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Chapter 1
Humans do things backwards, but they sure do know how to make some great music here on Earth. This song makes me want to dance and sing, even if the lyrics are a little weird. My ass shakes along with the beat of the song as my long white hair swishes around my hips. My breasts bounce around in my too small black tank top and tiny hot pink shorts that match my eyes perfectly, but do very little to contain this dumptruck I’m carrying around behind me.
All around my room, I twerk and spin, hands thrown over my head or braced on my knees. The freedom of dancing seeps deep into my soul, easing the aching anxiety that settled on my chest after the innocent letter just appeared out of the blue. A letter that is now taunting me from my desk. This single slip of folded paper holds my entire future. And I’m terrified to open it.
Ahazu sighs. Even his breath sounds like a song. “Just open it, Astra. It won't go away, no matter how much you dance around it.”
My twin is right, his exasperated and amused tone snaps me out of my dancing frenzy. Yet still, I can only stare at my name printed on the large envelope.
“Are you scared, big sister? Is this the thing that finally frightens the Astrate Morningdew?” The challenge is clear in his voice, though his words are meant to enrage me, his tone is sympathetic, ruining the effect he wants. Nonetheless, they do work.
I’m not scared of anything. Even if it is what I think it is, I’m not scared. I knew it was a possibility ever since I finished school. The assassin’s guilds are some of the worst kept secrets on Earth. The professors always said the guilds are selective with who they choose and that anyone who receives a mysterious invitation should really think about what they want before blindly accepting. They also said it was nearly impossible to work as an assassin without being in the guild. Which means if I want to put all my hard earned skills to use, then this letter needs to be the invitation I’ve been wishing to get.
Slowly, I reach forward and snatch the letter up. Ahazu clasps his black gloved hands together, silently praying to whatever god he is devoted to this month. The flap on the back gives way easily when I slide my finger behind it. My fingers fumble for the letter within, almost pulling it completely out when my best friends’ giggles still my shaking appendages
Dalphine and Boo are laying on the bed behind Ahazu, their position identical. Their legs are crossed at the ankle and bent at the knees so that their calves are lifted into the air. Dalphine is so tall, she hangs a foot off the end, while Boo is the size of an average human and basically has to jump to get on the bed. Dalphine’s gray hair is spiked down the middle of her otherwise shaved head, icy blue tips pointed so sharply, they could be used as weapons if she so desired. Her peach toned face is flushed as she stares at the Boogey-Human hybrid we call a best friend. I’ve known for years that Dallie wants to jump all over Boo’s cock, but she's too shy to say anything and he was raised that a woman makes all the moves.
Glancing between my oblivious friends and the nondescript envelope in my hands, I decide to open the letter later. My friends have no idea what I studied in school and they are both just a little too gentle to understand my needs. I push the letter back into the envelope and sit it under my jewelry box on my desk. Ahazu shakes his head and smirks at me as he moves away from my desk and towards our friends on the bed. I flip up both my middle fingers at my twin’s back then skip over to the bed, jumping and fluttering my wings to glide on the bed. Ahazu follows my lead and settles beside me, facing Boo.
“And what the fuck is so funny, Dallie?” My pink eyes glare into her sky blue ones as she stammers, pointing at Boo and blushing a deeper pink. “I should have known that the trouble maker is the one starting shit.” My gaze shifts from her to Boo and the intensity of the glare is ratcheted up.
True to his Boogey lineage, Boo is a playful boy who loves to cause trouble. But the loyalty he has towards me and my family is one that can’t be rivaled. His Dad has been the caretaker of our family since he first bonded with my Grandma in the late 2000s. So, for almost two centuries, Bowman has taken care of the children of this house, and as soon as Boo finds his mate, he hopes to retire to live with his wife on the estate grounds. Boo is thrilled to take over for his dad, so he keeps pestering me to have a child since, in his words “Pretty boy Ahazu never will!”
Boo smiles innocently, fluttering his long lashes over his yellow gaze and batting my death glare away. He’s not worried about me killing him because we grew up together and he knows that I love everyone in this room too much to ever murder them. His smokey black hair wisps around his head like a cloud and his face drains of what little color it holds the longer my eyes stare into his.
“Come on, Astra,” He begs in a whiney but deep, almost echoing voice. “I was just trying to relieve the tension. You and Ahazu were standing over there whispering and being all tense!” The last word was said in an uplifted voice and accentuated with a hip thrust into my comforter. The only response he gets is an eye-roll as I turn my attention back to Dallie and change the subject.
