Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (17 page)

Only
what I was so scared of wasn't something created by thick makeup or
computer graphics.

This
is talking about something real. Something... entirely too real.

Dragging
my fingertip over the words, I wondered how much of this was
accurate. It talked about beings that hid inside humans, claimed
they drained humans of life.

It
said twaelin were 'changelings' that craved destruction, death, and
power.
It
doesn't seem to paint these guys in a very nice way, does it?

Flipping
the page, I found another set of drawings. It was like a strange
family tree, in a sense. A huge circle took up almost the entire
paper. Inside of it, there was another, both of them drawn in the
same pitch black ink.

Within
that, there were three things that reminded me of medals; they were
elaborate, with tiny writing surrounding each of them.

Squinting,
I leaned close, trying to make sense of it all.
Are
these... names?

The
left one said 'Trethin' with a notation inside the center, curved to
fit the bottom of the round edge, that said 'Duke of Creation' in
elaborate curling letters.

Frowning,
tracing my hand around the drawing, I wondered what it meant. The
middle illustration read 'Canendore, Queen of Dreams.'

On
the right, repeated in layout, was the last design. 'Valenforth,
King of Corpses.'

Shaking
my head, I tucked my hair behind my ears when it fell into my
vision.
Who
are these, people? What is this showing me?

I
didn't understand at all, what did a drawing of a bunch of circles
inside of circles have to do with the twaelin?

Turning
the pages, I didn't find any other references to anything that
seemed useful. The rest of the tome was about other myths, legends,
and reports of the esoteric.

I'm
calling it legend, myth, but if the twaelin in this are real, who
knows what else is?

Rubbing
my temples, I groaned. What was the key I was missing? Who the hell
were Trethin, Canendore, or Valenforth?

Flipping
onto my stomach, I stretched out with the book in front of me. My
nose nearly brushed the pages as I turned back, pouring over the
only section that seemed relevant.

The
drawing of the different circles and seals kept pulling me in.
Are
these supposed to be people who studied the twaelin, maybe?

Yawning
loudly, I blinked through my blurry vision.
Maybe
there's more in here, and I'm just not seeing it. I wish I knew what
I was looking for.

I
felt I'd learned more about the twaelin from Nethiun himself. Maybe
the book had been a waste of effort in the end.
Mr.
Birch meant well, as weird as it is that he had a book about this
stuff.

Sitting
up on my elbows, a sudden thought hit me.
If
he knew about the twaelin... who told him? Is it possible that Mr.
Birch is—no, no that can't be right. If he was a twaelin, why
help me out and give me a book about them?

Besides,
he was my English teacher, and had been so for the whole first
semester. It seemed too convenient.

Warily,
I stared down at the writing, my brain buzzing in paranoia.
Then
again, I don't have a clue still what these things are doing, or
why, or how I'm mixed up in it. I know Nethiun seemed to freak out a
bit when I told him I could sense him and Ethlyn, but...

Then,
wouldn't I have sensed Mr. Birch, if he was one, too?

I
don't even know how many of these things there are, ugh.

Closing
my eyes, I set my forehead on the rough textured paper.
I'm
going to become insane if I start suspecting everyone that helps me
of having ulterior motives.

I
just wish I knew what these twaelin wanted with me...

And
I wish this book could give me the answers.

Breathing
deeply, the scent of parchment in my nose, I felt myself drifting
away.
A
circle, with circles inside of it. That has to be important somehow.

What
was most important to me, in the end, ended up being the realm of
sleep.

Gale
Everette

I
had spent all of Sunday reading over the book. I'd even gone so far
as to start scribbling notes. By the end of the day, I'd accumulated
nothing more than some cups of coffee all over my desk, a bag of
chips I'd splurged on, and a bunch of pencil smudges on my hands.

I'd
traced the different seals onto lined paper, on the off chance Mr.
Birch wanted the book back before I was ready to be done with it.

Sitting
among my scraps, feeling like I still didn't get it, I stacked the
papers together and left them on my bed.

Maybe
a shower will clear my head.

