Evil

  mind because they were connected to the voice.

  My phone vibrated again.

  I cursed because something snapped in me, and I knew I’d lost whatever connection I’d had to the voice. “What?”

  “Hey, bitch.” They sounded drunk on the other end.

  “Who is this?” My patience was nearing an end.

  “None”—hiccup—“ob your bidness.”

  When I looked at the caller ID name, I sighed. “Matt. What do you want? You need to leave me alone.”

  “Whatss your perblum?”

  “What’s my problem?” My translation was a little rusty. “Is that what you said? You called me, Matt. You’re drunk. Say what you have to say and let it go after this. That’s my warning.”

  “Your werning? What werning? You gib me a werning?” He laughed and then hiccupped.

  My patience was running low, seriously low. I felt the vision of the old man slipping from my grasp, as if I could hold on to it. “Matt! I swear to your God that this is enough. One word and my brother will be at your throat. One word, Matt.”

  He was quiet on the other end except for his heavy breathing. Then he choked out, “Oh yeah? Well, he can just try.”

  The call ended after that, and I sighed. I didn’t sigh because I was tired of Matt. Humans rarely annoyed me. I’d always been surprised at the patience I had with them, considering my bloodline. I sighed because I knew Matt had become a problem. If I didn’t tell Kellan about him, Matt would feel that he’d overpowered a Braden. No one overpowered us. No one could, and if one thought they had, then he’d start on Kellan or one of the other two. I was fearful what they would do to him then. The chances of Matt graduating alive had just grown slim, very slim, unless I took care of him myself.

  The school beckoned to me. The painting studio wanted me to come in there, and I knew I had something to paint. I almost wanted to go just to see what would be the end product, but I started my car again. Matt wasn’t going away, and he’d have to be dealt with. Quickly.

  “Don’t,” the voice whispered this time.

  I turned the engine off. “What do you want from me? Who are you? I know that you mean well.”

  “Don’t.”

  “Who are you? What do you mean I’m not like them? What is my reminder for? What is my reminder?” I didn’t search out through my powers this time. I sat there and waited, hoping it would answer.

  “Don’t…”

  Goose bumps rose on my arm, and my tattoo burned my skin. I hissed from the pain and clamped a hand on it, trying to stop it. Then my phone vibrated again. This time, I looked before I answered and saw it was Kellan. Instantly, I took a few deep breaths. I needed to be calm before I talked to him. He’d know right away something was wrong and would push until he knew about Matt or the voice.

  “Kellan.”

  “What happened to you?”

  I clamped my eyes shut. “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t lie to me. I know something huge just happened. What was it? Tell me, Shay.”

  “Kellan, there was no—”

  “Tell me!” he yelled.

  My eyes popped open, shocked. “Why do you think something’s wrong?”

  “I just know, Shay. What happened?”

  “Matt called me. He threatened me.”

  Kellan was quiet on the other end for a minute. “That’s it? Matt scared you?”

  “How do you know I was scared?”

  “I felt it.”

  He felt it? I couldn’t feel him, but Kellan might never get scared though. “How did you feel it?”

  “I just did. It was Matt?”

  “Yes.” I whispered the word because I felt as if I signed over his death warrant. I should’ve held strong and not said a word, but Kellan had gotten a sniff. He was like a bloodhound on a trail. He wouldn’t have let up until I’d given something to him, and I wasn’t going to tell him about the voice. Something in me clamped steel walls around that secret. No one was going to be told that secret. If they tried, they’d have to kill me first. Then I wondered, as I realized how strong my conviction was, why I was willing to die for a voice inside my head? It was an ally, but why did I need an ally? Who was I at war with?

  I turned my car around. Kellan was going after Matt, and no matter how evil Matt was, he was still human. Something inside told me painting would wait. This was the right thing to do, which was ironic. It was dark out when I turned my car down Matt’s driveway, and I knew my brother was there. I felt his anger in the air. It surged everywhere, and then it switched dramatically.

  Kellan knew I was there, too.

  When I turned my car off around a bend on the driveway, where my car wouldn’t be seen from the road or home, I wasn’t surprised when Kellan stepped out from the woods. The driveway was a mile long, and it was cloaked by the forest.

  “You came to do this yourself?” His voice seemed to glide toward me.

  Shivers went down my back. “I came to stop you. I know what you’re going to do.”

  “He’s a problem. He threatened a Braden.”

  “Kellan.” I sighed.

