Marked: A Two Halves Novella

Book One

by Marta Szemik



Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 © Marta Szemik

Published by MyLit Publishing



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Publisher’s Note
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher and author.

Warning: This book contains adult content.
ISBN-978-0-9878772-2-2


To Maya and Alex
who marked my heart the day they were born.

Shapeshifter Xander will be stuck in oblivion between good and evil until he is marked—either with the sphere that will identify him as a servant of the underworld, or with the water mark, working for the keepers of humans, vampires, and warlocks.
One decision will mark him and his twin sister Mira equally. She is in love with a man bearing the water mark and wants Xander to follow the path of the good. But Xander loves a black witch, a minion of the underworld. All he has to do to join her forever is kill.
After all, there’s something good about being bad.

Table of Contents

Marked: A Two Halves Novella
Beginning
Middle
End
Sneak Peak at Two Halves
About the Author
Other Books by Marta Szemik
Acknowledgments

* * *
One more inch, and his neck would snap.
The glow of his orange eyes had faded—he was close to death. My hold tightened on the demon. He had to pay for what he’d done. At sunrise, the walls of a cave like this one would glisten with moisture, lightened by the sun from an opening suitable for a groundhog. But now, even the moon couldn’t breathe through the hole my sister crawled into, following a demon who had killed humans for the fun of it. I told her trying to catch him wouldn’t be a good idea but did she listen to me? Of course not, and now she was trapped.
Death scattered across the floor with bones and unrecognizable flesh remains. I tasted the stench of decay and lessened the frequency of my breaths.
The mark of the sphere on my left wrist glowed as it began to appear, and I felt my mouth curve up in a smirk. The orange sparks of the imprint faded and brightened like flickering ends of fire. The heat burned. I’d been waiting for this moment for a long time. Finally, we’d know which side we would serve, and there was something good about being bad.
My sister, Mira, disagreed. “Xander, you’re making a life decision for both of us. Look.” She turned her head to the left. The magic light-ropes binding her to the back wall of the cave reddened the skin of her hands and feet, but I saw the glow of the sphere imprinting on her wrist, as well.
“It’s better than living in a void.” I clenched my jaw, determined. Ever since Ma found us as babes lying side by side on the forest floor, staring into the dense crisscross of tree branches overhead, we’d been floating between the realms of good and evil for more than twenty years.
“You know I’ll follow you wherever you go, but I don’t think the underworld is the answer.” Mira’s coo soothed me. “We have a choice, Xander.” 
“And this is it.” 
Once I killed this demon, the sphere would define us forever. There’d be no doubt where our alliance lay: with the underworld, instead of serving the keepers who protected humans, vampires, and warlocks. 
I flexed to constrict the demon’s air flow. The burning of the oval on my wrist spread, and the heat transferred to my chest, as if imprinting on my heart. I greatly preferred being marked with the sphere than lying motionless in the woods, waiting for something to happen. If it weren’t for Ma, we’d still be there, stuck in oblivion, unable to learn how to grow. Now the obscurity that challenged us was emotional, not physical, and I’d had enough.
Before the tension could snap the demon’s neck, the cave filled with a purplish mist. I inhaled and smelled lilac and lavender. The new trespasser couldn’t be a demon from the underworld—those creatures stank like rotten eggs and dirty socks. 
A man appeared between Mira and me. He stood tall with feet apart, arms at his sides. A blue glow swirled around his palms before condensing into round balls of power. Holding my gaze with his purple eyes, he lifted his chin. “The sphere is not your calling, Xander,” he whispered. “Let the demon go.” 
I hesitated, focusing on my hold. The demon would be dead in less than a minute.
“Let him go,” his hushed voice said in my mind. My grip loosened immediately, as if my arm listened to his request, instead of my mind. His words seemed to penetrate my brain and analyze my thoughts.
“What’s it to you?” I said, playing the skeptic, though my usual tone sounded less harsh.
“I know what you’re struggling with. I’ve been there.”
“And you are . . . ?” I prompted.
“I’m Eric. They call me the evil-bender.” He bent his arms up so the blue spheres of light rested on his palms. Their electricity sizzled, and sparks from one connected to the other. The flickers zipped outward as far as two feet when his fingers twirled the lights. The sleeves of his turtleneck slipped back, revealing three wavy lines on his left wrist. The water mark: the sign of the keepers.
“Mind your own business, evil-bender,” I blurted.
I sensed Mira studying Eric. Her eyes glistened with lust. The emitted estrogen from her body danced through the room. She hadn’t said a word, but I knew what she was thinking. I could feel my twin’s pain, share her happiness, and dwell on her sorrows. Our inability to control our emotions was because we weren’t marked. 
Now, her mellow eyes, accelerated pulse, and bitten lower lip made me want to puke. She may as well have said, “Here I am. Have your way with me.” 
Women! I rolled my eyes. She’d been swayed by his charm and style the minute he appeared. And if I killed this demon now, she didn’t have a chance with the evil-bender. She’d be welcomed to the dark side, while Eric was one of the good guys. They couldn’t be together. That’s what I saw in her eyes when the evil-bender showed up: she finally had a chance to be with someone like her. 
In my heart, I knew Mira did not belong to the underworld, and I wasn’t ready to force her that way. Yes, the decision was quick, but I couldn’t overlook the immediate connection they’d obviously felt. A connection I yearned for. Eric’s testosterone blended with Mira’s hormones and the cave was rapidly becoming a pheromone heaven. 
I loved my sister too much to bind her to the dark side. A decision that affected us equally had to be made in unison. Mira wanted to join the keepers. The choice had always been clear to her, not to me.
“How do you know who we are?” Mira asked. The question sounded so automated I narrowed my brows and cocked my head to the side.
The evil-bender kept his eyes on me—as he should, because I wouldn’t let him cross me. “Because I was unmarked once,” he answered. “Your place is with the keepers, not in the underworld.”
Fury flowed through my body. Who was he to say where we belonged? It was our decision. I tightened my grip on the demon’s neck until he passed out, then let his body thump to the rocky ground; it would take hours before he woke. The sphere vanished from my wrist, unable to imprint. 
My gaze flew to our newcomer. I spread my legs, flexed my knees for a better launch, and hunched forward, baring my fangs. 
Eric’s palms lost their glow, and his shoulders drooped.
“What? You afraid?” I goaded.
“No, but I have priorities.” He turned to face Mira. “Hey, sugar.”
“Hi.”
I rolled my eyes again, surprised she could speak at all. Her gooey grin would have suited her better if she had shifted to a teenager hitting puberty—something she’d experienced five to ten years back.
“Let’s get you out of these.” He pointed to the magical light-cuffs.
“I already tried. They’ll burn you,” I warned.
“That’s why I’m here, you nitwit,” Eric murmured, his eyes on Mira.
The remark boiled the blood in my veins. I was certain I turned green, the way I always did when rage consumed me. The evil-bender pushed me in ways only Mira and a handful of people knew how to.
“Xander, don’t,” Mira pleaded, sensing my anger.
But it was too late. The evil-bender would get what he had coming. First he interrupted our marking, and now he was throwing punches at the most powerful shape-shifters in the world. I hadn’t met anyone else like us, so I guessed that statistic might be inaccurate, but still, we weren’t the usual demons trailing an acidic stench and burning with their claws. We didn’t know exactly what our calling was, but it would take only one kill for us to begin our work in the underworld.
What work would there be for us otherwise? Trying to stop the demons from ruining the world without killing them? How exactly were we supposed to gain the alternate—the water mark? We’d tried and tried, and nothing worked. The only reasonable solution was to give in to the first kill. I wondered how the evil-bender got his, but the fury inside me boiled and I imagined it steam through my ears, evaporating logical thoughts.
I launched myself toward the evil-bender—only to be stopped in my tracks. Stunned, I looked down to my feet, now embedded in blue-glowing soil. Momentum carried my body forward until my nose almost touched the ground, then I sprang back to stand tall, sputtering, “What the hell?”
“You’re not marked yet, you little monster, which means I have power over you,” Eric drawled.
“Take it off.” I kept my eyes on the blue glow. My ears flattened against my head and I tightened my jaw until one of my molars cracked—something I instantly regretted; I hated tooth pain.
“Hold still,” Eric whispered to Mira as he removed one strand of the magical light, then another.
“How did you . . .” I felt my jaw drop.
“Years of practice.” 
I pictured his mouth curving up in a smirk. Of course it was all for show; Mira would love it.
“You all right, sugar?” he asked, taking her hand to help her step out of the magical bindings.
“I’d be better if you stopped calling me sugar,” she said.
There was my sister! I stood taller, squaring my shoulders. Ha! She’s not as easy as she looks, is she? Mira would have smacked me if she knew what I was thinking. Then I caught her dirty look. Shit! She did know what I was thinking. That was the problem with twins, especially shape shifter twins.
“All right, what do you want me to call you?”
“Mira—just Mira.” She fluttered her lashes. 
Jeez! Is this really happening in front of me? I pointed to the blue glow at my feet. “Do you mind?”
Eric looked back as if he’d forgotten about me. “Are you going to behave?” 
“He will. Take it off.” Mira walked toward me but, of course, stroked Eric’s arm on the way past. By the time she reached my side, the blue light was gone and I could move my feet again. And just in time. 
“Are you meddling in my businesss, evil-benderrr?” 
No one could mistake Aseret’s slow hiss for that of anyone else. I turned and saw the demon lord standing at the entrance to the cave.
“Your business is my business, Aseret,” Eric replied. Blue spheres appeared on his palms again.
“Xannderrr.” Aseret turned his attention to me, and suddenly it felt as if we were the only two creatures in the cave. The fire in the grand hall crackled as it intensified, feeding his power. Part of me wanted to listen to every word that left the lord’s mouth. “I can make you feel the powerrr you dessserve to have.” His hiss became hypnotic. “You don’t have to be bound to the biddinggg of othersss. Join me, and you will have the ressspect you dessserrrve.” 
“Don’t listen to him, Xander. He’s the one who trapped us. He used the demon to lure me here.” Mira’s voice came from far behind me, so distant she seemed to be talking from another planet. Her words were scrambled, difficult to comprehend.
Aseret cocked his head, his nose twitching. “I can make you belonggg,” he coaxed, drawing the words out and pausing between each. “The confusssion will be gonnne. One ssstrike, and it will be donnne.” He kicked the unconscious demon’s arm. It flopped on the rocky ground. “Joinnn me.” He beckoned with his twig-like fingers, the movement slow, mesmerizing. The sleeves of his long robe slid back, revealing pallid, wrinkled flesh. For the first time, I thought I saw an orange glow in his eyes, similar to the eyes of the seekers: Aseret’s minions created to hunt and kill.
I wanted to go with him. I wanted the comfort of knowing my destiny. I took a step forward.
“Xander, turn around, now!” Eric ordered. Had I known what the evil-bender was up to, perhaps I would have kept my eyes locked with Aseret’s, but I turned on reflex. Eric’s purple eyes pierced into mine, and the room spun. Black and brown earth blended into mud, then changed to a mixture of greens. When the rotation finally stopped, my body uncoiled and I found myself standing in front of our hill home, in the middle of the forest.
I shivered like a wet dog as my body shed Aseret’s spell. The pull to the underworld was greater than anything I’d experienced. The heat of it wrapped around my body, penetrating my soul. Part of me felt I had a place in the underworld, that it was where I belonged. Or was all of that a remnant of the spell? 
I didn’t like Eric deciding where we should be. I wanted the choice to be ours. Wasn’t it supposed to be? 
“Next time you want to send us through a vortex, warn us,” I growled, feeling a new shift developing inside my body. What would I choose to be to beat up this smart-assed boy?
“Xander, don’t,” Mira cautioned. She was holding Eric’s hand. It only took five minutes for the two to become lovebirds? Was she kidding?
“Let go of him, or you’ll get hurt as well, Mira.” I clenched my fists.
“You can’t hurt him, Xander; he helped us.” She squeezed his hand, looking into his eyes, mesmerized. 
“I didn’t want to be helped,” I stomped, crunching the dry leafy under footing. “I wanted the mark. I wanted to know what it feels like when you know what you’re supposed to do, when your emotions don’t rule your life.”
“That’s why I’m here, to help you figure it out, you little monster,” Eric wiggled his finger as if I were a kid.
“Stop calling me that! We’ve tried to get the water mark, but it’s impossible. Killing a demon, that’s easy.”
A gust of wind blew through the forest. Mira’s hair flapped behind her then crossed her face and mouth. She spat out the strands. I chuckled inside. 
To me, the way we swayed didn’t matter; as shape-shifters, we’d serve the side we pledged our allegiance to. But now, with my sister’s endorsement for the keepers, it felt as if I was standing in the middle of a battleground with guns blasting at me from each side. 
“The wrong choices are always the easy ones, Xander.”
“Don’t lecture me, lover boy.”
“Xander, please,” Mira urged. “I know you’re angry with me; I shouldn’t have followed the demon to the underworld without you. Honestly, I don’t think we belong there.”
“Then where do we belong?”
Silence.
I thought so. Mira was just as clueless as I was—or was she? The way her gaze connected with the evil-bender’s made me doubt that today was the first time she’d seen him. The shadows under her eyes suddenly made sense—she’s been keeping a secret from me, straining to control her true feelings in my presence.
“There’s a prophecy being written as we speak, and your help will be needed,” Eric said.
“When?” I threw my hands in the air.
“When the keepers decide.”
“Tell Father that if his decision to mark us is difficult, then we should have been left in the woods.” I feared if I stayed any longer, I’d turn green again. It wasn’t my favorite shade. 
My bones cracked as I sprang up, shifting into an eagle. The sprouting feathers from my wings lifted me above the trees. My gaze focused on the clear sky above me as I soared higher and higher, wanting nothing less than to feel lost.
Below me, Mira and Eric stood with their heads tilted back. I could hear my sister’s voice inside my head: “Come back to me, Brother. I cannot lose you.”
“You won’t. I just need some time.” Solitude was the only way to clear my mind.
When they disappeared from my view, I landed on the edge of a cliff on the face of Mount Owen. The wings stretched and skin began to envelop the feathers as I shifted into my human form. My clothing magically returned to my body; all I had to do is ensure I phased to the same size. With my back pressed against the rock, I gazed out at the morning fog wrapping wisps around the treetops and blanketing the Grand Teton Mountains. I inhaled the crisp air and closed my eyes, letting the sun glow orange behind my eyelids.
A long breath out emptied my lungs as I relaxed my jaw and tried to concentrate on the forest—the way the leaves shuffled against one another as the trees swayed in the breeze. Not something a human would notice. The sound reminded me of Ma’s shell chimes, which I’d broken a few years back when Mira tackled me. High off the ground, in this exact spot, was the only place where I heard that sound, a sound I loved. 
It wasn’t Mira’s fault she attacked me; I’d deserved it. We’d had one of our arguments over the marking. How could the decision be so easy for her and not for me? Was it because she always made the right decisions and I the wrong ones? 
I wanted to know who I was, instead of feeling empty. My soul lingered in a vacuum. I hated the nothingness inside my chest, despite my heart: a useless existence of a powerful shape-shifter. More than twenty years had passed. How long were the keepers expecting us to live in this endless oblivion? We’d finally decided the age we wanted to be; now we wouldn’t get older or younger, unless we wanted to. The only piece missing was who we were supposed to serve—the keepers or Aseret?
A rustle in the brushes below overpowered the hypnotizing chime of the millions leaves and drew my gaze to the ground three hundred feet below. I closed my eyes. The cracking of dry branches was distinct, yet the feet that broke them were delicate. Lucky twigs, I thought, surprised at my sudden need to see those feet. 
The overpowering scent of red roses hit my nostrils, and without another thought, I dove off the cliff as if I were diving into a pool of water. Halfway down, I shifted into an eagle, spreading my wings to slow my momentum, then into a squirrel to jump from higher branches to lower ones, and then back into my human form just before reaching the forest floor.
Crouching, I scanned the bushes, then straightened, holding my breath. A ghost would have been louder. I couldn’t see anyone and perked up my ears like a hunting cougar, intent on finding the feet that brought me down to the ground level. She remained quiet. My nostrils flared as I inhaled the rosy aroma.
Behind me. I whirled around.
The woman hid behind a spruce. The wind sprinkled its needles onto my head.
“Who are you?” What I’d meant to be a command came out as a whisper. 
“Please don’t hurt me.” She stepped out, her hands crossed at her chest, seeming afraid, but even if I wanted to hurt her, I had a feeling she could defend herself. Black hair spilled down her front in curls, contrasting with her white, sun-shy face. The wind gusted as if summoned, causing the smell of roses to intensify; I pictured them blooming around her, but I couldn’t see any. 
“Why would I hurt you? Don’t be afraid.” I stepped forward.
“You’ll hurt me,” she said as if certain.
“I promise I won’t. And my promise is true. Who are you?”
“My name is Xela.”
“I’m Xander.” I licked my lips. My attraction was undeniable. My gaze slipped to her thighs as I wondered how strong they were. Was the laced see-through skirt meant to induce lustful thoughts? If it weren’t for the black shorts clinging to her hips, I’d have had her by now. She wasn’t a shifter, so when I saw her breasts perk up I knew it was a hormonal change as blood flow through her veins increased. I grinned as she sauntered toward me. She accepted my assertion.
