by Tiya Rayne
Twins
The Church Series
Tiya Rayne
Contents
Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Epilogue
Priest’s Confessions
Priest’s Confessions
Copyright
51. Chapter 1
52. Chapter 2
53. Chapter 3
54. Chapter 4
Epilogue
Want to Meet Tiya Rayne and the Authors of Perceptive Illusions, Inc. in Person?
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Thank You
Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.
Twins
The Church Series
Tiya Rayne
Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.
BAYSHORE, NEW YORK
Copyright © 2020 by Tiya Rayne.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
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Tiya Rayne/Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 5253
Bayshore, New York 11706
www.TiyaRayne.com
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Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
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Ordering Information:
Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the “Special Sales Department” at the address above.
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Twins: The Church Series Book Two/ Tiya Rayne. -- 1st ed.
Prologue
Just A Girl
Seth
* * *
“Lia is so fat, she broke a branch off her family tree.” The sound of a girl’s voice breaks through my concentration and a nudge from my brother grabs my attention.
“No, Lucien. Focus,” I say to my brother, turning back to the body before me.
The sight of the blood pouring out of the bald-headed man’s neck loses its calming effect on me. I lighten my grip around the blade of the knife in my hand.
“They’re teasing her,” Lucien tries to get my attention again. He’s getting distracted, just like he does during trainings—and we can’t afford that—not on our first kill alone. He still hates the sight of blood, even two years later.
“Lia is so fat,” comes the voice of another kid, this time it’s a boy. “Of the five fattest people I know, she’s three of them.” The laughter follows his joke, just like before.
“Your mean words don’t bother me,” this voice causes me to abandon my position beside the bald man’s dead body.
Well, not entirely dead. I didn’t cut deep enough for him to die instantly. I wanted him to hang on longer, something my brother doesn’t like. Lucien likes to make quick kills. He’s more like Zel and Hawk Eyes that way.
I move silently to the window, the way the Church taught me. My feet should never make a sound. I use the rolling chair to climb up and peep out of the high window. There are kids on the playground playing. In the shade on the side of the building are about ten kids around my age. They all seem to be surrounding one girl. The girl has skin the color of that candy Ms. Coleman used to give us.
“Cow tales,” Lucien provides, even though I never spoke out loud.
We do that often, finish each other’s thought even if neither of us actually speaks the thought. Priest says it makes us unique.
“I like her hair,” Lucien says, bringing my attention to the reddish-brown pigtails that hang to her shoulders. “Her face is pretty too.”
Of course, the moment he mentions her face, I’m now drawn to it too. It’s round and has a button nose and big brown eyes that shine back at her bullies. Her shoulders are back, her chest is out, and her chin slightly tilted up. She’s not afraid of them.
“She’s beautiful,” Lucien murmurs.
“She’s just a girl,” I say to the reflection of my brother in the window.
“She’s not like any girl I’ve ever seen.”
I roll my eyes. “We’re nine, we haven’t seen that many girls.”
“You can deny it all you want, Seth, but she’s special.”
“Whatever. We need to get back to work. Priest will be here soon.”
“Wait, she needs our help.”
I turn away from Lucien and again find my eyes on the girl outside the window. The more I look at her, the more things I notice. Like the way her hands are fisted at her sides. The way her lips are in a thin line, but still look much bigger than mine.
“No, she doesn’t. She’s handling it fine.”
This time I turn away from the window, hop down from the chair, and make my way back to the bald-headed man. The man I was sent here to kill. His eyes are glassy, and the bloody bubbles no longer ooze from the neck wound. Dang it, I missed it. I missed him taking his last breath.
“We can’t leave her alone. You have to help her. They’re bullying her.”
“Don’t, Luc. Don’t make this about you,” I demand, shoving my hunting knife back in my bookbag. “If you want to save her so bad, go do it.”
“You know I can’t.” His voice dips and his gaze lowers.
With the shake of my head, I turn to the window again. “Look, you have to start fighting your own battles. This is why you got bullied. I won’t always be there.”