  He stepped closer. “He threatened you.”

  “And if Giuseppa had been threatened?”

  “She’d do it herself. He’d already be dead.”

  I swallowed a tight knot in my throat. “Kellan, you can’t kill him.”

  “Why not? They’d kill us.”

  “With due reason. We’re not exactly normal…things.”

  He was bored. “Let’s get it done. I still have to get over to Leah’s unless those two did the deed for me.”

  That wouldn’t surprise me. “You can go. I’ll deal with Matt—go handle Leah’s dad. You’re the one who said you’d do it.”

  “Deal with me? How are you going to deal with me?” Matt asked from behind us. We whirled around. I was shocked, but Kellan had a feral grin on his face. He’d known Matt was there, had probably been following him, and then came out when my car stopped. That was when I narrowed my eyes. “I thought you were drunk.”

  Matt shrugged. “I was. I’m not anymore. Does it matter?”

  Kellan smirked. “I wanted him sober. I want him to feel what’s going to happen to him.”

  Matt didn’t react. He didn’t seem fazed at all, even scared. There was a zombie look in his eyes as he swayed on his feet.

  “You put him in a trance?”

  “I did what I had to do. He was passed out in his own piss. I took him out, cleaned him up, and now he’s ready to wake up.”

  I closed my eyes and groaned. “Don’t wake him up.”

  “I thought you didn’t want him in a trance.”

  “You know what I mean.” If Matt woke up, then Kellan really would have to do something with him. He’d find himself in his driveway with us, sober. I wouldn’t want him to make his own assumptions as to how he got there.

  “Trance or no trance. What do you want, Shay? Choose.”

  “I’m choosing for you to shut up.”

  “Just,” he seethed. “Watch your powers. I don’t enjoy being silenced.”

  “Okay…” I looked at Matt, who’d been standing there. He looked from one to the other, but the look on his face made me twitch inside. He trusted us. It was similar to a child’s trust in their parent. “Kellan, leave.”

  “No.” He moved to stand in front of Matt.

  “I mean it.” I touched his shoulder, but drew back, surprised. His muscles were tight, clenched together. That was when I felt a force within my brother that I’d never noticed before. I knew he was darker than the others, but this was the first time that I felt it.

  It didn’t sit well with me.

  He didn’t move.

  “Kellan. I mean it.”

  “No, Shay. I know what you’re going to do. You don’t want me to hurt him, so you’ll promise me the moon right now. You’ll say something about you doing it yourself, and you’re going to try to distract me with Leah, that I should be helpin
g her instead. It won’t work. I know all you’ll do is try to wipe his memory. For someone who doesn’t use her powers, you’re dangerous, even to humans.”

  I was quiet for a moment, and Kellan relaxed slightly. Just slightly. Then he raised his hand to Matt, and I murmured, “You don’t think I can do it?”

  “What? No.”

  But it was too late. Kellan whirled around just as I lifted my hand in the air. I didn’t do anything great. I thought one word, but tried to put extra oomph in it. Forget! Then the air zapped. It felt like a tidal wave of electricity washed over us. When I looked up, Kellan was staring at me with something that looked like fear in his eyes. Matt was on the ground. And I was…I looked down. I was floating in the air.

  “Oh!” Immediately, I crashed to the ground.

  “Do you know what you just did?” Kellan growled.

  “Thanks for helping me up,” I grumbled as I stood and then dusted off my pants.

  He ignored me, staring at Matt. “I wasn’t going to kill him, Shay. I was going to make him hurt for a while, and then I was going to turn him into our bitch. He was going to live life normally, but he’d always do whatever we wanted him to do. That’s all I was going to do to him. Swear. Now, we have to sit back and see what you did to him. The most I do is wipe memories of certain events. I’ve never killed anyone.” Kellan looked and stared directly in my eyes.

  When I stared back, I saw multiple layers in his eyes. The first was human. It was what anyone would see. The second was more demon, but it was what he thought was the truth. A part of him really thought he was telling the truth, that he was only going to turn Matt into our servant. Then I looked past into the third and fourth layers. There were more behind them, but I saw what I wanted to see.

  Kellan wasn’t as in complete control of his demon as he thought. He had killed, but he either didn’t know or he didn’t want to tell me he knew, not at that particular time. A part of me knew it didn’t make sense, but it was what it was. Kellan was telling the truth when he said that he was only going to brainwash Matt a little. Not completely. That was something, right?

  “What do you see?” Kellan asked quietly.