“Hello, Xander.” Her voice sang, drawing me in. The roses bloomed again, their perfume settling on my tongue. Bracelets dangling from her left wrist twirled down her arm toward her elbow when she lifted her arms to gather her hair into a bun. I followed the movement of each finger. Her neck was longer than I first perceived, and the low-cut, fitted tank top seemed smaller than before. A stray curl caressed her face. She lowered her hands, and before the bracelets slid toward her palm, I saw the mark.
She followed my gaze to her wrist and its oval imprint. “That’s why I’m afraid you’ll hurt me.” 
“I promised, didn’t I?” I took a step closer.
“Yes.” Her voice reminded me of the soft whir of a hummingbird’s wings. Her full lips pouted slightly, bringing my eyes back to her hazel ones.
“Who are you?” I asked out of astonishment, not fear.
“I’m a witch.”
I lifted a brow. “All alone?”
She stopped inches from me. “Yes.”
I knew my destiny was with her—she was the one I’d been waiting for. The witch held power over my body and my mind, and I liked it; I wouldn’t even care if she’d used a spell to make me feel this way, though I knew she hadn’t. She pulled me from the loss of oblivion and made me feel like I belonged. Her mere presence made me long for a woman as I’d never longed before. I had to take her and be with her in every way a man could. And it would have to be soon, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could contain the desires that centered in one spot on my body.
“Do you need something?” she asked, as if reading my mind. Her shyness was gone and the sparkle in her eyes now glowed with lust, swirling promises I longed to fulfill. 
“Only you.” I wanted to touch her but held back—not out of fear of her, but fear she’d reject me because I was no one. I hadn’t been marked.
“Come with me.” She took my hand. The heat of her sphere almost burned my wrist, but I didn’t pull away. Our fingers intertwined.
“Where are we going?” I asked, though I didn’t care where she took me. She could drag me all the way to hell, and I’d follow.
“To my lair.”
She twirled her finger as if she were stirring a pot. The forest swirled, and the green, earthy scents of pine needles and moss mixed with her rosy aroma. The space to my right became a rippled hole as she opened a portal. Although a difficult skill to master, it wasn’t uncommon for a supernatural to use one to travel through time and space. Xela faced me in the vortex, holding my hands. Then she rested her head on my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her as we flew through the time hole. 
When the spinning stopped, we were in an underground dungeon hung with drying herbs and shelves holding pots and jars filled with ingredients both crumbled and gooey. Unlike Ma’s hill—my home—this place seemed lonely. I shivered despite the heat. Xela was isolated in this lair just as I was isolated from the world. We were so alike, yet different at the same time. I didn’t know her, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was needing Xela the way I needed air. Ma wouldn’t approve; I knew that the minute I saw the maiden, but what Ma didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. 
When I thought about Ma, the scent of roses intensified, and this time I saw them, blooming in one corner of the rough-hewn room. Xela twirled her finger, and the blossoms released their aroma, intoxicating me again. I knew magic when I saw it, but I didn’t have to be magically intoxicated by this beauty.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, aware she’d used a spell to beckon me in. I would have come with her anyway.
“You’ll leave if I don’t.”
“I promise I won’t.”
“All right.” She lifted her hand, palm toward the bushes, and the perfume disappeared. The flowers remained, and she turned back to me. “You know I’m a witch and you know I’m not a good one.”
“So?”
“You like a bad witch?” she asked. 
I loved the teasing. It felt as if my feet moved by themselves as I stepped closer to feel her breath on my face. Our eyes locked as I grinned. “I like a very, very bad witch.”
“Good. Because that’s all I can be.” She lifted her arm. The glowing mark had faded to resemble a tattoo. “Why aren’t you marked yet?” 
“I’ve been trying to be marked, but I haven’t seen the promise of the other side, just the sphere.”
“You know, there’s something good about being bad,” she murmured.
“That’s what I thought.” I tangled my finger into a strand of her hair, then pulled at the twig holding the locks together on top of her head. The curls tumbled to her shoulders and bosom.
“When you’re marked, at least you belong. Your soul is not stuck.”
“My sister would disagree.” My eyes remained on the dark glory of her hair.
“Sister?” She raised her brows and moved closer. 
I backed up to sit on a wooden stool against the wall. “Twin sister.” 
She lifted her hands to stroke my arms. “Is she as strong as you are?” Her hands tightened around my biceps. 
As a shape-shifter, I could look the way she wanted me to look. Hell, I didn’t mind at all my Hollywood surfer look. Though I hadn’t shifted to that just to make her happy, all I wanted to do was please her.
“She is,” I answered. “But I don’t think you want to talk about my sister.”
“No, I don’t. I’d much rather have you.”
At this point, Xela had her legs wrapped around my waist. When she brushed her hand across my cheek, the overwhelming lure of strength and belonging tore at my insides. The heat from her palm flowed straight to my heart, sending comfort through my body. 
I began to doubt Mira’s reason for wanting the water mark. Why did she insist so much? After all, it wouldn’t be our decision anyway. Our fate was already set by the keepers. Did she know something I didn’t? No, she would tell me. But she wasn’t as surprised to see Eric in the underworld as I had been. She met him before today. Sneaky brat! She was swayed by the good. But could I blame her? Here I was, being swayed the other way by Xela. My chances to kill someone with a black witch at my side increased. I didn’t mind her influence though. Let’s level out the playing field—one good, one bad. Let there be balance.
For goodness’ sake, I didn’t want to think about my sister now.
“Let me take those worries away.” Xela pressed her fingers to my temples, and my thoughts blanked into nothingness. All that remained was the pull toward Xela. I had to be with her. She pressed her lips to mine, her breasts massaging my chest. I parted my lips. 
Deciding I would be the one to control the witch, I stood, holding her bottom, and carried her to the bearskin rug spread before the fireplace. I didn’t let her pull her mouth away from mine as I lay her down. We explored each other.
Finally, I allowed her to breathe. 
“I’ve been waiting for you, Xander.”
“And me for you.” I pressed into her again, knowing where our closeness would lead—completely into her, where we could share the heat of our bodies. My torso molded against her front, and I knew I would let her do with me as she pleased and satisfy her more than once as well.
Her breathing became heavier as I tore open her tank top and lifted her skirt. Her hands flew to my jeans. I shifted my hips, narrowing my bones by an inch so she could pull the jeans off easily. Noticing the change, she smiled against my lips. 
I pulled away to look at her face before crushing my mouth against hers.
Xela twined her fingers into my hair and pulled me closer. I saw a need in her eyes that matched mine—not only the need to be with someone, but the need to share souls. 
I’d had women before, but not like this. Human women didn’t understand me and never could. Witches with a water mark seemed too proper. They constantly wondered whether they were breaking the rules, a major turn-off. Even though she belonged to the underworld, Xela seemed as lonely and confused as I was and didn’t mind giving in to the lust. She let me explore her completely without second-guessing. I would share my soul with hers from this moment forward. There was no other way. 
I lowered my body onto hers, caressing her neck and breasts with my tongue. She arched her pelvis and I was inside her, fitting as if she’d been cast only for me. 
We spent the rest of the night connected, each kiss more passionate than the first. Eventually we fell asleep cocooned under the bearskin. For the first time in my life I knew there was no other place I wanted to be. 
When I woke, Xela’s naked body nestled against mine, her head resting on my chest. I kissed her forehead. “Hi, beautiful.”
“Hi.” She smiled. 
And it wasn’t the smile of a wicked witch. Witches were marked at birth, their fate decided for them. It didn’t matter who you wanted to be and where you wanted to live; once bound, a witch belonged to the underworld or to the one above. Xela was cursed.
The curve of her smile lessened. “You’re going to leave.”
“How do you know?” Grimacing, I propped my head.
“I’m a witch.” Xela touched my shoulder to lie down.
“Will I be back?”
“I hope so.” She moved to lie on top of me, her hands resting on my chest. “I’m sorry I’m not who you’d like me to be.” 
“You’re exactly who I want you to be.” I kissed the tip of her nose.
“I don’t see us together in the future.”
“Stop looking into the future, and enjoy the now.” I wrapped my arms around her nakedness, and her body repositioned exactly where I wanted it to, at my centre.
The fire in the pit suddenly surged higher, as if fuelled by oxygen. Xela glanced toward it. “I think someone is looking for you.”
I closed my eyes. Mira. She was worried.
“I can vortex you back alone. If I come with you, she’ll fear me.” 
I smirked. Xela knew when my mind wandered to my sister. “How can I find you again?”
“Just think my name and I’ll hear you,” she answered.
“There’s a problem with that. I’ll be thinking your name the whole time we’re apart.”
She bit her lower lip. “Then imagine what we can do next time you’re here.”
I raised my brows. “I’ll be thinking about that all the time.”
She giggled. How could someone so delicate and innocent be bound to the underworld? Life for Xela couldn’t be more specious than mine, with my soul stuck in the void between good and evil. But at least she knew where her soul belonged.
Xela rose and strolled toward the mantel. She didn’t cover herself. I propped myself on my elbow and studied her naked back, her perfectly curved silhouette, her round buttocks like the lower half of an hourglass. My witch picked up a small box and brought it over. Her arm brushed mine as she settled beside me, sending pleasant shivers through my body.
“Take this white gem,” she instructed, lifting the lid of the box. “When you want to see me, squeeze it and I’ll bring you back.”
“I’ll squeeze until my hand bleeds.”
“Don’t do that. Your blood is precious. I could use it to make you feel things you’ve never felt.”
I smirked. “You already did that, last night.”
“Ah, that’s what you think.”
I loved her teasing.
She was the perfect woman for me: charming yet dangerous; possessing striking beauty, power, and control. I bet once Xela decided who she wanted to lure into the underworld, there was no escape—although I doubted there had been many men before me. They’d chicken out; after all, she’s a black witch powerful enough to keep one in the underworld forever.
Xela complimented me in more ways than I ever thought a witch could, and not just in the way the curves of her swaying body against mine. That observation would prompt some to call me a pig—actually, some women have called me that—but I didn’t care. Was it my fault I couldn’t control my attraction to the well-endowed?
I dressed languorously, trying to lengthen my stay by leaning closer to Xela to steal deep, wet kisses and caress her naked body under the lacy black undergarments. Her eyes sparkled with magic as they rolled from blackness to her brown hue when in ecstasy, but it wasn’t bad magic. Xela’s paranormal powers conjured electricity in my veins.
Could I be in love? That quickly?
There were so many wonderful things in life that happened quickly: falling stars, the constantly changing seasons, the flow of water, new life. Why not love?
“I’ll be back soon.” I lifted her again so she could wrap herself around my body like an anaconda.
“Soon is not fast enough,” she purred into my ear, pushing her fingers through my hair. Her words flowed through me like a potion she stoppered, and she pressed her lips to mine. I continued to hold her even when the room began spinning. 
When it stopped, I found my arms empty, feeling suddenly unfilled and lost, wishing I could stay in her lair forever. My feet were planted by the spruce where I’d first met Xela. Shifting into a vampire, the fastest creature on Earth, I sped toward the hill.
I was at its entrance in less than two minutes and stopped to sniff like a dog checking markings around the perimeter of his home. Great, lover boy is here. I pushed my palm against the trunk of a tree; it recognized my touch and the hidden doorway opened in the hill. The aroma of peppermint and rosemary welcomed me home as I stepped inside.
“Hi, Ma.” I kissed her soft cheeks.
She smiled unsurprised, always aware when I’d be home. Ma walked toward the kitchen, her bulked hips swaying the ruffles on the skirt along the floor. Her usually braided hair was pinned in a bun, and her hum, muffled by a tired breath like her lungs were too small to inhale, mysterious.
Mira jumped out of Eric’s lap as if she’d been burned. Before she could greet me, Ma said, “I need you in the kitchen, Xander.” Looking at me from below her brows, she smiled. 
She knows. Of course she does.
“Five minutes?” I asked.
“Sure, five minutes,” she murmured, but her tone suggested she’d said, “Five minutes ain’t gonna get you out of the trouble you’re in, young man.”
I hoped the five minutes would be long enough for me to compose a good fib—a very good fib—but I doubted days of thinking would be long enough to hide something this big from Ma.
“Where were you?” Mira asked, suddenly sitting at the opposite end of the room.
“Don’t pretend you and lover boy there just met.” I waggled my finger between her and Eric.
“You know.”
“I figured.” I sighed, plopping down on the couch.
But who was I to judge? After all, I’d just spent the night with a witch. A black witch. “You shouldn’t have worried.”
Mira’s nose wiggled. “I smell roses. Where did you go to find such a sharp scent?” 
I kept my eyes away from hers, knowing as soon as my sister looked into them, she’d see right through me. “I went to Pinedale. Their rose gardens are in full bloom at this time of year.” 
She frowned. “The pantry is stocked. Why would you go there? You’re weird.”
“Just . . . confused.”
“Wanna talk?” she offered. 
Being in tune with your twin had its pitfalls. Mira knew I was hiding something. The thing was, I did want to talk. I wanted to share my secrets with my sister, the way I always had, but this wasn’t the right time. If I mentioned Xela, Mira would flip. She wouldn’t understand. 
“Ma wants to see me.” Taking a deep breath, I rose and headed toward the kitchen to face the wiser of two devils wanting to question me.
“You look like you’re going in to be executed,” Mira observed.
I grinned over my shoulder. “You never know with Ma, do you?” 
“She wouldn’t hurt a soul. Unless . . . What did you do, Xander?” She pulled up her sleeve.
“I didn’t kill anyone; don’t worry.”
“I will get the truth out of you,” Mira warned.
“Yes, the same way I got the truth about lover boy.”
“Come here, sugar. Let Mrs. G have her say,” Eric said, and Mira skidded toward to him. He pulled her back into his lap and embraced her, nibbling on the back of her neck. 
I rolled my eyes and stepped into the kitchen.
Ma was on a mission and waved her hand, casting a spell. The doorframe released a fog that covered the entrance, effectively dividing the two rooms. She looked at me over the rims of her spectacles. “Sit.” Although her request came in a soft voice, it felt like an order. This was serious. 
I loved her too much to disobey. Guilt ate away at my insides as I pulled a stool out from under the kitchen table and sat. Black witches were among Ma and Pop’s worst enemies. They were unpredictable, striking without cause. But that’s what I loved about Xela: how unpredictable she was, especially in bed.
Ma studied me a moment. “Oh, Xander.” She sighed, “I smell black magic all over you. Mira may not know it, but red roses are a black witch’s signature.”
I picked up my head, locking my eyes with hers.
“Honey, I don’t want to meddle in your business, but I can tell you’ve been to the underworld.”
I lifted my hands like a twelve year old. “Ma, it’s just hard.”
“Life isn’t meant to be easy. I knew who you were the day I found you in the forest.” She read my predicament without me having to tell her.
My eyebrows rose, curious. “How?”
“It’s your destiny, and I know destiny.”
“Why did the keepers leave us there?” I asked as the loneliness of the void flowed back into my heart. We’d chosen when we wanted to be infants, a choice most shape-shifters made to erase their past, to forget what had happened before and start a new life. It could take months or even years to grow up; that depended on the shifter’s choice and state of mind. 
We took three years, lying in the forest. The memory of our infant life was distant, but not lost. When the canopy overhead thinned with the change of season, we’d grow fur to keep warm. When we were hungry, we’d shift into a bobcat or a mouse to hunt—small mammals didn’t need to eat much. Sated, we’d shift back into human babies, the easiest form to maintain, although we weren’t completely human. At one point, we lived with a pack of wolves; then a bear adopted us for a while. Soon after, Ma found us in our human form and took us in. With her at our side, we chose to age.
“That’s a question for the keepers love, but I know I was meant to find you and protect you. You’re needed here and you have a purpose, I’m certain of that.”
I thought about my destiny and where I wanted to be at the moment. And it wasn’t sitting in Ma’s kitchen.
“What’s her name?” Ma lowered her glasses.
“Xela.”
“Hmm . . .” Ma closed her eyes. “She’s beautiful. Is it serious?”
“You’re not upset?”
“Our hearts have a way of choosing the ones with whom we’ll share our life.”
I widened my eyes. “You mean I could be with her? A black witch?”
“Possibly, but you have to understand what that means for you and your sister. I believe you’re meant to be marked with the water mark. If you stay with her, that won’t be possible.”
“I can’t have the water mark and be with her?”
“It’s almost impossible.”
“Almost?”
Ma’s eyes rolled back—something I was used to seeing when she mixed her predictions into a conversation. “It’s too dangerous for you. She’d betray you. She wouldn’t have a choice.”
“And if I don’t want the water mark?”
“Consider your decision carefully. It’s not a choice I can make for you, but since you and Mira are bound to each other, the decision should be made in unison. Mira’s been seeing Eric for a while, but she doesn’t want to sway your decision.”
“And what would happen to us if I chose the other side?”
“You will always be my little monsters. Your decision affects your sister’s life and hers affects yours. That will never change, but I do believe your path is different from Xela’s.”
“That cannot be true.” My jaw clenched, and the cracked tooth throbbed down to the jawbone.
“Xander, you’re going to get hurt.” She gave me a jar with green ointment.
“Are you saying that as a mother, or as a witch?”
“A witch. Put some on your tooth.”
“And she’ll hurt me.” I scooped the goo with my finger and rubbed it on the molar. The physical pain eased, but the worry about my future with Xela lingered.
“She won’t have a choice, hon.”
The breath shuddered between my lips when I sighed. “How long do I have?”
“Three days. Then it will be decided.”
