by Monica Davis
The last thing he remembered was his bedroom door opening. He hadn’t wanted his mother to see him in this state, but it was Vanessa. As she wrapped her arms around him, he knew that nothing bad would happen to him. She was there; she would protect him. His mental walls collapsed, and he immediately lost consciousness.
For a long time, Daniel floated weightlessly in this eerie twilight of images, thoughts, and feelings. He had hoped that he was only dreaming; but when he opened his eyes and saw a mane of fire-red hair, he knew right away that the demons were responsible for his condition. He groaned, frustrated.
“Where was I?” He sat up, and the room spun around him. Damn, it felt like his skull was about to burst! “Where in Hell …” I’m in a hospital! he realized, rubbing an itchy spot on his arm. He looked at it and saw a smear of blood oozing from a small wound. Then he noticed the IV bag hanging from the stand next to him.
His injuries heal more quickly than those of normal humans, he heard Sirina say in his mind.
Marla nodded.
“What have you done to me?” Daniel’s heart was racing.
“So many questions, my sweet,” Sirina said.
Marla pushed her aside. “The high lords separated your mind from your body and linked it to the mental network. They had to use violence, since you wouldn’t allow them to do it the easy way. Now you’re fully connected.”
“What?!” Daniel had been wondering what all the voices and images in his head were. Oh, God, they actually did it! He felt as though his psyche had been raped. “The high lords?” he asked cautiously, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. The motion made his unbuttoned hospital gown slip off one shoulder, earning him a voracious look from Sirina.
“The high lords are powerful demons, the most gifted mind readers on the Council,” Marla explained. “You have to try to shift the signatures they left behind to a certain part of your mind, like a file folder on a computer desktop.”
“Aha,” he said. He was only half listening to her, and understood nothing in any case. He just wanted to get away from these crazy women who had done God knows what with him. Daniel suddenly felt so different. His head was spinning, and he felt a tingling sensation running all throughout his body. He automatically headed toward a small wardrobe, where he found his clothes. Thanks, Mom, he thought as he took off the hospital gown and slipped quickly into his underwear, taking care not to expose himself to Sirina’s lustful stare for too long. Clearly he wasn’t fast enough, since he heard Marla’s voice behind him hissing, “Sirina, stop gaping at his ass!”
Sirina giggled. “He has the body of a future Overlord.”
Daniel would have liked to grab her by the throat. He controlled himself as best he could and stepped into his black jeans. He found an MP3 player at the bottom of the wardrobe. He sighed in relief. Vanessa had been here. She was okay. He knew these hellspawn were capable of anything.
“What was in the IV?” he asked, turning around.
Marla raised an eyebrow. “We think there was something in it to suppress your demonic genes. That must be why the doctors gave you a blood transfusion from your father earlier as well.”
“Peter was here to donate blood to me?” A sense of hope rose within Daniel. Dad hadn’t forgotten him after all!
“Peter?” Sirina laughed uproariously. “You idiot, James Carpenter is your real father. Didn’t your foster mother ever tell you that?” She gave him a conniving grin as Marla told him the truth about his parentage: “Your birth name is Silvan, first son of Kitana and James Carpenter.”
“James Carpenter?” Daniel didn’t understand anything anymore. A whirlwind was spinning through his head.
“He’s a watcher!” She spat the word at him contemptuously.
“A watcher?”
“Don’t interrupt me!”
“Marla!” Sirina called. “Careful how you speak to your future ruler!”
“He’s still my brother, and I’ll speak to him however I please!” Marla pushed her hair out of her eyes. “In any case, you yourself just called him an idiot.”
Sirina puffed out her chest. “As his future wife …”
“You’re my sister?” Daniel interrupted her rant. He stared at Marla in astonishment. Could be — after all, she’s a major pain in the ass. Aren’t siblings always like that?
“I’m your half-sister, two years older than you and a full-blooded demon!” she stressed arrogantly.
