Twisted Secrets (Twisted Fates Book 1)

by Jeze Xyn

“Easy. Don’t move too fast, Kesah.”

  The voice that reached my ears made me shiver and had my body heating at the same time. My eyes lifted to find a pair of lavender eyes watching me.

  “Wow. You have such pretty eyes,” I breathed before I could stop myself.

  His smirk of amusement went straight to my core.

  What the fuck was wrong with me?

  “I do believe that’s a first for you,” the man on his right said and I glanced at him.

  What was with these guys having unusual eye color? His were a pale golden shade.

  “I think you’re right,” the first man commented as he knelt down in front of me.

  I could see Zaine watching with a tight expression on his face. My gaze was drawn back to the man kneeling in front of me, though. When he reached out to touch me, I flinched and shifted on the sofa only to realize that Calix was sitting next to me.

  “What in the hell is going on?”

  “Just relax, Kesah. No one here is going to hurt you. I feel I should apologize for Zaine’s underhanded antics that brought you here. It should not have happened that way.”

  “Uh huh. And you are?” I arched a brow at him.

  “I am Bastien. The man on my right is Dax, the other is Malik. We are your protectors.”

  “And teachers,” Dax, the one with the golden eyes, added.

  “Protectors? Teachers? What...I’m confused.”

  “We didn’t get the chance to explain everything before she had a panic attack and passed out,” Calix explained.

  Bastien sighed. “What did you explain?”

  “She passed out after finding out we’re twins.”

  “So, nothing. I can work with this. You’ve heard of the Aegis Council, yes?”

  I nodded at his question. “They’re the ruling organization among paranormals.”

  “That they are. We are part of the Council and we have been tasked with protecting you and training you once your powers are unbound.”

  “What powers? I don’t have any powers. I keep saying that, but no one seems to want to listen.”

  “Yes, you do, Kesah. You just don’t know it. Tell me, did you ever have a visitor, one who only came to see you once every few years? Perhaps they performed what they told you was a blessing?”

  I stared at him dumbfounded. “Aunt Kiki. She lives in Europe and could only visit every four years or so. Why?”

  “And the blessing?”

  “She said it was for health and happiness.” A snort from Calix had me frowning at her. “What?”

  “Oh, nothing. I’ll let Bastien do the explaining.”

  “The woman lied to you, Kesah. What she was doing was performing a ritual to keep your powers bound, so you would think you were human.”

  “Why? Why would my parents let her do that?” Nothing he said made any sense. I expected Bastien to answer but it was Calix who spoke up.

  “They did it to keep you hidden from the Council. Our family has been under Council protection for centuries, but that protection comes with a price. Each generation, the first birth belongs to the Council, to train as they see fit. Our parents kept the Council in the dark about our mother carrying twins. When I was born, the Council delegate thanked our parents and left with me, unaware that twenty minutes later you would be born. They believed they’d found a loophole, but to be safe they had your powers bound at birth. The problem is, power can only be bound for so long before the bonds weaken, so every four years, the woman that you call Aunt Kiki came to you and bound them again.

  “You would have remained under the radar forever had something not happened to alert me to your existence.” Calix looked at the others before she continued. “It happened on our twenty-first birthday.”

  I jerked as if someone had shocked me with a jolt of electricity. “How do you know about that?”

  “I don’t know the details, Arianna, only what I felt. Your fear and pain hit me with such ferocity they stole my breath and brought me to my knees. Unfortunately, I was in the Council’s presence when it happened. It was then they knew they’d been tricked, and their protection was revoked.”

  “They did a fuck more than just revoke their protection,” Malik growled.

  I frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

  He couldn’t mean what I thought he did, could he?

  “They punished your parents.”

  “No. You don’t mean...my mother’s accident was their fault?”

  “I do, Kesah. The Council felt they needed punishing.”

  “My mother can’t even walk anymore. She can’t feel anything below the waist, and you’re telling me the Aegis Council is at fault?”

