Evil

  time before he came to hash things out with me. I didn’t think he was going to back down how I had.

  Vespar nodded, grave. “How long do we have?”

  “They’ll come to talk first. They’ll find us, and they’ll inquire who did what. They’ll figure out who the leader is, etc. They’ll devise all of our roles, and then they’ll make a plan on how to handle us. If we fight them, they’ll fight back. They’ll swoop in and obliterate us all. If that happens…then we’ll have to see. We have some time.” He turned to leave.

  Giuseppa asked, anxious, “What can we do before then?”

  Kellan said darkly, “Get as strong as you can.” His eyes pierced mine for a second, and then he left. We stood behind, unsure of what just happened.

  I hadn’t even shut my bedroom door or turned on my light before Kellan grabbed my arm. He whisked me against him, and everything swooshed around us. When I opened my eyes again, I saw that we were in the woods, near a lake.

  “How—you can do that?”

  He stared at me. “I can do a lot of things, Shay. I’m less human than you think.”

  The way he said it, like it was a promise, sent the same shivers down my back that I’d always gotten around my brother. Then I sighed and turned away. He wasn’t my brother. He was a liar.

  I started walking, even though I had no idea where I was going.

  Kellan called after me, “Anywhere you go, I’ll find you. I can bring you right back here, anywhere I want, anywhere I choose. It’s on my turf, sister dear. This is my time right now.”

  I turned sharply and glared. We both knew he wasn’t talking about our actual location right then and there. “What are you talking about? Your turf? This isn’t my turf? Are you trying to say that I don’t belong?”

  He was in front of me in a flash, gripping my arms tight. “You belong to me.”

  “I’m not even your sister. Am I?”

  He quieted, but didn’t move away. His eyes gleamed softer, but I still saw the demon was fierce in him. There was something he wanted to say, but he held back. Why did he always hold back?

  “Am I?”

  Then he let go and stepped away. It felt like a rejection, though I didn’t understand why.

  Kellan took a breath and calmed down. I watched as his body seemed to become more fluid, less rigid, in front of me and knew the demon was fighting him. The demon wanted to lash out, to do what it needed to do. Kellan took control then and looked back with a slight apology in his eyes.

  “Are you going to explain anything to me?” I couldn’t believe this. He still didn’t say a word.

  Then he did. Softly. “I am not your brother, no. We don’t share blood, but we are bonded.”

  Finally. Answers. My eyes closed, and I felt relief flood my body. At least he was saying something honest. My voice cracked. “How long have you known?”

  “All your life.”

  His answer blew me away. “What?”

  “It’s why I’m here. You’re the reason why I’m here. Your mother and their father aren’t either to me. I have no blood connection to the Braden name.”

  “What?” My entire body reeled in shock. Then that meant… “What does this mean?”

  “My father is full demon and sent me to the Bradens. He wanted me here. That’s all I know.”

  He was lying. I saw it as surely and swiftly as if I had been the one who told the lie. “You just said that I’m the reason you’re here.”

  “You are.”

  “You aren’t making any sense. Why aren’t you making sense? What are you still hiding from me?”

  He smirked. “I’m hiding a lot, but so are you.”

  “No—” But I was and I knew it. The reason was because I didn’t trust him, not fully. I loved him. I had grown up with him as my brother, but I didn’t trust him. Then something shifted in me. The messenger wanted out. I felt it rallying, shaking the cage, and I gasped when it exploded inside of me. She was so strong…

  My eyes switched, and I saw everything in black and white. The only colors were his eyes. They were a vibrant reddish brown and seemed to smolder in front of me. Kellan’s body was black, dark. Everything was white around us. I was white except for my own eyes. The reflection in Kellan’s eyes showed that mine were pitch-black. And I hissed, she hissed, “Demon!”

  His eyes went wide. “Shay?”

  Extending my hand, white light burst from it and slammed against his chest. Kellan flew backward into some trees. They bent at an angle from the force of his impact. He didn’t stay down. His head burst upright, and everything changed in him. His demon came to the forefront. His entire body was the same smoldering dark reddish brown.

  He spat, “Messenger.”

  “Leave her alone!” she threatened. An ominous feeling took root in my body.

  He smoldered, bristling in fury before her/us. “You leave. You’re not wanted. You shouldn’t be a part of her.”

  “I am. I will be. I forever shall be.” The promise of her voice shook. It rattled the ground. The trees waved back and forth, and the leaves fell to the ground from her force. It was so strong, so powerful…

  “She’s his. You know this.” He started to circle, the predator.

  She stood upright, never the prey. “She’s mine! I am in her. You cannot separate us.”

  His eyes were fierce, promising ways of vengeance as he kept circling, slowly, so slowly.

