Page 73 of Dark Princess Ascending

Morelle, his compassionate mate who had been so worried about accidentally hurting someone with her power. Ell-rom, quiet and thoughtful, carrying the burden of his lethal ability. They seemed so far removed from the weapons they had been designed to be.

And yet.

Morelle could theoretically drain power from an entire army of immortals or gods, channeling that energy into her brother's death-ray thought. Together, they could potentially level cities. Take down kings. Reshape the very power structure of their world.

No wonder their mother had hidden them away. It hadn't been done just to protect their identity as half-gods. She must have known about the abilities they had been genetically engineered with and had anticipated their manifestation.

42

KIAN

Kian looked up from his paperwork, surprised to see Brandon standing at the open door. They had parted only several hours ago, and although Brandon had seemed concerned about something, he hadn't indicated that he wanted to talk.

Usually when the councilman needed to discuss his ideas for InstaTock or any other matter, he arranged a meeting in advance, and never just showed up unannounced.

"May I come in?" Brandon asked.

"Of course. What brings you to my office?"

"Morelle and Jasmine are visiting Rob and Margo at the clinic, so I took the opportunity to have a private conversation with you."

Something in Brandon's expression made Kian sit up straighter. "Please take a seat."

Instead of pulling out a chair, Brandon rubbedthe back of his neck. "Do you still have your smoking station on the roof?"

A smile tugged at Kian's lips. "You are a man after my own heart. I was just thinking about having a smoke up there." He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of fine whiskey, handing it to Brandon. Two shot glasses followed, tucked safely into his pockets, and finally, a box of cigarillos. "Shall we?"

When they emerged into the afternoon air, Brandon let out an appreciative whistle. "This is a nice setup you've got up here." He settled into one of the two comfortable lounge chairs. "An umbrella to provide shelter from both sun and rain is a lovely idea."

"I have Shai to thank for this, and probably Amanda, but she won't admit that she had a hand in it." Kian poured them each a measure of whiskey.

After Brandon accepted both the drink and a cigarillo with a nod of thanks, they sat in companionable silence as Kian lit Brandon's cigarillo first and then his own.

He waited patiently for Brandon to start talking, and after a couple of puffs, the guy seemed ready. "I have a new theory about the twins."

Kian took a slow drag, letting the smoke curl around them. "Go on."

"Their abilities are not only uncommon, they are unheard of." Brandon stared into his whiskey. "They're too perfect, aren't they? Too complementary. Morelle can draw power from others and channel it. Ell-rom can kill with a thought. Together, they could theoretically take down any opponent, no matter how powerful."

"Including the Eternal King," Kian said. "It has occurred to me."

"I'm glad that I'm not the only one with a suspicious mind." Brandon took another puff of his cigarillo. "What are the odds that such unprecedented abilities would manifest randomly in twins? I think that they were engineered to be lethal weapons to take down their grandfather. Their father and the Kra-ell princess deliberately combined their bloodlines and enhanced them artificially to create these living weapons. Ahn had access to the best genetic engineering labs on Anumati, and the princess could hide his offspring where no one would think to look for them. But then the Eternal King started suspecting something, either because of the prophecy or spies or both."

Kian let out a long breath. He'd had similar suspicions since learning the full extent of the twins' powers, but he hadn't taken them as far as suspecting deliberate planning that involved genetic manipulation.

"Their mother hid them away not just because they looked like gods," Brandon continued. "She knew what they were created to be."

Kian took a puff of his cigarillo. "Igor was genetically engineered with enhanced abilities that even the twins don't have, but he wasn't given their kind of power. Unless their ability is the result of combining the bloodlines of the two royal houses, Ahn would have needed to have access to genetic engineering that was not available to the Eternal King, and that's not very likely."

Brandon shrugged. "Ahn was a rebel with a cause, and he wasn't the only one. Maybe one of his cohorts was an expert in genetic manipulation, someone who had also researched the Kra-ell, and Ahn and the future queen of the Kra-ell decided to experiment."

Kian arched a brow. "On their own children?"

"Rebels with a cause can be ruthless, justifying any sacrifice on the altar of their beliefs."

Kian had a hard time imagining Ahn as a fanatic. From his mother's tales, he had constructed an image of a politically savvy leader who cared about his people and tried to do the best he could for them. Still, he'd ignored his daughter Areana just because she had been born from a concubine, so he had obviously been far from a perfect father. As for the Kra-ell queen, Kian had no doubt that she'd been capable of experimenting with her own children to give them a leg up on the Eternal King.

"The question is," Kian swirled his whiskey, watching the amber liquid catch the light, "what dowe do with this theory? Even if we confirm it somehow, does it change anything?"