The First Male (36 page)

“Oh, I'm sorry about the image of Brooke. I was reading your emotions and that's what you were projecting. I didn't mean to send her to you like that.”

“It's okay.”

“You love her, don't you?”

Simon paused. “Yeah. I guess,” he said, slowly, as he took a sip. “Yeah, I love her,” he said more confidently. “I do.” He had never said the words out loud before, but they felt good on his lips.

“These human emotions will be the death of us all,” Eli said, shaking his head in disappointment. “I guess I can't blame you, though. After all, you've been around
them
all your life. I can smell them on you.” Eli coughed again, but Simon ignored it.

“We're not . . . human?”

“We're so much more than that.”

“This is too much for me. In the last few days, after spending a lifetime alone, I find out that I have a grandmother and a twin brother. Now, you're telling me I ain't human? What am I? A demon? Some kind of vampire?”

Eli chuckled. “Vampire? Really? Don't be silly.”

“I tasted another man's blood. And, I liked it. How do you explain that?”

“How did it make you feel?”

Simon spoke with no hesitation. “Powerful. It made me feel powerful.”

Eli smiled and raised his glass. “We are indeed brothers.” He leaned deep into the chair. “We are many things. We are everything.
Vampires and demons—even angels—will worship at our feet. Everything that walks on the earth, crawls beneath it, or flies above it will serve our will. Everything will bow down to us. We are The One.”

Simon took a long sip from his glass and shifted in his seat before speaking again. He wasn't sure if Eli's boastful words were hyperbole or if he should take them at face value; regardless, his words were enticing. “One of Adelaide's books said that I am the destroyer of worlds.”

“We
are the destroyer of worlds.
We
,” Eli corrected. “And what do you mean you
read it in one of her books
?”

“She had some old book with a bunch of symbols that I couldn't read at first, but she insisted that I could. I tried, but I opened it and saw gibberish.”

“Her books are written in a language only known by her sister-clan. I want to know how
you
read it.”

“I didn't exactly read it. I put my hand on it and I knew everything that was in it—I knew.” Eli's eyes flashed.

“Marvelous. Simply marvelous. We have been trying to read their language for eons. You are indeed powerful, and, together, we will be unstoppable. We will grind kingdoms to dust and build a whole new world; a world in which we are worshipped as deities. We will be gods.” A ravenous lust flickered across Eli's eyes as his prophetic words drifted across the room, mesmerizing Simon and igniting within him ambition he never knew he possessed. Naked ambition. It warmed Simon's loins. Simon had never been strong on ambition, but Eli's words suddenly gave him a raging emotional erection; the throbbing he felt went far beyond simple lust. He was jonesing for something he had never really had before—power. He let out a slow hiss, like air escaping from a tire. The dark was rising in his soul.

He tried to hold on to memories of love and friendships.

“What if I don't wanna be this . . . this
destroyer of worlds
. I don't wanna destroy anything; that sounds so morbid. I kinda like this world.”

Eli leaned a little closer to Simon. “We can make one that is
so
much better. This world is full of pain and death and misery. There are starving children everywhere you look. Horrific acts of war are committed on a daily basis. What is there to like about
this
world? This world is dying more and more each day.” Simon didn't say it out loud, but Eli made a good point. There were so many things wrong with this world, but there were so many things that he thought were right, too. Like Brooke. Like Franklin. Like music. Like smiling and laughing children. Many things.

“Do we have the same powers?” Simon asked, changing the subject.

“I don't know. No one is sure what powers you have.”

“How do I control them? You seemed to have mastered yours.”

“Ahhhh, that's a bit more tricky with you, brother. That bitch Adelaide bound your powers at birth.” His tone sharpened.

“She did what?”

Eli exhaled as if he couldn't believe Simon didn't know the answer. “I have so much to teach you. She
bound
them. It's a little trick witches use to block the powers of their enemies. She cast a powerful binding spell on you to prevent the maturation of your powers. That's why your powers come out in spurts—probably tied to your emotions—but who the hell really knows? The witch is clever. She's trying to deny you your birthright. You see how evil she is?”

“I'm not her enemy.”

“Yes, you are and she will
try
to kill you the first chance she gets. Addie is neither weak nor foolish. She is cunning as a fox
and strong as a lion. Do not take her kindness for love. Behind every smile is a plot to rid the world of you—of me.”

“I was with her. She could've killed me if she wanted.”

“Killing us isn't a simple task. We are unlike anything that has ever existed.” Simon exhaled. The more Eli spoke, the more Simon realized that nothing would ever be the same again. Not for him. Not for the world.

“Why didn't she bind your powers, too?” Simon asked after a few moments.

“Because,” he responded coolly, “she didn't know about me. I surprised everyone, including Eetwidomayloh.” Eli relayed the full story of their birth and as he spoke, Simon was suddenly flooded by vivid memories of being in the womb. He remembered. He even remembered sharing the womb with someone else.
Eli
. Old memories swept over him like a tsunami. He remembered speaking to his mother, telling her to
push
.

“Oh my God,” Simon said in astonishment. “I remember. I remember it all. I remember the cabin. I remember my mother. I remember Addie. There was a storm that night—a really bad one.”

“Do you remember being torn from our mother? Do you remember the pain our mother felt? I remember it. I felt it in the womb and I'm sure you did, too.”

That old pain came back to Simon. Pain he didn't even know he carried. It came to him in hard, jagged bursts that jabbed against his insides; it was an animal longing to be free. He lurched forward. “I remember.”

“It's all coming back to you, isn't it?” Eli smiled.

Simon's eyes went black. Completely.

