Souls of Fire

by Vanessa Black

  Meanwhile, after what had happened with my wife, the Haven was split into many factions who all took different stands about what had to be done to ensure our survival. Some were peaceful, some violent, some murderous and without remorse. A war had broken out among my family, tearing us apart and weakening us from the inside out.

  I secured allies, used my powers, and managed to step up and obtain leadership, ordering my people to stop hunting you and Adam down. Some members of our society did not recognize me as their new leader and deserted.

  I have fought for a peaceful solution ever since. I do not condone murder, no matter the circumstances, and firmly believe that there must be another way.”

  “Then who killed Adam?” Aaron demanded heatedly.

  “As I had explained earlier, whoever did this was not acting upon my orders. They decided to disobey me and took matters into their own hands. I do not know if they are among my people, or if they belong to the separatists.

  But I swear,” he said, his eyes burning into Aaron’s, “that I will find out who did this, and they will pay.”

  Pausing for a short moment, he then continued, “Being the leader, and having initiated a new peaceful order, I was confident I could keep my sons safe. It was not long before I was magically able to track you down. Adam Wright had taken you in and was looking after you. I concentrated and managed to listen in on parts of your conversation, even from this distance.

  That is when I found out that you were completely unaware of your past. Adam had told you your parents had given you up as a child, and you believed him, accepting the past he had painted for you. He even set up a false trail for you to find years later that led you to believe the parents who had given you up for adoption had died in a car crash.

  It seemed the traumatic experience of being forcefully taken from your mother and seeing her burn right before your eyes, had caused your mind to shut down and create a wall, burying your past behind it. I watched the two of you closely and realized that for the most part you were content, happy even, in Adam’s loving care.

  Though it broke my heart to do so, I arrived at the conclusion that it was better for you to remain oblivious to your past and stay with the Professor, where you seemed to be well looked-after and loved.

  The alternative would have been to bring you home to a place you had forgotten and tell you about your mother’s gruesome death and the horrible destiny that awaits you.

  I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I wanted you to have a shot at happiness. I decided to extract Aidan’s memories of you to spare him the pain of losing his brother, and made my family swear never to tell him he had a twin.”

  Silence filled the room in the wake of Malcolm’s confession, the weight of everything he had said nearly visibly hovering in the air around us.

  Neither Aidan nor Aaron said a word. Aaron seemed to be struggling with his emotions after having just been told about the gruesome death of his mother, and how his father had willingly given him up and kept his brother from him.

  It was a lot to take in, and I was sure it would take a long while for both Aaron and Aidan to digest all that they’d just heard. But they would probably want to do it in private, away from prying and pitying eyes.

  Malcolm seemed to understand this and said no more on the subject. Suddenly apparently realizing that Aidan and I were still immobilized against the wall, and seemingly not finished with us yet, he swiftly released his hold on us and motioned for the three of us to make ourselves comfortable in front of his desk.

  “Please have a seat,” Malcolm addressed each of us. Muttering under his breath, he conjured two extra chairs out of thin air and directed me to the middle chair.

  I uncertainly glanced at both Aaron and Aidan to either side of me before taking my seat. I did so not want to sit between the two, a slight feeling of foreboding in the pit of my stomach at simultaneously sitting in such proximity to both of them, in light of what had transpired between Aaron and me earlier, and what had just happened with Aidan.

  The power that connected me to Aaron seemed to flow toward Aidan as well, so that I suddenly found myself the center of a circle of energy. By the glances either of them shot at me and each other, I had a feeling they sensed it as well.

  “What is going on here?” the three of us said in unison at exactly the same moment, as if together we formed some kind of entity.

  Malcolm seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

  “The three of you are connected,” Malcolm stated calmly, a little too calmly for my taste. He had said it as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

  “How can I be connected to that ?” Aidan responded, gazing at me, his tone alarmed and filled with indignation.

  My gut twisted painfully at the hatred and disgust his words held. It hadn’t been too long ago that I hadn’t known about my destiny … or my terrible past. Not too long ago I had perceived myself as a pure and honest soul, well more or less, but on the whole I had always thought I was a good person with real values.

  And even after everything I had heard from Malcolm, I still couldn’t believe I fit into the category of vile, hateful being destiny seemed to want to push me into. The way Aidan saw me cut like a knife and wounded me to the core.

  “Say that again and I swear I’ll rip your tongue out,” Aaron threatened from my left, his hands clenched into tight fists; he seemed ready and very willing to pummel the twin-brother whose existence he had only just found out about mere minutes ago. Not a promising start ― at all, I thought alarmed.

  “Take it easy, boys,” Malcolm tried to soothe them.

  Before he spoke again, his gaze locked on to Aidan’s, giving him a look that said clearly ‘now pay attention, I won’t say this again’.

  I noticed Aidan swallowing hard in response. It seemed like a classic father-son moment, Malcolm demanding respect and obedience.

  Though Aidan didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would give up without a fight, it seemed he dared not defy his father. And to be honest, I thought, who would want to defy a man who could break your neck with the wave of his hand or a single word?