“Better and better. ‘Full-blooded,’ what hogwash.” As Daniel buttoned his trousers, he took a closer look at the woman. He had to admit that Marla really did look a little like him; at least, they had the same black hair. He was almost proud to have such a pretty sister. Such nonsense. Demons, half-sisters, bah! Then he looked over at Sirina. Not a bad figure, but she’s so incredibly annoying. I can’t stand her personality! The red-haired woman had continued talking to Marla. Their words seemed to go in one ear and out the other without leaving any information behind. Daniel simply couldn’t handle it all. Too much had happened to him recently. Too much craziness.
“My … our mother — Kitana — was the daughter of the current Overlord, Xandros,” Marla said.
“Cool, my grandfather must be pretty famous,” he exclaimed sarcastically.
“Don’t be a smartass!” Marla glared at him, enraged. “Kitana’s firstborn son was destined to take over the throne one day — but then she made the mistake of falling in love with a watcher.”
“She fell in love?” Danny gaped at her, astounded. “I thought that demons didn’t feel love.”
“She wasn’t perfect,” Marla murmured, avoiding his eyes.
Yeah, well, who is? Daniel thought. He asked, “Who’s your father, then?”
Marla looked surprised. She hadn’t expected him to be interested in her life. “He’s a member of the Council.”
“Aha,” Daniel responded, still completely lost. “What’s he like as a father?”
Marla stared at him, her mouth hanging open. “This isn’t about me! Xandros wanted to kill you at first — he foresaw a great danger to our race, should a hybrid ascend to the throne. But Kitana hid you away well. As punishment for her treachery, when they found her, they killed her!” She suddenly looked very angry.
“What kind of logic is that?” Daniel scoffed, despite his shock at hearing that Marla’s mother had been murdered. His mother. “First Grandpa Demon wants to bump me off, then he wants me to be his successor. You’re all nuts.”
“It’s … complicated.” Marla herself didn’t seem to be entirely convinced, but she went on undeterred. “I wanted to prove myself more worthy than my mother. I promised the High Council that I would find you, since there’s still a chance we can turn you into a proper demon. But that has to happen soon. We can’t waste another second!”
“Why does it have to happen so soon?” he asked.
“You can only belong to one side or the other; you have to decide, or it will destroy you. Your body is almost mature. That’s why you’ve been changing.”
Daniel felt overwhelmed by this strange conversation. He just wanted to keep living a normal life, graduate from high school … “I have to choose a side?”
Marla took a deep breath and rolled her eyes impatiently. “Watcher or demon.”
“What is a watcher?”
“You don’t know anything, do you?” she yelled at him. The other demon, who had been sitting crossed-legged on the bed and quietly following the conversation, shot her an angry look.
“Leave him alone,” hissed Sirina, getting up from the bed. “He needs time to process all this.”
“Thanks,” Daniel told her sarcastically. He pulled on his shirt, slipped on his sneakers, and opened the door a crack to see whether the coast was clear. Except for a few visitors and patients, there was no one in the long corridor. He just wanted to go home, back to his mom and Vanessa.
“If you’re looking for your real father, he’s already gone. He doesn’t want anything to do with you, just
like Peter,” Sirina whispered in his ear.
“My real father?” Daniel suddenly realized what she meant. He hadn’t really understood it all, even though Marla had tried to explain it to him. Then Mom is …
“Not your real mother. Kitana is.” Sirina interrupted his thoughts. “And — just to review — your real father is a certain James Carpenter, have you got it now? If we ever catch him …”
Marla took a deep breath. “Sirina, don’t distract him! Silvan has to make a choice soon. He can learn about everything else later.”
“Do I really get a choice?” he muttered, but his thoughts were somewhere else entirely. Mom isn’t my real mother? But … why hasn’t she ever told me that I’m adopted? What connection does she have to the demons? Why didn’t my real father want me, either? Is there something about me that repels everybody? Daniel was so angry and frustrated that he thought the ground beneath his feet might split open. They’ve all been lying to me!