Standing
under the scalding water, loving how it turned me pink and melted
the knots in my muscles, I tried to stop thinking about the twaelin
entirely.

Hanging
my head, thick hair dripping water into the drain, I sighed. It was
refreshing, having the droplets rumbling over my skin, the
vibrations penetrating like a massage.

Even
now, my mind won't turn off. I'm still trying to understand what I'm
reading about. Are the twaelin as powerful as Nethiun would have me
believe?

Are
they as evil as that book seems to claim?

Whoever
wrote it, they didn't hide their bias in the pages, that was for
sure.

Frowning,
I wiped at some water when it rolled from my forehead to my
eyelashes.
Nethiun
told me he ate emotions or whatever, the book does seem to confirm
that. If that's true, then maybe the rest is, too.

But...

I'm
having trouble thinking of Nethiun as someone who's 'evil' or
whatever.

Pushing
my hair from my face, I tilted back my chin until the shower grazed
my cheeks. My line of thought was battling rationality. I still
couldn't have said Nethiun
wasn't
out to destroy or kill or whatever, but if he was, why hadn't he
hurt me?

I'm
trying to understand things that I really can't. It's going to give
me migraines forever.

Smiling
cynically, I turned the water up even hotter.
The
only bad thing about Nethiun so far is that he likes to randomly
vanish on me. Frustrating, but hardly sinister. It seems obvious
that someone else is telling him what to do, which is still
potentially bad news until I get more details.

Listening
to the water rattle through the pipes, I took in a deep gulp of
steam.
On
the other hand, he's saved me once, and he's been pretty open with
information... in his own way.

He
knows how to dance pretty damn well, too.

Thinking
of last night, wrapped in the arms of the tall blonde, made my skin
even warmer.
I'm
not seriously trying to vindicate the guy—the non-human
monster thing—because he made my head a little fuzzy. Am I?

Twisting
the handle violently, I shut the shower off. Standing there, staring
down at my bedraggled red strands as they hung over my shoulders, I
laughed reluctantly.

That's
exactly what I'm doing.

Wrapped
in a towel, I left the bathroom and sat down heavily on my bed. The
papers, my sketches, were still stacked neatly.

Pulling
them into my lap, I stared down at the top page, the copy of the
circular seals I'd made.
Maybe
I should go over this another time, I might just be too burnt out to
grasp anything useful.

Leaning
over, I gasped as a few thick drops of water splashed onto the
paper. Wide stains spread quickly, the size of dimes.

Scowling,
I pushed my hair back, adjusting the towel on my head angrily.
Damn
water, why do you have to make such a...

Looking
down at the drawings, at the damp markings, I remembered what
Nethiun had told me while we swayed in the club.

'We're
born from more powerful twaelin, they're the source of our power.'

Gaping
down, my pulse racing faster, I lifted the pages in front of my
eyes. Carefully, I lined the seals up, focusing on the areas the
water had ruined.

'Think
of it like rain.'

I
had to fight back a nervous laugh. Nethiun had told me the answer to
the puzzle I hadn't even fully seen yet.

These
are the big guys, these are the source twaelin he was talking about.
This is where Nethiun's power comes from.

I
have their names, right here.

Spreading
the pages apart, shuffling them until they were sitting edge to edge
on the blanket before me, I bent close.

He'd
told me last night, when I'd guessed he was going to report to
someone higher-up than him. He gave me the answers, and I just
didn't fit them together.

Dammit,
it was all right here!

Rubbing
my forehead, I laughed once more. This time, with exhausted relief.
Great,
so, if these are the names of the twaelin who are at the top, one of
them is the guy Nethiun is answering to.

Peering
over the titles, I grimaced.
I
hope it isn't this King of Corpses person, that sounds terrifying.

Tracing
my finger over the circle of the Creation Duke, I sighed so hard the
papers moved.
This
means whoever Ethlyn gets his whatever power stuff from is here,
too.

I
wonder, if I ask Nethiun, if he'd just tell me.

It
seemed a long shot, but then, the mysterious young man had been more
forthcoming when I had made educated guesses about things.