Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power

Darkness.

It was so thick, so absolute, that Kaden didn't even know if his eyes were open or closed and he doubted that knowing would help him anyway. He found himself standing on a strange stage, his body — if it was truly his — felt different.

There was something else to it. Something more, but also something less.

'Where am I?' Kaden thought, and then…

Light.

Not the sweet, warm light of summer that slips through the window and caresses your face as you sleep… no.

This light was searing, blinding, like the glare of a newborn star, and Kaden cursed inwardly as pain stabbed directly into his eyes.

He blinked rapidly, vision clearing little by little until shapes began to form. When they did, he froze.

He found herself.

'Herself…?'

That thought shot through his mind like lightning. He immediately looked down, trying to take in his — or rather, her — body.

An invisible shudder crawled up his spine like venom.

'Am I hallucinating?' he thought, unease gnawing at the edges of his awareness. He no longer had his own body. Instead, from what he could see, he was inhabiting the body of a woman.

A woman roughly his mother's age, by his guess. Her skin grey and smooth, reminiscent of the sea in Luke's mind space, wrapped in a grey robe so vast it seemed it could cover the entirety of Waverith and still spill over.

It looked ready to carpet the world.

He — she — sat upon a throne, its surface smooth and soft, like the skin of a newborn, like silk that clung to the senses.

The surroundings resembled a church, though fractured in places, with grey walls and a cracked floor unfolding before him in haunting symmetry. A forest of grey pillars surrounded the throne, each about eight feet tall, crowned with small grey flames that burned silently atop them.

Kaden sat transfixed, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. But he had no time to dwell on it, because soon…

He spoke.

No, she spoke.

The woman whose body he was inhabiting.

"******"

The word echoed like thunder across the silent space, and yet Kaden couldn't understand it. It was a sound, an ancient utterance, so alien that it made the air tremble.

Beside the disorienting feeling of being a spectator inside another's body, Kaden couldn't grasp the meaning behind what had been said.

He tried to see who the woman was speaking to, and what he saw froze his heart.

Luke Thornspire.

He was kneeling before her, dressed in grey priest's robes, the cap of his office hanging loose down his back. He was on all fours, head pressed to the cold floor as if wanting to kiss it, posture dripping with submission and reverence. Every motion radiated devotion.

At some point in their exchange, the woman — Kaden — lifted her right hand. It was long and elegant, her nails sharp and gleaming, a black ring resting on her middle finger.

The ring pulsed with grey light.

Something materialized in the air before her, then with a casual flick of her finger, she hurled it toward Luke.

It was ash-like grey parchment, riddled with black runic inscriptions. Instinctively, Kaden poured all his intelligence, Will, and perception into the markings, forcing himself to memorize every stroke.

He tried to read the runes, then scanned the place with perception to understand why it felt so familiar but then…

Darkness.

Kaden found himself swallowed by black again, only for light to flash seconds later. This time he was marginally prepared, the burn to his ocular nerves dulled by anticipation.

He opened his eyes into a damp, dim place where the air smelled of rot and metal, walls of steel rose around him and a shallow puddle of water kissed his feets.

Once more his body was not his, though he felt neither less nor more than before, and yet the weight between his legs felt oddly light. Or perhaps it was simply him.

His thoughts were cut by a voice he knew all too well.

"Now that's interesting." Brain appeared as if from nowhere, lowering the hood that hid his face, his blue eyes regarding Luke with thin amusement.

"Who would have thought you would seek me yourself. Do you want to kill your brother that badly, Luke?" His tone was mocking, dismissive, as if Luke were a worthless plebeian.

Kaden watched, brain scrambling to stitch meaning from the scene.

"If I were you, Brain, I wouldn't act all mighty," Luke answered, indifferent. "Don't forget, you need me for your plan to work."

'Plan? The superhuman plan? Kaden's mind raced through possibilities. Did Luke know of it?'

Luke continued, smiling, "I have the Grimoire of the Forbidden Alchemist with me. You'll need it if you want to succeed. And besides, you'll need me to inscribe those runic formations across Waverith for the big day."

