by J Gaines
“After that night, I knew I needed to learn more about your ancestry. I trusted that Blaise had told me everything he knew, but even he was too young to remember much more than you do about your parents. His memories were hazy, and he struggled with the pain he felt after losing them. I think in some part he blamed you for their deaths, although you were no more to blame than he was.” He paused for a moment. “Distant memories of happier times and dreams of your mother tortured him every day, equalled only by his guilt at leaving you to face the consequences of killing that boy all those years ago. You were forced to fight to save Blaise that day, and although neither of you were fully responsible, he blamed himself for you going to prison–”
“Why are you telling me this, Kaden?” Hearing him talk about his brother was a worse torture than the water-boarding he’d been subjected to. He couldn’t hide the emotion in his voice, and his body felt suddenly weakened. Kaden turned around and looked at him thoughtfully. He returned to his chair and sat down, drawing it closer to Amias.
“You need to hear all of this, Amias. You need to understand.” He paused again and pushed his jet-black hair back. “It was obvious I wasn’t going to get what I needed from Blaise. So I immediately contacted people who might know more, people who make it their business to know things. I must say, I parted with a considerable amount of money for the knowledge I received. I also found out that someone else had gained the same information and was in search of more.”
“Virgil,” groaned Amias, feeling a pain begin to grow inside his stomach.
“Yes. For all his ignorance, he was still the most intelligent of his peers. He sensed what I did about you: he knew there was much more to your story. On the night he returned to you, injured, he’d travelled to France for that very reason. Unfortunately, we will never know what he found, if anything. But one thing is for sure – it must have been something of the utmost importance for him to travel abroad at such a dangerous time, when he knew I was looking for you all. He would not have left you if it wasn’t.” He sighed. “I believe it was the information I now know.”
“Why is it so important that you know who my parents were?”
“Si je sais qui tu es, je saurai qui je suis,” replied Kaden thoughtfully.
“What does that mean?” growled Amias.
Kaden ignored his question. “Of course I learned of Virgil’s journey, and made my plans to intercept him when he returned to England.” Amias grimaced and Kaden smiled. “That wasn’t one of the things which Blaise betrayed you on. It’s possible Virgil suspected Blaise’s betrayal before he left. Whether he did or not, he was sure of it when he returned. He thought he’d kept all of his business regarding you hidden, except from those he trusted the most. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t the case.” Amias clenched his fists but could feel how weak he was becoming. It was as if Kaden’s words were robbing him of the last of his will. “I sent many men to capture him that night, and none returned. The only consolation was that he was mortally wounded. He was forced to play his final card too early, and in his desperation, to face me and make Blaise’s deception clear… but he wasn’t aware that Jasmine was also a part of it.”
Amias winced at the mention of her name. “What did you learn?” he growled, his frustration beginning to overwhelm him.
Kaden took a long, deliberate breath. “The night you left the club, I learned at great cost that your parents were dead. Your father died before your mother, but she followed him soon after. Your mother and father were killed by the people you now fight to protect. By your altéré.”
Kaden’s last sentence seemed to echo in Amias’s mind for a moment as he tried to comprehend what he’d been told and what it meant. He’d wondered what had happened to his mother and father every day for over twenty years. Any slim hope he held inside him that he might one day be reunited with them had now been extinguished by the person he hated most in the world. He wanted to believe that Kaden was lying, but somehow he knew he wasn’t. The cold black eyes of his enemy searched his own, sensing his pain and still twinkling with excitement and anticipation. That was when he saw it: there was more to come.
“I’m sorry to tell you like this, Amias. But if I don’t tell you now, then you would never know. Your life expectancy grows shorter by the minute, and although you think I’m a monster, I couldn’t let you die without knowing the truth.”
“Who were they?” whispered Amias.
“Your mother’s name was Grace, your father’s name was Rayane. They met at a very young age whilst your mother was in France. Rayane was a French national and your mother was working in the country – doing what, I don’t know. Grace became pregnant and your father was killed whilst she was in the early stages of pregnancy. Your mother then made arrangements to hide you, how I’m not sure, before she was finally found and murdered. That’s where you were born, Amias.”
Tears welled up in Amias’s eyes and this time he made no attempt to hide them. His head began to pulse with pain and sharp twinges tore across his forehead and temples. A tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another.
“He’s crying, boss.” Andre wiped his eyes with both hands mockingly.
“Be quiet,” hissed Kaden, not taking his eyes off Amias’s.
There was a prolonged silence before Amias broke it. “Why didn’t Blaise remember any of this?”
Kaden paused, and took another long breath. “He was too young to remember, and… he hadn’t known them for that long.”
“What do you mean? They were his parents – how could he not have known them for long?”
“But they weren’t his parents.”
