Beyond the Veil - J.C. Kelley (ready to read books TXT) 📗

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Lucivur looked into the fearful eyes of Dominik, a centuries-old Seer who'd worked for him for over fifty years. 

He bowed deeply. “Master, I have come across a vision of great importance. A prophecy, so to speak.”

“Well don’t just stand there like a fool. Tell me this prophecy of yours before I succumb to old age!”

Dominik nodded frantically and recited:

“A child of Earth is the greatest pleasure; his gifts are ones you will treasure. Eyes of a lynx and skin like rust; he will be the last you can trust.

“A child of the Sea is the next you will find; beware of the trickery of his kind. Liquid sight and head of Night; his gifts will inflict the most fright.

“A child of Fire will come next; her gifts will be quite complex. Raised in confusion and the unknown; she will walk freely into your home. 

“A child of Air is the last you seek; capturing her will be the hardest feat. Eyes like a storm and head of Fire; hers are the gifts you most desire.”

“It sounds as if these children could pose a threat,” the great sorcerer mused. “Then again, a child’s trust is easily gained. If I locate these children, they’ll be the ultimate weapons.

"Dominik,” he said, making the immortal servant jump slightly. “Search for these children. It can’t be that hard to find them.”

Dominik bowed again, murmured a quick, “As you wish, Master,” and scurried out of the room, closing the door behind him.

1

Kade was eight years old when his parents told him the family secret. Robyn was seven. His father, Jim, came home one night and said, “Your mother and I have agreed it's time to tell you something. Go get your sister and meet me in the living room.

Kade did as he said, and after they were all settled his mother, Mary, began, “Do you want to know what your dad and I do when we leave for work?”

Kade nodded eagerly. “Well, it’s a family business in a way. Let’s start with this: Demons exist.” Robyn went white, and she held onto her brother tightly. Kade, however, was intrigued. “So do werewolves, Loup Garou, lamia, elves, ghosts, and much more.”

“What are ‘loo guroo’?” Despite her fear, Robyn was a little curious. 

“Loup Garou are people who can turn into wolves. They can control when they transform and they’re always in control of their bodies. Werewolves, on the other hand, transform into wolf-like monsters, only Change during the full moon, and have no control over themselves once they’ve Changed.” 

Jim added, “And you can only be born a Lou Garou. You’ll turn into a werewolf if you’re bitten by one.”

“But I thought that stuff was all fake.”

Jim smiled. “It’s real. And it’s our job to hunt them.”

Kade stared at his father. “Huh?”

Mary held her son’s hand. “Only the bad ones. The ones that hurt humans. We’re like the magic police.”

“Why?”

Mary gathered her breath and said, “Centuries ago, bad creatures roamed the streets of Europe and early America. People were terrified of being killed any time they went outside of their homes.

“One day, the biggest and strongest families came forth and promised they would protect the humans. You see, they knew the weaknesses of every magical creature. They proclaimed that they, and all of their families, would fight to the death to protect the humans.” 

Kay licked his now dry lips. “So that means…” his voice trailed off, afraid to admit the terrible truth. 

“We’ll hunt them too.” Robyn had already accepted their grim future. “Why tell us now?”

Their parents looked at the door. Jim called, “Come on in.” The door opened to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered man with a full head of uncombed brown hair. He wore a plain black t-shirt and crumpled blue jeans. He stepped inside, helped himself to a water bottle, and sat down across from Kade and Robyn. “This is my brother, Jon.”

Kade looked at his dad accusingly. “You never told us you had a brother.”

Jon leaned forward and held out his hand. “Pleasure to meet you kids.” Kade and Robyn stared at his hand until he pulled it back, clearing his throat loudly in an attempt to hide the awkwardness. “I run a school for kids who need training in the defense of the supernatural.”

“Training?”

“Of course. You’ll need to be able to defend yourself if you’re going to fight the supernaturals.”

“But—we’re kids!”

Mary squeezed Kade’s hand. “We were your age when we started training.”

Kade ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up at the top. “What about school?”

Jon looked bewildered. “Well, you’ll be attending my school, of course. As far as anyone else knows, you never existed. Christ, Jim, I thought you said they were ready.”

Kade forgot about his shock and fear. “We’re ready for anything. Always are. We were just…surprised.”

Jon scoffed. “Scared, more like,” he muttered.

Kade’s temper flared. “We’re not scared of anything! Take us to your school. Let us fight some monsters. You’ll see!” He ran to his room and started packing.

*

*

A few weeks after they’d settled in at Jon’s school, which turned out to be a mansion not far from their home, they were introduced to two new trainees: Alex and Nick, identical twins. They were small for their age, and it was easy to tell them apart from their hair; Alex’s was cut short and sat completely flat on his head. Nick’s spiked out in all directions, some locks falling in front of his eyes.

Although they shared the same face, they were nothing alike. Alex, older by six minutes and seventeen seconds, never went anywhere without his iPhone and MP3 player. He was a genius with computers, and his skills only grew with age.