He chuckled. "Or do you think you can do it alone? Be my guest." He shrugged, unconcerned.

Kaden's borrowed eyes widened at the revelation. Luke…inscribing the runic formation? And the Forbidden Alchemist's grimoire? What the hell was happening?

Brain's face darkened. He stared at Luke, his irises flaring with an eerie light, his displeasure was obvious.

"Before we talk about what you want, I have a question," Brain said, blue eyes flashing like twin circles of plasma in the gloom. "How do you know about our goals? Who told you?"

Luke cackled. "Who told me? Gods…Brain, this is your type of people. You people think yourselves clever than anyone else." He stepped forward, closing distance, voice venomous.

"You always assume everyone else is an idiot. Do you really think you're the only one with spies?"

His grin went wicked, red eyes glittered with malice.

"If that's what you think, you're a fool. Stop believing the gods blessed only you with intelligence, or you'll find yourself buried beneath the earth you disdain, amid the rotting corpses of plebeians, before you accomplish anything worth your time."

His voice was cold, then for a heartbeat his face softened into something almost amused, then he shifted back.

"Now," Luke said, spreading his hands, "give me your method to split consciousness and I will give you the method to split souls. Added to that, I want your puppet to take down my family so killing my brother becomes easier."

"You ask too much," Brain retorted.

"We're talking about the Grimoire of the Forbidden Alchemist," Luke shrugged. "I might even be the one losing here."

"Losing?" Brain scoffed. "Who are you trying to fool? I know you already have a copy hidden somewhere."

Luke's smile widened. "You're not so foolish, are you?"

Brain clicked his tongue and produced something from his space ring: a blue-bound book stamped with the Cerveau sigils on its cover. He handed it to Luke.

Luke, in turn, withdrew a book from his own ring…ancient, battered, cover red and tattered, a grinning maw painted on it with sharp teeth beneath, the ink pulsing with an immaculate black light that made it feel alive.

Kaden shuddered through the borrowed body at the sight of the book.

"You don't know me," Luke said as he pushed the grimoire to Brain. "You found this book in a Fokay, in a dungeon."

"Right, Brain? Lucky find, isn't it?"

Brain said nothing, accepting the volume with a neutral glance, then finally parted his lips.

"Why?" he asked. "What are your motives?"

Luke tilted his head, voice bright with false innocence. "Of course, to be Patriarch and lead the family to greatness."

"You're not fooling me," Brain replied. "You're not doing this to restore a fallen family."

Luke raised his hands in mock surrender. "You got me, Brain. But do you think I'll tell you my true goals?" He chuckled.

"I don't care much," Brain said. "But if your plan opposes mine…" His blue gaze turned cold. "Then don't expect mercy for this neat little transaction."

Luke's grin did not falter. "You worry for nothing, my dear." He paused, then spat out the words with a calm that made the air colder…

"I just want my brother dead."

"Why?" Brain asked. "What about your niece?"

Luke's grin widened until it matched the grin on the book, savage and hungry. "It's because of her that I must kill him."

"What—!"

Darkness.

Light.

Kaden's eyes fluttered open. This time, the light of the world was kept at bay by the two looming faces of two stunning women.

They stared down at him, eyes riddled with worry. And the moment they saw him stir, saw those blood-red eyes open once more…

"Are you okay, my love?"

"Damn me! You scared me, hero!"

They spoke at the same time, before both turned instinctively toward each other, glaring hard.

Meanwhile, Kaden lay there, his mind still refusing to process what he had just witnessed. And as if that wasn't enough…

"Master! Master! I have found something!"

Little Rory's voice cut through the heavy tension between the two women, immediately drawing their attention.

Kaden shifted his head with effort, still resting on the laps of Meris and Inara, and looked toward Little Rory flying toward them with something clutched tightly in her beak.

…a book.

Kaden's eyes widened.

"Bloody hell…!"

—End of Chapter 279—