firmly believe that there must be another way.”

“Then who killed Adam?” Aaron demanded heatedly.

“As I had explained earlier, whoever did this was not acting upon my orders. They decided to disobey me and took matters into their own hands. I do not know if they are among my people, or if they belong to the separatists.

But I
swear
,” he said, his eyes burning into Aaron’s, “that I will find out who did this, and they will pay.”

Pausing for a short moment, he then continued, “Being the leader, and having initiated a new peaceful order, I was confident I could keep my sons safe. It was not long before I was magically able to track you down. Adam Wright had taken you in and was looking after you. I concentrated and managed to listen in on parts of your conversation, even from this distance.

That is when I found out that you were completely unaware of your past. Adam had told you your parents had given you up as a child, and you believed him, accepting the past he had painted for you. He even set up a false trail for you to find years later that led you to believe the parents who had given you up for adoption had died in a car crash.

It seemed the traumatic experience of being forcefully taken from your mother and seeing her burn right before your eyes, had caused your mind to shut down and create a wall, burying your past behind it. I watched the two of you closely and realized that for the most part you were content, happy even, in Adam’s loving care.

Though it broke my heart to do so, I arrived at the conclusion that it was better for you to remain oblivious to your past and stay with the Professor, where you seemed to be well looked-after and loved.

The alternative would have been to bring you home to a place you had forgotten and tell you about your mother’s gruesome death and the horrible destiny that awaits you.

I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I wanted you to have a shot at happiness. I decided to extract Aidan’s memories of you to spare him the pain of losing his brother, and made my family swear never to tell him he had a twin.”

Silence filled the room in the wake of Malcolm’s confession, the weight of everything he had said nearly visibly hovering in the air around us.

Neither Aidan nor Aaron said a word. Aaron seemed to be struggling with his emotions after having just been told about the gruesome death of his mother, and how his father had willingly given him up and kept his brother from him.

It was a lot to take in, and I was sure it would take a long while for both Aaron and Aidan to digest all that they’d just heard. But they would probably want to do it in private, away from prying and pitying eyes.

Malcolm seemed to understand this and said no more on the subject. Suddenly apparently realizing that Aidan and I were still immobilized against the wall, and seemingly not finished with us yet, he swiftly released his hold on us and motioned for the three of us to make ourselves comfortable in front of his desk.

“Please have a seat,” Malcolm addressed each of us. Muttering under his breath, he conjured two extra chairs out of thin air and directed me to the middle chair.

I uncertainly glanced at both Aaron and Aidan to either side of me before taking my seat. I did
so
not want to sit between the two, a slight feeling of foreboding in the pit of my stomach at simultaneously sitting in such proximity to both of them, in light of what had transpired between Aaron and me earlier, and what had just happened with Aidan.

The power that connected me to Aaron seemed to flow toward Aidan as well, so that I suddenly found myself the center of a circle of energy. By the glances either of them shot at me and each other, I had a feeling they sensed it as well.

“What is going on here?” the three of us said in unison at exactly the same moment, as if together we formed some kind of entity.

Malcolm seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

“The three of you are connected,” Malcolm stated calmly, a little too calmly for my taste. He had said it as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

“How can I be connected to
that
?” Aidan responded, gazing at me, his tone alarmed and filled with indignation.

My gut twisted painfully at the hatred and disgust his words held. It hadn’t been too long ago that I hadn’t known about my destiny … or my terrible past. Not too long ago I had perceived myself as a pure and honest soul, well more or less, but on the whole I had always thought I was a good person with real values.

And even after everything I had heard from Malcolm, I still couldn’t believe I fit into the category of vile, hateful being destiny seemed to want to push me into. The way Aidan saw me cut like a knife and wounded me to the core.

“Say that again and I swear I’ll rip your tongue out,” Aaron threatened from my left, his hands clenched into tight fists; he seemed ready and very willing to pummel the twin-brother whose existence he had only just found out about mere minutes ago. Not a promising start ― at all, I thought alarmed.

“Take it easy, boys,” Malcolm tried to soothe them.

Before he spoke again, his gaze locked on to Aidan’s, giving him a look that said clearly ‘now pay attention, I won’t say this again’.

I noticed Aidan swallowing hard in response. It seemed like a classic father-son moment, Malcolm demanding respect and obedience.

Though Aidan didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would give up without a fight, it seemed he dared not defy his father. And to be honest, I thought, who would want to defy a man who could break your neck with the wave of his hand or a single word?

“Aidan …,” Malcolm started, his voice a mixture of authority and warning, “… never ― ever ― refer to Persephone as
‘that’
  again. It is disrespectful, and up until now I have prided myself on having raised you better than that. Was I wrong?”

“No, father,” Aidan’s answer sounded barely above a whisper. He seemed genuinely ashamed now.

“All right,” Malcolm said appeased. “Now, you are aware of who this man and this woman are?” he asked Aidan.

Aidan’s gaze swept over Aaron and me before returning to his father.

“The reincarnation of Morrigan, and her ordained lover. The ones who will destroy us all because they can’t keep it in their pants,” he finished on a disapproving tone, seemingly affronted at having been made to sit beside such scum.

“I’m not wearing pants,” I growled. Malcolm just threw me a look and waited for me to have finished.

“Yes,” Malcolm said simply, “now close your eyes and concentrate with your gift. Tell me what you feel.”

Aidan obeyed, slowly closing his eyes and inhaling deeply as if to prepare for the task at hand. When he seemed to have reached a deeply relaxed state of consciousness, I carefully watched the expression on his face.

A startled look suddenly came over his hitherto controlled features. A split second later it was gone, and he seemed to be in control again. Whatever he had felt, it appeared to have unsettled him.

“What did you feel?” Malcolm demanded.

“I … I felt … connected,” Aidan said, his voice sounding distressed; he gave the impression of a drowning man struggling to keep his head above water, only just holding on.

“The look on your face clearly states that there is more to that story than a simple ‘I felt connected’,” Malcolm pried, “why don’t you tell us exactly what you felt?” Malcolm insisted.

“No, really, that’s it. Nothing more to it,” Aidan said, his voice betraying the slightest bit of anxiety despite his obvious attempt at nonchalance.

“Aidan,” Malcolm pried, his eyes boring into those of his son.

“I can’t,” Aidan replied, his voice desperate, begging his father to let it go.

“Can’t or won’t?” Malcolm asked heatedly, apparently unwilling to give in.

“Won’t,” Aidan replied through gritted teeth. He seemed dangerously close to losing control. It seemed Malcolm sensed this and finally gave up trying to pry it from him.

“Okay,” Malcolm sighed in defeat, “well, the reason you feel connected is because you and Aaron are twins. As such, I believe you are both destined to be Persephone’s lovers.