Amias opened his mouth to reply, but no words followed. He wanted to laugh, and then tell Kaden he was pathetic and to get lost, but something stopped him. Deep inside there was a pain welling. It wasn’t the same ache that he’d felt for the past fourteen months. This was a sharp, stabbing pain, which threatened to overcome him. He stared into the unflinching eyes of Kaden and saw this was the truth.
“You know me, Amias. As much as you hate me, you know I wouldn’t lie to you. I think, somewhere deep inside, you’ve always known he wasn’t your brother.” Kaden’s last word was all Amias heard. Since Blaise’s betrayal, he hadn’t heard the word “brother” spoken aloud for a long time. It was as if people deliberately avoided any reference to it, and especially to Blaise. For him, however, it was a word that had haunted his dreams and his waking mind since the last time he’d been in Kaden’s company. He’d agonised daily over how Blaise could have betrayed him, how he had chosen Kaden over him; and now it was possible he had the answer.
“I really do apologise, Amias. I’d have liked to give you some time to digest this news. But there’s more I need to tell you; as I’ve said, I feel I owe it to you. I wish I could fill you in on exactly how you and Blaise came to be together, but I’m afraid even I don’t know that. I had Blaise hypnotised in an attempt to reveal the secret. But he didn’t know. What’s clear, though, is that one of our kind had a hand in it; it’s too much of a coincidence that two orphaned children were put together and treated as brothers. Blaise believed he remembered your parents, but he didn’t. He was young, and he hung onto a happy memory of somebody. It seems that after you were put together, you stayed together, and somehow made it to England. The rest you know.”
Amias lifted his head. Fresh hot tears rolled down his cheeks. “Blaise knew this?”
Kaden shook his head. “Not at first, unless on some subconscious level he was aware as you grew up. I don’t think that was the case, though, and I’m sure you’re wondering if it’s why he left you to take the blame for the murder of Jack. He loved you fiercely, and always regretted what he did. I told him almost immediately after I found out, and he didn’t take it well. I vowed I would never keep anything from him, and he respected that above all things. Although, in the end, he betrayed me as well. He made the ultimate sacrifice
for you, a person he knew wasn’t his brother. It’s amazing, isn’t it, how people can surprise you?”
“He’ll always be my brother.” Amias’s eyes flashed with a deep anger.
Kaden smiled. “And that’s the way it should be. I forgave him and so should you.”
Amias spat blood onto the floor. “Take me back to my cell now.”
“No, not yet. There’s much more you need to know. I’ve learned so much more since we last met. Information you will want to know. This is where Andre leaves us.” He looked at Andre and nodded. “Wait outside please, Andre.” Andre returned the nod and moved past Amias slowly, not taking his eyes off him. Amias returned his gaze and watched him open the door and shut it behind him. The door slammed shut, and he and Kaden were left alone.
“You don’t trust your men, Kaden?”
“Only so far.”
“Why are you doing this? Why don’t you just kill me?”
“You will see why. After Blaise’s death, and your escape, I was even more determined to find out your history. But there was something else that troubled me this time, something about my own childhood. We have similar strengths and abilities and both showed the first-strength at an early age, yet we were from very different upbringings. This was brought into question when my father died shortly after. I returned to our family estate and attended to the necessary business requirements. It was then I found documents in his personal effects: adoption documents, for a boy my age. It wasn’t difficult to find out that I was the boy who was adopted by the people I thought to be my parents. In fact, I found out that all my brothers and sisters were adopted. As my parents were unable to have children, and both were from privileged backgrounds, I’m sure they saw it as noble.”
“You don’t?”
“You can put children together but it doesn’t mean it’s a family,” snapped Kaden, uncharacteristically. “We all felt a distance between us. For me it was more than an evolution apart from the others. I was lucky Virgil found me. I wonder whether he knew I was adopted and about my true lineage. Unfortunately, now I’ll never know.”
“Because you had him murdered.”
“I didn’t ask Blaise to kill him. That was a choice he made himself. I would much rather have captured him and found out everything he knew. In the end, though, I’m sure even he didn’t know the real truth about you.”
Amias laughed. “I’m sick of these games. It’s obvious you can’t wait to tell me something. So why don’t you get it over with?”
For a moment it looked as if Kaden would strike him. A deadly look of anger passed across Kaden’s face, and his shoulder twitched. But he took a short breath and restrained himself, pushing his hair back once again.
“Have you ever wondered what makes you different from the others, Amias?”
Amias shook his head and laughed again. “I don’t care what it is. I even wonder whether I am any different – if the altéré are wrong about me, if you’re wrong about me.” He laughed again. “Maybe you are. Maybe I’m not the youngest person to show our abilities and there is nothing special about me.” His voice began to rise as he continued. “Maybe I’ve just got lucky until now, and John’s belief is misplaced. And your theories, they are all bullshit.” He spat on the floor again in the direction of Kaden. “I hope that is the case. And you’re wasting your breath right now.”