  She stared straight ahead, head high and chin lifted upward. Her shoulders were strong, so steady, and instead of watching him rounding, she ignored him. Then, as he hissed and lurched forward, she flung out an arm. Blinding light burst forth from underneath her arm, all the way down to the ground. It was a gleaming white cloak that she had adorned, and it beamed so bright, like a sun that’s too close to the human eye.

  He reeled back.

  “Leave!” she spoke with force. “Leave her alone, and I won’t break her. I will not force my way, but you will leave her.”

  His body jerked upright, but a fluid look took over. His skin shifted easily, and it was Kellan in the forefront. His eyes snapped open, in control, but the same smoldering reddish color from the demon. “If you break her, I will kill you.”

  She snorted, smiling cruelly. “As if you have the power—”

  Then his hand shot out, and dark light burst from him. It shot her backward into the woods. The messenger recovered quickly, in midair, and sent another zap of her own energy. Kellan flung his hand open, caught it, and sent it back. She gaped, floating in the air, as it hit her body. No impact was felt. She absorbed it and then lifted stunned eyes back to him. Gliding to the ground, to stand before him again, she studied him. “You are not a mere hybrid.”

  Kellan didn’t respond, standing there and waiting.

  “Why should I not open my arms and let you be blinded by my real self? You would die, right now. Your eyes would burn into your body, and the demon would never recover. Tell me why I should not do that? Your kind hates my kind. My kind loathes yours.”

  Kellan bristled in anger, but controlled it. “Because she needs me. I am bonded to her, and you know this. You’ve felt this her whole life, your whole life, and you know that if you kill me, she will be broken. You cannot survive without her.”

  Hatred boiled underneath her surface, but something shifted, and she was gone.

  KELLAN

  Shay gasped, reeling backward. She threw her arms out, trying to regain some sort of balance. “Kellan!”

  Swooping in, he caught her before she fell and swiftly lifted her up in his arms. His hand tucked her head against his chest, and he murmured, “Sleep. I’ll explain when you wake.”

  “No!” She dug her hands in his shirt, her nails scraping through to his skin.

  Kellan watched, unharmed. He didn’t react as she drew his blood, but smoothed out her hair from her forehead. “Sleep, Shay. It will be all right. I promise.” He ducked his head down and pressed his cheek to her forehead, drawing strength from her as
well. The demon was exhausted from fighting the messenger. He could feel the turmoil inside of her and sucked in his breath, angry the messenger had even threatened to destroy everything. Shay wasn’t strong enough to handle the switch from messenger to human. Only one other human had survived a break as this messenger had done. They weren’t supposed to break free and take control over the body. They hadn’t been created for that.

  “Kellan,” Shay murmured drowsily. His magic was working, slipping into her, making her succumb to exhaustion.

  “Sshh. Sleep.”

  And her eyes closed. Her entire body gave up the fight and was limp in his arms.

  He drew in another shuddering breath and wrapped both of his arms around her tight. Then he whisked them through the woods and into his bedroom.

  The lights were off. Since there was no moonlight that night, his room seemed darker than normal. Kellan saw everything clearly, as if it were day, and laid her down onto his bed gently. Then he sat beside her, gazing down at her in concern.

  The messenger had broken free, taken over. What would be the ramifications? What would Shay remember? What parts of the messenger had become more linked to her, had broken her own sheltering spell that she cast as a child?

  Kellan lifted up her sleeve and saw the circling tattoo had stopped. The strings that had formed a circle were now intertwined. They mixed together except one string at the bottom. It stood apart, silver in color while the others had taken on a brown tone. He knew Shay would be worried about this, but there was nothing he could do.

  As he lay beside her, turned toward her, kept her tucked against him, his body sheltered hers, and he tucked a hand underneath her, claiming her. Then he rested his forehead in the crook of her neck and shoulder and allowed sleep to come over him. The demon inside was more than tired and would need more than his normal few hours of sleep.

  I was running through a forest, but it was dark. There was no light to help me see, but something was after me, chasing me, breathing down my back. I felt it—it was too much. I couldn’t ignore it, so I kept going, faster and faster. I couldn’t breathe. My heart was racing in my chest. I felt it was going to explode. Each step I took, I pushed faster, harder. Every muscle was strained, and I gritted my teeth, just going farther and farther, faster and faster.

  “Your kind hates my kind.”

  “What?” I whipped my head back. Who was there?

  The voice whispered again, going past me, “She’s his.”

  I braked abruptly and spun around. The forest was large, looming above me, so powerful. I felt like it wanted to shelter me, suffocate me. It didn’t want me to breathe.

  Then the voice came again. It was a whisper on the wind, now behind me. “If you break her, I will kill you.”

