Free The First Male by Lee Hayes Page A

been freed a long time ago. Or, I could make your stay in that body last an eternity. How would you feel about immortality? In that body? Buried . . . underground . . . writhing in pain? Would you like that?”
    He calmly took a seat next to her. “Of course you wouldn’t. That sounds awful, wouldn’t you agree? Now, you could avoid all of that by simply letting me into your head so that I can uncloak him and unbind his powers. As you know, his twenty-first birthday is coming soon and he will ascend. Your little binding spell may have kept some of his powers at bay for the last twenty years, but it will fail during the Ascension. Your magic will be like using a Popsicle stick to stop the raging waters of the Nile. I suspect that your spell will break any day now. We are what, a little more than two weeks away from the Ascension? When it breaks, do you have any idea the havoc his power could cause on the world? What if he ignites the living flame and incinerates everything and everyone? Would you like to see little children running through the city screaming with their hair on fire? That’s not a nice image, Addie. He could consume this world and the Shadowland with a simple thought, without even knowing it. That is why we must find him, teach him to use his power, or we all are lost. We are simply trying to clean up the mess you made before it’s too late. Had you not stolen the child from Eetwidomayloh years ago we would not be in this mess now.” Eli’s voice began to tremble and rattle the furniture in the room. “Signs are all around us. Your spell is weakening. There are thousands of dead cattle in Wisconsin. A plague of rodents in Australia. The River Thames, overflowing with dead fish. Powerful earthquakes, all over the globe, and it’s all because of you. You have made so many mistakes in your feeble effort to prevent thatwhich cannot be prevented.” He opened his mouth and inhaled with a ghastly sucking sound that removed all of the oxygen from the room, essentially asphyxiating Addie. She gasped with disgusting choking sounds as her eyes bulged and her lungs tightened, trying to inhale the remaining air. “Now,” he said coolly, “won’t you help me?”
    He paused for dramatic effect and to extend Addie’s pain. When she was near blacking out, he replenished the room with air and spoke casually, as if nothing extraordinary had happened. “We want to find him so that he can take his rightful place in the universe. He’s so very near. We will find him; we can feel his power. Your binding spell was never complete. Can you feel it, too? Each time his powers manifest, we can sense it, and I’m sure you can, too. So, it’s only a matter of time before we locate him. You’ve altered destiny once, but our will shall be done in spite of your interference; still, it would be so much easier if you helped us. So, in exchange for your assistance, I offer you and your sisters immunity from your crimes against us. And for you, Adelaide, I offer a special gift: full restoration of your health. Isn’t that wonderful? How could you turn down such a gracious offer? So, why don’t you let me in?”
    Eli stared directly into her empty eyes and tried to pierce her mind. He pushed and pushed until intense pain ricocheted inside his own skull. He screeched like a wounded animal and collapsed to one knee, clinging on to the edge of a chair near the window for balance.
    â€œSo, that’s the game you want to play, you old bitch,” he said between heavy breaths. He staggered over to her and suddenly backhanded her so hard across the face that she flew out of the chair and slid across the floor. She crashed into the wall with a tremendous clang. Eli felt her jawbone shatter into pieces uponimpact and he could sense her pain; it delighted him. She belonged to him now and no one was coming to help her. They were alone