Two Halves Series (2 page)

“You’re not marked yet, you little monster, which means I have power over you,” Eric drawled.

“Take it off.” I kept my eyes on the blue glow. My ears flattened against my head and I tightened my jaw until one of my molars cracked—something I instantly regretted; I hated tooth pain.

“Hold still,” Eric whispered to Mira as he removed one strand of the magical light, then another.

“How did you . . .” I felt my jaw drop.

“Years of practice.”

I pictured his mouth curving up in a smirk. Of course it was all for show; Mira would love it.

“You all right, sugar?” he asked, taking her hand to help her step out of the magical bindings.

“I’d be better if you stopped calling me sugar,” she said.

There was my sister! I stood taller, squaring my shoulders.
Ha! She’s not as easy as she looks, is she?
Mira would have smacked me if she knew what I was thinking. Then I caught her dirty look.
Shit!
She
did
know what I was thinking. That was the problem with twins, especially shape shifter twins.

“All right, what do you want me to call you?”

“Mira—just Mira.” She fluttered her lashes.

Jeez! Is this really happening in front of me?
I pointed to the blue glow at my feet. “Do you mind?”

Eric looked back as if he’d forgotten about me. “Are you going to behave?”

“He will. Take it off.” Mira walked toward me but, of course, stroked Eric’s arm on the way past. By the time she reached my side, the blue light was gone and I could move my feet again. And just in time.

“Are you meddling in my businesss, evil-benderrr?”

No one could mistake Aseret’s slow hiss for that of anyone else. I turned and saw the demon lord standing at the entrance to the cave.

“Your business is my business, Aseret,” Eric replied. Blue spheres appeared on his palms again.

“Xannderrr.” Aseret turned his attention to me, and suddenly it felt as if we were the only two creatures in the cave. The fire in the grand hall crackled as it intensified, feeding his power. Part of me wanted to listen to every word that left the lord’s mouth. “I can make you feel the powerrr you dessserve to have.” His hiss became hypnotic. “You don’t have to be bound to the biddinggg of othersss. Join me, and you will have the ressspect you dessserrrve.”

“Don’t listen to him, Xander. He’s the one who trapped us. He used the demon to lure me here.” Mira’s voice came from far behind me, so distant she seemed to be talking from another planet. Her words were scrambled, difficult to comprehend.

Aseret cocked his head, his nose twitching. “I can make you belonggg,” he coaxed, drawing the words out and pausing between each. “The confusssion will be gonnne. One ssstrike, and it will be donnne.” He kicked the unconscious demon’s arm. It flopped on the rocky ground. “Joinnn me.” He beckoned with his twig-like fingers, the movement slow, mesmerizing. The sleeves of his long robe slid back, revealing pallid, wrinkled flesh. For the first time, I thought I saw an orange glow in his eyes, similar to the eyes of the seekers: Aseret’s minions created to hunt and kill.

I wanted to go with him. I wanted the comfort of knowing my destiny. I took a step forward.

“Xander, turn around, now!” Eric ordered. Had I known what the evil-bender was up to, perhaps I would have kept my eyes locked with Aseret’s, but I turned on reflex. Eric’s purple eyes pierced into mine, and the room spun. Black and brown earth blended into mud, then changed to a mixture of greens. When the rotation finally stopped, my body uncoiled and I found myself standing in front of our hill home, in the middle of the forest.

I shivered like a wet dog as my body shed Aseret’s spell. The pull to the underworld was greater than anything I’d experienced. The heat of it wrapped around my body, penetrating my soul. Part of me felt I had a place in the underworld, that it was where I belonged. Or was all of that a remnant of the spell?

I didn’t like Eric deciding where we should be. I wanted the choice to be ours. Wasn’t it supposed to be?

“Next time you want to send us through a vortex, warn us,” I growled, feeling a new shift developing inside my body. What would I choose to be to beat up this smart-assed boy?

“Xander, don’t,” Mira cautioned. She was holding Eric’s hand. It only took five minutes for the two to become lovebirds? Was she kidding?

“Let go of him, or you’ll get hurt as well, Mira.” I clenched my fists.

“You can’t hurt him, Xander; he helped us.” She squeezed his hand, looking into his eyes, mesmerized.

