15 years ago...
The full moon glowed through the open window in the boys' bedroom. A light breeze blew in, rustling the curtains and covering the whispering of two small someone's.
"Look." The one with violet hair whispered. Small flames danced around his fingertips, lighting up the face of the second. His blue eyes widened in awe.
"That's awesome!" he said a little too loudly.
"Shh." The first one said. "We're supposed to be asleep, remember?"
"Oh, right." The second one whispered even quieter than the first. "How do you do that?"
"I don't know." He answered. "It just happens."
"Let me try!" The younger brother grabbed his brother's hand and tried to make the flames appear, but nothing happened.
The violet haired one snorted. "It won't work for you silly." He ruffled the boy's hair in between the two miniature golden antlers sticking out from his skull.
The blue-eyed boy's lower lip trembled. "Why can't I be special like you?" he asked quietly. His older brother looked upset.
"You are special." He said and grabbed his little brother's hands. "I mean, your antlers are one of a kind. Plus, your everyone's favorite."
The blue eyed one frowned. "Mom and dad love us the same." He said stubbornly as if this was a conversation they had often.
The older one gave him a small smile of pity. "Sure." He said to his brother's obliviousness. "But don't believe for a second you aren't special. Look." He pressed his fingertips against his brother's. Flames danced around his fingers again and slowly but surely, frost crept up the second one's. Steam rose where their fingers touched as hot and cold collided.
His eyes widened in shock. "Wow." He said with a huge smile.
"See!" The violet haired one said. "Your just as special as I am. Maybe even more."
The younger one jumped into his older brother's arms and hugged him. "I love you Xornoth." He said quietly.
"Love you too Scott." Xornoth replied and hugged him back tightly, as if he'd never be able to again.
***Just to note real quick, this book is in fact the SECOND installment to a series (the first book is called 'Who Let the Demon Out?', and should be just a little farther down in my list). I've had way too many people go straight to this one and have absolutely no idea what's going on cuz they didn't see the 'Book 2' bit in the title.***