  “They don’t see it as fault, Arianna. They see it as justified punishment for their betrayal.”

  “I don’t want to hear anymore of this. If that’s the kind of thing the Council does, I don’t want their protection. The cost to my conscience—and my soul—isn’t worth it.”

  “That’s not a decision you have any choice in, Kesah.”

  “You keep calling me that, what does it mean?”

  “It’s just a word we use for one we are protecting,” Bastien and Malik said almost in unison.

  “Things have gotten off-track, Bas. It’s time to get back to why we’re here,” Dax reminded before I could speak.

  “Right. I need to touch you, Kesah, to see how strong the bindings are still.”

  I watched as he held his hands out to me and waited patiently. I had two choices. I could try to keep my head buried in the sand and refuse to let him touch me, or I could place my hands in his and find out, once and for all, if they were wrong about me. After a moment, I swallowed and placed my hands in his. “Okay.”

  Chapter 3

  Zaine

  I watched as Arianna slowly placed her hands into Bastien’s. I knew he was drawn to her—we all were—but I also knew now wasn’t the time to entertain those thoughts. Even if there wasn’t so much still to explain to her, there was no way she’d consider a romantic entanglement with us this soon. There was still too much mistrust of what she’d been told.

  For several seconds there was nothing but silence. Then Arianna’s body started to shake, and a scream burst from her. From where I stood, it almost looked like she was being ripped apart from the inside out.

  “STOP!”

  I shouted the word needlessly, because even as the first syllable left my mouth, Bastien was already pulling away. Arianna collapsed against Calix and her eyes fluttered as if she was still feeling the effects of whatever had caused her to convulse.

  “What the fuck was that Bas?” Dax’s beast was close to the surface and I could see the tension that caused his entire frame to vibrate.

  “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  “Talk to us, Bas? What happened?” It was Malik’s voice that sent a soothing calm over all of us even as Calix brushed the hair back from her sister’s face.

  “It’s the binding spell. It’s too intricate for me to unravel.”

  I moved closer to him. “How is that possible?”

  When Bastien stood and turned his gaze to mine I knew I wasn’t going to like his answer.

  “The witch who bound her powers wove several elements into the spell. She did it in such a way that if I try to remove it, it’ll kill her. There are only two witches I know of who could weave multiple elements into a binding spell. One of them despises the Council. The other…despises me.”

  “Son of a motherfucker.” I ran my hands through my hair. “After the way you spurned her, the chances of Selene helping us aren’t that promising.”

  “No, they’re not. But what choice do we have?”

  “Wait a fucking minute. You tried to unbind her powers? You were only supposed to fucking analyze the spell and then we were going to make a plan.” Anger was back in Dax’s voice.

  “Yeah, well, I got a little impatient and decided to test them.”

  “You could have killed her.”


  “I didn’t know that when I tried it, Dax. I never would have done it if I’d known.”

  “A lot of good that does now, Bas. Do you have any idea the kind of damage you could have done to her?” I snarled.

  “Uh, hello? I’m sitting right here. You can stop talking about me as if I’m in another room any time now.”

  Four sets of eyes turned to her. I moved to step closer, but she held up her hand up to stop me.

  “Our apologies, Kesah. We didn’t realize you’d awoken,” came Malik’s response.

  I watched as her gaze went to him and I felt a sudden flash of possessiveness. A growl trickled from me, one that was answered by Dax.

  “What has gotten into you, Zaine? First, you have Zachariah kidnap her, then you tie her to a chair, you don’t even explain anything to her, and now you want to get pissed at me for trying to help her understand what she is?”

  “Again, I’m right here. I don’t know what’s gotten into any of you, but by Goddess if you don’t stop acting like assholes, I’m going to flip my shit.”

  I watched as she turned to me and I cocked a brow at her. “And what, pray tell, will you do?”