She smiled and came and came to wrap her arms around me. “I’m sorry.”
There was no doubt she meant it. Ma wanted us to be happy, but the future was not up to her. “I love you, Ma.”
“I love you too, Xander.” She tightened her embrace.
I pulled back to look into her eyes. “I promise I will not disappoint you.”
Her eyebrows narrowed as she sighed, then stroked the back of my head. “Just remember I’m here for you if you need me. So is your sister. I know you’ll make the right decision.”
“By ‘right’ you mean get the water mark?” I asked.
“No, I mean you will decide what’s right for you, Mira, and the future of this world.”
I snorted. “No pressure, eh?”
“You can handle it. You’re one of the most powerful beings on Earth.”
“So, if we can get the sphere by killing someone, what do we do to get the water mark?” As soon as I thought of the mark, I felt a tug, as if my soul disagreed. How would Xela feel about it? Would she care? Maybe there was a chance we could be together. Even if I got hurt, I’d let Xela do with me as she pleased.
 “You know I cannot meddle, but ask Eric.” She twirled her finger at the spellbound doorway.
My gaze flew to the common room, where Mira was sitting in Eric’s lap while he flipped through Ma’s magic book; he was calling her sugar in every other sentence. 
“A war is brewing, Xander. Aseret is preparing to strike at the vampires. He has to be bound to the underworld and you two have to be the ones to bind him. Everyone else has joined the demon lord. Those who didn’t were killed. The balance has shifted. You two are the last of the unmarked and the last of the shifters who can still help the world. For you, becoming part of one side or another is more important than ever.” Ma’s hands pressed on my shoulders as her face drooped and eyes sunk into their sockets. 
“I will not fail you. Let’s get this over with.” I kissed her on the cheek and stepped through the lifted spell, its remnants fogging the doorway. 
The love birds were smooching when I entered. “Get a room.”
“Tempting.” Eric kept his eyes on Mira. I recognized the lust on his face and thought of last night with Xela.
“You’re the one who’s supposed to mark us? Why?” I challenged.
“I’m not the one who’s going to mark you, but I know which mark you ought to have.” Eric shut Ma’s spell book and returned it to the side table.
“How?” I crossed my arms at my front.
“Because I’m just like you.”
“You’re a shifter?” I stepped closer, re-examining the evil-bender.
“No, I’m a watcher, but we come from the same breed.”
Mira jumped off his lap to stand beside me. She mimicked my posture of a probing investigator. I liked this part of being a shape-shifting twin—Mira always had my back and I had hers. In a conversation about our future, we were both involved, supporting each other. 
“How do you know?” she asked.
“It’s my job to know. I work for the keepers, and we come from the keepers.”
“Come from the keepers?” Mira repeated. “So we don’t have parents?” 
“You do.” Eric looked toward the kitchen, then lifted his finger before I interrupted. “No one abandoned you. Being left in the woods was necessary for you do develop the required skills and emotional barriers to become watchers. Protect the innocent, hunt and kill the tainted. It’s the reason you cannot control your feelings. Our essence comes from a range of experiences to later fulfill our purpose in this world, or the one beneath us.”
I’d known what Eric was talking about since my first memory, but being in the human form and juggling emotions differently than other mammals came at a price: self-doubt. The need to belong, to know where you came from, was greater. Now we had to control our feelings, instead of letting them guide us and we weren’t sure how. Many creatures set out on their life journey without parents; why couldn’t we? Turtles, fish, crab—even birds leave their nest as soon as they can fly and find food.
“And you’re sure that’s the mark we’re supposed to bear?” I pointed to his wrist.
“Yes.” He stood up from the chair like a soldier, nodding. 
Mira contained the squeal I heard in my mind. And I was happy for her, really. But what did that mean for me? Finally I’d be marked, but was that the mark I wanted? Would it prevent me from being with Xela?
“It’s for the greater good of the species. Humans, vampires, and warlocks all depend on us. It’s the path you need to take to be happy. The happiness may not come right away; it may take years, decades, even centuries,” he added, as if he knew my decision to be a good guy would mark the end of me and Xela.
“So we don’t have a choice.”
“I’m sorry, Xander. But sometimes it’s not about choices. It’s about fate—though your fate will be decided through your choice. You will choose when the time is right.”
I snorted. “What kind of a choice is it, if it’s already decided?”
“It’s not decided. I’m only telling you what I feel you will choose, and my intuition hasn’t betrayed me yet.”
“Do you know who will mark us?” I asked.
“No.” Eric shook his head. “It’s been a long time since a marking has been done and it’s different for everyone.” 
I relaxed my muscles. How would I break this to Xela? Would she still want me as much as I wanted her? 
I retreated to my room, promising myself that whatever was decided, I would make every effort possible to stay with Xela. It would be my decision whether to see her, even if she hurt me, because I knew she wouldn’t. What Ma saw in her spell didn’t matter.
The night dragged. I lay on my mattress, fiddling with the white gem between my fingers. Mira and Eric tried to be discreet, but when their moans intensified, I had to press my hands to my ears. Their leaving didn’t help. Even when they were far off in the woods, I couldn’t block out her happiness. The mental image of what lover boy and my sister were doing burned in my brain.
I closed my eyes, and the first person to visit the back of my lids was Xela. My fingers fiddled the jewel, and squeezed it. The air blossomed with the scent of red roses. When I opened my eyes, Xela’s face was inches away from mine. I didn’t get a chance to greet her before her lips were dancing with mine, and our bodies connected soon after. She knew exactly what I wanted—her. All I wanted was her, no one else. 
Would all this change in three days? Would I have to relinquish the only woman I felt connected to in all the eternity I lived? Perhaps her black magic could give us some answers. 
“You’re worried,” she observed when we’d sated our raw passion.
“Concerned.”
“Why? Isn’t this what you want?” She lowered herself onto me again, urging my hips to move with hers.
I moaned. “Yes, but I want this forever.”
“Forever is a long time, Xander,” she reminded me. “I’m a black witch who can’t control what happens to her fate.”
“Isn’t there a way?”
“I don’t know.” She paused for a moment. “I’d have to do some digging.”
“Then dig.”
“Until I reach the other side of the world.” She licked my ear, then drew her tongue down my body, stopping midway. 
I moaned again and reached down to hold her shoulders. “Wouldn’t you want this forever?” I asked when she paused and looked up at me. 
“Yes, but I’m marked. I don’t have a choice of who I am.” She moved back up, repositioning her hips. 
I lifted my head to caress her breasts with my lips. “You’re choosing to be with me,” I said against her skin.
“Then yes, if I could choose this forever, I would.”
That’s all I needed to know, that she wanted me as much as I wanted her. But: “What if I got the water mark?”
“Would your body still move the same way it does now?” She laughed.
I grinned. “Better.”
“Then get the mark.” She moved her hands down to control my hips.
“You really are a black witch, aren’t you?”
“One of a kind,” she teased. 
Sobering, I stopped the momentum and warned, “I’m serious, Xela. I may have to be one of the good guys.”
Xela came down to rest by my side, propping herself on her elbow. “Is that where you want to be? You know it’s easy to get this.” She held out her wrist. 
When I locked my eyes on the sphere, it seemed to hypnotize me the same way Xela could. I stroked my finger over the imprint. The heat flowed like a calm stream through my veins, not a tsunami. 
“You’re proud of who you are,” I said.
“I couldn’t choose who I could be. You can. And whichever way you decide to go, I hope you will come back to me.”
I looked into her eyes. “I promise.”
She smiled, but my worries didn’t fade. Ma’s words came to mind, and the knowledge that I would not be with Xela. 
“Let’s go for a walk.” She jumped up and pulled a black tank top from a drawer in the wooden dresser.
“You’ve got a lot of those?” I asked, remembering the one I’d removed the previous night.
“Yes, but they’re not unlimited.” She winked. 
I made a mental note to buy some for her the next time I went to town, so I’d be able to rip them off her more often. She pulled on black leggings that hugged her thighs. Lucky leggings. As I got into in my jeans and shirt, I smirked remembering how her legs wrapped around me effortlessly.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To do some digging.” She grabbed my hand, adding, “Don’t stray from me. I don’t want the seekers to sense you.”
“I won’t let go.” I tightened my grip.
For the first time, I used a door to leave Xela’s lair. As soon as it opened, the heat from the underworld hit me as if I’d bumped into a wall. It felt like I’d been wrapped in tin foil and thrown into an oven. Or a steamer—the hot air was heavy with moisture, the humidity condensing into droplets on the uneven floor and dampening the earthen walls of the dark corridors Xela led me along. She moved through them like a blind person, counting the steps in a whisper before the next turn. When my head hit the low ceiling, I shifted to shrink two inches. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of rotten eggs and dirty socks, the signature stench of the seekers. There must have been hundreds lurking nearby. Mingled with that odor was the sulfuric smell of geysers.
“We’re under Shoshone Park,” I said.
“Yes. Hold on.” We stopped to peek cautiously around the corner. “Okay, it’s clear.” She tugged my hand. 
We stepped into an octagonal hall. Tipping my head back, I looked up at a chandelier suspended from the middle of the natural granite ceiling, its hundreds of candles illuminating four support pillars that rose from the floor to roof. Flames roared angrily in an oversized fire pit in the floor, the acidic odor from whatever was burning bit at the inside of my mouth. I shifted to change my taste buds. 
“You live that close to Aseret’s dungeon?” I asked in surprise.
“I’m one of the few.”
“Why?”
“Shh.” Xela turned to face me, her hazel eyes sparkling with power I hadn’t seen before; as if, somehow, this place strengthened her. She stepped forward with confidence, pulling me along. “No one’s here.”
We ran toward the fire pit in the center of the room. 
“Where is Aseret?” I asked.
“This hall is only used for grand affairs. He’s probably in his dungeons. We don’t have too much time.” Xela leaned over the stone wall surrounding the raging flames.
“Careful.” I tugged at her arm. 
“Don’t worry. It will show our future.” She straightened and stood before the pit, tilting her head forward, eyes closed. Her arms dangled at her sides, palms facing forward. Small tremors passed through her body as her eyes moved under the lids.
Then she exhaled and her shoulders drooped as she slowly turned toward me. Xela didn’t have to say anything for me to understand her expression. The spark I’d fallen in love with was gone from her eyes; I knew our destiny forked.
“We need to go back.” She nodded toward one of the five openings in the walls. 
I inhaled and nodded. Seekers.
We skittered into the opening that would take us back to Xela’s burrow moments before Aseret and his zombie seekers entered. I stopped, pulling on Xela’s hand, wanting to eavesdrop.
She shook her head and whispered, “Too dangerous, you can’t stay long.” 
“Just one minute,” I pleaded.
Xela sighed but didn’t argue.
Within the hall, the seekers’ commotion stilled. I pictured Aseret lifting his twig-like arms to gain attention.
“The time hasss commme,” he announced.
The seekers roared, then fell silent again.
“The vampirrres will be dessstroyed, and humannns will follow.” The way he spoke, with the words oozing from his mouth, was both irritating and hypnotizing. “We will ruullle!” he hollered, and I pictured him levitating the way he always did when he was high on his own power.
Xela tugged insistently at my shoulder, and I complied, following her to the lair. 
I welcomed the cooler temperature inside her home, dropping to sit cross-legged in front of the fireplace. Xela came to my side, stroking my arm.
“He’s planning to kill everyone,” I said.
“You care,” she cooed, leaning in. The tips of her fingers touched my pelvis as she pulled the shirt over my head. 
I turned to face her. “Of course I care.” I removed her top, then lifted her legs to wrap them around me. My thoughts fogged. Xela’s closeness drew my attention to her, and away from Aseret’s plan to destroy humanity. I pulled away by a fraction.
“Then you should understand why you are to be marked with a water mark,” she murmured, pressing herself to me again. 
I strained to concentrate.
“What did you see in the fire?” I asked.
“We’re not meant to be.”
“No hope?” When she didn’t confirm, I added, “There is hope?” My heart thumped and I widened my eyes.
“I’m not sure. I looked far ahead. At one point, we will meet again, but we won’t be together yet.” Her fingers kneaded my shoulders. Each touch sent electricity through my body reviving all my muscles, like shock therapy, but I was certain she hadn’t used magic.
“Yet?”
“Beyond that, it will depend on your actions. You’ll want to kill me.” She lowered her hands to my arms, continuing the massage.
“I never will. I promise.”
I wasn’t sure whether her smirk was because she knew I’d break the promise or because she’d waited for me to make the promise. 
“Do we still have some time?” 
She lowered her hands, pressing them to the small of my back, her front forced against my chest. “Very little.” 
Her mouth inches away, I shared her breath, its sweetness intoxicating.
“Then let’s not waste it talking.” I leaned back to lie down, pulling her on top of me. She moaned as her thighs flexed, and I was lost in her again. 
At two in the morning, I lay on my back, my arms resting under my head. Xela’s cheek was pressed to my chest; her eyes were closed, but she wasn’t sleeping. 
“You’re hungry,” she said. 
That’s when I felt my stomach grumble and my nose picked up a new smell. Goulash. I forgot to readjust my taste buds after we returned and hadn’t noticed when Xela prepared the stew bubbling over the fire. I must have dozed off.
She stood, not bothering to get dressed, and walked away to lift two bowls waiting on the mantel to fill them from the cauldron. After dipping pieces of bread into the heavy pepper-onion sauce, Xela returned to me with the bowls. I licked my lips.
“They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” she said, handing me one bowl and slipping her legs under the velvety blanket we’d shared.
“I’d argue with that.” I smirked, my gaze wandering to her breasts, then falling to her hips.
“Oh?”
I laughed and focused on soaking the bread in the goulash. The sauce dripped onto my chin when I lifted the bread to my mouth. Xela wiped it with her fingertip, then licked it off her finger. The sauce was spicy and sweet, with enough consistency to settle on the soaked bread. I pictured myself happy with Xela and couldn’t imagine anyone else in my life—no other woman, witch, vampire, shape-shifter, or demon. It would always be Xela. If not her, then no one else.
Suddenly, the stench of spoiled eggs and dirty socks filled the lair. I inhaled it, remembering the burning sensation on the inside of my mouth.
“No! Not now!” Xela shot upright. She snatched up her clothes and quickly pulled them on.
“What’s going on?”
“Stay here. I’m being summoned.” She waved one hand at me, chanting a spell while pulling her tank top over her head with the other hand. “They won’t see you. I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?”
“To see Aseret. Shh.” She pressed her finger to her lips.
As soon as she was dressed, the odor intensified. My throat ached when I inhaled and it felt like I’d swallowed razors. I held that breath as two seekers walked into the lair through an orange mist that appeared out of nowhere, replacing the pit and the cauldron. It looked like they walked out of the fireplace. Xela stood motionless, her head high, eyes focused ahead as they pressed their hot paws, a seeker’s best weapon, onto her shoulders and walked with her back into the mist. They all disappeared.
The stench left with the seekers, sucked back into the void as if it were a cloak they couldn’t part with. A rosy aroma filled the lair, and was sure it was Xela’s doing; I knew the blooming flowers were for me.
I paced from one end of the room to the other, wishing she’d come back. Without Xela, I again felt lost in oblivion. She was my destiny. What did Aseret want with her? Didn’t he have other witches hovering around him, seeking power? Xela wasn’t like that. She already had power, more than the other witches I’d seen, but she kept her black magic to herself. My sorceress did not seem to want to be part of the world she belonged to.
I should have gone with her...,
But her magic tied me to the lair and kept me invisible. Danger lurked on the other side of the door. As a creature not tied by the sphere to the underworld, I’d get lost in the ever-shifting maze of corridors. Besides, Xela had asked me to stay, which meant she was coming back. 
My witch was gone for three hours before she walked out of the blooming rosebushes toward me. As soon as she stepped through, one of the red roses darkened from crimson to black.
“Are you all right?” I sprang to her side.
“You have to leave.” Though she wasn’t one to cry—no black witch would—I could tell she held back tears. Why else did her hazel eyes reflect the flames from the fire with such clarity? “I can no longer see you or you’ll get hurt.”
“No!” I uttered. “Is that what Aseret said?”
“I don’t have a choice, Xander. If you stay, I’ll have to bring you to him. I can’t keep you hidden for much longer. He sensed your presence in the underworld. He wants you to join him.”
“Then let’s go.” I rushed toward the wooden door.
“He’ll mark you.”
“Like I said, let’s go.” I repeated, urgently. If being tied to the underworld was the only way to spend my life with Xela, then so be it.
“Xander, I care for you too much to let you do this for me. You may not know it, but I’m certain you shouldn’t be bound to the underworld.” She paused, gently taking my hand off the oval door handle. “This is my choice, the only one I’ll probably be able to make for a long time, before everything changes.” Her eyes rolled back in their sockets, then came back to me. “And I choose to save you.”
“I want to do this—for us,” I begged.
“It’s not where you’re meant to be.”
But her lips disagreed as she pressed her mouth hard against mine, her body glued to my front. The fierce exchange made my blood rush in my veins, concentrating it in parts of my body only Xela could satisfy. She pulled away, and I knew I’d lost her. My gut told me this was the end of “us.” 
I reached for her. “Xela.” 
“Go. Don’t come back. Promise me.” She took another step back, her eyes pleading.
“I can’t.”
“If you don’t, he’ll kill me.”
“I promise,” I blurted, knowing it was the most difficult promise I’d made in my life. 
She closed her eyes, and I felt the time hole on the tip of my nose. I froze. “No.” 
As the room spun, my jaw tightened, my knuckles whitened, and I was sure my face was tinged green, reflecting the rage bubbling in my veins.

