by L. Danvers
He nodded.
It took all the strength I had not to cry. I wasn’t sure why. Given the lack of records regarding her, I had figured as much. But still. I had hoped, prayed, that I’d been wrong. “What happened to her?” I asked, not entirely sure that I wanted to know the answer.
A strange expression overtook his features. Anger? Sadness?
No.
Pity.
Definitely pity.
“Complications from childbirth.”
I chewed my lower lip and let the tears fall. I nodded my head as if I were trying to convince myself that it was alright, but it wasn’t. My world was crashing down around me. I knew I shouldn’t blame myself, and yet the wave of emotions cresting over me begged to differ.
Hesitantly, Nick reached over and patted my shoulder. His touch was protective and warm. Brotherly, even. I quickly wiped my cheeks and forced a smile. “Sorry. I don’t know what came over—”
“You don’t have to apologize. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now.”
I bit my lip again to force it to stop quivering. “In a word? Overwhelmed.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed his forehead. “I know the feeling.”
“Listen,” I sniffled, cutting through the awkwardness we both felt in that moment. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to meet Reed.”
Nick let out a heavy sigh. “You sure you want to do that?”
“He’s my dad.” The words felt strange on my tongue. “Dad” was too endearing of a term for the man who had abandoned me.
“Look,” he said. “I know we just met, and this is... well, a lot. But I feel like I already know you.”
I nodded in agreement.
“So, I hope you believe me when I tell you that I don’t know if this is a good idea. If Dad sent you away and went to such great lengths to keep your existence a secret from me, it must have been for a reason.”
I jerked back, eyes narrowed. “What are you trying to say? That he was right to get rid of me?”
“No. No. What I’m saying is that he may not take too kindly to you popping up all of a sudden.”
I crossed my arms, not liking how this conversation was going. “What would you do if you were in my position? What if you had never even laid eyes upon your own father?”
A laugh escaped him. “Honestly, Grace? I’d probably thank my lucky stars I’d never met him.”
“You don’t like him?”
“No one likes him. Respect him? Sure. Fear him? Absolutely. But what can I do? If I’m going to take over leading the coven one day...”
“Oh.” I dropped my head for a second before regaining my composure. “Well, Nick. I know you don’t know, er, anything about me yet. But allow me to fill you in. After what I’ve been through, nothing scares me. I don’t back down. I fight for what I want. And I will be heard. So, whether you think Reed is going to be ticked off by me showing up isn’t a concern of mine. I have waited my entire life for answers. And I intend to get them.”
His mouth twitched into a smirk.
“What?” I snapped.
“You really are a Carlisle,” he said with a laugh. He craned his neck, looking past me. “Looks like the rain’s starting to let up. You can follow me to the compound if you want.”
“Thanks.”
He unclicked his seatbelt and got out of the car. He was about to walk away, but first, he ducked his head back under the door frame. “Oh, and Grace?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t say I didn’t try to warn you.”
Grace
Chills crept up my spine upon seeing the compound. It wasn’t at all like I expected. It looked so... plain. Like, eerily plain. On the outside, at least. I had pictured some massive concrete building or bunker. But it was simply a house situated among the trees. Granted, it was a house large enough to accommodate numerous families. But it was a house nonetheless. Faded orange bricks. Brown shutters. Nothing special.
And the inside wasn’t all that more exciting, either. I don’t know what I thought I’d find. Cauldrons and spiderwebs, perhaps? But no, the compound was more like an excessively large home. Comfy and inviting... normal, even.
“This way,” Nick said with a jerk of his head. I followed closely behind him, trying to ignore the stares. Our resemblance was undeniable, so people were looking at me like I was his clone—one who was wearing a wig. I wondered how long it’d take the coven members to start asking questions...
When we finally reached a door halfway down the hall, Nick came to a halt. He turned around to face me, our noses practically touching. We were the exact same height. “Last chance to change your mind,” he said, offering me an out if I wanted one.
