Dark Destiny (Principatus) Read Online Free PDF

Ven had made it his mission to keep his kid brother safe, regardless of how many times Patrick told him he was being crazy.
    Tonight however, Patrick couldn’t deal with another lecture about being exposed. “I’ve had a shit day, Ven. I’m not in the mood. I’m alive. You should be happy.”
    “I am happy, brother. I’ve got a stiff bloody neck from that evil sofa of yours, but I’m happy. That still doesn’t change the fact my gut tells me you were in danger today.”
    Patrick rolled his eyes. “Here we go.”
    “Don’t ‘here we go’ me.” Ven pointed a finger at him, a sudden flash of iridescent yellow in his eyes as his demon reared close to the surface. “You know what I’m talking about and I’m getting fed up with you pretending otherwise. Jesus, you can see the future, mate. I saw you pick up the television remote control from the side table without moving a muscle.”
    “I can not see the future,” Patrick snapped, a dull red heat twisting in his chest. “I made a lucky guess as a kid about who was going to be the next prime minister and you turn me into some kind of freak.”
    “You also knew when and where Mum and Dad were going to die, the date and time of the attempted assassination of the Canadian deputy prime minister, and who was going to win the 1986 Soccer World Cup final.”
    “I was a dumb kid talking out of my arse.”
    “Well, that dumb kid’s arse sure knew a lot.” Ven’s eyes flashed yellow again. “And you still haven’t explained the remote control to me. Even after all these years.”
    Patrick scowled, turning away from his brother to stare out the kitchen window at the deepening night. He couldn’t explain the remote. Not to Ven. Not to himself.
    Confined to an armchair with a broken leg after a particularly nasty pushbike accident, the then twelve-year-old Patrick had wanted to change the channel on the television. The cordless remote, a new and wholly remarkable invention that young Patrick was totally enamored with, was on the lamp table beside him. Almost in his reach. Almost. All he needed to do was twist slightly at the waist, raise his butt an inch or two from the chair and lean over the padded armrest to retrieve it. An impossible task thanks to the thick, heavy cast covering his right leg from hip to toe.
    To this day, Patrick had no idea how the remote came to be in his hand. He remembered a pulling sensation in his gut, a prickling heat behind his ears and then Steven’s stunned “Bloody hell, brother! How’d you do that?” as the device slammed against his palm.
    The remote he couldn’t explain. But he wasn’t having that conversation now.
    Finishing his beer, he turned back to his brother. “I’m not talking about this, Ven.” He flicked his gaze over the other man, noticing a stretched tightness around his eyes. “Go feed. You look half-dead. Oh, wait a minute, you are dead.”
    Ven bared his teeth, fangs partly extended. “Funny bloody bugger, aren’t you.” Folding his arms across his chest, he leant back against the edge of the kitchen bench and crossed his ankles, a wicked glint in his eyes. “Amy’s been taking yoga lessons lately.” He licked his lips at the mention of his favorite “donor”. “Not only has it made her blood taste like pure ambrosia, her flexibility is now phenomenal. The other night she did this thing where she wrapped her thighs around my neck and I fed from her—”
    “Stop, stop, stop!” Patrick raised his hands in protest. “Do I look like someone who wants to hear about your sex life?”
    Ven grinned. “You look like an older version of me and I’m definitely the kind of person who would want to know about your sex life, so…yeah. You do.”
    Patrick shook his head, trying not to laugh. Ven was right on at least one count. They did look alike. True, he now looked the older brother, being thirty-six and inflicted with mortality while Ven was an eternal wrinkle-free twenty-seven. But apart from