* * *
Two days.
I didn’t speak to anyone at the hill. Mira stayed away from Eric, pacing in front of my bedroom door. Ma left food on the threshold, hoping I’d eat. The chirping of the crickets began to irritate me. I had no will to silence them.
“Give him some time,” I heard Eric say. The strength of my voice vanished, and I couldn’t even ask him to be quiet, because that would be taking away the freedom he had, as mine was about to be taken away.
“It’s been fourteen hours. This is killing him.” Mira felt my pain, as I always felt hers.
“He just needs time—more than a day or two. Once he’s marked, his priorities will shift. He’ll understand his destiny.” Eric’s footsteps mimicked Mira’s. I imagined him wrap his arms around my sister from behind.
“It’s not fair. Can’t you do something?”
“It’s not the right time yet.”
“What does that mean, not the right time?” I could mentally see my sister throwing her hands up, huffing at lover boy.
My insides twisted, knowing that my feelings affected her, but I couldn’t control the void inside me. It would never fill again, never leap with happiness the way it had with Xela. It wasn’t my intention to upset Mira, but there was no other way.
“That it’s not the right time. That’s all I know.”
She knocked on my door. “Let me in, Xander.”
“It’s open,” I mumbled.
Mira entered and dropped to sit cross-legged in front of me. My pain reflected in her face. My green shading hadn’t faded yet. “Talk to me,” she demanded.
“I’m in love with a witch.” I sighed and rested my head against the wall. Xela was the only one on my mind, her rosy scent covering every inch of my body, the only topic I wanted to talk about.
“Okay.” Mira’s face smoothed.
“A black witch.”
“I know.” She took my hand in hers. “Can I do anything?”
I shrugged. “Get the sphere mark?” 
“I’ll do it for you.”
“I know you would.” I exhaled. “But it’s not something I can ask of you.”
“Run with me?”
My brows rose voluntarily. Running made us free. When the wind connected to our bodies, all nerves awoke. It was the only time we could be ourselves, even at a time we didn’t know who we were. We hadn’t done this in a while. Like an expectant kid hearing an ice cream truck, I felt my pulse speed as excitement spread. As the fastest creatures on earth, we were untouchable, though we never ran away from a challenge.
“Now?”
“Come on, you moper.” Mira punched me in the arm. “I bet you can’t catch me.” She punched again. Only my sister knew how to motivate me: challenge.
“Oh, you’re gonna regret that one.” I pushed off the floor.
“If you can catch me.” She darted out of the room, then out of the hill.
I followed, seeing Eric roll his eyes on my way out.
Because of her head start, there was no way I could make up the distance between us since our maximum speeds were identical and she pushed her feet to the limit. All I could do was follow. We headed north. Branches began slapping my arms as the familiar forest track narrowed. I shifted, toughening my skin so it wouldn’t tear. The cuts would heal in seconds, but I much preferred to concentrate on my speed. Mira was right: running, was exactly what I needed. It kept my focus away from Xela.
Xela. My hand flew to my pocket where the white gem nestled. Then I remembered my promise . . . and that my promise was sound. How could I have agreed not to see her again? Didn’t that contradict my earlier oath to come back? I desperately sought a loophole that would allow me to break my pledge to Xela. I shouldn’t have promised not to see her. But I recalled Xela’s pain; my pledge had been the only thing I could say to take the ache away. What I’d said was impulsive, but I had to keep my word.
Realizing Mira had stopped, I froze in mid-step twenty feet behind her. For the first time, I’d realized where she brought us. She stood by the tree where Ma had found us, where the keepers had sent us to learn about who we were.
I wondered what had happened to the shape-shifters who bore the sphere. Did they all join Aseret? What about those who had the water mark? Did Aseret just kill them off? What was the point of us having to experience life before we were marked now? After all, we were the last ones. Why not mark us now and avoid the nothingness? 
“Come, you need to remember who you are.” Mira nestled her back into the under footing at the base of the tree, as if she was snuggling on top of fluffed pillows.
I didn’t argue; I lay down beside her. As soon as my back touched the snowy ground, my body shifted into an infant. So did Mira’s. It was the only form in which our thoughts cleared and the importance of life flourished. The differences between good and evil were sorted. The electrons whizzed through my brain, organizing my priorities.
Drawing a deep breath, I concentrated on the naked branches swaying in the night sky. The white crescent of the moon shimmered between the frozen spines of the trees. On the next exhale, I strained to be thoughtless. The moisture in my nostrils began to freeze in the crisp air. 
Could I kill if I had to? I had been so close to doing so, which made me sure I should be tied to the underworld. Was having the sphere the way to go, or was there another way to be a part of Xela’s life? 
How could someone I’d just met have so much power over me? I knew she hadn’t put a spell on me, but her body controlled mine when we were together the way no one’s had before. Yet somehow, Xela was right. As much as I wanted to be with her, perhaps the sphere wasn’t for me.
“You know deep down we’re meant to have the water mark,” Mira said, interrupting my thoughts. She turned her head to face me. Had a human seen two infants talking to each other like adults, they’d think we were the spawn of the devil itself.
“I know,” I said.
“It will pass, Xander.” The guilt in her voice flew through me. Mira knew she’d have Eric to share her life with; nothing could prevent them from being together once she, too, was marked with the water sign.
The wind blew, lifting lone snowflakes off the branches to swirl and settle in new spots.
“I wish that was true.” I sighed and emptied my mind again.
We remained in our infant form until morning.

