Marked: A Two Halves Novella Read Online Free PDF

kissed
her on the cheek and stepped through the lifted spell, its remnants fogging the
doorway.
    The love birds were smooching when I entered. “Get a room.”
    “Tempting.” Eric kept his eyes on Mira. I recognized the
lust on his face and thought of last night with Xela.
    “You’re the one who’s supposed to mark us? Why?” I
challenged.
    “I’m not the one who’s going to mark you, but I know which
mark you ought to have.” Eric shut Ma’s spell book and returned it to the side
table.
    “How?” I crossed my arms at my front.
    “Because I’m just like you.”
    “You’re a shifter?” I stepped closer, re-examining the
evil-bender.
    “No, I’m a watcher, but we come from the same breed.”
    Mira jumped off his lap to stand beside me. She mimicked my
posture of a probing investigator. I liked this part of being a shape-shifting
twin—Mira always had my back and I had hers. In a conversation about our
future, we were both involved, supporting each other.
    “How do you know?” she asked.
    “It’s my job to know. I work for the keepers, and we come
from the keepers.”
    “Come from the keepers?” Mira repeated. “So we don’t have
parents?”
    “You do.” Eric looked toward the kitchen, then lifted his
finger before I interrupted. “No one abandoned you. Being left in the woods was
necessary for you do develop the required skills and emotional barriers to
become watchers. Protect the innocent, hunt and kill the tainted. It’s the
reason you cannot control your feelings. Our essence comes from a range of
experiences to later fulfill our purpose in this world, or the one beneath us.”
    I’d known what Eric was talking about since my first memory,
but being in the human form and juggling emotions differently than other
mammals came at a price: self-doubt. The need to belong, to know where you came
from, was greater. Now we had to control our feelings, instead of letting them
guide us and we weren’t sure how. Many creatures set out on their life journey
without parents; why couldn’t we? Turtles, fish, crab—even birds leave their
nest as soon as they can fly and find food.
    “And you’re sure that’s the mark we’re supposed to bear?” I
pointed to his wrist.
    “Yes.” He stood up from the chair like a soldier, nodding.
    Mira contained the squeal I heard in my mind. And I was
happy for her, really. But what did that mean for me? Finally I’d be marked,
but was that the mark I wanted? Would it prevent me from being with Xela?
    “It’s for the greater good of the species. Humans, vampires,
and warlocks all depend on us. It’s the path you need to take to be happy. The
happiness may not come right away; it may take years, decades, even centuries,”
he added, as if he knew my decision to be a good guy would mark the end of me
and Xela.
    “So we don’t have a choice.”
    “I’m sorry, Xander. But sometimes it’s not about choices.
It’s about fate—though your fate will be decided through your choice. You will
choose when the time is right.”
    I snorted. “What kind of a choice is it, if it’s already
decided?”
    “It’s not decided. I’m only telling you what I feel you will
choose, and my intuition hasn’t betrayed me yet.”
    “Do you know who will mark us?” I asked.
    “No.” Eric shook his head. “It’s been a long time since a
marking has been done and it’s different for everyone.”
    I relaxed my muscles. How would I break this to Xela? Would
she still want me as much as I wanted her?
    I retreated to my room, promising myself that whatever was
decided, I would make every effort possible to stay with Xela. It would be my
decision whether to see her, even if she hurt me, because I knew she wouldn’t.
What Ma saw in her spell didn’t matter.
    The night dragged. I lay on my mattress, fiddling with the
white gem between my fingers. Mira and Eric tried to be discreet, but when
their moans intensified, I had to press my hands to my ears. Their leaving
didn’t