Origins (A Black Novel, #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

admire your gift. It's so much better than mine.”
    “It's not that mine is better, it's just more useful. Yours can have its perks too.”
    “Sure, I can easily tell everything about someone just by touching them, but I can't influence anyone. That's where the real fun is.”
    “Stop your whining, Quin,” Galen snaps.
    I really could just snap his neck and keep going on with my day like nothing ever happened. Besides, it's not like it would kill him, unfortunately. In the end he'd get over it, I think smugly. Aloud I say,
    “What did you two do last night?”
    “Twins,” Galen replies. “It makes it so much more fun when one watches you kill the other. The look on her pretty little face as I sucked her sister dry was priceless. You guys should have been there.”
    “Mine passed out before I could enjoy it. I always pick the weak ones,” Quinton says grimly.

    “We are what we eat my friend,” Galen quips.
    Looking at Quinton now, I almost feel sorry for him. Almost. He has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. His parents and mine are friends and we were born within mere months of each other. Growing up he had been like a brother to me, only better. We have done everything together; from our first kill, to honing our gifts. Then I remember that there's no room in my life for pity, or weakness - survival of the fittest. If Quinton is going to last, he will have to toughen up.
    “So, what's the plan for tonight?” Quinton inquires, breaking through my thoughts.
    Mentally shrugging away the clinging remains of my youth, I turn towards him, saying, “Galen's club, of course.” Hours later find us lounging in the VIP section of Galen's nightclub sipping drinks and replaying the football game that had aired last night. Across the room a sudden movement catches my eye, and I glance up in time to see a tall brunette checking me out from across the dance floor. Catching my eye, she winks and motions for me to join her.
    “Later, boys,” I say mischievously, putting my drink down and standing. “I think I just found dinner.”
    “Good luck,” says Galen as I stroll away.
    “Luck, I don't need,” I call back over my shoulder.
    Striding forward, I smile as charmingly as I can muster, all the while thinking how this girl has no idea what she has just set in motion. As I near her, a look of shock registers across her pretty face and I know she had just gotten her first clear look at me. I flash her a sexy smile and step close. “Hello. I'm Vraiden.”

    “Um, Juel,” she stammers, quickly trying to recover her cool.
    I flash a wicked smile, noting with pleasure the way her eyes light up. “Well, Juel, what do you say we get out of here?”
    “Sure thing,” she says anxiously, as we head toward the exit.
    “Oh. My. God.” she breathes. “That's your car?!”
    “Yep,” I reply, slyly patting the cherry red hood.
    “A Porsche? This is just too good to be true. You're gorgeous, you're rich...You live with your parents, don't you?” she questions, wide eyed.
    “Nope.”
    “A mass murderer, then,” she jokes.
    “You have no idea,” I whisper as I jog around to my side. I hop in and take off toward my nearest apartment.

    “Why?” she asks, tears spilling from her wide, dark eyes and down her cheeks. Her once pretty brown hair is matted to her forehead and she is frantically clutching at the remains of her torn shirt.
    “Because I can,” I reply simply.

    “Please don't do this,” she begs, eyeing me wildly. “Please. I won't tell anyone, I promise. Please! I’m only nineteen! I have my whole life ahead of me!”
    “Correction: you had your whole life in front of you. That was before you walked into that bar and met me. Now you have about ten minutes left, maybe more if I decide to drag it out. I haven't made up my mind just yet.”
    “No,” she whimpers while curling up into a ball in the corner.
    “Please. My mom.. Please, God. No...”
    “Your God can't save you,” I say,