* * *
One day.
When the first rays of sunlight filtered through the forest, the wind blew again. We jumped as if shocked with electricity, instantly shifting into our adult selves and standing back to back, scanning the forest. It was in our nature to be wary, and in this case, we were right to be. 
I sniffed. Stinky socks and spoiled eggs. Seekers.
“How many?” Mira asked.
“I don’t know. It feels like—”
“Twenty or more,” she finished. “You think we can take them?”
“No doubt we can.” I turned clockwise, moving in unison with my sister. 
Suddenly, the air filled with a lavender mist and Eric stood beside us. 
“We can handle this, lover boy,” I said, keeping my eyes on the underbrush, waiting for the seekers’ orange eyes to appear.
“I’m sure you can, but that’s not why I’m here.”
“What now?” I growled.
“You’re being called to a meeting with the keepers. Aseret has sent armies of seekers to start their killings.”
“Then let’s stop him,” I challenged, eager to return to the underworld to get a glimpse of Xela.
“Meeting first, underworld second. Believe me, you’ll get your chance soon.” His tone left no room for argument, and there was no time to argue, as his lavender mist wrapped itself around us and the swirling began.
This vortex was longer than the others I’d travelled through. The greens and grays of the forest mixed with drifting snow, then blended with ocean blues as we warped to Spain. When the blues changed back to greens again and the swirling ceased, we were in Monasterio de Piedra: the home of the keepers. The thunder of waterfalls hit our ears before the room stopped spinning.
“We don’t have much time.” Eric rushed us forward.
Mira reached for his hand, but he pulled away, giving her a not-now look. I felt her pain. She didn’t understand his commitment to his job. Neither did I. Would our priorities shift that much once we were marked? Enough to leave the ones we loved for the “greater good”? If so, I didn’t want it. But just like Xela, I had no choice.
I put my arm around Mira’s shoulder; her eyes silently thanked me. No matter what happened, we would never leave each other’s side.
We followed Eric through a corridor that stretched into infinity, its walls painted with landscapes. Candles burned in wall sconces, scattering their soft, smokeless glow over the walls. Gold stars patterned the edges of carpeting so plush it felt as if we were walking on clouds. 
This was the safest place on Earth.
The evil-bender led, turning right at the end of the hall where three shining stones were embedded in the wall. The hall widened into what most resembled a circular room and within, our father stood between Drake, the leader of all vampires, and Gabriel, the angel who watched over human beings. I expected to see white wings protruding from the angel’s back, but he was in his human form. Otherwise, I realized, we wouldn’t be able to look at him at all. Drake on the other hand, the most flamboyant of the three, looked like he stole Dracula’s costume.
“Pop?” I asked. “Why are we here? Are you going to mark us?”
“Your mark will come from your actions, Xander, not from us.”
Gabriel spoke next. “You’re here because it’s finally time to tell you about your destiny.” 
“There’s a reason Aseret has gained power,” Drake explained. Their speech sounded rehearsed, although I doubted they’d planned exactly what to say beforehand; they were merely working in concert toward a common goal. “Castall, Gabe, and I each have species we watch over.” He paused. “But there has never been anyone who held control over all three.”
“You want us to do it?” I asked, then tightened my lips in apology for the interruption when my father’s eyebrows rose—a sign I knew too well.
Castall, my father, spoke next. “A prophecy has been written and your help will be needed. The choices you make today will determine whether the prophecy comes to fruition.” 
The hum of the distant waterfall was deafening in the silence that followed. I waited another ten seconds, making sure it was the right time to speak without offending anyone. “So what you’re saying is if I don’t choose the water mark, the world will end?”
“It won’t end, but a new species, a demonic one, will rule after killing the rest. Hatred will take over and suck the life out of all living creatures.” Gabriel’s eyes darkened to their whitest shade.
“No pressure, huh?” I chuckled. Mira bumped my shoulder. Pop raised his brows again.
“Aren’t we demons?” Mira asked as I cleared my throat.
“You’re shape-shifters and watchers of the dead.” Drake raised his chin higher and I thought I saw a grin on his face, well hidden under nearly invisible scars.
That widened our eyes.
“Your destiny will reveal itself to you soon; then you will understand why you haven’t been marked yet,” my father added.
“We never had a choice in the mark, did we?” I asked, my heart sinking.
“It’s because the mark chooses you, not the other way around,” Pop replied. “And though shape-shifters are not marked at birth, you are destined to have a specific mark.”
“Are there any shape-shifters who bear the sphere?”
“Unfortunately, there are a few,” Drake answered. “Aseret has been sneaky in expanding his army and their range of powers. Shape-shifters, freezers, and movers have joined his legions.”
“Xander.” My father looked at me with soft eyes, this time speaking as my father and not a warlock. “She’s doomed to be at Aseret’s side. The sooner you let her go, the easier it will be for you after you get the mark.”
“Is there no way?” I asked, my question nearly a wail.
“For now, no.” He lowered his head. “I’m sorry.”
When my head sank, I felt Mira’s grip on my arm. I looked up and the three keepers dissipated into their colorful mists, its sizzling reached my ears like crackling mini-fireworks. The three shiny stones left behind illuminated the room in red, blue, and white light. The white reminded me of Xela and the gem I still held in my pocket.
Eric took us back to his living quarters. Smokeless candles set on wall candelabras weren’t enough to illuminate the space, but it was bright. A two-story opening in the wall, about twenty feet wide, was the main source of light. Beyond the back wall, a sheet of falling water flowed seamlessly—Eric lived behind a waterfall. The hum of the water hypnotized me, and I wouldn’t find it difficult to stare forever at the shimmering candlelight reflected in its flow. 
The room had a high ceiling, but it didn’t make the space overwhelming. Centered on the left wall was an oval bed with white and blue sheets. Mira sat on the edge of the wrinkle-free sheets, sinking in unnaturally deep. The bed moved like a wave flew through it and I’d heard pockets of air flow with the motion. 
I took a step forward on the plush red carpeting to join her, messing up the vacuumed edges of the rug, but nearly doubled over as a sharp pain stabbed the middle of my stomach, accompanied by a pulling sensation. Although excruciating, I welcomed the throbbing tug; when it released for a moment, I wanted to be tugged at again. Dark magic. The only reason my body would give in was because I knew to whom it would take me.
Mira focused on my trembling body with concern. “What’s going on, Xander?”
“Someone’s trying to summon me to the underworld,” I mumbled.
“Xela?” she asked.
“I think so, but she’s being forced.” My eyes bulged open at the thought of the body that heated mine yesterday being tortured. I wanted to give in to the dark sway just so she’d be safe.
The falling water in Eric’s room flashed a picture of Xela with her wrists tied, hanging over the fire pit in Aseret’s dungeon. Hundreds of seekers stood around the pit, their bright orange eyes broadcasting death as they squeaked and yelped with pleasure.
“I have to help her,” I whispered.
“No, Xander, it’s a trick.” Then Mira gasped and fell to her knees, hunching over, jaw clenched. 
My sister’s pain brought me back to the waterfall room. I recognized the searing aches, but for me, Xela’s suffering overrode my agony.
“Are you all right?” I rubbed my sister’s arm.
Mira managed to stand. “Aseret’s trying to summon us to the underworld again. You’re tied to Xela and he’s using her. It’s time to bind his powers so they cannot be used outside the underworld.” She straightened her shirt and looked at me. “We have to bind him.” Then she collapsed, Eric catching her before her head hit the floor. 
I smoothed her hair behind her ears. Her eyes were closed.
“What’s happening to her?”
Her body shook the same way mine had a minute earlier. Tremors of pain rippled through her from her fingertips to her toes.
“Aseret’s summoning you.”
I looked at Eric in alarm. “I can’t feel anything.” 
“He’s using Mira to get you both. He knows you’ll follow her.”
“I’ll go by myself if that’s what he wants, but not her.” I pointed at Mira.
Eric raised his hand. “No. He knows you’ll go, but he’s not sure about Mira—of her loyalty. He doesn’t know if she’ll follow.”
“Help her, Eric, or I swear I will disappear in the next ten seconds.” My fingers found Xela’s gem in my pocket.
“Shhh,” Eric hushed, standing with his feet apart. Fleshy spikes protruded from his neck. I’d seen them before in the cave when Aseret arrived, though not as many as now. Blue sparks shot around his body, now charged in an electric current. The sparks sizzled louder as the charge increased. The spikes vibrated. A blue mist formed. 
Mira opened her eyes.
Eric’s shoulders slumped, and flashing a crooked grin, he knelt beside my sister again. “You all right, sugar?”
She smiled, then looked at me, the corners of her mouth drooping. “Xela’s in trouble,” she whispered. 
The pull I felt earlier returned, hauling me like a cruise ship tied to a tugboat. I no longer wanted to be in Spain; I wanted to help Xela. My hands faded from flesh to nothingness and I didn’t care to protest. The need to rescue my witch overrode any rational thoughts and I let Aseret’s summons carry me to the underworld. 
“Xander, don’t. Not this way.” my sister cautioned, knowing I’d given up my will.
My vision of the waterfall shuddered as it slowly dissipated and was replaced by an apparition of a cave in the underworld. I looked down at my legs; they became ghostly and transparent. The room fogged and I saw my sister and Eric behind a blur.
Eric’s narrowed eyes darted between Mira and me. I assumed he waited to see whether my sister would pass out again so he could stop me from leaving. The spikes on his neck trembled as his eyes shifted to purple. 
The tug in my stomach eased. I looked to my sister. “What is he doing?” 
“He’s bending.” Mira’s voice held pride. She sat upright.
“Let me go. I need to help her.” My dissipating fingers solidified.
“I’m trying to shift your aura. It’s drawing underworld creatures. You’ve been with Xela too long. She’s connected to you. Aseret can sense you,” Eric told me, his jaw clenched with the effort.
“So let him. It’s time I show him a shape-shifter’s strength.”
“Xander, it’s a trick. Xela’s not with Aseret; she’s on the run. What you’re seeing isn’t true. He doesn’t have her yet. If you go now, we don’t have a chance of helping her or binding Aseret.”
“It’s too late.” I smiled, feeling the heat of the underworld.
Eric’s eyes glowed purple. He seemed strained, and then released the built-up pressure from his throat. “Arghhh!” He screamed falling to his knees.
The mirror on the wall cracked, and ripples zigzagged through the falling water. My eardrums throbbed at the high-pitched shout. I shut my eyes. The pull on my body eased.
“One more minute,” Eric grated. His jaw tightened.
When he’d bent the evil back toward the underworld, the spikes retreated into his neck and he slumped to the floor beside Mira.
“Thank you. I guess,” I muttered, but couldn’t blame Eric. He was right—him, and my sister, who was smart enough to know that forming a plan and ambushing the underworld together made us much stronger. 
Eric exhaled, pulling himself off his knees, then Mira, and onto a wooden chair. His flushed face paled as he steadied his breathing.
“Are you all right?” Mira took his chin in her hand.
“I’ll be fine, sugar. But Aseret’s powers are increasing. It’ll only get more difficult to contain him.”
I poured some water from a flask on a side table and handed the cup to Eric, who nodded in appreciation. “And how are we supposed to bind him to the underworld?”
“The keepers will step in when the time is right. We just have to make sure he stays in the underworld.” He gulped down the water.
“So by containing Aseret, we’ll get marked?”
“No. A decision between good and evil will mark you.”
I barked a laugh. “That’s like telling a child he can’t play with fire and handing him matches.”
“You’re right. But imagine Aseret getting control of vampires, then humans. Hell, we’ve already lost good warlocks to his demonic army. He’ll change the world.” 
If this was supposed to make me care, I didn’t feel it. I suspected it had to do with the hold Aseret already had on me, through Xela. His power penetrated my bones, and I knew Eric was right. Aseret was planning to take us to the underworld; he just showed me his strength by summoning me.
Mira’s eyes met mine; her clenched fists mirrored my own. She had felt the pull, too. If Aseret was going to take me, she was coming along. He wanted us both. 
After waiting more than two hours, Eric regained his strength and vortexed us to the hill. I spent my last night before the marking alone on the cliff where I’d first heard Xela’s footsteps. My back resting on the rock, I watched the black sky roll in overhead. Each star that twinkled into being reminded me of Xela’s gem and its reflection. 
One night left in the unknown hole of oblivion. Tomorrow, it would be decided who I was. Tomorrow, the water mark would imprint itself on my wrist—or perhaps it would be the sphere? Would I choose a sphere if it meant I could be with Xela, even if I would have to sacrifice the world and its future—including my sister’s fate—for her? Would Xela be there when we bound Aseret to the underworld, or would she escape his wrath? 
My gut told me she’d be there. If it was so easy for the seekers to summon her from the lair, what would prevent Aseret from abducting her again? The guilt in knowing I was responsible for Aseret getting to her tore away at my conscience. Should I have stayed away? She tried to warn me and protect me. Perhaps if I didn’t see her, she’d be safe. 
Xela, where are you?
Perhaps my last night unmarked would be better spent with her before all hell broke loose.
I can’t. I promised.
Perhaps I could meet Mira and Eric in the underworld when the time was right and be at Xela’s side until then.
No, I promised Xela I wouldn’t come, and I swore to my sister I’d be back by dawn.
I clenched my jaw and propped my head on my hands, enjoying the light breeze. Harlow, our falcon, stared at me from a rocky crevice twenty feet above. His glistening eyes reflected the star-sparkled sky. “What do you think?” I asked in his tongue. 
“I’m too simple to help you.”
“You’re more than simple, Harlow.” I smiled.
“I know that where there’s a woman, there’s trouble.” He ruffled his feathers as if shrugging.
“Yeah, you got that right. Trouble.” I laughed, and a crooked smile tugged at my face. My thoughts wandered to the kind of trouble I could get into with Xela, quickly swerving toward the underworld.
A quiet rustle on the forest floor registered in my ears, but I knew they weren’t the delicate feet of a woman I’d fallen in love with.
Wouldn’t she understand a broken promise? Surely, a black witch marked with a sphere could understand that. But I had a reason for keeping my promises—if broken, they would haunt me. Worse than that, my broken promise could hurt someone other than me.
“Xander.”
I heard the tart, sugar-coated voice in my head and couldn’t mistake it with anyone else.
“Xander.”
I sat up.
“Don’t do it, man,” Harlow warned. 
I ignored him, focusing my gaze on the ground below me, though I knew she wasn’t there. The smell of roses invaded the nightly breeze, but the floral aroma left a sharp, bitter taste on the tip of my tongue. I pictured the roses turning black.
“Come to me, Xander,” she murmured.
I strained to see where she was before I realized she’d called me from within. She was summoning me to the underworld. But it couldn’t be; Xela had warned me to stay away, and I’d promised—and my promises were almost impossible to break.
“I miss you, Xander. Let me take your worries away.”
I imagined what she’d do to me and unconsciously began fiddling with the white gem again. Part of me wanted to squeeze it until my hand bled, just so I could feel the rose-scented high. The other part kept my fist clenched in my pocket as the gem cuddled against the back of my hand. I turned my hand and let the crystal rest in my palm, keeping my eyes shut —because as soon as I looked at it, I knew I would squeeze it when I saw the promises Xela made reflected in its hypnotizing gleam.
“I need you, my Xander,” she purred.
But I promised.
“Come to me, Xander. Be at my side.” The offer rode on her soft breath, brushing my face, travelling from my ear and across my cheek to touch my mouth. After teasing the corner of my lips, it squeezed between them to settle into my lungs, warming my insides. 
The aroma of black roses entered my lungs and I wasn’t sure when my fingers clenched the gem. I felt the spin of the vortex as it took me through the forest, then into the underground. With my eyes closed, I breathed heavily through my parted lips, ready for hers to crush into mine, expecting to find myself facing my black queen at any moment. 
The swirling went on longer than usual. When it stopped, the heat that hit my body made me think Xela must have added more logs to the fire in her lair. I inhaled, ready for the sweet smell of roses to invade my nose, but smelled only the stench of dirty old socks. My eyes flew open as the pull to the underworld released me. Gone was the dark forest, replaced by flickering orange and red light. The pervading stench settled inside my mouth before the room came into focus. I had stepped into an oven of hell. 
Part of me prepared to fight because I wouldn’t go down without putting on a show. The other part was eager to see Xela. I sensed her presence. She had to have been near, to summon me the way she did. 
I scanned the grand hall. The hundreds of glowing orange seeker eyes surrounding me made it seem smaller. Demons I did not recognize smirked, their eyes sparking with a hint of purple, heads held high. They were smarter than the seekers. Predatory gazes fixed on my unmarked wrists, then run along my body. My muscles tensed voluntarily when I saw the mark of the sphere glow on their wrists, as if they wanted to make their stature known. I recognized some as shifters and movers when a few at the side showed off their powers. Most had arms crossed over their chests. they weren’t going to fight, considering themselves too important to face only one shape-shifter. These demons were here to observe. 
Before them, Aseret stood with Xela at his side.
I kept my defensive stance, ready to take on anyone who moved. The seekers knew me well enough not to start a fight, but with their master watching, most were ready to show off, even if it meant taking a chance at death.
“Well donnne, Xela. How assstute of me to have you on my sssside. Where isss the other one?” Aseret asked her with a hiss.
“She’s not connected to me.” Xela’s answer was flat. 
Aseret wasn’t impressed. “I told you to bringgg them both.” His claw rose to smack her, but I flew at him with all my strength, shifting into a vampire halfway, and struck the side of his jaw. An orange gash opened on his neck that stretched up to his ear. 
Within seconds, seekers were after me, and I released my long-held frustration on them, driving three to their knees in one swift move, careful not to kill them. That would make Aseret’s plan to mark me too easy. 
“Ssstand downn, or she diesss,” Aseret threatened, emphasizing the last word so I understood that death would not be quick. He crooked his neck to the other side; I assumed he was trying to ease the pain from the gash. His nose twitched. “I mean it, Xannderrr.” 
