Twice Born

Chapter 2

Everything Eve and I know about the Twice Born comes from the stories we’ve heard over the years. The first time I heard the name was on the streets of Sandir, my home city, just months after my parents died and I left home on my own. I was nine.

“I hope they capture and destroy all Twice Born,” a squat woman selling clothes on a street corner said to her companion. “Nothing but abominations, those ones.”

I’ve heard all sorts of things since. That the Twice Born are bodies housing a soul cleaved into two, split into the purest of good and the darkest of evil. That if the evil overcomes the good, it turns a Twice Born into a mindless, murdering beast.

Sometimes the storytellers don’t make sense. Other times they contradict one another. But they all share one thing. An unparalleled distrust and hatred for people like me.

Every single one of them wants us dead.

I’ve often wondered about the soul split into good and evil. About Eve and me. She has always had a great deal of darkness in her. The first time she killed someone was a month after my parents were murdered. I was resting on the side of a street when someone grabbed me and dragged me into a remote alleyway. I saw a glint of a steely blade before Eve took over. She grabbed it out of his hand, twirled it, and drove it between his ribs.

That was when Eve realized how much she enjoys killing. So she did it again, and again.

She’s troubled—really troubled. But evil? I’m scared to consider it.

I know she’s listening to me right now. But as always, when she’s the subject of my thoughts, she has nothing to say. And I never know what’s going on inside her mind.

#

Daniel’s shelter is located in Heiden District, at the center of the island. A two-story home that looks even worse than its surroundings. Its windows are boarded up, the doorknob is broken and has to be twisted a certain way to open, and the paint is faded and specked with dirt and algae.

Weeds grow in front of the house and between the cracks of the stone steps leading to it. I make my way up these steps and pause. The house is completely silent. Everyone is asleep, huddled in blankets in the corners of the sitting room. At least five of them down here. Orphans, runaways, abandoned children. Some of the ones sleeping upstairs are as young as five.

They’ll live, Eve chimes in. Then, as if she doesn’t like her own optimism, she adds, Or they’ll die. It all depends on how much they want to survive.

Shaking my head, I slip off my shoes and head up the creaky stairs. I go to the girls’ bedroom first and take off my cloak. My coat is slightly damp on the inside, but I keep it on. It’s too chilly to walk around without it. And I don’t plan to sleep just yet.

I hang the cloak on a rack and enter the room next to ours. The one Daniel shares with the younger boys. He sits on a stool in a corner of the balcony, a wool blanket wrapped around him. Beyond the balcony railing, the rain continues to fall, lulling the night with a soothing hush.

A lantern sits next to him, illuminating his strong profile. His eyebrows are pulled into a frown—not out of hostility, but in deep thought. His short brown hair almost looks black in the night, but I know it becomes streaked with gold in sunlight.

Don’t forget his lovely brown eyes and kissable lips.

My face warms at Eve’s amusement. I didn’t realize how intently I’m staring at him. It’s all her fault. With everything she’s been saying about Daniel since we met him, I was bound to start picking up on it sooner or later.