My eyes narrowed. “I’m ready.”
With the shrug of a shoulder, he gave the door a couple of quick knocks. “Dad?” he said, projecting his voice so that Reed could hear him through the thick wood.
“Come on in, Nick.”
My brother’s eyes locked in on mine, and I nodded. And so, he twisted the door handle. He stepped inside first, and a prideful smile graced Reed’s face. But then, as I stepped out from behind my brother, his smile faded and was replaced with a hard line.
Reed’s gaze drifted over to me, and he lifted his chin.
“Dad,” Nick said, trying to sound firm even though his voice was shaking. “We need to talk.”
Reed motioned for us to sit across from his desk as he planted himself in his leather chair. Lacing his fingers, he propped his elbows on top of his desk. “I’m listening.”
Nick and I clearly inherited our looks from our father. Like us, he was tall and blonde. His prominent broad shoulders accentuated his muscular frame. Not the kind of guy I’d want to mess with even if he were simply a human. And trust me—he was much, much more dangerous than any human...
I glanced over at Nick, unsure of whether I should answer or allow him to explain. I didn’t want to step on his toes. When he didn’t say anything, I let out a pent-up breath, getting ready to spill my guts out to the man who abandoned me. But before I had the chance to speak, Nick blurted out, “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
Reed’s eyes fell on me, and I could have sworn I saw flames dancing in them. I gulped, overcome with anger and fear and confusion. I didn’t even know how to begin sorting out my feelings.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Reed said, his voice cool and void of emotion. “Am I supposed to know this girl?” He wasn’t fooling anyone. He knew exactly who I was.
Nick leaned forward. “Why didn’t you tell me I had a twin?” His voice had stopped shaking now.
Reed didn’t bother continuing with the charade. “I suppose you were bound to find out eventually.” He turned his attention to me. “What is your name?”
A line formed between my brow. “Grace,” I hissed. “Shouldn’t you know that already?”
He shook his head.
“You didn’t name me?”
“I didn’t see a point.”
I shifted in my seat. It felt like a dagger had plunged into my heart. Clearly something I’d inherited from my mother, being as that Reed was utterly heartless.
Nick glanced my way, looking like he wanted to say something. But he didn’t. Not to me at least. Instead, he asked Reed, “Why did you separate us? And why was she kept hidden from me for all of these years?”
Reed adjusted the wooden pen on his desk, straightening it. “Being as that the wheels have been set in motion, I suppose I might as well tell you.”
“Excuse me?” I spat, seething.
“Your mother was a human,” he said to the both of us. “A one-night stand that never should have happened. I knew better, and yet... Anyway, carrying the two of you proved to be too much for her. Humans were never meant to possess magic, even in the womb. One child’s magic would have overwhelmed her, but two...”
“Yes, I know she died in childbirth,” Nick said, growing more agitated by the second. “But that still doesn’t explain why
we were separated.”
Reed relaxed into his seat, growing unnervingly calm. “Let me ask you this, Nick. How many sets of twins have you met?”
“I don’t know,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“None,” Reed barked. “You have met none. And do you know why?”
A knot formed in my stomach.
“Because twins—magical twins, mind you—are like two sides of the same coin,” Reed continued. “Opposing forces, if you will. One good, the other evil.”
“I don’t think Grace is evil, Dad.”
I fired a look at Nick.
“Who said I was talking about her?” Reed grinned. “You only came into your powers a few months ago. It will take some time to learn which force is prominent within you. Anyway, when it comes to magical twins, it’s only a matter of time before the duality of your nature turns you against one another. That’s why I kept you apart. You’re destined to be enemies.” He said it so flatly, so void of emotion, that it made my stomach somersault.
“I don’t believe in destiny,” I replied, not wanting to allow him the satisfaction of thinking he was getting under my skin.