Fury raged through my body. I was sure I turned green and the shade would remain on my skin a while. My focus regained as I whirled to glare at him. He held the sharp nail of his forefinger on her neck just above an artery. Xela’s blood oozed around the nail. I stopped.
The closest demons grabbed my arms, their fiery palms burning my skin though they left no scorch mark.
“Ahh, he caresss for you. How sssweet!” Aseret mocked. “Xander, you want herrr? You can have herrr.” He pushed Xela toward me. She stumbled, falling into my arms. The seekers holding me stepped aside.
“Are you all right?” I asked her.
“It’s a trick, Xander. I didn’t summon you,” she whispered. “Don’t listen to what he has to say.”
“All you have to do isss joinnn me and she can be yoursss,” Aseret offered.
“Otherwise you’ll hold her against her will?” I retorted.
“Oh, she’sss not herrre againssst her will, Xanderrr. Neither are you. You wanted to be herrre, in the underrrworld. The heat drawsss you in.”
“Not for the reasons you think.” My eyes instinctively flew to Xela’s thighs.
“I doubt that. You’re not the firssst she’d usssed her body on to bring to the underworld.”
“What’s the catch, Aseret? Why do you want me? Why would you want me to stand down and not kill one of them?” I nodded toward the seekers. “What are you scheming?”
“If you join of your own will without killing, his powers will be stronger,” Xela whispered. 
Aseret’s brows drew down in displeasure, though he pretended not to hear her. “Me, scheming? Neverrr. Another two hoursss and it will be all overrr.” His tongue slithered between his lips like a snake’s.
“What will be over?”
“The hereafterrr will be opennn.”
“What is he talking about?” I asked Xela.
“Come on, Xela, tell himmm what I told you,” Aseret urged.
“You can stop him, Xander, if you get the sphere—but not without it. He’ll open the portal where souls linger before passing to heaven or hell. He’ll imprison them so they won’t be able to reconnect with their bodies for their last breath that decides their fate.”
“Why?”
“Spirits have endless energy. Unclaimed, they stray in the hereafter forever. The keepers will make sure you’re busy while Aseret roams, stealing their essence, turning it into energy.”
Pop had mentioned us being watchers of the dead. Did the keepers know this was going to happen?
“Well done, Xela.” Aseret applauded as if she’d just won a prize, but Xela kept her head down. “She doesss exactly what I wannt each timmme.” He was succeeding in infuriating me, but I didn’t succumb to his tactics.
“You trying to make my job easy, Aseret?” I asked, my chin lowered as I absorbed what Xela had said. I finally looked at him from below my lashes. Aseret’s stretched eyes narrowed, and it seemed like he waited for my attention like a cautious burglar in a jewelry store.
“No, of courssse not. I wouldn’t darrre.” He placed his white palm in the middle of his chest. “Let go of your frussstrationsss, Xanderrr. We don’t have to fight, we don’t need more scratchesss.” He glanced toward the left side of his neck, where the orange gash glowed. The sound of his voice was like a spell that kept his words lingering in the air. The seekers in the hall seemed to disappear as Aseret stood in front of the fire pit, his eyes fixed on me. “You’re a winnerrr, Xander. Join the ssside that will inevitably rrrule.” 
“What’s your motive, Aseret?” I demanded.
“You’re ssstrong and unclaimed. I need creaturesss like you, who know what to do with powerrr when they have it. Not like these zombiesss.” He waved a hand at the unfazed seekers. “Once marrrked, you will have ssstrength beyond what you know. No one will be able to harm you. You can have herrr. She will be yoursss forever,” he cooed, seeing my gaze find Xela again.
My witch tried to speak, but when she opened her mouth, no sound escaped. Her lips trembled. The words stuck in her throat—Aseret wasn’t allowing them to leave her mouth, or was it someone else? Her eyes told me what she’d wanted to say: It’s not your calling, Xander. I am yours already.
“I knew you would commme. Feel the heat inssside you. It’s alrrready a part of you.” Aseret raised his arms as if embracing the heat of the entire fire pit.
He was trying to sway me, knowing I felt comfortable in the underworld because of Xela. Aseret used my need to be with Xela and my desire to be marked against me. But I knew my nature better than he did. I wasn’t a coward or a failure. I would not disappoint my sister, or Ma, or the humans and other species depending on someone like me.
“I was going to stop by today anyway, with my sister.” I smirked.
 Aseret didn’t flinch. His usual expressionless face gave a sardonic smile.  Xela’s apologetic eyes glossed over. 
“You told him,” I whispered, fear suddenly creeping into my body. Aseret was expecting Mira to come. I was fine here, without her, but having Mira bound to the wall with magic ropes again—or worse—was the last thing I wanted. Our element of surprise was gone. I looked at Xela, who lowered her head.
“Good, two for the prrrice of one. What do you sssay we greet your family properrrly?”
“What do you want, Aseret?” I said flatly.
“Xanderrr, I can give you everything. All thisss,” he waved his hand around the room full of eager orange pupils, “can be yourrrsss. And mossst of all, she can be yours asss well.”
I didn’t want everything he offered, only Xela. “How?”
“Let me marrrk you.”
“It needs to be my choice.”
“Isn’t she yourrr choice?” he mocked.
“Let her go. She doesn’t mean anything to me,” I lied.
“Is that true, Xela?” Aseret hissed.
She lifted her chin. In her eyes, I saw regret, then something new—a spark of hate glittering around the rims of her pupils. I wasn’t sure whether the hate came from Xela, or from Aseret. It was the first time I’d seen it. She stood so close to the pit, I thought the black lace of her skirt would melt from the heat of the fire.
“No,” she answered in a firmer tone than her usual. My ears perked at the change I detected in her voice, careless and ungraceful.
“Xander, you’re not the firssst shifter she’s used her body to sssway to the underworld.” Aseret nodded toward the demons I’d recognized earlier. All concentrated their lustful gazes on Xela. They’d been lured to the underworld in the same way I had—through my black witch’s lair. 
The lump in my throat thickened. My jaw tensed, and I felt it lock into place.
“Don’t listen to him. You were different,” she claimed, but the hate and fear I saw in her eyes betrayed her words, as if what she’d wanted to say was manipulated by an unseen force while she fought against a power I couldn’t see.
“Of course he wasss.” Aseret laughed. “He fell for you quicker than the othersss. Why don’t we let him sssee your true beauty?”
Xela’s head fell forward in helpless submission. Aseret lifted his clawed hand and made a show of tasting a drop of red liquid on the tip of his finger. I sniffed. It was Xela’s blood.
“Akhana mur til blano kina fom,” he chanted. The foreign words released a two-toned stream of cold blue light flowing toward Xela. 
The iced flame hovered over her before sinking lower to touch her head, then it flowed back up, lingering. Blue flickers of the flame connected to her hair. I’d seen several kinds of magic before, but none this powerful. 
“What are you doing to her?” I asked in a broken voice that betrayed me. The drop of hope left in my heart urged me to run and sweep her in my arms, but my instinct kept me away. 
Xela lifted her head. Hatred intensified the glow of her eyes. 
“You thought you knew herrr!” A gurgle bubbled from the back of his throat as he threw his head back and cackled. The seekers and demons joined in his delight, their yelping echoing through the grand hall like a pack of hunting wolves. 
I looked at Xela again, and the glowing hatred held a spark of death. The soul I knew was dying. My shoulders dropped, and I felt my heart disappear along with hers as if it chose to be locked up, gone from this world. Aseret owned the key that would keep Xela’s spirit locked away. I wanted to scream, but my eyes concentrated on the magic brewing over my witch’s head.
The flame defrosted, flowing down Xela’s body like water, streaming over her curves, each ribbon changing her appearance. The flame first caressed her, then savagely reshaped the flesh. Her body shook with seizures. I wanted to shut my eyes but couldn’t. The trembling stopped, her dark locks meshed in webs twined with debris, her hazel eyes sunken in gray hollows, her body coated in dirt and scum. Soon, the hourglass figure replaced with a lump for a body. She no longer looked like my black witch. There was nothing about her I would have loved. Even the heart I thought I knew began beating differently, the rhythm strangling each pulse.
“What did you do to her?” I squeezed the words between my grinding teeth, my hands clenched into fists.
“Thisss is who she isss, Xander. The only way to have herrr back isss to join me.”
“Turn her back, and I’ll join you,” I blurted.
“Come forrrward,” Aseret ordered.
The hall fell silent. I saw no one except Aseret. His eyes rolled back in their sockets as he chanted again. The pull inside my body returned.
Aseret’s voice resonated in my head: “Join the underworld and you will have everrrything you’ve ever wanted. You will not be lost in an endless oblivion. I will return Xela to the form you love. She will be yours and only yoursss. You will feel no pain. You will rrrule at my ssside. Spare yourrr soul mate, Xander. Isn’t she worth sssaving?”
There was nothing I wanted more than to have her back. I was ready to give up my life for her. Would that be so bad to give up your life for someone you loved? The other shifters and demons didn’t matter. Xela had her soul wrapped around my heart. 
I looked toward my witch, trying to find that spark in her eyes that drew me before, but her eyes were blank, flatter than a can of opened soda. What did he do to you? I desperately wondered.
The walls of the grand hall seemed to close in. My feet were hovering above the ground. Aseret’s gaze pulled me toward him, and I let my arms fall to my sides and my head loll back. As I floated closer to him, the heat from the fire pit wrapped itself around my body, as if the flames were fabrics preparing me for mummification. Ready to be taken by the underworld, I looked at my left wrist where the mark of the sphere would soon be visible. 
A memory flashed through my mind from when I was an infant—I’d imagined this moment and how it would feel to have either of the two marks.
The memory reminded me of who I was. I thought about my sister, about Eric and the keepers, remembering what they’d said. If I chose the sphere, Mira’s fate would be decided. Humans would have no protection. The future of all three species would be at risk. Even if I wasn’t sure how I was going to help them, I couldn’t let their destiny be decided by my personal choice. 
Aseret’s pull suddenly stopped, and I faced the warlock from less than three feet, bound by blue magic light at my feet, no longer hovering. Aseret held his arms palm-down in front of him; they streamed orange light. The rock floor below them glowed, then split open. Within the gap, white shadows floated like feathers in a gentle mist.
“What is he doing?” I instinctively moved to stop him, but my feet were glued to the rock. A freezer laughed as I strained to break his spell.
“He’s opening the hereafter,” Xela replied in a voice devoid of care or passion. Any strength she’d muster, she used to open her mouth. 
The chasm released a white spirit. It slammed into Xela’s body. Treachery and pain brimmed in her eyes. 
“Can’t you do something?” I asked.
She laughed. Aseret had not only changed her appearance, he’d changed her soul. Or did he? Was all that had transpired in her lair an act? Was she merely luring me to the underworld, as she had others? Aseret had no intention of changing Xela back, I realized. He would not allow the cohort who brought shape-shifters to the underworld to leave his side. 
My left wrist burned.
“Ssilly shifterrr.” Aseret cackled as he focused on the opening to the hereafter.
My choice had been made, willingly, and I hadn’t accomplished anything. Soon, my fate and my sister’s would be decided. Aseret was a liar—but I already knew that. I’d been blinded by Xela’s charms.
The glow faded from his palms. In a moment, the remaining spirits would be released.
Aseret turned his attention to my wrist.
Mira, where are you? I need you. 
The sphere began imprinting, burning itself into my flesh. Then it stopped, and faded into nothingness.
I looked at Aseret in confusion. He was trying to hide his disappointment.
Why did the imprint stop? The glow under my feet disappeared. I took a step back.
“You have nothing to fearrr, Xander. It will only take a moment,” the demon lord explained.
I couldn’t be bound by the light while being marked—that would imply force. My marking had to be done of my own free will.
“Xander, don’t move.” Mira’s voice sounded in my head. 
My gaze slid across the hall, to the left. The air there swirled, lifting the dusting of soil from the rocky floor and twirling it like a newborn tornado. My sister appeared—alone.
“Ahh, two for the prrrice of one.” Aseret laughed, but his joy diminished when the blue light reappeared at my feet. “Take it off!” he yelled, but his demons only looked back at him, puzzled.
Eric now stood on the other side of the hall, palms up, balancing blue spheres of light. New hope flared in my chest. Aseret’s plans weren’t going the way he’d hoped.
“You’re meddling in my businesss, benderrr!” Aseret hissed at Eric, his words harsh despite coming out at a snail’s pace.
“You are my business, Aseret. Have you forgotten I’m an evil-bender?” Eric smirked.
“Bend elsewhere, not in my underworld!” Aseret’s flat nose twitched as he floated backward.
“It’s not your underworld, you hypocrite! Need I remind you what the underworld was supposed to be used for?”
“I remember,” Aseret snapped. “That has changed—and it will soon be changed forever.” He looked down at the crevice into the hereafter.
“It’s time you’re reminded of who we are!” Eric’s lifted his chin, and the fleshy spikes on his neck lengthened.
“Xander, don’t do it.” Xela’s familiar voice came from a new body I no longer felt a connection to. “I will be bound here forever.” 
My eardrums heard sizzling acid, not her sugar-coated plea. “You are no longer part of me,” I grated through clenched teeth. My body yearned for my black witch, but I knew I would never get her back. I was furious with Xela—this Xela, not the old one. My instincts warned me that my witch’s soul had been changed and was now controlled by a foreign influence. The anger bubbled in my veins. Ready to jump at Aseret’s throat, I bent my knees, but the blue light under my feet held me still.
Aseret floated closer to his seekers.
“Control yourself, Xander. We need to bind Aseret to the underworld. You’re still vulnerable,” my sister warned as she stepped up beside me. Eric wiggled between us, his palms balancing the fiery balls of blue sparks. The light holding me in one spot disappeared.
“You wouldn’t dare, benderrr!” Aseret hissed again, his zombie seekers closing in on all sides.
“Don’t pay attention to them. They won’t hurt us,” said Eric.
“They won’t? How?” I asked.
“The keepers will protect us.”
Aseret’s face sagged, and the strain to maintain his composure showed in his eyes as they swung from right to left, looking for the keepers. “Thisss is not a balanced fight!” Aseret growled.
“Actually, it is balanced now.” My father’s voice echoed down a staircase that ran up a side wall. He stood before the velvet curtains covering an entry at its top. Gabriel and Drake flanked him, their arms outstretched. A thin beam of transparent light flowed from their hands toward us. The magical energy formed a shield around us, protecting us from the seekers.
“It’s time you learned how to obey the rules of this world,” the three keepers said in unison.
I had never seen Aseret show fear and didn’t expect him to this time. Sure enough, he chose to revel in what he was about to do—he held his arms out over above the crevice, the spirits within held only with a sheer covering of light. “You’re too late!” He threw his head back and laughed. The hood of his cloak fell from his bald pate. He snorted for air in between loud laughs as he wallowed in his glory.
The seekers tried to break through the protective shield, but they were zapped one by one, thrown to their knees.
“He’s unlocking the door to the hereafter,” I yelled as energy from Aseret’s palms flowed toward the opening.
“Put your hands in my palms to bind him,” Eric said. “The light won’t hurt you. We cannot let him open the hole.”
I placed my left hand on top of the blue sphere. Mira did the same on her side. The electricity travelled through my body to form a new sphere in my other hand. 
Eric closed his eyes. The fleshy spikes protruding from his neck vibrated. The blue spheres released light that hit Aseret in the center of his chest. The force of impact threw him back against a wall. Even so, he continued to release energy through his palms toward the spirits. 
The spikes on Eric’s neck vibrated again, intensifying another blow. Aseret howled as he strained to focus. One more hit, and he would be done—bound to the underworld, unable to hurt humans and vampires. 
His gaze flew to Xela. I heard his cunning voice in my head: “You will regret this for the rest of your existence. The only woman you could love will be lost to you forever.” He turned his palms away from the hole to the hereafter and pointed to the witch.
“No!” The sweet sound flowed from her mouth to my ears. 
Aseret’s hate was greater than his need for a cunning witch. He wanted to hurt me enough that I’d kill him. And yes, if he hurt any part of my Xela left in that body, I’d kill him. 
I pulled away from Eric and sped toward Xela before Aseret could disintegrate her.
Aseret released his blow. My fate would be decided by the stream of magical fire. I was ready to sacrifice anything to save her, even damn the world. 
It only took a second and I pushed Xela aside. Her body slammed to the floor, her head striking the rocky surface. She lay unconscious, blood oozing from beneath her skull.
Belatedly, I realized Aseret’s fire never hit me. I turned in time to see my sister shake dirt off her clothes. It appeared she had sped toward the demon lord, slamming into him and redirecting his blow toward the hole to the hereafter. 
Xelay lay motionless. My left wrist burned. I killed her. I killed Xela. I looked in despair toward my wrist, expecting to see the glowing sphere. 
A hush fell over the hall. My gaze flew up to the seekers, demons, even the keepers, who all stood still. I thought they were concentrating on my wrist, as I was, but they weren’t. I looked up, their attention was on the open crevice. White spirits flowed freely through it to hover over the seekers. Their see-through white shadows vibrated with chaos and confusion. The hereafter had been opened.
“They’re trying to locate their bodies,” Eric said.
“It hurts.” Mira gasped and fell to her knees. Her eyes closed, clutching her wrist. 
I had done it. I’d decided our fate. One stupid mistake had tied us to the underworld.
The inferno-like agony suddenly turned to ice, and the pain eased. I let go of my wrist, expecting an orange glow. Instead, I saw three wavy blue lines. The water mark.
“But . . . how?” I gaped.
Aseret shouted “No!” cutting into my confusion.
The continuous stream from the blue spheres Eric held in his outstretched hands wrapped around Aseret’s body. It wound downward to connect his feet to the stone beneath him. Eric stopped, looking toward the keepers. They nodded, then disappeared into a vortex, leaving behind only swirling dust.
I didn’t get a chance to stand before the room spun. The gray stone whirled together with the orange glow from the seekers’ eyes and turned to green. When it stopped, I found myself at the hill with my sister and the evil-bender who had just changed our lives forever.