“Oh, yes, you get to choose; you have to come with us of your own free will. Only you can decide who you’ll become in the future. But I think this is an offer you can’t refuse, hmm, Danny-Boy?” Sirina smiled at him sweetly. “You get all that power and … me.”
Daniel felt like someone had just kicked him in the stomach. My real mother was a demon? He remembered what Marla had told him in his bedroom earlier that morning. Now the pieces of the puzzle were coming together, although he still had so many questions. My mom isn’t my mom, and I’m a half-demon, and Marla is my half-sister. Hadn’t he always wanted a big sister? Or had some part of him always known that he actually had one? My whole life is a lie!
“The truth hurts, don’t it, lover?” Sirina purred, stroking his cheek with one of her long talons. “Yes, they’ve all been putting you on; even your sweetheart found out before you.”
He spun around to face the red-haired demon. “Vanessa knows that I’m adopted?” This shock was greater than all the rest. Even Nessa! He hadn’t expected that, least of all from her.
“It’s true. You must hate her for that.” In her whole life, Sirina had never wanted anything so badly as how much she wanted this young man. Now that he was linked to the network, she could feel exactly what he was going through, since he hadn’t yet learned to close off that part of his mind. Your anger makes you stronger, Silvan. Let it out! she sent to him. They all betrayed you. You’re one of us now. I know that you’ll turn away from your fake family and this human trollop and come to join me in the underworld.
“Never,” he whispered, his voice shaking, and left the room.
Sirina seethed. “What kind of loser is he? He’ll never have the makings of an Overlord!” But she wanted him anyway, at any price. The throne was his if he was willing to accept it. “I’m just going to take him, right now!”
“Leave him alone, Sirina. He’s not ready yet. He has to want to come.” Marla laid a hand on the other demon’s shoulder. “Soon he’ll know where he truly belongs, even if I have to show him myself.”
“Oh, thank God!” Vanessa cried out as she reached the top of the ladder and caught sight of Daniel in the old treehouse, which was really nothing more than a large wooden crate. There wasn’t even a window. She and Danny had built it when they were children.
Vanessa turned and looked down the ladder. “He’s up here!”
“Danny, dear, is everything okay?” Anne put a hand to her mouth in relief and then began climbing up the ladder. Vanessa clambered across the treehouse to make space for her.
Nessa couldn’t see Daniel, as her eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the dark, and when his mother appeared at the top of the ladder, there was even less light to see by.
“Danny?” Anne asked.
“I’m okay, Mom,” his voice came out of the darkness.
“That’s good, sweetie, but don’t ever give me a fright like that again — running away without telling anyone where you were going.”
“I’m okay, really,” Daniel said.
Hopefully that was the case. But just a little while ago, he had been in a deep coma. Anne was behaving strangely, too, Vanessa thought. And she was a nurse! If she were in Anne’s place, Vanessa would be dragging her son right back to the hospital.
As though Anne could sense what Vanessa was thinking, the older woman told her, “Don’t worry, this happened to Danny before. We don’t really know what’s wrong. And since there’s nothing we can do about it …” She sighed and began to climb down. “Well, I’ll call Dr. Graham and bake some cookies, in case you guys get hungry later!”
“Thanks!” Vanessa leaned over the opening, nodded encouragingly at Anne, and mouthed the words, “I’ll talk to him.”
“Your mother’s pretty special,” Nessa said, crawling further into the interior of the windowless treehouse, but Daniel just snorted. He was lying on a mattress, arms crossed behind his head, staring into space. Vanessa could tell that his eyes were open.
“I’m so glad I found you.” She carefully sat next to him. She didn’t know what to do with her hands, so she ran her fingers over her braided hair. “We were so worried. Your mother got a call from the hospital saying that you had disappeared. She contacted me, hoping I might know where to find you, and our treehouse was the first place that came to mind.”
Daniel said nothing and gave no sign that he was even listening to her. The fact that he was shutting her out hurt Vanessa. What was going on with him?
