I caught a closer glimpse of the marking on the right side of his face.
It looked like a tattoo.
Eli snorted.
“It’s not a tattoo.”
“What is it then?”
“A family heirloom,” he said with an enigmatic smile, “But that’s a story for another time. Now, do you still desire to help me?”
“Yes,” I said fervently.
“The only thing that will save me is a merge.”
“What’s a merge?” I asked slowly.
“I’ll show you. Hold up your hands with your palms facing me.”
I did as I was told, more than a little curious as to how this was going to help. Eli did the same with his palms facing me.
My eyes widened when I saw that the palm lines of his hands were knotted. But this knot was different than my own and Victoria’s; it seemed more intricate. Just as I was about to ask about these knots, Eli pressed his fingertips against mine causing a surge of electricity to shoot through my body. It wasn’t painful, however—actually it felt kind of good. Figuring that my job was over I tried to pulled my hands away from Eli’s but they wouldn’t budge.
“This is all part of the merge, Amadeus,” said Eli smilingly, “Relax.”
I did as I was told and that’s when things really got weird.
The knots on Eli’s palms began to glow, and tiny tendrils of light began snaking their way out of Eli’s hand.
My mouth fell open with a slight pop.
“What—?”
“It’s my soul.”
“Your . . . soul?”
“Yours has begun to leave your body as well,” he said. “Take a look.”
He was right. Craning my neck, I saw that the knots on my hands were glowing as well and tiny tendrils of light had begun snaking their way out of them.
“Is this really what a soul looks like?” I asked completely mystified as my tendrils of light began to reach out towards Eli’s.
“Part of it,” replied Eli quietly.
Mystified, I watched as our souls began to entwine in each other. And as they did so the most orgasmic sensation I’d ever experienced flooded every inch of my body. Though I was still a virgin I somehow knew that this sensation was far better than sex; it was as though my entire body was being pleasured at once. But even in this state of ecstasy I was more than a little weirded out that I was receiving this sensation from another boy. That is, until I saw that transformation that was coming over Eli.
Wide eyed and bewildered I watched as Eli’s body began to fill out before my very eyes. Now, it might have been my mind playing tricks on me, but Eli’s body began to take on some distinctively feminine characteristics—characteristics that even his uniform couldn’t hide. Golden-blonde hair was growing from his scalp and was extending well past his shoulders. Stranger still was the fact that the tops of his ears had suddenly grown into points. To top it all off, his once jade eyes had changed to silver and the pupils of those eyes had stretched into slits.
When the transformation was complete I found myself staring at an inhumanly beautiful, golden-blonde-haired girl who was wearing a boy’s uniform. But even though her figure had changed, the marking on the right side of her face had not. I couldn’t help but notice how much she resembled my false mother.
A moment later our palms snapped to together and the feeling of ecstasy increased tenfold, causing a moan of pleasure to escape from my lips. Our united souls glowed brightly for an instant and then parted company and reentered our separate bodies. The power that held our hands together was suddenly released and I fell backward gasping.
As I sat up, I found myself staring at Eli wondering what on earth had just happened to him.
“It’s ‘Eliana,’ actually,” said the girl who was now sitting on my bed.
“What?” I asked still trying to process what had just happened.
In the back of my mind it suddenly registered that this girl’s voice was the same heavenly voice that I had previously conversed with inside my mind.
“My name’s Eliana, not Eli.”
“And you’re a—”
“A girl, silly.”
I raised an eyebrow skeptically. Last time I checked, it took an extensive amount of surgery to alter ones gender.
Eliana gave me a crooked smile and began to unbutton her shirt.
“Do you want me to prove that I’m a girl?” she asked playfully.
I felt myself go red with embarrassment.
“No,” I said quickly, “I believe you.”
And the funny thing was that I did believe her. I could feel that she was telling me the truth in the same way I could tell whether or not Victoria was telling me the truth. It seemed that this merging, or whatever it was we did, had created a bond between Eliana and me.
“How—?”
“When beings like us merge a bond between the souls is created.”
“ ‘Beings like us’?”
“Yes. Your suspicions were correct, Amadeus. You are indeed much more than human. But I cannot tell you more than that.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Thanks,” I grumbled. “That clears things up.”
“Amadeus, now that you and I have merged you know that there are many things I want to tell you but are obliged not to.
She was right. Through the bond she and I now shared I knew it was imperative that I find the answers on my own. I also knew that Eliana would be there to help me every step of the way. That being said there were things that she could tell me. Like what exactly she was.
“I’m a nahash.”
“A na—what?”
“A nahash,” she repeated emphatically, “A descendent of the Serpent Seed.”
“The what?”
“The Serpent Seed isn’t a ‘what,’ but a ‘who.’ ”
“Okay then,” I said with a crooked smile, “who is the Serpent Seed.”
“No one special,” she said with an enigmatic smile. “Just my ancestor.”
“And my false
