Discern (41 page)

“Haley, that’s a little drastic, and I don’t think it would work anyway,” Andrew said as he turned back to me.

“I have to know,” I said.

“Top drawer,” Andrew said, pointing to the kitchen.

Although I had suggested it, I was a little surprised by his quick reaction. Alec turned the corner from the kitchen. He stood across the room, far, far away from me. “Aim low,” I croaked.

“Haley, relax, I can heal you if the bullet does penetrate your skin,” Andrew reminded.

As I stared down the barrel of the gun, I couldn’t help but wonder how I had ended up here. “But you can’t prevent the pain,” I muttered.

“The pain would only last for a few seconds,” Andrew assured.

Alec aimed the gun low. “Are you ready?” he asked softly.

“Yes,” I said, feeling the need to close my eyes again—but I couldn’t—I needed to watch the bullet. If I could see it, then I would be safe.

The trigger clicked, and I anxiously watched for the release of the bullet. I sighed in relief as it moved slowly, just as the other two objects before it. It dropped onto the floor before reaching my body.

I stared at the golden colored bullet. If a human had been holding the gun, then I would be in pain and bleeding. But he was no human. In fact, none of these men were, neither in their appearance nor their abilities.

“It’s amazing!” Andrew gasped as he came to my side.

“It isn’t,” I challenged.

“And why not?”

“I might have protection from your kind, but a human could easily end my life,” I said, frustrated by my over analysis of the situation. I should be thrilled that these mystical creatures could not stop my heart from beating, but no, I chose to worry.

“I’m not concerned about humans harming you,” Andrew said confidently. “I can stop them.”

“You can’t stop the inevitable from happening,” I said. “One day I’ll die.”

“Not if I have a choice in the matter,” he said stiffly.

“Andrew, that’s a bold thought,” Alec said.

“She could never be one of us,” Holden noted.

“Not at this very moment, but I see things panning out a little differently in the near future,” Andrew explained.

Alec instantly flashed a look of disapproval at Andrew.

“What book?” Holden asked.

Their telepathic communication was irritating, but at least they seemed to speak aloud every once in while so I could keep up.

“Andrew, we don’t know if it’s authentic,” Alec said.

“It has to be,” Andrew said excited. “No mortal was privy to that information.”

“What book?!” Holden interrupted.

Andrew looked over at Holden. “Father’s journal,” he replied.

“You found it?” Holden asked.

“We believe we’ve found it,” Alec corrected.

“No, we have found it,” Andrew insisted.

“Where?” Holden asked shocked.

All eyes were on me. “Haley possesses it,” Alec said cautiously.

Holden rolled his eyes. “You’re joking, right?”

“No,” Andrew said sternly. “Haley’s mother obtained the book the day she found out she was pregnant with her.”

“Seriously?” Holden doubted.

“Yes.” I spoke cautiously.

“What does it say?” Holden asked curiously.

“You can read it for yourself,” Andrew said. “But we’ll have to retrieve it from Haley’s house.”

“What are we waiting for, let’s go?” Holden smirked.

“You can’t go in her house,” Alec smirked back.

“Why not?”

“Only I can enter her residence,” Andrew boasted.

Holden shook his head. “This is a lot to digest,” he said, flashing a quick glance over at me.

“We don’t know if it’s real.” Alec’s voice deepened. “It could be a trap.”

“Set by whom?” Andrew glared at Alec.

“What if the book was to test our loyalty to our parents,” Alec suggested.

“No, it was never meant to be found,” Andrew disagreed.

“No simple mortal would’ve been able to hide it,” Alec challenged.

“Haley’s no simple mortal. And a week ago you would’ve never believed a mortal possessed the ability to set you on fire.” Andrew flashed a wicked smile.

“It does seem a little odd that this journal would be in the hands of a mortal with unbelievable abilities,” Alec noted.

“What if father created her to test our loyalty?” Holden asked.

“Impossible,” Andrew replied angrily. “She doesn’t look like us.”

“That’s true,” Alec agreed.

“Her eyes may not be crystallized, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a creation of him,” Holden challenged. “I’m actually very surprised to see they’re not yet,” he said suggestively.

“Don’t speak about her that way!” Andrew shouted.

“I’m just saying the love you speak about for her hasn’t driven you to that point yet?” Holden asked.

“You don’t understand love. Neither of you do,” Andrew said, gritting his teeth.

“What point?” I asked. “And why would my eyes ever be crystallized?” I asked in horror.

“I’ll explain later,” Andrew said softly.

“The only way we would ever know the truth is to bring her to him,” Holden suggested as he eerily glared down at me.

“Never!” Andrew shouted.

“Listen, if she’s not his creation then he couldn’t touch her, but if she was his creation then he would applaud our allegiance to him,” Holden explained.

“That’s an awful idea.” Alec rolled his eyes.

My body trembled. Andrew flew to my side, wrapping his warm arms around me. His lips lightly brushed against my ear. “Nothing’s going to happen.”

I leaned my forehead against his chest. “I’ll go,” I said softly, avoiding any eye contact.

His warm thumb guided my chin upward, no longer allowing my avoidance. Our eyes met. “You aren’t going anywhere near my father.”

“I’ll have to one day,” I sighed.

“Not today,” he insisted, turning to his brothers. “She isn’t his creation, end of suggestion.” His voice was sharp.

“I hope you’re right,” Holden said.

“I am right.” Andrew said sternly. “None of this is his doing—the book or Haley. The book describes his hatred for us. He desires death for all of his children so they, our parents, can once again regain their rule over Earth.”