  “What?” I shook out of my own trance-like stare.

  “You were looking into me, Shay. What did you see? I have a feeling you see something no one else does.”

  Something in his voice caught my attention. Narrowing my eyes, I studied him again. Kellan didn’t move. He didn’t twitch. There was an extra meaning in his words that I’d never heard. “What are you saying? What do you mean by that?”

  Then it was gone. Kellan smirked and withdrew. “Figure it out.” When he looked at Matt, he groaned. “Look at him. You turned him into an actual zombie.”

  “No, I…” My voice faded when I saw what he saw. Matt had a blank expression in his eyes. He lay on the ground with his hands resting together on his stomach. His chest still moved up and down so we knew he was alive, but there was nothing in his mind. I’d turned him into something like the living dead.

  “I…”

  Kellan cursed and then barked out, “Get up!”

  Matt stood. He didn’t move stiffly, but like normal. His eyes were so blank.

  “You will remember your life. You will live your life as you did, but you will stay away from any Braden. Do you understand?”

  Matt never blinked. He didn’t say a word.

  Kellan cursed again and then slammed his hand into Matt’s forehead. As he did, he muttered something under his breath. The same energy sparked in the air, and Matt’s body jerked alive. His back arched. His feet lifted off the ground. And then everything was frozen for a second after. Suddenly, Matt’s body fell back to the ground, and he let out a strangled cry. As he fell, moaning, Kellan turned to me. His eyes were hard. “Go home.”

  “But.”

  Matt looked up, blinking away tears in his eyes. “Wha…who?”

  “Go, Shay!”

  His command bounced off me. It would’ve compelled someone else, possibly even our siblings, but I merely looked at him in confusion. “You fixed it?”

  “Go. Do your painting.”

  I turned without thinking. When his words registered, I stopped and whirled back. “You know?”

  “I’ve always known.” Kellan gentled his voice and bent to help Matt back to his feet. He spoke to me as he watched Matt tentatively start to walk toward his home. “I know everything about you, Shay. One of these days you’ll realize why it’s me and no one else.”

  “What?” He knew about my paintings… Did he know about the ones of him?

  He sighed and walked past me. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  I watched as he got into my car, in the driver’s seat, and then opened the passenger door for me. I got in reluctantly. “I feel like I have no idea what’s going on anymore.”

  Kellan patted my arm and then wheeled the car around. “I’ll even drop you off at the school. When you’re done, I’ll come get you.”

  As he drove, I watched him. Who was this new Kellan? As of a day ago, I would’ve never thought he’d be dropping me off to do my paintings. I would’ve had a heart attack even thinking about that possibility. And now it’s happening. What else had changed?

  A different thought occurred to me. “Do Vespar and Gus know?”

  “About what you paint?”

  He knew what I painted!

  Kellan shook his head. “They don’t know a thing. It’s why they’re so angry. They know we’re keeping them in the dark about something.”

  My mouth was so dry. “About Mom and Dad?”

  “What about them?”

  I sensed a sudden stillness in him, but asked anyway. “Is it true? Are they around, but I can’t see them?”

  He hesitated for a moment. “Yes. They’re there.”

  “Why don’t I see them?”

  “I don’t know, but my guess is because you don’t want to see them. You have the power to do that.”

  I looked down at my hands. They looked so human, clasped together as if I was praying. My skin even looked a little tanner, not the normal complete pale that I’d always been. Then I felt the tattoo burn on my arm. It started to circle my skin again.

  My voice was hoarse. “Why would I not want to see our parents?”

  Kellan didn’t answer for a moment. When he did, his voice was soft. “I don’t know, Shay. I can’t answer that for you.”

  When we pulled into the school’s parking lot, I didn’t reach for the door handle right away. Instead, I looked at my brother and saw he sat guarded against me. He didn’t want me to see something about him. I wanted to ask him what it was, but I knew I didn’t dare. So I asked instead, “You know what I paint?”

  “I know.” He looked down.

  “Do you know why?”

  To this, he smiled. “Are you asking me why I think a demon would paint angels? Hell if I know, but there’s gotta be a reason. Right?”

  “You’re not scared? Gus and Vespar would freak if they found out.”

  “Gus and Vespar are terrified of you. Period. Anything you do will freak them out.”

  It hurt hearing that, but it was true. “You aren’t scared of me?”

  “No.” He looked up and met my eyes. He wasn’t guarded this time, and he let me see into him again.