carving his face off with a knife that they realised what had been happening right under their noses. Banding together in their hatred of their parents, the brothers vowed to protect Khalid from them, and so they did, taking their wrath so he did not. But it was too late, the boy was changed—darker, angrier, and filled with a deadly hatred that only his brothers seemed to be able to calm. When in these rages, his face would change, and so the parents were happy. The brothers grew and followed orders, always staying together, winning many wars and battles throughout the years. However, they became tired of the restraints. After that, a plan was formed, but a few days before they were going to run away, the brothers suffered a great loss. The human they had adopted as a sister was killed, tossed into the fires of hell by their parents to show the brothers they would never be free of them. Enraged, the brothers killed their parents and, filled with grief for their lost sister, they wandered into the world alone.
I don’t even realise I’m crying until a tear drops to the page. Lifting my head, I wipe them away as my lips tremble. Oh my fucking god. Below my sadness for the man I’ve met is anger, a fucking hatred for those parents and what they put him through. No wonder he never wears his face, he probably fears not using his powers, morphed by their torture and pain. Deep inside, my soul shudders for him, wanting to wrap around him and never let another hurt him again. But wasn’t I going to do just that? Turn him over to the council?
How can I now?
He’s just as broken as I am. Betrayed by those he loved and trusted, walking this world alone to protect himself. Hunting and killing—the only thing he knows how to do.
We are two halves of the same whole.
Shutting the book, unable to read any more, I put it back, and the tugging starts again. “Fucking hell,” I mutter, and decide to let it lead me to wherever it wants me to go just so it will leave me alone. It stops me before a row of scrolls, and I look the dusty, ancient papers over. “What, asshole? No sign saying this one? Don’t make it easy on me or anything,” I grumble as I run my hands over the rows, starting at the bottom. About halfway up, I stop over one that seems to pulse with energy.
Okay then.
Pulling it out, I carefully unroll it, the paper heavy in my hands and feeling very important. It has a number at the top and a prophecy written under it. Great. I run my eyes over it, and at the end, I freeze. It’s about the end of the world, and there is a diagram of a man lying on the floor at the base of some stairs, and above him, on the top step, is a woman. But below them both is a circle of twelve people. Six men, six women. All there with magic surrounding them. A wolf. A dragon… Fuck.
Are these the brothers? Who are the women, and what does this mean?
Am… Is Khalid supposed to stop the end of the world?
And why do my eyes catch on to the figure next to him? The female figure with clawed hands, a long, skinny body, and horns reaching up to the air…just like my creature?
Holy fuck.
“Amore?” comes the yell, so I roll the scroll up and put it back, stepping away.
Nope, fuck that.
The universe should have called spoiler alert or some shit on that. Head down, I hurry through the stacks, letting the feeling of always knowing where Khalid is pull me until I’m before him. He frowns when he sees me, and I swallow, my eyes going to the Librarian, who sighs before standing with a nod.
“Hmm, interesting,” he murmurs. “Okay then.” He turns around and starts digging through a drawer as Khalid steps towards me, his expression worried.
“What happened? Are you okay?” he asks seriously, his concern evident in his voice. I stare at him, unable to help it. After knowing his life…how could I hate him?
“Fine,” I rasp, and he steps closer, pressing against me and tipping my chin back with a finger as he searches my face.
“Liar. What did you see, amore?” he murmurs.
“Here,” the Librarian interrupts, thrusting a hand between us until we stumble back. In his grasp is a