* * *
“Did I kill her?” I asked after promising Ma we’d eat goulash before discussing any new business. The food was good, but I had no heart to tell her Xela’s was much better. Or perhaps it was her company that made the food scrumptious.
“No, she’s alive,” Eric answered. He kept his distance from my sister.
My confusion was mirrored on her face. She’d looked that way since this morning.
“How did we get the mark?” I asked.
 “You sacrificed your life for hers.” Eric rubbed his neck where the fleshed spikes sunk in.
I gaped at him. “That’s all it took?”
“It’s not ‘that’s all,’ Xander. We talk about sacrifice all the time, but few would give up their lives for someone else.”
“But my Xela is gone.” I slumped in the chair, eyes on the kitchen table.
The pain of knowing my soul remained with Xela lingered. Her lost spirit was trapped in a foreign body. The thought that I couldn’t save her crawled beneath my skin; aching I could never let go. My black witch lived in a body I could not have. Not for another twenty years, perhaps longer.
Eric lowered his head. “I’m sorry. We had no idea Aseret’s powers had grown so much. It will take more than me or the keepers to keep him bound.”
I looked up at him. “Is Aseret bound?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you so glum, lover boy?” I forced a laugh, hoping to trigger a dirty look, at least. I glimpsed Mira’s thankful eyes. She was just as curious about Eric’s sudden change in behavior.
“Aseret’s bound, but he’s done damage that will take years to fix.”
“The hereafter?” Mira asked.
“Yes. And it’s my responsibility to take care of it.”
“It’s my fault the hereafter has been opened,” she said, reminding me of the push that changed the trajectory of his magical attack, saving me.
“You did what you had to,” Eric’s voice almost cooled the entire room.
“I’ll go with you. We both will. We’ll help you,” she said firmly.
“You can’t. It’s not your calling.”
“But we’re watchers of the dead, aren’t we?” Desperation crept into my sister’s voice.
“The future has been changed.”
Somehow I knew exactly what he meant. There was a job I had to do, but I didn’t know what it was yet.
“You have a responsibility now.” He reached out and touched our wrists, where the blue glow had faded to what looked like black tattoos.
He was right. There was a new instinct inside of me that I recognized, though I’d never felt it before. Was this due to the mark? Was this what it felt like not to be stuck in endless oblivion?
“Do you know what it is?” I asked.
“It will be revealed to you soon,” he answered, looking at Mira as if he were saying goodbye.
My ears perked up as I heard a rustle in the forest outside the hill.
“What does it mean for us?” My sister cocked her head to the side. I assumed she concentrated on the swooshing through the higher grass, ten miles to the west.
“It means my calling to fix the hereafter is now my priority, sugar.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.
“And once you fix things, you’ll be back?” she asked, her eyes mellowed, straining to keep her focus on Eric.
“I won’t make promises that can’t be kept.” He sighed. “Sugar, I’m not sure I will be able to close the hereafter.”
“So, you’re gone forever? I’ll never see you again?”
“Never say never, sugar.”
“Can’t I be with you while you answer your calling?” she pleaded, holding back tears.
She wouldn’t let them flow in front of Eric. My sister wouldn’t show despair until after he’d left. But she knew the evil-bender was right. Another job waited for her, just as it did for me. I sensed her heightened alertness as she also listened to the forest outside.
“Will I see you again?” she asked.
“I’m not a fortune teller, sugar.” He came close, wrapping his arms around her waist. That’s exactly what Mira wanted, but the sound of wind cutting through the forest at unnatural speeds distracted her, the same way it alerted me.
Eric laughed. “See what I mean? You have a calling now, too. The feeling will get stronger.” He smoothed his finger over the three wavy lines on her wrist.
“I’ll wait for you,” she said.
My ears perked up again as my gaze slid from the couple toward the door.
“I know.” Eric smiled. “Go. You have work to do.” He kissed her on her nose. She closed her eyes. A gust of wind blew through the room and when she opened her eyes, Eric was gone, whirled away in the vortex.
We locked eyes.
“Let’s go!” I urged, knowing exactly what to do. Eric was right. With the mark on our wrists to guide us, we understood our mission without having any details. At this moment, someone sped through the forest toward the hill, and we had to find out who it was.
He headed our way. We caught up to the creature and ran parallel to his sprint. Mira on one side, me on the other, concealed by the dark forest as the afterglow of the setting sun skimmed the treetops. The wind wrapped around me and caressed my body, easing the pain of losing Xela.
I was in my natural state, a shape-shifter—a demon, a human, and a watcher.
I knew exactly who I was.
I was marked.