He’s quiet. I try not to remind him, but it’s true. He has to start standing up for himself.
Another voice comes from the group outside. This one belongs to a boy too. “Lia’s so fat, her parents didn’t die, she ate them.” The silence that follows the insult settles in my gut like a heavy rock. Something about this joke bothers me.
I quickly climb up the chair again, glancing only briefly at Lucien’s angry reflection in the mirror before finding the girl outside. This time, instead of balled fists and the determination from before, I’m met with slumped shoulders and tear-filled eyes. I turn and jump down from the chair and start for the door.
“Seth, don’t do anything crazy.” Like that’s even an option. “Just help her.”
No one thought it was strange when I walked into this elementary school this morning. They didn’t bat an eye when I roamed the halls with my fake hall pass. They didn’t even notice when I slipped into the pedophile’s office. So, I know they won’t notice when I find my way outside to the playground with all the other kids.
I walk past the group of teachers with only one purpose, finding her. The girl with the cow tale skin and the cinnamon hair. I round the corner to where I know the office window is and find her still surrounded by the same group of kids.
She looks a lot different from the first time I saw her. Fat tears streak down her cheeks. Her lips tremble.
“Lia is so fat, she—” The tall kid with the mullet haircut never finishes his joke. My right hook cracks across his face, knocking him to the ground. Blood pours from his nose and he looks up at me with bulging, unblinking eyes.
“Hey, you can’t do that. I’m telling Mrs. Fischer,” the friend missing a tooth says.
He goes to run past me and I kick out my foot, causing him to fall to the ground. I’m on him faster than flies on dog shit. I connect my fist with his nose and feel the crunch of bone.
I rain down blow after blow until his face is a bloody mess beneath my fist. Small hands tug on my shirt. I reach back, ready to take down my new opponent, until my gaze connects with big brown eyes. The jerk beneath me uses my distraction to wiggle from under me and take off.
“Come on,” Brown eyes says, tugging at my shirt. I stand to go with her, the fog of the kill is still in my eyes. The Church calls the desire to kill a fog. Once the fog sets in, it’s hard for me to shake it off.
I allow the cow tale skinned girl to pull me away from the scene. We find ourselves behind a shed all the way at the back of the school, where the trees start to swallow up the playground. She’s out of breath as she places her hands on her knees.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She looks up at me through long eyelashes. She stands up straight and smiles. I still don’t understand why Lucien thinks she’s beautiful, but her smile is nice.
“I’m fine, are you okay? Where did you learn to fight like that?” I watch her closely. She isn’t disgusted by what she saw, unlike those kids the last time. I shake my head to toss the memory away.
“I learned it at church.”
She frowns, I don’t like it. “The only thing I learn at church is old gospel songs and if you laugh when Mr. Thomas falls asleep in the middle of service, you get pinched.”
I smile. I don’t know why.
“Thanks for defending me.” She looks away before turning back to me. “Grams said I should ignore them because half their mamas don’t know who their daddies are, but it felt good to get some payback.”
She looks down at her black and white shoes.
“You shouldn’t let them call you names. If you want, I can kill them for you?”
She lifts her eyes back to mine, her puffy looking lips are slightly open and her breathing is a bit labored. I think I must have said the wrong thing. I wish Lucien were here, he would say nice things to her.
High pitched laughter draws my attention back to her. She’s laughing now and I don’t like the way it makes me feel. I’ve never had this feeling before.
“You’re funny. I’m Malia Parks, but everyone calls me Lia.” She holds out a hand toward me. I eye it suspiciously before placing my hand in hers.
That feeling gets stronger—the one I’m new to, the one I don’t like.
“You’re supposed to tell me your name.” She giggles. I dislike the sound more than the laugh.
“I’m Seth.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Seth.” She releases my hand and I stare down at it, wondering why it feels so cold suddenly.
“You have pretty eyes.” The smile on her face is different from the one earlier, and her face takes on a red hue.
Her words catch me off guard and I find myself with nothing to say. Which is new for me. Lucien will find this funny.
