Twisted

Victoria, her face pale, her cheeks wet with rain—and tears? Her chin was still trembling. She was no longer on her knees, but her brother’s warrior was still beside her.

Relief speared him. She was okay.

“Aden,” she said, both dazed and frightened. “Your beast.”

Something whizzed through his line of vision, breaking their connection. He looked—and nearly choked on his own tongue. A baby beast, monster, whatever was chasing Sorin around the circle, nipping at him with saber teeth.

Your beast, Victoria had said. That’s what the mist had been. And it had risen from him. The rending of his insides, the sharp sting at his back…yeah, it had come from him.

The beast was smaller than any of the others Aden had seen, but no less fierce. Those wings stretched into razor sharp points. His scales were a glossy gray, like smoked, polished glass. His arms were short and thin but tipped with ivory claws. His hoofed and clawed feet slammed into the ground, disrupting grass and rattling metal.

He’s mine, Aden thought, dazed all over again. He actually came from me.

And he’s what I didn’t want to happen, what I didn’t want any of you to know about, Elijah said on a sigh. He’s been growing inside of you since that last day in the cave. He’s who looked through Victoria’s eyes before slamming into you and rendering you unconscious.

“How?” he managed to say despite his wound, having held the torn skin together.

He was birthed to life inside you with the first blood exchange, then entered Victoria’s mind when we did, growing all the while, then finally stopping the switching altogether.

“Why keep him secret?” Good. His words were getting stronger, clearer.

I didn’t want you or the dynamic duo to panic. Strong emotion was the only thing that could push him out, and yes, I’m purposefully using birthing language because that’s basically what happened, and he wasn’t ready to be pushed out. He’s now, well, a preemie.

Which meant he was…what? Fragile? Vulnerable?

Hungry. He’s very hungry, very determined, and will never be easily controlled. I didn’t want to tell you, but you’ve been battling his nature, as well as Victoria’s. You were doing an excellent job, too. Until this.

So what does this crap mean for us? Caleb asked.

Elijah sighed. The little guy’s had a taste of freedom now. He will never be happy caged.

At least Aden survived the fight, Julian pointed out. You said he’d die without the pills.

No, I said he could die. There’s a difference. A lot of new mothers die giving birth too soon, and that’s what I saw.

Caleb snickered despite the severity of the circumstances. Congrats, Ad. You’re a mom. Why don’t you breast-feed the little guy?

Julian chortled.

Finally the “little guy” captured Sorin and forced him to the ground, holding him by the stomach. And the funny thing: his own beast could have helped him, but he’d come to this fight without the creature.

Now go finish this fight, Elijah said. You’ve been given a golden opportunity. Let’s use it and end this the right way.

Aden stood. Almost fell, but managed to limp over. Grinning, he opened his ring. “Payback.” Je la nune spilled over Sorin’s neck, and his skin sizzled open, blood welling. Aden was careful not to splash the baby beast, who was watching him through starving, savage eyes.

While Sorin grunted from pain, Aden reached out and petted the—his—beast. “Good boy,” he said, scrambling for a name. Chompers Jr., maybe. Junior for short. Yeah, that worked.

Lips pulled back from sharpened teeth as the creature growled at him. Chompers and the others purred when he petted them. Oh, well. At least Junior didn’t release Sorin and snap at Aden.

Aden turned his attention to his opponent and bit hard, sucking back mouthful after mouthful of blood and loving every moment of it. Tasted just like Victoria’s, just as he’d suspected it would. He might never stop, might take every drop, needed every drop. And wouldn’t you know it, his beast purred about that, as if he could taste the blood, too.

Maybe he could. Junior released Sorin and joined Aden, drinking at Sorin’s neck. Sorin bucked once, twice, before stilling.

We have to stop. If we don’t, Sorin will die. He doesn’t need to die. You’ve won.

Elijah again.

Ignored again.

No, he couldn’t ignore the soul. Not this time. The outcome. Important. Victoria. Hate him. Love him. The words sliced through the bloodlust and Aden jolted upright, warmth fizzing over him as if he were showering in soda. Already his wounds were knitting back together. He reached out to Junior, but the little guy snarled at him before shaking Sorin’s neck like a dog with a bone.

You’ll have to wrestle him.

Great. Another fight. Aden dove for him, knocking him down, away from the body and the blood. Wings flapped frantically, and those saber teeth made a play for his face.

A few of Sorin’s warriors rushed forward, clearly intending to help their lord, who lay on his back, as motionless as the dead. “Don’t,” Aden shouted as he struggled to subdue the creature, and they froze. “Leave, everyone leave.” Last thing he needed was for Junior to hurt someone else. Or to be hurt. “And no fighting, or I swear I’ll release this one and end you all. You’ll wait inside.”

Several pounding heartbeats of time passed before footsteps reverberated. Murmurs echoed. Then, only the three of them were left. Sorin, the struggling Junior and Aden. He was surprised at how easily the vampires and wolves had obeyed.

A long while passed like that, so long that the rain stopped. So long that Sorin healed enough to awaken and sit up.

The warrior shook his head, as if clearing cobwebs from his thoughts, then zeroed in on Aden. He could have stood and attacked, but he didn’t. He’d lost. He knew it. Everyone knew it. He watched Aden through narrowed eyes.

“You’re not human,” the warrior accused.

“Not anymore. Hell, maybe not ever.” Along with a beast of his own, he now had the vampire voice and skin. Made him wonder what else had changed—what else he could do.

Miracle of miracles, Junior stilled. He was panting through thick, black nostrils. Aden continued to hold him, cooing soothingly. His eyelids gradually closed, and surprise surprise, Junior had long, curling eyelashes. He appeared almost…cuddly.

Soon his big body went lax, and the panting became snoring. Still Aden held on, not knowing what else to do, knowing only that the beast could awaken any second, start combating him again, and if he wasn’t prepared, he’d be blood-buttered toast.

Then Junior’s body began to fade, fade, until Aden was utterly saturated by the same sizzling black mist that had left him earlier. He sat up, the mist seeping into his pores, his bones, heating him into a high output furnace.

Weirdest. Thing. Ever. His brain basically scrambled with bewilderment. That was…that had been…he had no words.

Sorin was unfazed. “By the way, my beast is bigger than yours.”

“Not for long. Did you see the size of my guy’s feet?”

Massive arms crossed over a massive chest. “Forget the beasts. I’ve got a few things on my mind, Haden Stone.”