  “Aidan …,” Malcolm started, his voice a mixture of authority and warning, “… never ― ever ― refer to Persephone as ‘that’ again. It is disrespectful, and up until now I have prided myself on having raised you better than that. Was I wrong?”

  “No, father,” Aidan’s answer sounded barely above a whisper. He seemed genuinely ashamed now.

  “All right,” Malcolm said appeased. “Now, you are aware of who this man and this woman are?” he asked Aidan.

  Aidan’s gaze swept over Aaron and me before returning to his father.

  “The reincarnation of Morrigan, and her ordained lover. The ones who will destroy us all because they can’t keep it in their pants,” he finished on a disapproving tone, seemingly affronted at having been made to sit beside such scum.

  “I’m not wearing pants,” I growled. Malcolm just threw me a look and waited for me to have finished.

  “Yes,” Malcolm said simply, “now close your eyes and concentrate with your gift. Tell me what you feel.”

  Aidan obeyed, slowly closing his eyes and inhaling deeply as if to prepare for the task at hand. When he seemed to have reached a deeply relaxed state of consciousness, I carefully watched the expression on his face.

  A startled look suddenly came over his hitherto controlled features. A split second later it was gone, and he seemed to be in control again. Whatever he had felt, it appeared to have unsettled him.

  “What did you feel?” Malcolm demanded.

  “I … I felt … connected,” Aidan said, his voice sounding distressed; he gave the impression of a drowning man struggling to keep his head above water, only just holding on.

  “The look on your face clearly states that there is more to that story than a simple ‘I felt connected’,” Malcolm pried, “why don’t you tell us exactly what you felt?” Malcolm insisted.

  “No, r
eally, that’s it. Nothing more to it,” Aidan said, his voice betraying the slightest bit of anxiety despite his obvious attempt at nonchalance.

  “Aidan,” Malcolm pried, his eyes boring into those of his son.

  “I can’t,” Aidan replied, his voice desperate, begging his father to let it go.

  “Can’t or won’t?” Malcolm asked heatedly, apparently unwilling to give in.

  “Won’t,” Aidan replied through gritted teeth. He seemed dangerously close to losing control. It seemed Malcolm sensed this and finally gave up trying to pry it from him.

  “Okay,” Malcolm sighed in defeat, “well, the reason you feel connected is because you and Aaron are twins. As such, I believe you are both destined to be Persephone’s lovers.

  At that declaration both Aaron’s and Aidan’s eyes shot to me, and then each other, before darting back to Malcolm in disbelief. My heart sank into my boots.

  No, no, no, no, nooooo! It’s a nightmare! raced through my mind.

  “The feeling’s mutual,” Aidan muttered under his breath, throwing me a contemptuous look as my head spun toward him in surprise.

  “What just happened there?” Aaron addressed Aidan, his voice practically oozing distrust.

  “You can read her mind,” Malcolm said, looking intently at Aidan. It had not been a question but a statement. Somehow Malcolm seemed to have expected this.

  Aidan didn’t answer, but everyone in the room knew Malcolm’s statement had hit home; Aidan’s silence, and the fact that he had dropped his gaze avoiding eye contact, spoke volumes.

  “Why can he read my thoughts?” I asked Malcolm, “and how can I stop him?”

  “You can’t stop him, my dear,” Malcolm responded, his tone regretful and conveying sympathy, “you are connected. The reason he can read your thoughts is that his gift has been honed since early childhood. He has learned how to use his power, you and Aaron have not. That is why you can’t read Aidan’s or each other’s thoughts.”

  “I don’t understand,” Aidan said, “how can we both be destined to be her lover? That doesn’t make any sense. The curse spoke of a lover not two lovers. There should only be one ordained lover.”

  “Ordinarily, yes,” Malcolm conceded, “but in this case, I’m afraid that because you are identical twins, deriving from the same cell, identical on a cellular level, what applies to one applies to the other.”

  “I disagree,” Aidan maintained, “if that were the case, if I were part of a curse the conclusion of which is deeply rooted in and brought about by all-encompassing lust, then I would certainly have felt something of the sort by now. I haven’t.”

  “Yes, I believe I can explain why that is,” Malcolm responded evenly. “Destiny has a certain way of fulfilling itself. A multitude of possible chains of action will lead to the same foreseen event in space and time.

  Which means it is extremely difficult to escape one’s destiny because one never knows exactly which events can set a chain in motion and lead to its fulfillment.

  In this case, it could have just as easily been you, Aidan, who set the wheels in motion if you had met Persephone first.

  The pull of your destiny is nearly impossible to resist; Aaron and Persephone were thrown in each other’s paths and had no other choice but to give in to destiny’s incredible power, thus triggering the curse that will lead to our destruction.

  Because they have already initiated the curse, I believe you and Persephone do not react to each other quite as strongly and, therefore, should be relatively safe in each other’s company without being tempted. However, I would strongly advise that you do not kiss.”

  “No chance in hell!” Aidan replied, “I wouldn’t touch her with a ten foot pole,” he finished.

  “Likewise,” I retaliated evenly.

  Though Aaron seemed to take offense at the insult behind Aidan’s declaration, I couldn’t help but notice his self-satisfied expression at the fact that there appeared to be no love lost between Aidan and me.