“Why would they want us to die?” Holden asked.

“They blame us for their inability to rule. If they can convince the creator that we’re to blame for the foolish acts in the past, he’ll destroy us, leaving them in power once more.” Andrew’s eyes were blood red and his voice angry as he described what he believed to be the truth.

“It does make sense with our current objectives,” Alec agreed.

“They’d be just as accountable as us,” Holden disagreed, shifting his body.

“How?” Alec questioned.

“It’s their orders that led us down this path,” Holden stated.

“They won’t have any blood on their hands. Only we children will be responsible for carrying out these atrocities to humankind,” Andrew explained.

“And after destroying most of the mortal population, would our creator believe our cries of innocence? When our parents would deny their involvement?” Alec asked with a look of disgust.

“All of us have detailed plans to execute, but what’s their involvement, other than giving us our orders?” Andrew asked.

“Who do you think is controlling the Asian continent?” Holden smirked.

“Have you received any updates or intelligence on what those countries are planning?” Andrew asked.

“No,” Holden said, shaking his head.

“Why not? The rest of us must divulge our intelligence and create doubt within our assigned area’s governments,” Andrew sneered. “We’re being played.”

“Andrew’s right. Our father wouldn’t plant this book and mortal girl to be discovered at this point in our mission. It would be too risky. It could possibly shake our trust, as it has, and ultimately ruin the plans,” Alec agreed.

“What if his plans aren’t to have us destroyed? And this whole mission was to unite us?” Holden asked.

“Unite us for what?” Andrew’s forehead furrowed.

“So the creator would see our changes and grant us our rule once more.” Holden’s eyes glowed amber, as if this thought gave him great pleasure.

“We all unite to destroy humanity, and he would see this as commendable? The one objective he set for us not to disobey?” Andrew scoffed. “You’re foolish.”

The amber color quickly faded in Holden’s eyes, and his body language was that of a discouraged child. “I guess I am,” he sighed heavily.

“We all are, brother,” Alec said softly as he cautiously placed his hand on Holden’s shoulder, but only for a moment before returning to his previous location.

The room was quiet as these creatures mulled over their parents’ true intentions. Losing a parent is hard, as I know from experience, but finding out that they have no love for you is a pain that I was not accustomed to. My mother was sick at the end of her life, but no matter how badly it ended, she never really stopped loving me.

“This is all so unnerving and unsettling,” Holden spoke, breaking the silence.

“The pain and anger will subside fairly quickly. But determining which side you will stand on when this comes to a head will be more difficult,” Andrew explained, as he stared at Holden.

I couldn’t understand at first why choosing sides would be so difficult. It seemed like a no brainer for Holden. He definitely could not trust his parents as they were setting them up for certain annihilation. But I remembered their lack of trusting one another throughout history.

My heart ached for these creatures, which seemed unnatural, as they were obvious predators of humanity—but somewhere deep within them, they yearned for the same feelings that humans do. Andrew was the perfect example. He longed for my love and well being, so the others must have this same ability. Maybe they just hadn’t allowed themselves to feel what Andrew was feeling. Or maybe their true love was yet to be discovered.

“Yes, I can’t trust in your alliance until I’ve seen the book for myself,” Holden spoke.

“I’ll retrieve it, but Haley will hold it,” Andrew explained.

‘Why must I hold the book?” I asked.

“Insurance,” Andrew said, flashing an unusual look at Alec.

Alec glanced over at me, holding one finger to his lips. I assumed I was to remain quiet about the book’s ability to burn his kind.

“We have trust issues,” Holden smirked.

“You won’t run,” I half-smiled.

“How can you be so sure?” Holden asked, raising one brow with intrigue.

“You haven’t yet, and where would you run to?” I asked.

“He could easily run to our parents or the other siblings and expose our concerns,” Alec answered quickly.

“He would’ve already done so,” I challenged, as I ignored the glares from both Andrew and Alec.

“Don’t be so naïve,” Andrew said, gritting his teeth.

I shot a quick, nasty look at Andrew. “He hasn’t,” I said firmly.

“No, I haven’t,” Holden agreed.

“But he easily could,” Alec spoke.

“At some point, all of you must learn to trust one another if you truly desire to discern the truth,” I said.

“Trust takes time,” Andrew said sternly.

“We don’t have a lot of time, so let’s not waste it,” I said.

“She’s right. Retrieve the book so we can allow Holden to make his decision,” Alec instructed.

Andrew gestured for my hand. “I’ll stay here,” I said casually, throwing a small smile his way.

“No way,” he said as he reached for my hand.

I remained seated, pulling my hand away. “I’m fine here with them,” I insisted. “Besides you’ll only be gone for a minute or two.”

“I don’t trus…,” he stopped. “Haley, I’m not ready to leave you here alone with them,” he said, rephrasing his words.

“They can’t hurt me,” I reminded.

“She’ll be fine here with us,” Alec said, flashing a quick smile.

“I won’t be long,” Andrew huffed.

“I’ll be fine,” I insisted.

Andrew leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “Burn them if they come near you,” he whispered in my ear.

I pushed him away. “I’ll be fine,” I said, now gritting my teeth.

“Better be,” he said.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

“Don’t blame him for being over protective,” Alec smiled as he leaned up against the wall.

“But you can’t touch me, and he knows this,” I said, shaking my head, still irritated with his lack of even trying to trust his brothers.

“We could alert the others, but we really aren’t sure about all of your abilities yet,” Alec said cautiously.

“He’s right to worry,” Holden added.

“But you won’t,” I insisted.