Se connecterThe next morning, I sat in front of the video conference screen in the study. I was wearing one of Julian’s suits—black, severe, perfectly tailored. I looked the part. The screen flickered to life. The Vane Corp board of directors sat around a long table in New York. They looked somber, frightened, and greedy. "Mr. Thorne," the Chairman, a man named Sterling, said. "Where is Mr. Vane? The reports are... confused." "Julian is dead," I said, keeping my voice flat. Murmurs erupted around the table.
The helicopter rose into the night sky, the rotors chopping the air into a deafening rhythm. Below us, the Vane headquarters was a torch, a pillar of fire lighting up the London skyline. The sub-basement lab was gone, incinerated by Marcus’s charges. Arthur, Evelyn, the experiments—all reduced to ash and memory.I sat in the back, the unconscious girl—Zero—draped across my lap. She was shivering, her skin pale as milk, her wet hair clinging to her neck like dark seaweed.She’s cold, Julian thought, the sensation a prickle of concern against my mind.She’s been in a tank for god knows how long, I replied, stripping off my jacket an
"Not trapped," Evelyn’s voice came over the intercom again. "Evolved. Welcome to the family, Elias."She's watching us, Julian said. She’s in the control room.Where?Up there. I looked up. There was an observation deck overlooking the tank. A silhouette stood behind the glass.I raised the gun I had picked up in the office."Come out, Evelyn!"The silhouette laughed. The door to the observation deck opened. Evelyn walked out. She was holding a remote."You have the company," she said. "You have the body. But you have no idea what you've become.""I became the monster you made me," I yelled back."No," she said. "You became the God I wanted Julian to be. But you... you're better. Because you're two. And now, with Arthur in the network... we are three."She pressed a button on the remote.The green liquid in the tank began to drain."What are you doing?""Waking her up," Evelyn said. "Arthur wants a body. Zero wants to play. And I want to see if you can survive the reunion."The tank e
I stared at the reflection, my heart hammering a frantic, triple-time rhythm. My left hand—the hand that had shattered the glass—was trembling violently. Blood dripped from my knuckles onto the pristine white marble of the bar, bright red against the cold stone."Get out," I thought, trying to project the command with the same force Julian used. "Get out of my head."The reflection smiled. It was a slow, oily stretch of lips that didn't belong to me. It was Arthur’s smile. Cruel. Arrogant. Dead."Get out?" Arthur spoke through my mouth, his voice a raspy layer over my own. "I’m not a visitor, boy. I’m the landlord. This body... it’s Vane blood. My blood. It called to me when the soul left the shell."He’s lying, Julian’s voice cut through the panic, sharp and cold. He’s latching onto the residual psychic energy of the Panacea. Don't listen to him."Julian," I whimpered aloud. "Make him stop."Fight him, Elias. He’s weak. He’s just an echo. A leftover imprint from when we touched him i
The Vane London headquarters was a brutalist spire of glass and steel that stabbed into the grey underbelly of the London sky. It looked less like a place of business and more like a mausoleum for ambition. As I stepped out of the black cab, the dual heartbeat in my chest seemed to sync with the thrum of the city a frantic, living rhythm that only I could hear.I smoothed the lapels of my suit. It was Julian’s suit, tailored to his frame, but it fit me perfectly now. The Panacea had done more than just cure the poison; it had rewritten our biology. I stood taller. My vision was sharper. And in the back of my mind, Julian was a constant, coiled presence, a second set of eyes watching the world through mine.Relax, Julian’s voice echoed in my head. It wasn't a sound, but a vibration against my frontal lobe. You look like you’re attending a funeral. Our funeral.It feels like one, I thought back, the mental pathway strange and slippery, like trying to walk on oil. Your mother is in there
Arthur lunged, the knife flashing in the sterile light of the vault. He moved with the speed of a desperate man, but to me, he was moving through molasses.I didn't dodge. I didn't flinch.I caught his wrist.The shock on Arthur’s face was comical. He expected soft skin and weak bone. Instead, his grip met steel. I felt the tendons in his wrist grind together under my fingers. It was a satisfying sensation—a wet, crunchy pop.Snap.Arthur screamed, dropping the knife. It clattered to the floor."You're...," he gasped, clutching his ruined hand, backing away. "You're not him.""No," I said. My voice didn't sound like mine. It was deeper, resonant with a harmonic overtone—a second voice layered perfectly beneath the first. Julian’s voice. We spoke together. "He was the vessel. We are the god."I picked up the knife. The handle felt warm, as if it was an extension of my own arm. I looked at the blade, seeing my reflection. My eyes were glowing gold, the pupils slit like a predator's."Do
His room was bigger than mine, with a king-sized bed that dominated the space and floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the backyard. The morning sun streamed in, making everything feel too bright, too exposed.He reached for the remote on his nightstand and pressed a button. Automated blinds de
My heart rate picked up, anticipation and a hint of nervousness warring inside me. "What do you want to try?""Answer the question first. Do you trust me?"I thought about it seriously. We'd only known each other for a day, which should have made the answer an automatic no. But something about him,
I woke up to sunlight streaming through my window and the unfamiliar weight of an arm draped across my waist.For a moment, I forgot where I was. Then everything from last night came rushing back. Dante. His mouth. His hands. His cock inside me.Oh god. What had I done?I was sore in places I'd nev
The kitchen smelled like pancakes and coffee. Elena was at the stove, Dad was checking his phone, and there was no sign of Dante."Morning, honey," Elena said brightly. "Pancakes?""Sure, thanks." I tried to sound normal, not like I'd just had my stepbrother's cock inside me an hour ago."Have you