“That's it, brother. Remember. Remember who you were meant to be.”

This time Simon didn't fight the darkness. He didn't want to. He let it wash over him. He let the pain of his birth flush through his body. He let every hurt he had ever felt in his heart sweep over him. Every part of his body tingled as if a low-level electrical current ran through his frame. His body shuddered and the feeling was pleasurable, almost erotic. He felt close to orgasm. His skin was alive, crawling with power.

“That's it, brother. Embrace the power. Embrace it.”

The surge of energy that flowed through Simon completely took over him. He saw flashes of light followed by piercing sounds. His senses were on fire. He felt omnipotent, god-like. Slowly, he rose to his feet, feeling fully in control of the world. He gazed at his brother who seemed astonished by the energy Simon emitted.

“You are sick, my brother,” Simon said in a voice so deep it seemed to drop to the floor. “I will make you whole.”

“No, Simon. You can't. When we ascend, my powers will heal me.”

“That's
if
you make it to the Ascension. You are sicker than you know. I can smell your death.” Eli's eyes widened, in shock. “I will heal you now.”

“No,” Eli protested, “to heal me you have to take my sickness into your body. I can't let you do that.”

Simon smiled confidently and then let out a chuckle. “You worry too much, my brother.” Before Eli could utter another word Simon was upon him, the palm of his hand firmly planted against Eli's forehead. Simon closed his black eyes and felt a rush of heat throughout his body. He looked down on Eli whose body convulsed violently as pools of the black substance gathered in the corners of his mouth before flowing slowly down his face. Simon felt the poisoned magic leave Eli's body and enter his. He
felt sharp pains in his stomach, but he withstood them, fearlessly, all for his brother. Tonight, he would save Eli. He had no doubt.

When Simon removed his hand from Eli's head, he was blasted across the room, landing hard on the floor on his back. He felt the foreign magic inside of him, struggling to take hold, to control him, but Simon held it back—he wouldn't let it take root.

Simon let out a scream so primal that it sounded as if it originated from the depths of hell itself. It was a raw, scratching, unhuman yell that could not be contained. The yell lasted for several seconds, and then it was over.

Eli stood over him, his chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. “Simon, are you okay?”

A smile formed in the corner of Simon's mouth. “
We
are fine,” he said, knowing they both had survived.

“You . . . you . . . saved my life. This is incredible. I didn't think it could be done until we had our full power.” Eli eyed Simon curiously, his voice full of awe and wonder.

“I knew I could,” Simon said as he reached for Eli's extended arm to pull himself from the floor. Simon stood, feeling slightly queasy, but he steadied himself.

“Now, let's go have some fun.”

C
HAPTER
24

W
hen Addie materialized inside the foyer of Clara's house she felt the presence of evil. The pungent odor of it was unmistakable. The foul odor permeated every inch of the house, as if it had been born there and had continued to multiply unchecked over the years. With her first inhalation, Addie felt pains of dread stab her in her stomach; the smell was sharp, stabbing. It took her a few moments to steady herself and adjust to the smell.

When she adjusted to the odor, she looked around the room carefully. The darkness in the house was thick, almost impermeable. Addie felt it grip her tightly, trying to consume her, to swallow her whole. She calmed her temperament and focused so that she could cut through the void with her eyes. Her senses were acute. Shadows covered the room and at any moment she realized they could spring to life and assault her. Much of her power was still being used to hold together the binding spell, but she was far from defenseless.

She took a few meek footsteps, moving with feline-like finesse so that the wooden floor beneath her feet wouldn't betray her position with sound. She surveyed the room, using her magic to feel it out. She couldn't detect any evil in the immediate area, save for the smell of the room. In fact, the evil that she sensed seemingly poured into the room from upstairs. She knew she had
to venture to the second floor, but she couldn't leave the downstairs area unguarded. For her protection, she weaved together golden light that transformed into a net. She gently pushed the net into the air and watched golden webs of light spin. Within seconds the golden light faded, but the entire downstairs area was draped in a spider web-like net that would trap any and all shadows and prevent them from moving. The web was invisible, as well as impenetrable, to any creatures that lurked in the dark.

Once she was confident that the area was secure, she moved to the staircase and looked up toward the second level of the house. She could hear voices, faint voices, but couldn't decipher the words. Were the words threats or simple conversation? She wanted to materialize into the room from which the voices came, but it would be too dangerous. If whatever evil that was in the room detected her appearance before she fully came into form, it would have the advantage and would be able to strike first, possibly a fatal blow. She couldn't risk it. She placed her hand on the banister and slowly lifted her weight onto the step. It creaked. She froze, her heart pushing into her throat. She waited a few seconds to make sure she had not been detected. She listened closely and the voices continued to speak, uninterrupted.

Then, one by one, she carefully glided up the stairs.

Once she reached the second level, she surreptitiously moved toward the room at the end of the hallway—Clara's room. The stench was striking; much more bitter on this floor than on the lower level. It lodged deep in Addie's throat and she fought the urge to cough violently.

Addie glided closer to the room. A faint light spilled from the cracked door into the dark hallway, enough light for Addie to see Rebecca's fiery hair. Rebecca stood to the left of Clara, pacing back and forth. It took all the strength Addie could muster not to
gasp out loud when she saw Clara's face; pieces of jagged glass were buried deep into her once-beautiful face, and fresh blood ran down her cheeks. Clara's pleading eyes were only half-open, as was her twisted mouth. Rebecca leaned in and screwed a shard of glass deeper into Clara's face. Clara's body jerked and she let out a moan that told Addie that she was close to death. Addie could see Rebecca's hands, which were stained red with blood, Clara's blood.