Nick didn’t know a thing about computers, but he could read at an incredible speed and read at least four books a day. When he wasn’t reading, he was practicing his martial arts techniques. From time to time, he would write a letter to one of his friends in Japan or Australia or India, which he didn’t have a problem with because he could speak every language fluently. 

A couple days after meeting the twins, Kade and Robyn met another two trainees: Jade and Michael. Jade was petite, had light brown hair, and was deathly pale. Michael was tall, had curly dirty-blonde hair, and was tan from many days spent outdoors. Like Kade and Robyn, the only feature they shared was their eyes, a mostly brown hazel.

Jade was trouble from the start, because she had an uncanny ability to walk silently. Unfortunately for the rest of them, she enjoyed scaring people. 

Mike was also a lot of trouble. Because most six-year-olds can’t pick up their friends and toss them into the air. Or throw a baseball through a wall. Obviously he and Jade were special. As were Nick and Alex. Jon said that they were “battle gifts,” and that most of their ancestors had them.

One night, a little over a year after meeting the others, Robyn started dreaming about things that had happened already. Then she started dreaming about things happening in the future—and sure enough, they eventually happened. Robyn realized she could see into the future. Some visions would make her sick if they were more important than others, but altogether they weren’t a big problem for her. 

Kade was starting to feel left out. And to make things worse, he was hearing things. 

After he’d beaten Michael in a weekly scrimmage one afternoon, he heard Michael say, “Jerk. He thinks he’s better me because he got here first.”

Kade whirled and shouted, “What did you say?”

Everyone froze, eyes on Kade.

“What?” Michael asked.

Kade glared. “I heard you! You're just cranky because I beat you!”

“Heard what?”

“Don’t play dumb. You called me a jerk! Said I think I’m better than you because I got here first!”

Robyn put her hand on his shoulder. “Kade, he didn’t say anything.”

Kade huffed and stomped out of the room. A week later, after Kade beat him in another scrimmage, Michael said, “It just isn’t fair!”

Kade replied, “How is it not fair?”

Michael turned around and stared at Kade. “How did you do—that?” he stammered fearfully. 

“Do what?” Kade looked around, embarrassed that everyone was looking. 

“I—I didn’t say anything, Kade.”

“What do you mean? Of course you said it. I heard you say it.”

Michael licked dry lips. “I didn’t say it. I—I was thinking it.”

Kade blinked. “But—what do you—How could—”

Jon ran over, a broad grin on his face. “I knew it,” he exclaimed. “Since last week. That little outburst of yours made me curious.”

Kade stared at him. “But…how? I…can’t.”

“What, do you want more proof?” Kade nodded. Jon laughed heartily. “Okay, then. Michael, would you step back please?” Michael nodded and joined his sister in the corner of the room. “Kade, close your eyes and listen very closely. Tell me what you hear.”

Kade closed his eyes and listened. At first he could only hear Jon breathing deeply, obviously excited. Then, as if he’d flipped a switch, a flood of voices rushed into his head. He was overwhelmed by all of them. Then images started flashing across his eyelids. He saw himself through others’ eyes. He heard their thoughts and opinions of this experiment. The perspective flashed back and forth from person to person, until he couldn’t take it anymore. He sank to the floor, saw the action reflected through six others’ eyes. It was too much.Then he heard—actually heard, with his ears, not his mind—Jon say, “Kade! Kade, open your eyes. Calm down. It’ll be okay if you open your eyes.”

With more difficulty than thought humanly possible, Kade opened his eyes. And the images faded. The noise died away, the following silence oddly comforting. Kade looked up to see Jon and the others crowded around him with worried thoughts. Wait—thoughts. He could still hear their thoughts. Well, the strong ones anyway. Jon looked delighted. “What did you hear?”

Kade shook his head, trying to clear it. “I heard…everything. I heard your thoughts. And theirs too. I relived their memories! And—I saw what you all saw! I saw myself from everyone’s view. But…it was all so confusing. I’m really tired…”

Michael had to carry him to his room. Kade couldn’t help grinning like a fool the whole time.

“Was it really that great?” Michael asked. “Hearing our thoughts?”

“Actually, it was the most confusing time of my life.”

“Then why are you smiling so big?”

Kade looked away, blushing slightly. “Well, it was kind of weird. You know, being the only one without some cool power.”

Yeah, especially when Robyn could see the future, Michael thought.

“Exactly,” Kade said.

Michael stopped and looked at him. “That’s gonna get annoying."

*

*

TEN YEARS LATER…

Jade was not alone. She knew it as soon as she went into the poorly lit room. She unfocused her eyes, putting all of her energy into her sense of hearing. 

There.

To her right, slightly behind her, she heard a faint squeak. When a wooden sword came crashing down, she was ready. She leaped to the left, just out of her attacker’s reach, where she spun to face him. Jade knew who it was before seeing his stunned expression accompanied by a few clumsy steps forward.

It was Michael. 

Faster than the eye could see, Jade darted toward him