Amused, Reed shook his head. “Destiny doesn’t care whether you believe in it or not.” He held his hands out in the air. “Don’t believe me? That’s alright. You don’t have to. You’ll find out for yourselves soon enough.”
I blinked, unsure of what to even say to that.
While I took a second to sort out my thoughts, I scanned the room. A skull caught my eye. It was sitting on a bookshelf, used as a bookend. But for some reason, I didn’t think it was a mere decoration. Creepy.
“Tell me, Grace,” Reed said, “how did you find out about the coven?”
My chest tightened as if my body was warning me not to reveal the truth... but I told him anyway. Because Nick already knew everything, and I figured he’d tell Reed. Plus, based on Nick’s reaction, I doubted Reed would find any of it surprising...
“My daughter,” he said with a sinister grin, “befriending vampires, werewolves and hybrids... Such a friendly little witch, you are.”
Anger rolled through me. “As if you care who I’m friends with.”
“Oh, believe me. I don’t. It’s funny. That’s all. No matter, though. Won’t be an issue much longer.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
His lips tugged further, and then he slid his chair back and stood. “It was nice to meet you, Grace.”
“Nice to meet me? I’m your daughter. Don’t you want to know more about me? Don’t you think you owe me more answers?”
“Owe you?” His eyebrow lifted.
“Dad,” Nick said, stepping forward. “Please.”
Reed shook his head in amusement. “Do yourselves a favor. Say goodbye to one another. And then, Nick, Grace—stay the hell away from each other.”
My lip curled in anger. Maybe I had been better off not knowing where I came from.
Reed flicked his hand, shooing us out of the room. “Go on.”
Nick’s eyes went cold. Turning on his heel, he pressed his hand to my back, guiding me out of Reed’s office. “Come on, Grace. Let’s go.”
“WAS HE EVERYTHING YOU hoped he would be?” Nick teased, although there was an air of pain in his voice. He leaned his back against the door of Xander’s car while we chatted outside of the compound.
“You were right. Our dad kind of sucks.”
“Kind of?” He laughed. “I told—”
I silenced him with a look. “Don’t finish that sentence.”
“Do I sense some of that animosity that’s destined to grow between us?” Nick chuckled again, obviously not believing a word of what we’d been told. “It’s so stupid, isn’t it?”
“Yeah...” I said half-heartedly.
“Come on. You don’t believe that nonsense, do you?”
“You tell me,” I said, hugging my arms around my waist. “Would he lie about something like that?”
Without so much as blinking, he replied, “He’d lie about literally anything if it worked to his advantage.”
“You think there’s more to the story?”
“Hard to know. Maybe one of us is destined to destroy the other one. Or maybe there was another reason he wanted to keep us separated. Or maybe he sent you away for no reason at all. Honestly, none of those possibilities would surprise me.”
“Gee. That makes me feel so much better.” I bit my lip, trying to hide the fact that it was starting to tremble. I should have known better. Should have known that Reed was as horrible as I’d been told. But part of me, a foolish part of me, had hoped...
Nick’s smile faded. Looking downward, rubbing his hands through his hair, he said, “I’m sorry he was such a jerk about everything.”
“It’s okay.” My feet shuffled beneath me. I was overcome by this feeling of heaviness weighing down on my chest. It didn’t matter that I’d known what I was walking into. Like it or not, Reed was still my dad. And it would have been nice if he’d at least pretended to care. “Actually, it’s not okay. The bloodsuckers aren’t even that cold.”
Nick snorted. “So, what are you going to do now?”
I shrugged. “Head back to the castle. Pretend like this whole day never happened.”
“Grace,” he said gently, trying to comfort me. “I’m sorry Dad is... well, Dad. But I’m glad you came. I don’t care what he says. You’re my twin. I’m not going to pretend like you don’t exist.”
I hugged my arms around my waist. “So, what do we do now?”
“Here,” he said, retrieving a notepad from his pocket. “Er. Do you have a pen?”
