The Grave Shadows

47. Blood Bond

Messily, the naked branches twisted in the concave willowy woods. The air was gray and crisp against the waving dying leaves. Five of the Watts boys and their father's girlfriend converged in the asylum junkyard. The winds gushed around the debris that formed a semicircle along the tree line. A white building behind them looked so small that it could disappear in a fist. Simon once said Bill Watts built this nuthouse exclusively for David, and it had turned into a research facility after the lunatic left. The corroded mound of broken wheelchairs, gurneys, pallet boxes, and old equipment made Everett suspect that the institute had more headaches than its quiet surface suggested. Two old ambulances lied dead at the edge of the somber woods. David didn't need that many rides.

"Have they chosen?" David asked.

Bill Watts's second born standing among mental institute's garbage might be fitting then, but this man, looking fierce and mighty, turned the whole set ominous.

"They'll die for her," Angelica replied in her old-fashioned tongue.

"Hmm... even with the bond, you mean." David contorted his face.

Angelica adjusted the sleeves of her jacket. "I didn't say that."

"Angelica..." David exhaled, shaking his head like a disappointed adult. "That's not fair. We can't say another word to them if they haven't chosen for themselves. We can't risk everything."

"They're your brothers," Angelica said. "There are potentials."

"Excuse me." Simon wrinkled his brows. "We don't speak crazy. You're talking about us, and we're standing right here. What do we need to choose?"

"Sides, of course," David said. "The Watts Clan, your flesh and blood, or the girl you've just met." He paused and drifted behind Everett. "Your girlfriend?" He chuckled faintly.

Everett stiffened at the question that slammed the back of his neck, feeling as though he had just admitted to the grand thievery. "I chose her," rotating to face David, he confessed.

"Chose?" Luke laughed bitterly. "I frigging love her."

"I do, too, but I can't explain why." Will's voice trailed off. "I don't even want to feel it."

"For Heaven's sake, I'm crazy about her," Simon shouted. "What are we doing here, David? You want us to kill each other right now to see who will get to be a hero and go save the girl?"

Scoffing, David raised his chin and crossed his arms. "What if I told you that your feelings weren't real? What if she were just a curse?" Hector put this particular idea before the Watts boys once. Perhaps it was a uniform dialogue of mad people. "Each of you has an unbreakable bond with her, but the connection is only your lust for her power, her blood, her abilities, and nothing more. That little itchy feeling isn't love. On some level, you've always known that. Your obsession is only the Watts Clan's survival instinct."

The Watts boys scrunched up their faces. The absurdity immediately made David sound like his old self.

"It's true," Angelica said. "You only desire her because she's a huldreke. Hunter blood in you craves her power. If you knew how to take it out of her, you would have done so by now. You just didn't know."

"You two are crazy!" Simon scolded, and the other boys cringed.

"So here it is then..." David said through his pursed lips. "Knowing what she is and realizing that the pesky limerence could have been a symptom of your genetic disease, are you ready to give up everything for her?"

"What do we have here, anyway?" Everett said.

"The moment you turn against Bill Watts, there's no going back," David said. "You can forget about the money, the mansion, the cars, the jets, the privileges." He turned to Simon. "Colt Watts University and all its damsels. Can you live without them?" He smiled at Luke. "No more ponies and trophies." He shook his head at Will. "No kingdom."

"Cut to the chase, jackass!" Will snorted. "How to get Cyan and Hector back?"

David chuckled. "They are not something you can keep, Simon. But I can show you what you can have."

The sun cowered in the woods when David took some steps in the middle of the junkyard. The crows cawed and flew deep inside the maze of branches.

This is crazy, Everett thought to himself. David was mad, and perhaps, all Watts boys were the same, trapped in the fantasy where Cyan was all they felt. It explained why they were all in the asylum. It was why nothing made sense anymore.

David veered back and grinned. He lifted an arm, and some old equipment and machines rose in the air. That trick again. David was capable of what Angelica could do on the grander scale. Under normal circumstances, several cranes would be used to perform such lifting. Suddenly, a golden light bolt flew out of David's right hand, hitting a clump of floating objects. An explosion tore everything it touched into pieces, scorching the air, while that murderous burst numbed the ears. Another bolt flared. Another explosion. The earth shook violently, fumed with the welding odors of black smokes.

Luke clutched Everett's arm. Will wasn't skeptical anymore, and Simon was jealous of David.

David raised both hands, and two ambulances levitated. He discharged two bright yellow orbs from his bare palms, and the vehicles combusted and landed on the ground.

The Watts boys shuddered. It wasn't the magic show anymore.

"See, boys, this is huldreke power." David dropped his hands. "And this is what hunters can do." He fixed his gaze on one brother specifically. "Can you fight like this, Everett?"