  Then it roared, “Leave!”

  My heart took off at a thunderous pace, and I reacted, jumping, turning, and sprinting away. Faster, faster, harder, harder. I had to get there. I must. If I didn’t—someone would die. Someone was going to die. I needed to stop it. Then my heart got louder and louder. Thump. Thump. Thump, thump, thump. It took over, and I couldn’t hear anything else. Trees stood in my way, and I bounded around them. Leaves and branches cut into my skin, nipping at my head, trying to blind me, pierce me. Gritting my teeth, I ignored them. I kept going. I had to. If I didn’t…THUMP, THUMP.

  “I am bonded to her.”

  I stopped again and bent over, panting. My heart wouldn’t stop. Then I looked up—that had been Kellan’s voice. He was bonded to someone. What did that mean? To whom?

  A stream of white light burst in the sky. I looked up as it illuminated the night sky. All the trees were gone. It was only me, no one else. No forest. Just the light and me and a voice above it whispered to me, “It’s you. It’s always you.”

  My eyes got wide, and the light sped downward to me. It was going to overtake me, but then my eyes shot open again, and I sat upright, gasping.

  “Hey, hey.” Kellan sat up next to me with an arm around my back. He rubbed in circles, soothing. “It’s okay. It was a nightmare. It’s okay now.”

  I was disoriented, hearing his voice from a distance. Everything was going around me, too fast, too soon. I couldn’t get my bearings, and I reached out, closing my hand around something strong. It was my balance. It grounded me as the room continued to spin around me.

  “Wha—?” I felt my chest, how my heart wouldn’t slow down. “Kellan! My heart.”

  “It’s okay. I promise.” He pressed a kiss against my forehead and rested his cheek there.

  My heart started to slow, just a bit.

  He lifted me up and cradled me on his chest, scooting backward until his back was against the wall. Then he rocked me back and forth, repeating his words, “It’s okay. I promise. It’s okay. I promise.”

  I gasped for breath and burrowed into him, seeking more shelter. I was only aware of his fingers on my forehead, how he brushed my hair back and kept doing it over and over. I felt my heart starting to slow down. It still pounded throughout my whole body, but a few minutes later, I saw that I was in his arms. Then we were on his bed, in his room, in our home. Finally, I breathed in and out, at a normal rate, and I was able to push up from him.

  “What happened? Something happened?” My eyes searched his.

  Kellan frowned, but didn’t hide anything. He let me see into him, to the demon inside of him. The demon looked back at me, concerned, too. I reeled back and scrambled out of his arms. “What—your—what?”

  He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt you. I mean that.”

  “But—” I heard the whispers again. They were scratching at my consciousness. They wanted me to remember something. “She’s his.” I asked Kellan, “Who is his? What happened?”

  “The messenger in you took control.” He sounded in pain.

  “What? Why?” Then I gulped. What had happened when I wasn’t in control?

  “She tried to hurt me. My demon came out, and they fought, but it was over quickly.”

  I jerked to my feet and darted to the farthest corner of the room. With my back to the wall, I looked at Kellan, still on the bed. “You…” My voice trembled. “You’re not my brother. You told me that before—the thing happened.”

  He settled back against the wall and sighed. “Yes. I told you that.”

  I swallowed, nervous now. “What does that mean? You’re here because of me.”

  Kellan started to stand up, but I shot out my hand. “Please don’t. I’m freaked out. I can’t… Just stay there. Please.”

  He sat back down, and I relaxed. His eyes searched mine intently as he spoke, “I’m here because my human side is bonded with your human side. I’m here because of you, for you.”

  “How—how do you know?”

  “Because you came to me when you were a child. You weren’t in control of your powers, but they were too strong back then. The messenger was mixed with your human side. The two of you flowed together naturally, and you wanted to find your soulmate. You were a child. You didn’t know how frightening your powers were to others, but you came to me. My father felt your presence.”

  “What, like a house? Like I literally came to your house?”

  “No.” He shook his head, looking sad, almost wounded. “It was through magic. Your presence found mine. My father felt inside of you and found where you were, that you came from demons. He didn’t understand your existence, how you could live in a home of demons when you were half-messenger, but he sent me here. For you. Because of you. I’m here because you wanted me to come here.”

  I gaped at him. Had he grown two heads? Had I? “None of this makes sense,” I sputtered out, but it did. Clamping my eyes shut, I tried to ward of memories. They were coming at me fast, hard, too frightening for me to remember. “No, no, no, no. I couldn’t. I hadn’t…”

  Then Kellan was in front of me. His hands took my wrists and he lifted them around his head. “Hug me. Please.” He urged me closer, and then I jumped,
going into him. I clung to him with my eyes closed, burrowing into him.