On Mother’s orders.
I have only seen Mother, the Alpha Shadow Queen KalaKant, along with her Beta consort and Omega King, eight times. She appeared to celebrate each of my birthdays.
She was regal, aloof, and formidable.
I have never met my large number of brothers, sisters, and half-brothers.
My twin and I have been raised alone in Mother’s ancestral village far from court.
I never believed that it was because I was special. I always knew that it was because I was cursed — the freak who could talk to and control animals.
The only freak in the kingdom who could also shift into them.
Yet I didn’t think that my twin and I would be betrayed like this.
Did Mother ever love us?
I fight to keep the tears from falling down my cheeks.
Yet why not only sacrifice me? I’m the one who is cursed with The Power.
The outcast. Beast. Monster.
My brother is innocent.
On the other hand, I was born wicked.
I clasp Lazarus’ small hand in mine, dragging him further along behind the polished white limestone of the pyramid.
Glimmering moonlight catches on the gleaming surface of the tomb, which is carved with lotuses. The moths fly up like a second moon above the dagger-like tip of the pyramid.
The stars are sharp in the silky black sky.
Lazarus and I have reached the sacred heart of the village. The spirits of our ancestors are alive here. I feel their shades like spiderwebs against my skin.
Will they keep us safe?
Do they at least love and watch over us like the myths say?
I peer at the flat roofs of stone houses in the distance, as well as the road through it, which leads to the capital, Sheut. Suspiciously, no villagers are strolling through the streets, working in the market, or calling to each other from open windows.
It is eerily quiet and still.
Suddenly, I hear movement in the shadows behind me.
My heart rate spikes.
I twirl around, pushing my brother behind me.
“Who is it?” Lazarus whispers, wrapping his arms around my neck. His body is as warm and familiar against mine, as his incense scent is. “What secret? What trick?Tell me.”
My breathing is ragged. Fear and adrenaline race through me.
I hush Lazarus urgently.
I strain to listen, squinting through the dark with my wine-red eyes.
For long, terrifying moments, I can hear nothing but my own pounding heartbeat.
