The Pawn and The Puppet (The Pawn and The Puppet #1)

by Brandi Elise Szeker

“When we are brought into this world, our bodies are cages, inside we have a spirit, a soul that is greater than the sinfully tempted flesh that embodies us. That soul was created with a twin, so to speak, and those two souls are divinely bound through life, through death, through as many obstacles as existence can bring upon us. When we are born, we begin our paths to find our other half. It’s a subconscious action we are not in control of. It’s a force greater than this body.”

“The love that is born between the two cannot be mistaken for anything else. It’s not something you can choose or resist. It’s beyond our willpower.”

I trust a murderous patient more than the man I’m living with.

“Please don’t hurt anyone. If you act out… Here, of all places, then there is no talking the council out of executing you.” I look down at his lips and then back up warily. “I can’t lose you,”

Everything about him is intoxicating. I’m losing my morals.

“You said us,” I say again. “You didn’t refer to this life with any person you would marry… you referred to me?” I gulp. He watches me. “Yes.” He nods. “I did.”

I finally, after a long, long time, feel like I’m home.

‘I still love you.’”

“That truth was burning me alive. As if I never made it out of that fire.” He nods. “I wouldn’t have let you burn alone.”

“My name is Kane.

And it was as if he could read me like a book, understood my silence, sensed my exhaustion.

Me. His weakness was me. “But you didn’t even know me.” He uses his thumb to wipe the tears from my cheeks. “When I heard you screaming… It was as if I was six years old again, watching my mother scream. But I couldn’t save her then. All I could do was watch and cry. Hearing those screams again woke something inside of me. I couldn’t save her, but I could save you.”

“My name is Greystone.”

“And there are far more than three alters, pretty one.”