by J. M. Pierce
Axiom Theory
Book Four of the Shadow Series
By J.M. Pierce
Copyright © 2014 J.M. Pierce
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
This book is dedicated to you, the reader. I offer my profound thanks for your continued support!
“It can be said that every axiom has been a theory and that, at some point, many theories have been considered an axiom. Throughout history, mankind has shown itself to be certain of many things, only to be proven wrong by subsequent generations. The reality is that what we know to be true today, can quickly become tomorrow’s misconception.” – J.M. PIERCE
Introduction
Though he knew they would eventually come, the sight of the twins was something that Ikuhabe hadn’t thought he’d see so soon. Without so much as taking a breath, he launched himself from the lawn chair. Its aluminum frame lay crumpled beneath the force of his energy as he raced into the sky.
Casper looked up and, as he allowed his energy to surge, faced his palms to the ground and prepared to rocket into Iku full force. Before he could engage his power, he felt Ashley’s grip on his left arm.
“What are you doing?” he shouted.
Behind him, the kids on the street were peering over the far side of a car, staring wide eyed at Iku as he hovered in the air as if he were a hawk riding the wind. They cowered at the sight of the red flashes of light as they pulsed down his dark skinned arms.
As Ashley turned to the children, she answered Casper. “While we’re here, let’s have a little fun,” she said with a twisted grin as she took the car into her grasp. Raising it ten feet into the air, she revealed the children cowering behind it.
Casper followed her line of sight and laughed as he saw the looks on the children’s faces. Their horror brought him pleasure. “Hey, kids!” he shouted. “Let’s play a game!” The children quickly turned to run, but he immediately reached out his right hand and took them into his grasp. Each of them were pulled into the other as though they were attracted magnetically; their screams only served to fuel Casper’s sinister ambition.
Watching the scene unfold below him, an immense anger swelled inside of Iku. Leaning forward, he summoned all of his power and pulsed downward like a missile towards Casper. In a fraction of a second, when he was ten feet away from his target, he pulled back and threw his feet toward the ground while releasing a pulse of energy that sent Casper flying into the street. Though his target was hit, he couldn’t stop his forward momentum in time and he found himself slamming into the concrete next to Ashley. The pain in his legs sent his mind into a tailspin, but he still found the determination to stand. Still slightly hunched over, he looked up to see the children free of Casper’s power and, as he motioned with a hand for them to run, his arms snapped to his sides as an immense amount of pressure wrapped his entire body.
“Did you really think you could beat the two of us?” asked Ashley, her lips curling with pleasure. She turned to Casper who was still lying in the street. “Get up!” she shouted. His eyes locked with hers and, as he stood, she could see that his right arm was broken between the wrist and the elbow.
With Ashley’s attention on her brother, Iku felt her grip lessen. He allowed his anger to fuel a swell of energy. He looked ahead and could see the powerful waves rippling away from him, distorting the image of Ashley as she watched Casper limp towards them. His body felt set to explode, and with a deafening scream, he released the store that had built up inside.
Ashley had just begun to turn back to her captive when the force of Iku’s eruption sent her cartwheeling through the air. Landing in a sparsely vegetated lawn, she shook her head and had begun to sit up when she felt Iku’s grasp encase her body. The sensation was short lived, however. As she felt the hold on her release, she looked to Casper who stood with his left arm outstretched. She glanced to her left, expecting to see Iku in her brother’s control, but instead saw nothing but a hole in the side of the former Reaper’s trailer house. She couldn’t contain the joy that it brought and, as she stood, she giggled maniacally.
She began to walk towards the trailer as Casper, holding his broken right arm tight to his body, approached her side.
“Well done, brother,” she said.
As her praise ended, the roof to the trailer exploded and Iku rocketed into the sky and out of sight.
Fragments of insulation and tin rained from above as they stared off into the sky scattered with clouds. As she spoke, Ashley glared through squinted eyes. “He can run, but we will find him. He will pay for his betrayal.”
CHAPTER 1
The light trickled in through the sheer, burgundy curtains that covered the window of Lauren and Prim’s bedroom. Lauren rolled over and grinned at the sight of Prim lying on his stomach with his arms wrapped tightly around his pillow. His bangs hanging down over his eyes, she brushed them to the side and, in response to her touch, Prim nuzzled his pillow and let out a quiet moan.
“Hey there, wild man,” she said quietly. “You’re looking kind of shaggy.”
With one side of his face buried in the pillow, he squinted through a single eyelid and replied. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Are you trying to look all back woods mountain man on purpose?” she asked with a grin as she twirled his hair in her fingers.
“Maybe?” he replied in jest, followed by a deep yawn.
“Maybe?” replied Lauren as she cupped his stubbly cheeks in her palm. “I think maybe you’d better rethink that answer if you ever want anything from me.”