  “I’m not as helpless as you seem to think I am,” was her reply. “Now, you, stop acting like a controlling asshole. You, keep your magic to yourself because that fucking hurt.” When Dax snickered her gaze narrowed on him. “And you, stop egging things on. I swear the only one of you acting like an adult here is Malik. Speaking of...I know Zaine’s a vampire, I saw the fangs. Dax, I’m betting, is some kind of shifter. Bastien is dark fae. It’s Malik I’m not sure about. What are you?”

  I waited to see how Malik would respond to her question. I watched as he knelt in front of her before he reached out and very gently traced her jawline.

  “That is a very difficult question you ask, Kesah, not because I do not wish to share, but because I fear what you will think.” There was a pregnant pause before he continued. “I am a Tazanoth demon.”

  “Say what now?” Her confusion was evident in her voice.

  “I am a Tazanoth demon. We are a type of shadow demon. I know what humans say about my kind—we are evil incarnate—but that is not an absolute. Just as humans, vampires, shifters, or fae have the ability to be either good or evil, so do we demons. I happen to be one of the good ones.”

  “Uh huh. I don’t think my brain can handle anymore revelations right now. You can help me understand that concept later.”

  “I think tabling the discussions and letting Arianna rest might be a good idea,” Calix interjected before anyone else could comment.

  “Of course. Calix, would you show Arianna to her quarters. There is something I need to discuss with Bastien.”

  “Sure thing. Come on. Let’s let the boys hash things out.”

  I waited until Calix had escorted Arianna out before I turned back to my companions. “You know what you need to do, Bas.”

  “Yeah, I know. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. You know she’s going to hold it over my head forever, right?”

  “Probably, but do you see any other option?” I countered.

  “No,” was his grumbled reply.

  “Good. That’s settled then. I suggest we all get some rest. It’s been a long night.”

  “Not so fast.” Malik’s voice was cold as he spoke. “I think it’s safe to say all four of us are drawn to her in more ways than one. The possessiveness you expressed, Zaine, I think we’re all feeling it. We need to discuss that as well.”

  “What’s to discuss? Right now all of this is too new for her. She doesn’t trust the Council, and we’re strangers to her.” I made a motion as if that was the end of the discussion.

  “Strangers who have been tasked with protecting her and teaching her so she can grow into the witch she was meant to be. Strangers who also all feel drawn to her. Do you really think she doesn’t feel it, too? Did you not see the way she kept looking between all of us?”

  “He’s right, Malik. As much as it pains me to admit it, he’s right. It doesn’t matter that we’re all drawn to her. Hell, my beast wants to go claim her right now, but we need to focus on helping her learn how to protect herself. We need to focus on the job.”

  “She is so much more than a job,” Bastien murmured. “I’ll let you know when Selene will be here,” he added before he quickly left the room.

  “That she is, Bas. That she is.” The others left and once I’d made sure everything was secure, I soon followed. There was still much to be done, but exhaustion weighed me down. Sleep was calling and I knew that I’d done all I could for the moment. The future was in Bastien’s hands now. Here was hoping he’d hold his tongue and grovel enough to get the woman he’d scorn to help us. I really didn’t want to have to drag the Council into it because they might think we weren’t capable of properly protecting her, and there was no way I was letting another team get near her. That would happen over my dead body.

  Chapter 4

  Arianna

  I followed Calix from the room and allowed my eyes to take in every detail. The hall we walked down was dark stone that glistened as if it had been polished smooth. When my fingers touched it, the stone almost felt warm and comforting. It was an odd sensation. Recessed lighting cast a soft glow and glinted off of dark red scones that adorned the walls every few feet. Each light in the ceiling was trimmed in the same deep red and the thick carpet beneath my feet was a deep scarlet. I was beginning to sense a theme here.

  From the corner of my eye, I spotted a twinkle and paused for a moment to take a closer look. It took several seconds of me tilting my head in different directions for me to see the flecks of red and gold in the stone walls that twinkled only when the light hit them just right. “This is bloodstone. How did they get so much of it?”

  “Hmm? You’d have to ask Zaine that one. He’s lived here the longest.”

  I frowned at her back. “Really? Just how old is he?”

