up, and he started off towards the stairs. As quietly as he could he inched his way down them. As he neared the second floor landing he heard Evelyne and Michael talking in low tones in their bedroom.
“...we’ve only three weeks before the sixth cycle of the full moon. The boy must transform before the cycle. Once his
transformation is complete we must commence with the ceremony on the full moon. When the moon is at its full power their powers will be strong, and pure. We need that purity. If either of them realize their full powers we’ll never be able to get them to the ceremony. They’ll discern our thoughts as we think them. Never forget to clear your mind of all thoughts before you interact with them Evelyne. We’ve only this one chance. If we do not succeed the last fifteen cycles of our lives will have been for nothing. We would be complete failures to The Order. We must move them tonight. Asrah is destined to make it back to Amatia Prime and tells their father where they are. We know the King of Swords will come here, and his fate will meet him when he does, and I want no chance of him finding the twins here.”
He stopped breathing. He inched his way back up the stairs, hoping that each step he took would not alert Evelyne or Michael that he’d been eavesdropping on their conversation. They continued to speak, but Tyler had heard enough. His eyes were narrowing, and his body was swelling. He felt the heat rushing to his
fingertips, and he clenched his hands into fists. He needed to wake Lily up, and they needed to get out of there as fast as they could.
He reached the landing and walked softly back to his room. He opened the door, and prayed that it would not make a sound. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks as the door slid soundlessly open. He hurried to the bed, and knelt on the floor next to his sister’s sleeping form. For one moment he wished he could spare her the details of what he’d heard, but she had more than a right to know. She’d been right last night to distrust Michael. He’d known his sister’s power of intuition was strong, but even he didn’t think she’d thought they meant to murder them. His head was reeling with the knowledge that his father was still alive. They’d always been told that their father was dead, and Tyler hoped with all of his heart that their father would want them back. It seemed as if someone knew that they were alive and in Charleston, and was going to tell their father, but he couldn’t wait on a rescue when he and Lily were in so much danger. He didn’t know what they were yet, but they were obviously something. Something that someone wanted to get their hands on desperately.
I
felt Tyler shaking me awake, and I
heard his voice whisperin’ in my ear that I was bein’ as lazy as I’d ever been in my life, and if I didn’t wake up he was gonna dump some cold water on me. That got my eyes popped open, and for just a second I stared at him in
amazement. He looked different. He looked as if he’d filled out overnight. His shirt rippled across his chest, and almost looked like he was about to rip on out of it. I giggled, and covered my mouth with my hand.
“Tyler, not sure if you looked in the mirror or not, but you look like you’re wearin’ a shirt that’s five sizes too small for you.” He looked down, and then looked at his arms. He flexed, and his mouth popped open as actual muscles rose up to say hello. His blue eyes flashed with genuine surprise before he leveled a stern gaze at me.
“Hello Mr. Biceps. Look at you,” I smirked. I was kind of amused, but then remembered my own transformation the night before, and raised my hand to my hair. “What am I gonna do about this hair, Ty?”
“I don’t think you should do anything about it right now, Lily. You need to get up and get dressed. We gotta go right now. I need to tell you somethin’.”
That got my attention, and I sat up. I realized that I had fallen asleep in Tyler’s bed
Juliet E. McKenna
Charity Ayres
Ruth Thomas
Ron Roy
Greil Marcus
Marysol James
Delia Parr
Maile Meloy
Damage Control
Brian Ruckley