“I didn’t want to be helped,” I stomped, crunching the dry leafy under footing. “I wanted the mark. I wanted to know what it feels like when you know what you’re supposed to do, when your emotions don’t rule your life.”

“That’s why I’m here, to help you figure it out, you little monster,” Eric wiggled his finger as if I were a kid.

“Stop calling me that! We’ve tried to get the water mark, but it’s impossible. Killing a demon, that’s easy.”

A gust of wind blew through the forest. Mira’s hair flapped behind her then crossed her face and mouth. She spat out the strands. I chuckled inside.

To me, the way we swayed didn’t matter; as shape-shifters, we’d serve the side we pledged our allegiance to. But now, with my sister’s endorsement for the keepers, it felt as if I was standing in the middle of a battleground with guns blasting at me from each side.

“The wrong choices are always the easy ones, Xander.”

“Don’t lecture me, lover boy.”

“Xander, please,” Mira urged. “I know you’re angry with me; I shouldn’t have followed the demon to the underworld without you. Honestly, I don’t think we belong there.”

“Then where do we belong?”

Silence.

I thought so.
Mira was just as clueless as I was—or was she? The way her gaze connected with the evil-bender’s made me doubt that today was the first time she’d seen him. The shadows under her eyes suddenly made sense—she’s been keeping a secret from me, straining to control her true feelings in my presence.

“There’s a prophecy being written as we speak, and your help will be needed,” Eric said.

“When?” I threw my hands in the air.

“When the keepers decide.”

“Tell Father that if his decision to mark us is difficult, then we should have been left in the woods.” I feared if I stayed any longer, I’d turn green again. It wasn’t my favorite shade.

My bones cracked as I sprang up, shifting into an eagle. The sprouting feathers from my wings lifted me above the trees. My gaze focused on the clear sky above me as I soared higher and higher, wanting nothing less than to feel lost.

Below me, Mira and Eric stood with their heads tilted back. I could hear my sister’s voice inside my head:
“Come back to me, Brother. I cannot lose you.”

“You won’t. I just need some time.”
Solitude was the only way to clear my mind.

When they disappeared from my view, I landed on the edge of a cliff on the face of Mount Owen. The wings stretched and skin began to envelop the feathers as I shifted into my human form. My clothing magically returned to my body; all I had to do is ensure I phased to the same size. With my back pressed against the rock, I gazed out at the morning fog wrapping wisps around the treetops and blanketing the Grand Teton Mountains. I inhaled the crisp air and closed my eyes, letting the sun glow orange behind my eyelids.

A long breath out emptied my lungs as I relaxed my jaw and tried to concentrate on the forest—the way the leaves shuffled against one another as the trees swayed in the breeze. Not something a human would notice. The sound reminded me of Ma’s shell chimes, which I’d broken a few years back when Mira tackled me. High off the ground, in this exact spot, was the only place where I heard that sound, a sound I loved.

It wasn’t Mira’s fault she attacked me; I’d deserved it. We’d had one of our arguments over the marking. How could the decision be so easy for her and not for me? Was it because she always made the right decisions and I the wrong ones?

I wanted to know who I was, instead of feeling empty. My soul lingered in a vacuum. I hated the nothingness inside my chest, despite my heart: a useless existence of a powerful shape-shifter. More than twenty years had passed. How long were the keepers expecting us to live in this endless oblivion? We’d finally decided the age we wanted to be; now we wouldn’t get older or younger, unless we wanted to. The only piece missing was who we were supposed to serve—the keepers or Aseret?

A rustle in the brushes below overpowered the hypnotizing chime of the millions leaves and drew my gaze to the ground three hundred feet below. I closed my eyes. The cracking of dry branches was distinct, yet the feet that broke them were delicate.
Lucky twigs,
I thought, surprised at my sudden need to see those feet.

The overpowering scent of red roses hit my nostrils, and without another thought, I dove off the cliff as if I were diving into a pool of water. Halfway down, I shifted into an eagle, spreading my wings to slow my momentum, then into a squirrel to jump from higher branches to lower ones, and then back into my human form just before reaching the forest floor.

Crouching, I scanned the bushes, then straightened, holding my breath. A ghost would have been louder. I couldn’t see anyone and perked up my ears like a hunting cougar, intent on finding the feet that brought me down to the ground level. She remained quiet. My nostrils flared as I inhaled the rosy aroma.