“Should I leave you alone?” she whispered. “Daniel?” She gently touched his arm, whereupon he closed his eyes. “All right, I’ll go. Just don’t run away again, okay?”
As she was about to get up, his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. “Please stay.” He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. “I’m not going back to the hospital, not ever.”
Nessa inhaled sharply in surprise, but he just held her even tighter. “Please, help me.”
His sudden closeness disconcerted Vanessa. “What’s the matter?” She could feel his body trembling beneath her.
Daniel sighed. Nessa’s familiar smell, her warm body … it all had an immediate calming effect. “My whole life is falling to pieces, and I don’t know what I should do,” he whispered. It was embarrassing to admit his weakness, but he couldn’t go on like this.
“What are you talking about? Are you sure you’re okay? You look so pale.” Vanessa gently ran a hand through his hair, and it felt so damn good. His mother used to do that, but now he was too old to go to her when he just wanted to be held in someone’s arms.
“Is it true that you knew I was adopted?” he whispered. Daniel was clinging to Nessa like a drowning man to a lifesaver. He wanted to stay like that forever.
“How did you know that?” Propping herself up on her elbows, she looked at him, their noses almost touching. He could feel her heart racing against his chest. “You weren’t conscious when your mother told me.”
Daniel was taken aback. “So you just found out about it?”
“Yes. Your mom has wanted to tell you for a long time. But then Peter left, and she didn’t want to upset you even more.”
He exhaled, relieved. Sirina wanted to drive us apart. She’ll never manage to do that! he thought angrily.
Vanessa snuggled back into his chest. “Tell me, how did you find out? Did you hear us talking about it?”
“Marla told me,” he said, happy to finally get it out. He would tell Vanessa everything, even if she’d think he was crazy. He had to take the risk. Daniel had to finally confess to someone what had been going on over the past few weeks. Vanessa was smart — maybe she could help him.
He could feel Vanessa’s breath against his neck. “Marla? Is that one of the nurses? How did she know? Anne said that no one knew about it.”
“Do you remember when we were in Edna’s backyard, I wanted to tell you something?” Daniel asked quietly. He took Nessa’s braid and wrapped it around his hand, as if to show that she belonged to him now. Maybe also to stop her from running away from him.
Nessa lifted her head and gave him a crooked smile. “Of course. That was pretty mean, building up the suspense and then not telling me anything.”
“There’s something wrong with me, Vanessa. Marla isn’t a nurse. She’s my half-sister, and she’s a … demon.” Danny told her everything, starting from his strange headaches up to the revelation that he was the future ruler of the underworld, betrothed to marry a demon. “Now you’ll think I’m crazy.”
Sighing, he closed his eyes. Relief flooded through him. He had finally unburdened his soul, but now he was afraid of how Nessa would react. His heart was beating wildly. She had listened to him the whole time in silence, lying motionless against his chest.
“You’re not crazy,” she said quietly. She caressed his face tenderly. “Danny, I think it’s a completely normal reaction to see these women. I keep seeing Joe’s face in front of my eyes. Maybe we should just go to the police before we both go completely mad.”
Groaning, he opened his eyes again. No, she didn’t understand! He shook his head in desperation, not letting go of her. “Vanessa, this has nothing to do with old Joe! You know that — you saw me have that attack at the lake.”
Vanessa was looking at him as though he had grown a third eye. Damn it, it was clear how things were turning out. What should he do now?
He saw a movement in a corner of the treehouse. It was his alleged sister, who had just turned herself visible, crouching near the ladder, arms crossed over her chest. Although she was scowling at him, Daniel was overjoyed to see her.
“Marla!” He sat up so abruptly that he almost hit Nessa in the nose with his chin. “Sorry!”
She quickly shifted away from him. “Danny, what’s the matter?” She raised her eyebrows and looked around them, but no one was there. No one that she could see. To Vanessa, it must seem like he was staring at a dusky corner of the treehouse, where there was nothing but spiderwebs.
“I’m glad you’re here!”