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“You’re smart, Adam, but right now, you couldn’t be acting more stupid.” If Cal hadn’t talked with me earlier, I might have stumbled at the insult. Because he had, my foot swung across the ground and nailed him in the stomach, causing him to retch onto the floor and gasp for air.
“Watch your mouth, brother. You may be more dominant than me most of the time, but not right now. Now, you’re a weak piece of trash.” I spit on my brother and turned my back on him, storming out of the cell.
Two men stood at the door to the dungeon. Both Vampires. One whispered to the other before stepping forward.
“What can I do for you?” His expression was smug, and the fire inside me begged to be free to burn the twit to the ground.
“Get out of my way.” My arms began to let off steam.
The man moved closer, apparently unaware of the danger he was in, while his buddy’s eyes widened. A cocky smile showed off white, pointed fangs with regular human teeth alongside them. His skin was pale, almost as white as his teeth from lack of sunlight.
“I’d like to see you get past me.” The Vampire didn’t seem to know who I was or that I saw almost as well in the dark as he did. He also didn’t seem to know about my heritage.
My left hand grew red as a fireball burst from it. Then another. Both floated into the air alongside the man who now looked on at me with horror in his eyes.
With both hands, I directed the balls of fire so they were even with the man’s chest. My hands weren’t necessary, but they made for a nice dramatic effect. The temperature of the balls spiked, and I slammed my hands together as the man screamed in fear. My fireballs struck the man and burned him to ash in seconds.
Without needing a mirror, I knew my eyes glowed. Anger and hatred mixed with my fire. If Cal weren’t here, I’d burn the whole building to the ground.
A hand on my shoulder, its cold seeping into my body, cooled my temper. My father laughed as he came up beside me. The scent of Cal’s blood clung to him. “Family can be disappointing, but let’s not destroy every miserable creature in sight because of it.”
My eyes narrowed on the Vampire by the door. “Get out of my way.”
He leaped to the side, and I kicked the door open, causing work for another of Dad’s henchmen.
Dad laughed again. “Did you have to break the lock?”
“Wouldn’t have needed to if your idiot guard had thought to unlock the door before stepping aside.”
Dad kept pace with me, a feat in and of itself as I stood six inches taller than him, and laughed at my ill mood.
My heart ached with the knowledge my brothers would never have this, a moment with our father where he wasn’t trying to kill them or do them harm. For a few minutes as we walked the halls of what was once my home, Mount Pickett, I could imagine the two of us discussing jobs and family things.
“I know that look.” When I looked to Dad, he’d turned back to give his attention to the hallway. “It’s best not to dwell outside of the present. You cannot change your brothers’ decisions.”
“You don’t believe in hope?”
He grunted. “Hope never won a battle yet. Only skill and drive.”
The Mindolin had a point. Hope itself couldn’t win on the battlefield, but it kept the warriors’ spirits up and that caused them to win.
“Where are you going?” The Mindolin asked when I headed up the main set of stairs to the upper floors of the academy.
“Not sure about you, but it’s been a freakishly long day. I’m grabbing some Z’s before more of your idiot men push my buttons again. Unless you want to lose a few more of them. In that case, point me in the right direction.” I used both hands to point around the academy.
Dad’s smile was humored, but not in an evil way. I highly amused him right now. Again, the pang of hurt in my heart throbbed. Had Dad’s yearning for power not corrupted him, we all could have had this. We could have had Mom in our life.
I pushed those thoughts away. Dad was right. They wouldn’t do me any good. My heart needed to raise its shields and push thoughts of what might have been away, far away before they brought on my downfall. This man was a murderer and had nearly killed my brothers. They had earned my allegiance. Thoughts of what this man could have meant to me wouldn’t bring about the same devotion.
“I wasn’t human when your mother and I—"
My hands flew up to my ears. “I do NOT want to hear about that.”
He laughed again. “Fine, but I surmise that it’s my once-human side that is a part of you. Never mind that I was the Mindolin when you were conceived. Your mother thought she could change me, bring Aaron Simmons back. I am Aaron Simmons. A more powerful Aaron Simmons.”
Sleep could wait. I had questions. “You were a Lower Elemental one day, and then the Mindolin the next? What happened?”
An excited, evil grin changed my father’s face from humored to eerily creepy in an instant. “Luka Lanshay had the best blood on the planet. Once we find your brother’s babies, you’ll see. The female seer will be yours. She’ll help you grow strong like me.”
