AEGIS Agent Amelia Van den Broeke appears on scene to witness the wreckage caused by fight between individuals with extraordinary abilities. There she finds Everett Howard, an ordinary old man, unconscious, the only living witness to this attack. What follows will change both of their lives in ways neither could have ever foreseen and forever intertwine their fates.
Official Report
427 Evergreen Terrace
New Hebron, California
Sapphira froze, staring at the rain-soaked woman in the mirror. He bit his lip and shuddered as he reached a hand up to touch his breasts. When he wasn’t out of the house, he’d taken to moving around without a bra, but going outside in the rain without one had been a mistake. His nipples and areolas showed through his shirt.
He grimaced and his cheeks burned. Had Babalawo been able to see through his shirt?
He glanced at the bathroom door, but didn’t close it. It got a little warm inside when the room was shut off from the rest of the house and since he’d used his abilities to wedge the front door back into the shattered frame, the risk of someone wandering into the house was minimal. With the notable exception of Babalawo, but he could walk through walls. What did Babalawo want and more important why he had seemed so familiar? Try as he might he couldn’t put his finger on it.
He scowled at his reflection and turned his head studying his chest as if expecting that his breasts might provide him with an answer. Emitting a long sigh, he put it out of his mind. He peeled the shirt away from his skin before slipping it over his head.
Again, he paused staring at his bare chest. For a change, what he saw didn’t anger him, but rather aroused him. He shuddered as his mind conjured imaginary images of the agent making love to him. Her lips caressing his erect nipples and her thin frame pushed against his, heaving and thrusting.
He contemplated closing the door, but he set such thoughts aside. A part of him hoped that the agent would return and… His cheeks burned at the mere thought, but even so he didn’t change his mind. He should be ashamed, but he’d grown tired of fighting, tired of resisting the urges of his body. Perhaps, he was becoming the whore he so insisted that he was not.
With a careful tug he peeled the rain-soaked bandage away from his skin. The area was still tender and sore, but when he looked down at it, he was more than a little startled by what he saw. The wound had scabbed over. He traced a hand over it, staring in wonder. He glanced back up at his reflection seeing the fear reflected in his eyes. It was unnatural to heal so fast and he reached out to touch the mirror with his open palm.
How well did his ‘increased healing factor’ work? Could he regrow limbs or organs? If his cells regenerated at such a rapid pace, it might stand to reason he may not age as quickly as an ordinary human being or at all. How long might he live iftrue?
He stared at the girl in the mirror, wondering if perhaps, it might not be so bad. Young, healthy and more powerful than an ordinary person would ever hope to be. He could do wonderful things with his new abilities, help so many people… or, he paused staring into those startling sapphire-blue eyes, terrible things.
He licked his lips and a slow smile touched his lips. He saw hunger in his eyes, not just for power, but for the appetites of the flesh, and for Amelia. It terrified him how strong his desire was for Amelia. His parents had raised him to save himself for marriage. He believed pre-marital sex was a sin, but wasn’t the only thing he found so disquieting. He wore a female body, and had lusted after another woman. Did that make him a lesbian? He still saw himself as male, so perhaps, it wasn’t gay at all, but even if he identified as a man, Amelia didn’t.
A growing part of him didn’t care. That part of him wanted to satiate his lust and to give in to the desires of his body. He stood there and swallowed, hard. How could Amelia ever feel for him as he did for her? Someone with her scruples would never have an interest in a relationship with another woman, and even if she swung that way she was uncomfortable around him. She hid it well, but their empathic bond left no doubt.
He clenched his eyes shut and hot tears slid down his cheek. He was so confused, he didn’t know who or what he was becoming and it terrified him. His eyes snapped open, he leaned forward and pressed both of his open palms across the vanity. He stood there looking at his reflection, trying to fight this strange new longing within him.
So wrapped up in this battle against himself, he did not detect the sounds of approaching footsteps. Only when he heard a stifled gasp from the doorway did he take notice. He stood there, aghast, his heart hammer in his chest at the sight of Amelia. His inability to fight the simmering flames within him ensured that desire come bursting out of him with the intensity of a raging fire.
Amelia stood there frozen staring at him with wide eyes and he turned toward her, place both hands on her cheeks and leaned in to kiss her full on the lips. The agents response though predictable, was disappointing. She jerked back and attempted to pull away, but before she’d even taken half a step, the pair froze.
Sapphira gasped, the agent’s emotions washing over him with an intensity so overpowering that he could do nothing but stand there in place. His lips mere centimeters away from her face and his hands still cupped around her cheeks. His mind was pulled away, entrapped by the thoughts and feelings of the other Exemplar. He tried to scream, to call out, but no sound escaped his lips. The room faded away and darkness followed.