Prim’s head snapped up. “Like what?” he asked.
With a grin, Lauren rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed. Glancing over her shoulder, she replied with a coy, flirtatious look. “I’m going to make some coffee while you think about it.”
Prim watched as she walked away, admiring her beautiful form. He liked it when she used his old t-shirts as a night gown; there was something sexy about it.
He rolled onto his back and rubbed his face. Pinching his bangs with his fingers, he pulled them down to his lip. “I suppose it is time for a cut,” he muttered aloud. Forcing himself to sit up, he looked at the clock which read 8:05. With a deep breath, he laid back down and allowed himself another couple moment’s rest.
****
With the coffee brewing, Lauren sat at the kitchen table and enjoyed the silence. It was something that she cherished every morning.
When she’d been forced to leave behind her home outside of Forks the year before, she’d worried that she would never again be able to find the peace and solitude that she had there. Now, she was grateful to find that she did in fact have the peace, and was even more grateful that her wish for solitude had been denied.
She loved Prim more than anything or anyone and had never even considered it a possibility to have someone by her side. She never thought she could have someone that would love her no matter what; even if the person that she used to be was so terrible.
Her life had become three separate worlds now. There was her life before she became a Reaper—her “human” life. After that, it was divided between before Test and after Test. Before Test, her memories were those of nightmares. Now, everything was different, and she counted her blessings every day.
Though she put
up a harsh front and gave Test grief the majority of the time, the truth was that she actually missed her “little brother” (as she liked to think of him), and, though they talked on the phone once every couple of weeks, she hadn’t seen him at all since the day after the incident in Kansas City. After the battle, they had all initially returned to Prim and Jenz’s home in Salem and decided as a group that it was too dangerous for them all to stay together. With both Prim and Test having lost loved ones in K.C., the decision to part was a difficult one. It was a hard time for all of them.
The smell of freshly brewed coffee filling the kitchen shook her from her melancholy state and she found herself smiling.
“Jeeze,” she whispered as she stood from the table. “I’m getting soft in my old age.”
****
Prim remained in bed, caught precariously between the realm of sleep and reality. The aroma of the fresh brewed coffee made its way into the bedroom and stirred him from his lazy state.
As he lay on his stomach, he kicked off the sheet that covered him. Wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts, the cool air from the ceiling fan tickled his bare skin causing his subconscious to fight with itself over whether or not to fall back to sleep or get up for the coffee. He wouldn’t have to make the decision.
Suddenly, from outside, he felt the push of energy that he’d come to know as a sign of a Shadow (or a Reaper) being present while in the spirit realm. In an explosion of motion, he flipped onto his back and flailed his legs over the side of the bed. As easily as taking a breath, Prim himself phased and walked through the exterior wall, through the bushes that lined the outside of the house, and stopped in the middle of the front yard. Re-materializing with arms splayed from his sides, his adrenaline began to force the streamers of light to surge down his arms.
“Test, is that you?” he shouted, knowing deep down that it wasn’t. After Kansas City, before they had parted, they’d all agreed that an unannounced visit would be ill advised, and that at least a day’s notice was required before hand. With this in mind, Prim knew that, whether it was Test or not, something was definitely wrong.
****
After shouting for Prim several times to haul his lazy ass out of bed, Lauren decided that maybe he was in the bathroom grooming himself out of fear of her threat.
“We women have the power,” she said with a smile as she walked towards the bedroom with Prim’s coffee in hand.
The instant she reached the doorway, she felt it. Though Prim’s gift of sensing a Shadow’s powers were far more advanced than hers, she felt as though a weight were pushing on her chest.
“Prim!” she shouted as she ran to the window, dropping the coffee cup to the floor.
Throwing open the curtains, she could see Prim from the waist up standing about five feet past the bushes, his bare back allowing the red glow of his power to radiate from beneath his flesh. She quickly phased and then re-materialized by his side.
“What the hell is going on?” she asked, splaying her arms to match his stance while scanning the yard.
“We have a visitor,” replied Prim stoically.
“Who?”
“If I knew that I wouldn’t be standing here in my boxers, now would I?” answered Prim as his power continued to surge.
Suddenly, the push on his torso began to change position, signifying that the visitor was moving. Prim turned with them.
With the swell of his energy beside her, Lauren was having difficulty locating the intruder so she mirrored Prim’s movements. Standing in a short cut robe made from a very sheer material that, in the morning sun, was…revealing, she ignited the furnace within setting her arms and chest ablaze.
“I’m already tired of this,” she mumbled to Prim.
Taking a step forward, she stoked her furnace even hotter and shouted. “I don’t know who’s there, but in five seconds you are going to get your ass handed to you if you don’t show yourself!”