“I think there’s one in here,” I said, tapping the hood of Xander’s car. After a couple of minutes of fishing around, I dug out a pen from the glove box and handed it to him.
Nick scribbled down his phone number. “Text me, will you?”
“I don’t have a phone.” His eyes ping-ponged between my face and the phone obviously sticking out of my pocket. “Oh, that’s Xander’s.”
“Xander? As in the Blood Heir?”
“Yeah. Hey—you wouldn’t happen to know what Reed did to him, do you?”
His brows lifted. “Did to him? No. I haven’t heard anything. What’s going on?”
“Oh, you know. His eyes turned into bottomless pits of despair and now he’s hellbent on murdering my best friend.”
“Oh. Uh, that sucks.”
I dipped my head in defeat.
“I’ll... I’ll try to dig around and see if I can get some answers for you.”
“Seriously? You’d do that?”
He nodded.
“Well,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “At least I know you’re not evil.”
“Dad’s not evil,” Nick said, cocking his head to the side. “Insufferable, sure. But not evil.”
I rolled my eyes.
“He’s trying to balance the scales. I know you’ve been told stories by the vamps, but just because you heard their side of it first doesn’t mean that their version is the truth. You should know that better than anyone. You said you were a blood slave, didn’t you?”
“Yeah...”
“And what? Now you’re all buddy-buddy with them?”
“It’s...” I started, floundering. “It’s complicated. Look—thanks for this,” I said, holding the note with his phone number up. “I’ll find a way to stay in touch. I promise.”
Taking me by surprise, he pulled me into a bear hug. “Take care of yourself, Sis.”
Danielle
It was half-past eleven when our plane landed in New York City. The lights—they were better than Christmas. I squealed with glee at the sight of the Empire State Building, squeezing Julian’s arm. Since Julian insisted on us staying far away from Charleston, the hometown of the Book Slayers, I’d convinced him to take me to a place relatively nearby that I’d always dreamed of seeing: The Big Apple.
It was a good thing I already had experience practicing using the p
ower of compulsion, because not having a driver’s license, or any other forms of identification, presented a few challenges when navigating through an airport. But between my ability to compel people and Julian’s impressive bank account, we managed.
Now, here we stood outside of the airport. The smell of coffee wafted my way, and I breathed in deeply. It had been a long day, but there was so much I wanted to see. I could use a pick-me-up to give me a nice energy boost. I didn’t feel like going back inside, though, so I worked on hailing a cab while Julian fiddled with his phone. I’d get some coffee later.
“What are you doing?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the jam-packed pickup lane.
“Looking for a hotel.”
I scoffed. “A hotel? How can I possibly even think about sleeping? Look at where we are!”
A yellow cab rolled to a stop in front of us, and a heavy-set man with a full beard started to get out to help us with our bags—before he realized we didn’t have any. He quirked an eyebrow, but, deciding he didn’t care, the muscles in his face relaxed. “Where to?”
Julian rattled off the name of a hotel he’d found on the Upper East Side. He opened the door for me, and I slid inside the musty cab first. I gulped, trying to suppress the urge to gag. Being a hybrid, my senses were on overdrive. The plane ride had been rough enough with so many people packed in like sardines, but this... this smell was taking things to a whole new level. I was picking up on the lingering odors of everyone, everything, that had been in this vehicle. Julian slid in beside me, and his nose crinkled. He smelled it, too.
Despite the foul stench, I couldn’t contain my smile as we zigzagged through the busy streets. I soaked it all in—the lights, the noise, the crowds... It was everything I’d ever dreamed of, even right down to the cab driver who wouldn’t stop talking. I felt like I was in a movie.
Julian, on the other hand, was growing visibly frustrated with the driver. I placed my hand on his arm, urging him to relax. He was about to say something to the guy, but I shook my head.
He let out a sigh and nodded, smiling back at me. It wasn’t worth it.