  “Oh, hell no. I am not answering that. If you really want to know, he might tell you the truth,” came Calix’s chuckled reply.

  “Fine. Then answer this. What do you do for the Council?” I wasn’t expecting her to stop and turn toward me and I almost plowed right into her.

  “Why do you want to know? You’re so against the Council, what does it matter to you?”

  The burst of anger in her voice surprised me. “Maybe I want to understand why the fuck I’m here. Ever think of that? I was doing just fine on my own before that asshole drugged me, kidnapped me, and tied me to a fucking chair. So maybe, just maybe, I’m trying to find a reason to not despise every person here, including you.”

  “There it is. There’s that backbone I was looking for. I was beginning to think you weren’t capable of standing on your own two feet. To answer your question, I’m an assassin. Yes, I use magic in my arsenal, but I’m more rogue stealth than witch. Something tells me you’ll be the exact opposite. Bad ass witch who barrels in without an ounce of stealth.”

  “I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I keep telling all of you, you’ve got the wrong girl.” I watched as Calix rolled her eyes at me. Her short, platinum blonde hair framed her face perfectly. It was eerie how much alike we were while being so completely different. Even before I dyed my hair, I always kept it long.

  “If that were true, the witch you call Aunt Kiki wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to bind your magic. A simple spell would have worked just fine.”

  “Whatever.” I wasn’t ready to accept what she was saying. I wasn’t ready to accept that my parents lied to me my entire life. If they’d lied about this, what else had they lied about? I shook my head to erase the thoughts and motioned down the hall. “Just show me to my cell.”

  “Cell?” Calix snorted. “You’re not a prisoner here. You’re here for your own protection.”

  “Yeah, right. If I weren’t a prisoner, I’d be able to leave. It doesn’t matter how fancy the room may be, it’s still a cell because I can’t come and go as I please.”<
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  “Goddess, you’re stubborn. The boys are going to have their hands full with you. This is going to be so much fun to watch.”

  She flashed me a wicked grin then continued down the hall, up a flight of stairs, and then down another hall lined with paintings. Some were paintings of scenery others were portraits. Each one was beautiful when I stopped to look at a random portrait, I noticed it was signed. As soon as I noticed the first signature, I saw the others.

  Daxian Mordecai

  “These paintings...were they done by Dax?”

  “Yeah. Every one of them. He’s more than just a shifter and a protector. What, did you think because he’s got a beast inside him, he can’t possibly be capable of creating such beauty?”

  “No. I just...he doesn’t give off the artist vibe.”

  “You have so damn much to learn, and not nearly enough time to do it. These are your quarters. It’s set up like an apartment. As you can see, you have your own kitchen. The cabinets and fridge are fully stocked. Through that door there is the bedroom and attached bathroom. The other door leads to a small library. The main part of the compound is one floor up. There’s a larger kitchen, library, game room, theater room, den, and an indoor pool. The stairs are behind the door at the end of the hall. You can access the upper level, but the doors and windows are coded so if you’re hoping to sneak out while everyone’s occupied, it’s not going to do you any good. Like I said, you’re here for your protection. You have no fucking clue how much danger you were in if we hadn’t found you first. Get some rest. You’re going to need it.”

  With that she left, leaving me standing there with too many questions and not enough answers. I wandered through my ‘quarters’, even if it still felt like a luxurious jail cell, and couldn’t help but admire the décor. Whoever decorated it had excellent taste. The furniture was sleek but comfortable, the walls, thankfully, were a muted taupe trimmed in pale gold, and when I sauntered into the en suite bathroom, I couldn’t hold in my gasp of surprise. The room was spacious, done up in the same taupe and gold tones. The shower stall had three different shower heads and I knew just from looking at them that they would ease tension from sore muscles easily. The shining star in the room, however, was the claw foot tub. It was large enough for two to soak in easily, and the thought of relaxing in there with candlelight and music, maybe a glass of wine, brought a moan of longing from deep within me. Later. I would definitely use it later.