Allowing her power to rage, the pulsing lights running the length of her arms became a solid jet of blinding hot red as they raced to her outstretched hands. “One…two…three…”
Suddenly, less than fifty yards ahead of them, a bright flash appeared and then just as quickly disappeared. Standing in its place was someone that Lauren had known for what seemed like her entire life.
The sight of Ikuhabe was neither welcome nor maligned, but his presence left her with a momentary loss of words. After a brief moment of staring in silence, Lauren could only think of one thing to say.
“Love what you’ve done with your hair, Iku. Now, what the hell are you doing here?”
CHAPTER 2
Having changed into more appropriate clothing, Prim and Lauren sat across from Iku at the kitchen table, both eyeing him cautiously as he sipped on a cup of coffee. It was not forgotten that he befriended them in Kansas City, but his surprise appearance was enough of a shock to warrant suspicion.
“Spill it,” blurted Lauren as she tugged at the neck line of the t-shirt she was wearing.
Reaching over and patting her forearm, Prim tried to ease the tension. “Let’s be civil here, okay?” Turning to Iku with a smile, Prim tried to speak in a respectful manner. “So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”
Lauren let out an audible gasp as she rolled her eyes.
“That’s enough,” said Prim firmly. “Should I have treated you as you are treating our guest, how would you have felt?”
“That’s diff…”
“It’s fine,” interrupted Iku. “I understand her concern.” Bowing his head to Lauren, he continued. “I have known Lauren for a great many years, and I know of her ways. I would find it strange if she behaved any differently than she is now.”
Prim took Lauren’s hand into his and squeezed. She looked to him and couldn’t keep the grin from appearing on her lips.
“Prim’s right,” said Lauren. “I apologize.”
Iku leaned back in his chair, a large smile gracing his face. “So, it seems that you have been domesticated to a degree,” he joked.
Pointing a finger, Lauren replied. “Watch it.”
With the tension eased, Prim took a deep breath and asked Iku once again the purpose of his visit.
“After the battle a year ago,” began Iku, “I relocated to Oklahoma. I did all I could to change my appearance.”
“Hence the fabulous hair,” replied Lauren. “Don’t most people on a reservation have long hair? I’d have thought you’d stick out like a sore thumb there.”
Iku grimaced as he replied. “You watch too many movies.”
Prim squeezed Lauren’s hand again. “Let him speak.”
Iku leaned forward and clasped his hands together in front of him. “As I was saying,” he continued, taking a short pause. “Well, I guess none of that is really important. What is important is that I was visited by the twins, and it wasn’t because they missed me.”
Prim and Lauren glanced at each other.
“I remember seeing that on the news,” replied Prim somberly. “We weren’t exactly sure of what happened or who was involved. We assumed it was you and the twins, since it was on reservation land.”
“Separately, Casper and Ashley don’t pose a threat to me, but together, they proved to be quite formidable,” replied Iku.
“What did they want?” asked Lauren.
Iku glanced between she and Prim. “Revenge. I was a part in what was the death of whom they considered to be their father. They wanted my life as partial payment for the loss of Isaac.”
A silence once again blanketed the room.
“This happened a year ago, Iku. Surely this isn’t the reason you are here now, is it?” asked Prim.
With a stoic gaze, Iku replied. “Unfortunately, no.” Pushing himself away from the table, he stood and walked to the counter to pour himself another cup of coffee. “This incident forced me into thinking into the future,” he continued. “Lauren, you know the twins.” He looked to her as she nodded her head. “You know that
they are relentless. Once they are given a task or set their mind to something, have you ever known them not to follow through?”
“No,” replied Lauren, arching her brow.
“They are on their own, something they have never been. They have no leader; no guide, but worse—no one to control them.” Iku retook his seat at the table. “Knowing that they will no doubt seek revenge for Isaac’s death, I sought them out. Not directly, of course, but after a period of a month or so, I was able to locate them in Brookfield, Illinois.”
“How in the world were you able to locate them?” asked Prim.
Before Iku could answer, Lauren did it for him. “Because it’s in his blood,” she replied, her eyes locked on Iku. “Native Americans from his time had to be skilled in tracking. They didn’t have all of the technology that we have now. Iku retains that gift. He’s a master.”
Iku once more bowed his head to Lauren. He opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped himself. He repeated this several times before Prim did it for him.
“What is it that you have to say, Iku? Tell us, please.”
Locking his eyes on Prim’s, he took a breath and replied. “They have a child.”
“What?” asked Lauren, slapping her hands on the table. “They’re brother and sister!”
Iku’s shoulders dropped and he allowed his head to fall as well.
Placing a hand on Lauren’s shoulder, Prim tried to calm her. “I don’t think he was implying that they had a child together. Isn’t that right, Iku?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Iku replied. “That is correct.”
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Lauren leaned back in her chair and slouched down. “Okay, so the twins want to play mom and dad, so what?”
Under his breath, Iku muttered to Prim, “You still have some work to do on taming this one.”