“Did I ever tell you about the Orc hybrid that I think is out to kill me?”
Her eyes go wide as my brother chuckles and Boo rolls his eyes. Dallie shakes her head ‘no’ and I smile as I dive into the story that happened in my last semester at Crossbred Academy.
“Again!”
The strength it takes to stop myself from rolling my eyes just isn’t worth it. Of course though, he sees it and storms my way. Glavior is the most uptight asshole of a student instructor the academy has and he not so secretly hates me. Literally, the reason he added extra drills tonight was because, and I quote “I had to look at Astrate’s overly sexy face.”
If you ask me, making me stay even later is dumb as fuck. Like, the longer you keep us here drilling, the more you have to stare at my face. Cue another exasperated eye roll. And please tell me how a person has an overly sexy face? That doesn’t make sense and seeing as we’re in the best military academy in the world, you’d think he’d be a little smarter and come up with better insults.
Glavior storms up to me, eyes locked on mine as I keep flowing through the moves he demanded we repeat. His face is less than an inch from mine. He stands at least three feet taller than me and is built like a brick shit house. One of his shoulders is the same width as both of mine. His tusks thrust from his upper lips. Low key, he’s hot as fuck! His face is angular and his dark green hair makes his soft green eyes pop. His dark blue skin glimmers in the right light and the flecks of silver magic under his skin makes me think of summer storms. Muscles on top of muscles stretch across his bare chest and arms. When I let my eyes fall from his, I can see the strain his thighs put on his joggers. Not to mention, his shoes could be used as a pixie’s life raft; they're so big. If we weren’t arch nemesis, I’d be high key crushing hard. Too bad he’s a complete dick.
“What was that, Astra? Did you roll those beautiful pink eyes at me?” Deep rumbles spill from his throat and actual smoke pours from his flaring nostrils.
I swear the man has a crush on me since all his insults are just snottily spoken complements. A tether in my chest pulls me towards him, but I ignore it. My eyes snap back to his, staring into the light green void that seems to glimmer everytime he looks at me. I really need to ask Az about mating habits of Orgrillons.
Chuckling as I finish my story, I throw my hands up in the air and squeal in excitement as our favorite song comes on the radio. Dallie joins me then tugs me into her chest in a bone crushing hug that lifts me two feet off the ground. We are twirling around the room, dancing to a song about ‘wet ass cats’ with the guys watching us. Really they are watching Dallie, but the clueless girl doesn’t notice that both of them are hopelessly in love with her. Eventually, the two of us crash on the bed with the boys, both out of breath but laughing at the craziness that is our life.
This is it. The start of the rest of my existence. Az, Dallie, and Boo are committed to a four man healer troupe, and I've got a letter sitting on my desk that could change the course of my life forever.
“Okay, you guys have to go. I have to get ready to meet the captain of the police force tomorrow, and aren’t you three meeting the final corner of your troupe tomorrow?”
Dallie smiles big, nodding her head up and down in excited jerky movements that I think is supposed to mean yes. That girl has zero chill, but I love her more for her enthusiasm. Gods knows I don’t have any.
When my brother goes to step out of the room, I grab his wrist, not quite ready to be alone. This is the first time in our life that we won’t be together. Even in utero, we were together. But now, he is going to follow his girl into the medical field and I’ll be embracing the darkness of my soul by killing everyone around me, hopefully.
“Az, will you stay with me tonight?”
The gentle smile on his face and relief that flashes in his almost solid white eyes tells me that he isn’t quite ready for this change yet either. And no matter how excited we are to find our individual places in this world, we will always have a hole in our souls while we’re separated. A piece of me will always be wherever he is, and I know that I’ll hold a sliver of him within my own heart. Such is the life of soul twins.
Together, we make our way back to the bed. I stop and grab the letter from my desk before joining him on the bed. He finally removes the gloves from his hands. Rubbing them against the cotton sleep pants he has on. No doubt they are sweaty from being in the leather gloves all day. I understand why he wears them, but I wish he would give himself more credit. He’s only ever hurt one person and they fucking deserved it. Hell, I did way worse to them without my powers than he did. I was also in complete control when I destroyed those fucks. Ahazu manifested one of his powers early due to the trauma he suffered, at their hands, and had no control over what the magic did when it burst from his body.