Behind me.
I whirled around.

The woman hid behind a spruce. The wind sprinkled its needles onto my head.

“Who are you?” What I’d meant to be a command came out as a whisper.

“Please don’t hurt me.” She stepped out, her hands crossed at her chest, seeming afraid, but even if I wanted to hurt her, I had a feeling she could defend herself. Black hair spilled down her front in curls, contrasting with her white, sun-shy face. The wind gusted as if summoned, causing the smell of roses to intensify; I pictured them blooming around her, but I couldn’t see any.

“Why would I hurt you? Don’t be afraid.” I stepped forward.

“You’ll hurt me,” she said as if certain.

“I promise I won’t. And my promise is true. Who are you?”

“My name is Xela.”

“I’m Xander.” I licked my lips. My attraction was undeniable. My gaze slipped to her thighs as I wondered how strong they were. Was the laced see-through skirt meant to induce lustful thoughts? If it weren’t for the black shorts clinging to her hips, I’d have had her by now. She wasn’t a shifter, so when I saw her breasts perk up I knew it was a hormonal change as blood flow through her veins increased. I grinned as she sauntered toward me. She accepted my assertion.

“Hello, Xander.” Her voice sang, drawing me in. The roses bloomed again, their perfume settling on my tongue. Bracelets dangling from her left wrist twirled down her arm toward her elbow when she lifted her arms to gather her hair into a bun. I followed the movement of each finger. Her neck was longer than I first perceived, and the low-cut, fitted tank top seemed smaller than before. A stray curl caressed her face. She lowered her hands, and before the bracelets slid toward her palm, I saw the mark.

She followed my gaze to her wrist and its oval imprint. “That’s why I’m afraid you’ll hurt me.”

“I promised, didn’t I?” I took a step closer.

“Yes.” Her voice reminded me of the soft whir of a hummingbird’s wings. Her full lips pouted slightly, bringing my eyes back to her hazel ones.

“Who are you?” I asked out of astonishment, not fear.

“I’m a witch.”

I lifted a brow. “All alone?”

She stopped inches from me. “Yes.”

I knew my destiny was with her—she was the one I’d been waiting for. The witch held power over my body and my mind, and I liked it; I wouldn’t even care if she’d used a spell to make me feel this way, though I knew she hadn’t. She pulled me from the loss of oblivion and made me feel like I belonged. Her mere presence made me long for a woman as I’d never longed before. I had to take her and be with her in every way a man could. And it would have to be soon, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could contain the desires that centered in one spot on my body.

“Do you need something?” she asked, as if reading my mind. Her shyness was gone and the sparkle in her eyes now glowed with lust, swirling promises I longed to fulfill.

“Only you.” I wanted to touch her but held back—not out of fear of her, but fear she’d reject me because I was no one. I hadn’t been marked.

“Come with me.” She took my hand. The heat of her sphere almost burned my wrist, but I didn’t pull away. Our fingers intertwined.

“Where are we going?” I asked, though I didn’t care where she took me. She could drag me all the way to hell, and I’d follow.

“To my lair.”

She twirled her finger as if she were stirring a pot. The forest swirled, and the green, earthy scents of pine needles and moss mixed with her rosy aroma. The space to my right became a rippled hole as she opened a portal. Although a difficult skill to master, it wasn’t uncommon for a supernatural to use one to travel through time and space. Xela faced me in the vortex, holding my hands. Then she rested her head on my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her as we flew through the time hole.

When the spinning stopped, we were in an underground dungeon hung with drying herbs and shelves holding pots and jars filled with ingredients both crumbled and gooey. Unlike Ma’s hill—my home—this place seemed lonely. I shivered despite the heat. Xela was isolated in this lair just as I was isolated from the world. We were so alike, yet different at the same time. I didn’t know her, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was needing Xela the way I needed air. Ma wouldn’t approve; I knew that the minute I saw the maiden, but what Ma didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

When I thought about Ma, the scent of roses intensified, and this time I saw them, blooming in one corner of the rough-hewn room. Xela twirled her finger, and the blossoms released their aroma, intoxicating me again. I knew magic when I saw it, but I didn’t have to be magically intoxicated by this beauty.