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They turned and led the way through a throng of people. Kaphas wasn’t sure what emotion filled him as the sea of eyes watched him and his three brothers make their way toward a small house. Just before the porch, he looked up and found a row of heads lining the rooftop. His gaze landed on a familiar pair of eyes. It was the woman who gave the divorce papers to Spar. The woman he said he should have married. But hadn’t had the balls to act on a fucking thing. Juliette.
He climbed the porch then paused, puzzled over the look in the woman’s eyes he’d just seen. Not Juliette, but the one on her right.
He returned to where he’d made the brief connection and looked up. At finding her gaze again, he engaged his backlash power and sent it to capture the pulsing energy he’d seen in it.
His power gently grabbed hold of the odd essence and drew it toward him. The moment it entered his own eyes, his kinetic energy merged with it and activated his phantom sight. He studied the wavelengths within the unique spectrum, their mystery turning on his micro-optics. Fragmented drawings raced across his neural interface, getting rapidly buffered. He watched as the backlash power overlayed spectral light patterns next, revealing hidden energy fields and microscopic details. Kaphas angled his head as these details synthesized into a multi-dimensional image. The woman’s emotional resonance was the final integration and it left Kaphas mesmerized as he stared at the intricate connections hidden within these images.
“Brother.”
Fetch’s urgent call sent his backlash into hyperdrive, and he raised a finger at the woman, sending a controlled line of the energy back to her. He watched as it entered her eyes with a calming resonance, showing her all that he’d seen and done.
Her smile slowly grew as he held her gaze, allowing his power to solidify the bond he’d just formed with her before hurrying on to learn what had his brothers on edge.
Kaphas’ eyes adjusted as he entered the dark interior right when Kult stood up from a chair. “I’m going to tell you what I know about what’s going on to save us from repetition and you’ll fill in whatever blanks remain. I recently learned through three grapevines,” he said, gesturing to Fetch, Fathom and Fin, “that your brilliant plan after getting a body was to take our demons on an eternal date in the ever after.” He held up his right hand, fingers spread. “Five things. One.” He pointed to his thumb. “I’mdyingto knowhowthe fuck you managed this. Two.” He moved to his index finger. “I don’t want to know number onerightnow. Three,” he said, touching the tip of his middle finger, his voice raising a notch. “I know your number one plan failed. And Four?” He warned, plucking his ring finger. “I know you still have thisbullshitinside you.” He held up only his pinky now and wagged it. “This one. It’s the only one I care about at thisverymoment. What. Do you plan. To do about them.”
“Tell him about Handy,” Fetch said.
Kult’s glare moved between Kaphas and Fetch. “Why is he talking in third person about you?”
“His wife split them,” Fathom said next. “She chose Kaphas and when she gained his backlash power it not only rewrote his original death code, it split them right in half.”
Kult continued looking between all of them now. “Are you… fuckingshittingme?”
Kaphas eyed Kult. “What he says is true.”
He started to pace a little. “So you’re saying Handy is now… there, but not you?”
Kaphas gave a single nod with his, “Yes.”
He stopped and turned. “When did you know this?”
“I learned it last night. When he showed himself to us.”
“Us?”
“Celeste and me.”
A span of silence stretched.
“Is he here now?”
Front and center. Waiting patiently for a turn to speak. Captain Kaphas.
Kaphas knew he was being polite about it. He had more power over his body or at least equal. “He’s here.”
Kaphas recalled what it felt like when he took him over last time.Can you do this without raping my cells again?
I can try, Peaches.
Kaphas braced as the shift began. A subtle prickling of static electricity in his mind that meandered its way through his body. His breath released with the intense cold blasting in his veins followed by warmth in his chest. The jarring contrast set his heart racing despite his effort to hold himself together. His vision blurred with smeared colors and shapes then snapped back into focus while soundsmuted. Handy’s neuropathways began to merge with his, the wall of odd energy fluttering through his muscles, blood, and even bone, a silent hot pressure pulsing against his skull.
Kaphas slowly moved within himself, floating in reverse until his back met resistance just an arms-length away from where he was before. He was fully aware of everything – the feel of the ground under his feet, the air against his skin, the taste in his mouth and the sound of his blood pumping in his ears. He attempted to move and encountered that terrifying disconnect from his own body, bringing panic rushing in like a tidal wave.
“Handy?” Kult wondered, getting their single finger in the air as Handy focused on helping Kaphas transition.
You have no reason to freak out, Handy reminded, bringing an instant release in Kaphas' mind. You haveallability except control of the vessel. Just think of it as a ride in the car with your very own faithful and trustworthy chauffeur.
He relaxed a little more. His perceptions were sharp as ever, maybe even more while thedoingwas absent from theexperiencing.Like somebody else scratching an itch, verses scratching your own. Everything felt… more. The biggest change was his emotions and thoughts. He was feeling Handy’s too, which were different in every way. How he felt things, tasted things, heard things, smelt things. All of it was unique to Handy.