“Are you new to this school? We can be friends.” The hopefulness in her voice has me looking up at her again.
I take a step closer to her and she doesn’t shy away like most kids our age. Usually they run from me, they don’t like my eyes. They say there’s something strange about them, but Lia likes them.
“You don’t have a lot of friends?”
Again, her eyes drop to her shoes, while she’s distracted, I reach out to play in her hair. The long ropy twists are soft and they smell good. When she looks up at me this time, her face has that red color again and she’s smiling in the way that’s different from before.
“Not really,” she says on a sigh. “Grams says it’s because I’m nine but read at an eleventh-grade level. She says dumbass kids don’t know how to handle an intelligent black girl, but I don’t think that’s why.”
“What do you think?”
She glances at me briefly before finding a spot over my head. “I think it’s because I look like this.”
I take the time to look at her. To see what she sees. Her round face with full cheeks and plump lips, those brown eyes that turn up, and a button nose with skin the same color as peanut butter.
“My brother thinks you’re beautiful.” I don’t know why I blurt the words out, but I do. Her breathing stops and her upturned eyes widen.
“Me?” she asks the question as if she doesn’t believe it. I release her cinnamon colored hair and place my hands back at my side.
“Yes.”
“Um.” She clears her throat before continuing. “Where is your brother?”
“Hiding, he’s extremely shy.”
“Oh.” Her forehead creases. “Well, can you tell him I said thank you.”
I shrug. “Yeah okay, Candy Girl.”
She giggles again. “Candy Girl?”
I nod. “Yeah. You remind me of candy.”
I wasn’t trying to make her smile, but she does and I don’t feel bad about it.
“Lia,” a female calls out. “Malia Parks.” I peek around the shed to find a woman in a cardigan with her back to me. She’s looking for Lia, but not in this direction.
“I better go, Mrs. Fischer gets mad if we don’t line up right away. You better find your teacher too.” She turns to leave, but quickly turns back to face me, she tugs at her dress with her small hands. “Can we play again tomorrow?”
I watch her for a moment, taking my time before I answer. I won’t be here tomorrow. My job is done.
At some point today, the secretary will come back in from her lunch break and realize the principal has been stabbed thirty-six times in honor of his thirty-six victims, but those wounds were minor compared to the slit of his throat. The school will shut down for the rest of the week due to the emotional impact on the kids. The Church told me all of this, they even told me if someone asks this question, I should lie and say yes. However, I wish it wasn’t a lie.
“Yes,” I say with a nod.
She leans in and places a kiss on my cheek. That new emotion burns through me and locks my limbs in place. She then quickly spins around on her shoes and rushes off. I stand there, behind the shed, my heart pounding against my chest, watching the girl with the cow tale skin and the cinnamon hair walk away. My candy girl.
“Twin,” Priest’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts, and I turn to face him. His hands are in his pockets and he’s watching me with one brow lifted. “Time to go,” he demands.
I turn back to the direction she ran off in. For the first time since the Church recruited me, I wanted something other than the kill. I want the candy girl. I tak
e a step toward her.
“No,” Priest’s command cracks like a whip, causing me to turn back to him. I narrow my eyes, he plans to keep me from her.
“Don’t make me do it, Seth.” The threat in Priest’s voice only increases the fog. I take another step away from him, back to where she ran off.
Priest sighs. “Fuck.” He pulls out his whistle and blows it twice. I growl and reach for Priest, but my brother appears, like he’s trained to and steps in between myself and Priest.
“You can’t, brother,” Lucien says. “You can’t have her.”
At those words, I stop fighting.
Chapter 1
Defending Herself
Malia
* * *
Twenty-Four years later…
“Let me get this straight,” I start, staring in confusion at the balding white man, sitting across from me. “Emory is being suspended because she stood up for herself?”
I can feel my blood starting to boil. The audacity of this man. I’m trying to stay professional. I don’t want to be that person, you know, the one they label as the angry black mother. However, they are about to meet the real Malia Parks.