###

Sneak Peak at Book Two in the Series

Two Halves

Prologue

Hundreds of miles—that’s how far he ran each day. His feet should have been blistered, but they weren’t. He should have been out of breath, but he didn’t need to breathe. Exhaustion had set in years ago, but not from the running.
Where should I run next? What would be the best way to mislead the seekers?
Ekim imagined a map in his head of where he’d been. Black marked the roads he’d passed; red for those he needed to avoid; green for ones he could still use. The mental strain to keep the drawings organized exhausted him.
But running was his priority, the only constant in his life, and would be for a long time.
Almost twelve months had passed since Ekim’s wife Saraphine died, since Sarah was born. He longed to see his daughter but didn’t dare risk it.
Zigzagging across America, he retreated from the demons who concentrated their groups in the south. The seekers would think he returned to his kind and stop the chase—or so he hoped.
Ekim has been a cold-blooded vampire since 1823, but with his judgment clear he was newly compassionate. Only when protecting his family did the ferocity and the viciousness come to the fore, necessary to preserve the human and vampire species.
He couldn’t slow down. Sarah was turning one in a week. Seekers were still looking for her and William, Atram’s one-year-old son. The decision to move Sarah to Pinedale was difficult, but he knew it was the right choice. Her aunt Helen would take care of her. She’d continue mixing the serums that kept Sarah hidden.
Atram, Ekim’s best friend since the day they’d been turned, sent a telegram to the most northerly post office in each state once a month. Ekim stepped outside the building and pulled the paper from its envelope.

EVERYONE’S WELL. KIDS GETTING ALONG. HEART CONDITION GETTING WORSE. THEY’RE LEAVING IN TWO WEEKS.

Sarah and William couldn’t get too close to each other. The children’s heartbeats quickened uncontrollably when they laughed, turning the giggles into cries of pain. Thin veins appeared on their innocent, chubby faces. The electric shock between them when they touched was as quick and unpredictable as snapped fingers. They needed each other to fulfill their destiny, yet they couldn’t be together. 
How will they do it? How will they ever save both our kinds from extinction?

* * *
PINEDALE 150 MILES
The vampire read the road sign, then closed his eyes to picture his daughter’s new home. A white picket fence of a red brick Georgian dwelling with white trim around the dormer windows and doors, a chimney protruding from the roof, and a lawn chair on the front porch. Ekim’s only wish was to make a stopover.
“I can’t,” he whispered through clenched teeth. His stomach tightened, and the vampire bent to rest his hands on his knees for a moment. The pain wasn’t physical but was still a torment.
How long before I can see my daughter for the first time?
I can’t.
Ekim’s path around Pinedale to reach the powerful witch Hannah had to confuse the seekers so they wouldn’t know he avoided the town intentionally.
He sped up, running along the shadow of a railroad bridge, the forest looming on his left. The sweet fragrance of jasmine floated in the air reminding him of home. Inside, he could only hope Hannah would trust him and provide the protection Sarah needed. Was this too much hope for a vampire to have?

* * *
June 21, the longest day of the year. Ekim huddled in the shadow of a fir, wishing it was broad enough to cover his body. When his thoughts wandered, the sun singed the arms, and he’d have to shuffle another inch to avoid the scorching beams. Waiting since sunrise, he watched the fireball rolling across the blue sky. Moving his body with the tree’s shade throughout the day, the vampire imagined sweat beading and running down his face, though he knew it wouldn’t. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, anxious. The sun almost touched the earth. Another two to three minutes.
Ekim looked to the west, his feet planted exactly in the spot he’d been told to be: 44.57N by 110.5W. To his left, the sun sank to touch the top of a hill. As the fiery orb collided with the mound of earth, its rays sprayed outward to fall across fields, hills, and valleys, bathing all life with an orange and yellow glow—everywhere except one area in the lee of the hill. He smiled. Its shade would lengthen, and he’d be able to escape the shadow of the fir toward it.
Now. He ran fast, ducking under branches, jumping over fallen pines. The faith he held onto inside didn’t let him wonder whether Hannah would listen. Castall’s promise that she would sufficed. After all, her husband was an influential warlock.
A noise in the bushes to the right kept Ekim alert as he sprinted. Something paralleled his route.
What else could move as fast as a vampire? A seeker? He inhaled, but the scent was unfamiliar. Ekim sensed another creature’s tracking on the left and his fangs sprouted.
They stayed concealed until Ekim reached Hannah’s hill before leaping from the bushes to block his way. They looked like vampires—their faces were similar in structure, their gestures familiar—but the smell of wet bear fur mixed with that of a wolf intrigued thim.
“What do you want?” the female shouted.
“I’m looking for Hannah,” Ekim answered, careful not to give too much away. Anything he said could be used to find Sarah.
She kept her stern eyes on the vampire. “What do you want from her?”
The male stared, his brows furrowed, but although he looked toward Ekim, his piercing gaze concentrated on the forest at his back.
Something rustled branches and leaves behind Ekim, but he did not stir. He inhaled deeper, letting his acute senses work. Five grizzly bears, three wolves, six mountain lions, and two coyotes—all focused on the vampire. Four eagles circled overhead, their underbodies golden in the afterglow of the sun. The male murmured at the animals under his breath in a tongue Ekim did not recognize.
The mammals did not pose a threat to Ekim. He’d get a few scratches but could handle them. His mouth watered at the thought of some carnivore blood. He held back though, unsure of the two beings standing in front. Their bodies were well-defined, muscles taut without flexing, and Ekim wasn’t the only one, he noted, who didn’t break a sweat while running.
“My business is only for Hannah. Castall sent me.” Ekim stood taller but lowered his shoulders and softened his eyes. He let his fangs retract.
A crunching sound accompanied subtle movement in the earth and brushes behind the two beings. Ekim smelled crushed rosemary and mint. Their arms were still crossed at their chests, and they did not twitch. An oval of grass in the hill moved a camouflaged door that swung open. A lady in her early fifties stepped out.
Hannah, Castall’s witch wife.
“Kids, stand down. He’s kin,” she ordered, eyeing Ekim from top to bottom. She waved forward. “I’m Hannah. Come in, Ekim.”
The male nodded and motioned with his arm toward the bushes at Ekim’s back. The animals scattered into the darkening forest. Both “kids” stepped up beside Hannah, then parted to either side as the vampire followed her in.
Fresh basil and pepper joined the herbal aroma inside. The dwelling was larger than Ekim expected for the small hill concealing it.
“The outside’s an illusion,” Hannah said softly, as if he’d voiced his confusion. The witch’s light and gentle voice did not match her size. Despite the weight she carried, she moved across the room with grace, her long skirt brushing the wooden floor as if she were dancing.
The air was warmer here than above ground, the dimmer light making it cozy. A small fireplace crackled on the back wall as steam hovered over a simmering pot hanging above the low flames.
“Have a seat, Ekim.” She gestured toward an armchair against the opposite wall. Underneath her long sleeve, Ekim glimpsed a mark of three wavy lines on her wrist identical to Castall’s on her wrist. The pair who greeted Ekim had taken up positions on either side of Hannah. She gestured to them next. “It’s in their nature to be protective. Something that you’re seeking, I gather—protection.”
Ekim bowed, acknowledging Hannah’s wisdom, and waited for her to speak again.
Hannah raised her thick eyebrows and dipped her head to look at him over her glasses. “Protection . . . These are my children, and I will protect them with my life.” She gazed expectantly at Ekim. 
“It’s my child I need to protect, as well,” he answered.
Hannah sat on a stool by the fireplace and threw a log into the pit before leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. With a pop, the settling fire spat two embers out on the floor. She picked them up with her bare hand and tossed them back into the growing flames.
“Castall said I could come to you for help. He gave me this to pass along.” Cautious, Ekim lifted his hand toward the top of his long coat. The “kids” watched the movement closely. He pulled a white envelope from the inside breast pocket and handed it to Hannah. The initials H.G. were handwritten on the front, the back sealed with a wax stamp. “It should explain everything.”
Hannah let a smile surface as she carefully opened the letter. The kids continued to glare at Ekim as she read. When she finished reading, she looked up. “Sarah and William are unique, like my children.” She glanced lovingly at them. “The half-breeds can bring salvation to both humankind and vampires. Without them, the demons will win.” Her eyes widened. “They will bring peace and balance to the underworld—but only together. When they learn who they are, they are to overthrow the demon lord. Together, they will be stronger than Aseret and his army.” Her eyelids partially closed when she spoke. Her eyes moved from side to side; she was making a prediction.
Sliding from the stool, Hannah squatted beside a potted plant and scooped a fistful of dirt into her hand. She let it fall through her fingers down to the floor. Her eyes rolled back in their sockets, and her head tipped back. “You will be captured, Ekim. Do not fear. They will save you. You will be Sarah’s only hope. Believe in what you feel.” She paused. “Beware of Xela.”
Then her head fell forward, and she looked up at the “kids” with her own eyes. “Your father’s asking you to move to Pinedale immediately. You will be Sarah’s secret guardians throughout her childhood and adolescence. You will be her friends and companions. You will protect her as if she were your blood.” She rose and handed the letter to the girl at her side, who read it.
“Sarah’s only one. How are they going to be her friends?” Ekim pointed hesitantly at the siblings.
The young woman looked up from the letter. “We assume whatever shape we need to be. We will befriend Sarah as children.” Her gaze returned to the paper. “Your daughter has a difficult journey ahead. We will do everything that’s asked of us and nothing less.”
Ekim blinked rapidly, then wiped his eyes. The vampire features were gone from her face and her brother’s. “Thank you,” he said, taken aback by the sudden change.
“Our oath to you, Ekim, is to protect your daughter. She is destined to stop the extinction and bring balance. We will protect her with our lives,” the young man promised, straightening his shoulders.
Ekim believed him. His hope restored, the vampire let out a long held breath.
“Ekim, you are part of the keeper’s plan. Your family is part of their plan as well. You are therefore part of our family. You can expect the utmost faith and loyalty from Mira and Xander.” Hannah pointed to the siblings. “They are stronger than many demons. They are wiser than most. You should stay away from Pinedale. Your scent is too familiar to the seekers. I’m surprised you’ve outrun them this long.”
“Where should I go?” he asked.
The witch seemed to fall back into a trance. “Go back to the vampire territories. Spread the word that half-breeds will save their kind from demons. They should get ready for a battle.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “You should leave now. Take what you need from the forest.”
Ekim wondered if she’d noticed how pale he was.
He pitied anyone who crossed Hannah’s path. She was both a powerful witch and a mother with the fierce instincts of a lioness. A mother he wished Sarah had.
She tucked the letter into a leather-bound book on a side table. A mark identical to the one on Hannah’s wrist was embossed on its cover, surrounded by colourful gems. Ekim smelled the centuries in the paper of its pages.
Unexpectedly, Hannah stepped forward and hugged the vampire, then turned on her heel and walked toward the invisible door. As she approached, the earthen wall cracked, opening to the outside.
“Thank you.” Ekim bowed toward the siblings and Hannah before stepping through the door into the twilight. He had to move quickly to avoid capture but hesitated on the threshold before moving out into the woods and looked back.
Both siblings stared into a wall mirror. Their facial features changed. They ran their fingers across their face where the cheeks grew rosy, pudgy; the skin became smoother, younger, and softer; their noses shrank. The hair thinned and grew silky as eyes became blue, then brown, then green.
They were becoming toddlers.

###
About the Author

Marta lives with her husband and two kids in Cambridge, Ontario. A great skier (in her kids eyes), she loves the outdoors and quiet mornings on the porch with a cup of coffee. She can often be found creating new worlds in front of her computer. She has a sarcastic sense of humor and those very close to her know that she can make a joke out of almost anything; but she would suck as a comedian.
If you enjoyed Marked: A Two Halves Novella, please consider leaving a review. All authors depend on the support of their readers to find an audience.

Books in the Two Halves Series: 
Book 1: Marked: A Two Halves Novella
Book 2: Two Halves
Book 3: Two Equals
Book 4: Evil-Bent: A Two Equals Novella

Connect with Me Online:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/martaszemik
My Blog: http://martaszemik.blogspot.com/


Acknowledgments
As always, I am grateful to be surrounded by many loving people who support me, my fantasies, and my writing.
First and foremost my family, without whom this novella would never be in the hands of my readers.
Each writer takes a different approach to their work. For me, I began writing because I wanted to, now I need to. And I wouldn’t be able to do it without the help, encouragement and inspiration from other writers and my blogger friends. I am honoured to know all of you. Your words of wisdom, share of knowledge and enthusiasm for the written word astound me every day.
I am grateful to my editors Marg Gilks and Nicole Zoltack, and my reader and editor friends for their invaluable input, critique, support and love. A big thank you to Robin Ludwig Design Inc. for the beautiful book cover.
To anyone who ever wanted to write: all it takes is will, imagination and belief. I hope I can one day inspire others to do what they love, the same way authors have inspired me.
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