Prologue
Sharing my body with another soul, and one with a conniving, sociopathic mind, has not been fun.
I wonder if my Creature experiences the same frustrations—not having full control of your actions, the constant disconnect between mind and body, the lurking fear that the other part of you has done something unexpected (and in my case, unexpectedly vile and Machiavellian) that you would have to answer to…
But of course my Creature knows this feeling. It must experience these headaches to an exponential degree given its countless forms.
Here’s the difference: my forms are shared with an entirely other soul. Completely separate from myself.
Someone I mistrust.
Who could very well be a formidable foe, even though our interests are currently aligned (for the most part).
And let’s be clear, I can be just as, if not more, conniving and Machiavellian.
What I don’t appreciate is surprises.
Wan’er, or whoever she really is, has her own agenda to pursue, using a physical shell that we now share. What keeps me on tender hooks is that I don’t know what her ultimate goal is.
There’s a nihilistic tendency to her that is…disturbing.
Coming from me, Anunit Salamu, or as I am known in modern times, Anu Medusa, that’s saying something.
When we were separate entities, she was a disposable pawn I could crush at any moment. Now that we are irrevocably linked, she is a disease I cannot eradicate no matter how I wish to.
What we have is far removed from a symbiotic relationship. It is only a matter of time before the parasite eats the host, or, Dark Goddess willing, the host (me) consumes the parasite.
She knows things…
She holds knowledge that I suspect is more powerful than my own accumulated store. This is what I fear the most.
If she is to be believed, she is the “majority share holder” of our evil enterprise (in other words, our shared monster form—the Hydra).
It could be fifty-one percent to my forty-nine, but that two percent advantage gives her veto rights to decisions I want to make, actions I want to take. Further, when in Hydra form, if our enemies manage to lop my head off, according to Wan’er, I would be permanently snuffed out from the universe, while she has the ability to regenerate.
The bitch!
On the bright side, our humanoid forms are still distinct from one another.
My Dark One form is intact, though I’ve lost my original powers after the last battle with my darling little sister, Ishtar Anshar. Wan’er’s Pure One form is also intact, refreshed and renewed indefinitely without the expiration date she had before. We now have the greater powers of the Hydra even in our humanoid forms, and therefore that much harder to maim and kill.
I am still learning all of my new Gifts in my humanoid form, but suffice it to say they are substantial.
I wonder if she has new Gifts as well…
Unfortunately, she keeps her cards close to her vest. I ponder whether her slightly greater powers allow her to probe into my thoughts.
I shudder at the possibilities.
The prospect is like having tiny maggots crawling all over my skin, into my orifices, to one day consume every particle of my consciousness and scatter into the night in a swarm of flesh-eating flies.
The conniving, duplicitous bitch!
Speaking of split personalities, my Creature has been detained by the Pure Ones.
Of course I know this. I always know where it is, even if I don’t know the details of what it’s up to.
Its capture is unplanned but not necessarily unwelcome. Given its subversive, sneaky, ingenious ways, I have no doubt it will use its current position behind enemy lines to our best advantage.
And if it dares betray me by switching sides…
Well, with two fragments of my own soul embedded within its psyche, it will always be my Creature.
I made it. I can unmake it.
Its absence in my arsenal has an impact, however. I’ve had to take a much more hands-on approach to greasing the wheels of my multitude of schemes—
The continued expansion of vampire and human fight clubs.
The mass production of man-made vampires and animal shifters—all mindless foot soldiers in my war against the races.
The recruitment and turning of ancient, powerful Pure and Dark warriors.
The proliferation of vampire-killer weaponry, starting with those heat-seeking bullets, but there’s a lot more coming in the pipeline. For example, given the bullet’s sensor technology to isolate heat signatures and home in on specific targets, my engineering team can modify the specs to target Pure Ones and animal spirits as well.
The amassing of human political, military, law enforcement