  “So, I had to pin you to opposite sides of the wall because …?” Malcolm asked smugly.

  I could see Aaron’s head suddenly turn toward us, his eyes darting to me and Aidan; they were dangerously narrowed as he waited for further explanation.

  “It was nothing,” Aidan replied evenly. “I needed to get a rise out of her to see if I could really read her mind, or if I had only imagined doing so. It was an experiment, nothing more.”

  His explanation and the matter-of-fact statement he had given seemed to appease both Malcolm and Aaron, who visibly relaxed back into his chair.

  “Aaah, well then I feel confident enough in conducting an important experiment of my own with the two of you,” Malcolm said, alternately looking at Aidan and me.

  “Do I even want to ask?” I demanded sarcastically.

  “Probably not,” Aidan agreed.

  “People,” Malcolm interrupted, “show some confidence. I am merely trying to make life easier for everyone involved.

  The fact of the matter is,” he looked at both Aaron and me before he continued, “that the two of you are utterly miserable. You can’t be together without endangering everyone, and you can’t be too far apart because of the curse, which makes your situation even harder to bear.

  Persephone, since Aidan is connected to you as well, there is a not so slight possibility that his presence would be sufficient to keep you alive when Aaron is not near you.

  If that indeed were the case, then you needn’t see each other so often and could eventually attempt to live your lives apart from one another, thus removing temptation and avoiding heading down a disastrous road.

  And since I am confident that the two of you,” he motioned to Aidan and me, ”would rather be at each other’s throats than glued to each other’s lips, there is nothing to worry about if I remove Aaron from your floor and stick you in a room together.”

  “In one room … together?” I cried out, my voice sounding shrill to my own ears. “How is that better?” I demanded. “You know, if you want to torture me, there are better ways,” I stated angrily.

  “Torture you? I’m the one who’s being tortured, believe me,” Aidan retaliated.

  “Kids, please!” Malcolm interrupted.

  When both of us threw him a heated ‘whom-are-you-calling-a-kid’ look, Malcolm just shrugged his shoulders, and without batting an eye said:

  “Well that is how you are behaving.”

  So we stopped arguing and sat in mutinous silence, alternately glaring at Malcolm and one another.

  “Is this really necessary?” Aaron asked suddenly. It seemed he was not quite as confident about the situation as Malcolm, and seemed ready to get out his dueling pistol instead.

  “It has to be one room,” Malcolm qualified, addressing me, “because I’m unsure about the strength of your connection to Aidan, seeing as your reaction to him is not nearly as strong as to Aaron.”

  It seemed to make sense, even if I would rather have eaten dung at that moment than admit as much in front of Malcolm. He had managed to invoke my rebellious streak.

  Aaron was very quiet, apparently waiting with bated breath to see if Malcolm’s decision would be final.

  If he had any misgivings about me spending my future nights in the same room as his equally gorgeous ― at least physically ― twin brother, he didn’t let on.

  A large part of me found itself rather disappointed in Aaron’s lack of jealousy regarding this new living arrangement, before I mentally kicked myself and recalled I wasn’t supposed to feel this way. I was supposed to stay away from him, not entertain romantic notions about a happily ever after that was just not written in the stars for us. So what did it matter whether or not he was jealous? It didn’t, not a damn bit!

  Chapter 14 * Moonlight Serenade

  Aidan found himself in one of the tower rooms a short while later, cursing his bad luck and his father’s pig-headedness. He was now in the same room they had put Persephone in when she had arrived.

&nbs
p; His father had magically expanded the room to fit another four-poster that he had conjured and placed directly next to Persephone’s.

  He had also converted the other bedroom into a luxurious bathroom, complete with bathtub, shower, Jacuzzi, and a large lighted vanity. He had set the Jacuzzi in a corner niche and made one of the walls disappear, replacing it with a beautiful gothic window that provided a breathtaking view upon the rough sea in the cove far below.

  After Persephone disappeared into the bathroom, Aidan lay stretched out on his bed, barefoot but fully clothed, arms bent behind his head as he contemplated his predicament.

  This was a really bad idea!

  He could feel it in his gut that this new living arrangement just spelled catastrophe. Inevitably the path they were on would lead to a turnoff. They had two choices:

  It was a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. Either they would end up killing each other, or she might actually manage to bewitch him and take them both over the edge ― and the world with them.

  He had lied to his father; well not exactly lied, but omitted some rather important details of what he had experienced when his senses had reached out to her earlier.

  He hadn’t merely felt connected, he had felt so much more, and he couldn’t make himself forget the images and sensations he had accessed … he had become vulnerable.

  And he had not been able to bring himself to divulge this sudden chink in his armor. Pride had stood in his way; he hadn’t wanted to appear weak. He hadn’t wanted to let his father know that his confidence in him had just been undermined by the dark and twisted charms of a woman.

  He had felt ashamed and anguished by his own response to the feelings that had flowed over him. It seemed he was not at all as strong and incorruptible as he had always believed to be.

  The truth was: he wasn’t and had never been as immune to her as he had made his father and everyone else believe.