Kaden clapped his hands slowly and smiled. “I also wish that were true. Except, it’s not. You are different – to anyone else with or without our abilities. You are a miracle, Amias, conceived by two people like us, both with abilities. Something which has never happened since our records first began. You truly are a wonder of evolution.”
Amias reeled as the truth tunnelled deep inside of him. “I’m sick of your games.”
“It’s not a game, it’s a remarkable truth. I’ve spent much of the past year searching for it. Your mother and father both shared our abilities, and I believe the reason they are dead is because of you.”
“That’s a lie.” Amias raised his voice, speaking as much to himself as to Kaden.
“You know it’s not. It makes perfect sense. When your mother became pregnant with you, she knew it could only be your father’s child. They were already aware of their abilities and had been trained. But they knew what had been impossible for so many others was now possible for them. For that reason, they decided to keep you a secret, to keep you hidden. They escaped and disappeared from everyone who knew them, hoping they could keep their amazing secret hidden. But they were hunted, and not because people were aware of your mother’s pregnancy, but because they were attached to a world that doesn’t let go easily. When they were finally found, her pregnancy was discovered, and it then became a battle to stop news of your birth being shared. It was a secret they paid for with their lives, but also a secret which was successfully concealed. Until now.”
“No,” was all Amias could utter, fighting back tears for the parents he’d never known.
“Yes. But that isn’t all. You did have a brother, a twin brother, who was also hidden, and separated from the only family he had. I’m your brother, Amias.”
Amias screamed as if he were in agony. “Liar!”
“No, it’s the truth and we both know it. I’m your twin brother, your only true family. I’m sorry I’m telling you like this, and sorry about the path that has led us to this moment, but I couldn’t be sure of how you would react… of how you will react. I can’t risk others knowing the truth, but you had to know. The choices you make next are what are important, not what has happened before this.”
“What choices?” Amias shook his head.
“Will you deny your twin brother’s hand?” Kaden held out his outstretched palm and Amias shook his head again. “Our mother and father were murdered because of us. They were murdered by the same people you call altéré. Do you think that none of the men and women you sat down with at your recent council know the truth about you? Do you think John doesn’t know the truth?” He got up quickly, kicking the chair which flew backwards and smashed against the wall. “The deaths I’ve claimed against the altéré are my redemption for them. Our lives were stolen from us, Amias, and the people who took them will pay in blood.”
Amias raised his head defiantly. “What people, Kaden? Did Reuben have anything to do with the death of our parents?”
“All people who claim to be like us are responsible, brother. They are the liars.”
“You’re insane, you’ve waged a blood war on innocent people, in the name of parents you’ve never known. Do you think they would agree with what you have done?”
Kaden’s face suddenly changed. He was no longer the same person he had been a few moments ago. His eyes were almost completely black, and his face was contorted into an evil snarl. He paced around the room with his hand held in front of him as if trying to catch people who weren’t there. He turned to Amias and pointed at him. “I’m giving you one last chance. You’ll join me, or you’ll die with the scum who claim we are their kind.”
Amias’s eyes flashed with defiance. “Never.”
Kaden was suddenly in front of him. In an instant, he raised his arm and Amias’s world became dark again.
Chapter 12
Rain lashed down against a large window and Amias laid his hands slowly against it and pushed. It didn’t move, so he pushed harder. The glass was taller than he was, and thick. Through the rain-streaked window he could see someone pushing on the other side; their hands mirrored his and he shouted at them to break the glass. He ran his hands around the cold metal rim of the window, searching for a way of opening it. He moved his face closer to the glass and saw a hooded figure looking back at him, his face shrouded in darkness. He thumped on the glass, but this barely made a noise. The person on the other side simultaneously threw their fist against the barrier between them.
As he placed both palms against the wi
ndow once more, he felt suddenly uneasy. He’d been so preoccupied with the glass and who was on the other side of it that he hadn’t turned around to see where he was. He felt a chill travel up his spine and the hairs on his neck began to rise. Something was coming for him. The horror he felt was all-consuming; tears sprang to his eyes as the growing threat came closer, physically pushing his body closer to the window. He wanted to shout out for help to the person on the other side, but he was scared it would only bring the approaching shadow closer. As rain continued to stream down the glass, he tried desperately to get a better view of who it was, bobbing his head up and down as his breath caused condensation on the glass. Suddenly he froze. Through the beating of the rain against the window he heard a noise that terrified him. It was a snuffling noise behind him, and it was getting closer. Whatever it was could smell his fear. As he looked through the window again, he noticed the figure was now doing something different; he waited for a break in the torrents of rain to try and see what. The sniffing sound became louder and he realised it was inches from his neck. It was then he realised that the person on the other side of the glass was holding his finger against the window and pointing. As he began to turn around he heard a scream that got louder and louder until he felt as if he couldn’t bear it any longer. He spun around suddenly, and the window shattered as something grabbed him from behind, pulling him backwards as the figure watched.
