HARD LIMIT Read online

“Think of Sarah,” Xander said, and Aiden raised a dark eyebrow, worry flooding him at the mention of his delicate blonde sister.

  The twins knew they were adopted but Aiden could not imagine loving a full-sibling any more than he did their angel-faced baby sister.

  “What about her?”

  Xander shook his head mournfully.

  “You really haven’t noticed, have you?” he asked sadly, and Aiden felt a glimmer of guilt. He had been consumed with his extra curricular activities lately, trying to keep away from his parents’ wrath.

  When Charles wasn’t home, the rampage came from Lisa who took out all her frustrations and inadequacies on the children.

  Has something happened to Sarah that I didn’t know about?

  It seemed unlikely; Sarah came to him with all her woes. That’s what big brothers were for, after all.

  “Noticed what?” he demanded. “What happened?”

  “She’s just not happy,” Xander explained and Aiden felt his brow knit together. Their sister was only two years younger. It seemed odd that he wouldn’t have noticed anything.

  “She’s always tired, and pale. And I think she’s losing weight,” Xander argued. “She could use a day to rest.”

  Xander shrugged again and turned his eyes back to the magazine.

  “But if you don’t care, that’s fine,” he guilted further. “I’ll take care of her.”

  That was exactly the right button to push. Aiden always felt inadequate when it came to protecting their sister since his ability to control the weather couldn’t influence their abusive parents whatsoever. The protection of siblings always fell to Xander to take care of.

  Xander looked up and grinned as if reading his brother’s thoughts.

  “You better hurry up and decide,” Xander told him casually. “The buses are going to start leaving for pick up soon.”

  Swallowing, Aiden nodded, summoning his abilities to bring forth another storm, quickly and furiously.

  As the winds picked up outside the windows, he heard Xander chuckle.

  “Would you look at that!” he called, laughingly. “There’s a storm coming in!”

  Aiden shook his head, unsure if he was doing the right thing.

  Even at the tender age of eleven, he knew there were repercussions to toying with the weather, but Xander always managed to convince him to go against his better judgement.

  Xander and I have to be more careful about how we use our abilities, he thought, dropping his backpack onto the floor beside his bed. But a day off school won’t hurt anyone.

  He perched on the edge of his mattress and shook his head solemnly.

  “Don’t look so glum! We get a day off school!” Xander chuckled, turning back to his comic book.

  But even then, Aiden had been filled with the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

  If only he had known just how terrible. If only he had known that Cassidy, his own classmate, would be stuck at her bus stop in the freak storm he had created. A mere three blocks from her home, from safety, unable to make it back before she succumbed to the blinding blizzard that popped up out of nowhere.

  6 Years Later

  Sarah covered her mouth to stifle a sob and seventeen-year old Aiden glanced back at her warningly.

  “Don’t move,” he instructed her, slipping back into the hallway, keeping her body close to his so she would not panic. “Stay right here until I get back. Be brave, Sarah. We just need to stay together as always. Everything will be fine, I promise.”

  He offered her a reassuring smile and while Aiden felt as if it was more of a grimace, it seemed to placate his sister - at least temporarily.

  “Okay, Aid,” she whispered.

  Another crash followed the first and he flew into the kitchen where Xander was backed against the wall.

  “What the hell!” Charles hissed furiously, his face a drunken mess of fury. “I knew you would be nothing but trouble from the first minute I laid eyes on you! No matter how much money they gave us, it wasn’t enough to take in your unruly ass!”

  Xander tried to grin lazily but it didn’t reach his eyes as he shifted his gaze toward his twin. There was a fire in Xander’s expression which caused Aiden’s body to stiffen. Don’t do it, Xander!

  “Get the fuck out of my house!” Charles roared, raising his fist menacingly. “I have no use for a criminal under my roof! Stealing from the neighbors! Next thing I know, you’ll be robbing banks and murdering people!”

  Suddenly, Xander’s face went blank and Aiden’s stomach dropped as he realized what was happening.

  Charles’ thoughts were forced out of his own body and Xander took over. But instead of simply knocking his father unconscious as he always did, the older twin directed Charles to do something he had never done before.

  Charles spun abruptly and walked toward the counter, picking up a knife from the block. He stared at it for a long moment before raising it high, aiming the downward arc toward his abdomen.

  “XANDER NO!” Aiden screamed as he recognized what his father was about to do under Xander’s control.

  Charles froze, before turning his head to grin lazily at Aiden.

  “Why not?” he asked. “He doesn’t deserve to live. Neither of them does.”

  Aiden’s blood was ice in his veins as he watched his brother’s lazy smile slowly appear on his father’s face.

  “You can’t do this,” he begged. “Think of Sarah. She’ll never recover from this.”

  Charles/Xander laughed derisively. The display was terrifying when you knew that Charles’ psyche wasn’t present in his body at all. The laugh even sounded like Xander’s.

  “I’m doing us all a favor,” he snapped. “The last thing we need is these assholes around. We can take care of Sarah.”

  “We’ll all be sent into foster care,” Aiden tried to reason. “We’re not old enough to take care of Sarah. Come on, Xander. Just knock him out like always.”

  Xander snorted.

  “And just like always, he’ll get back up and do it all over again,” Xander growled. “Then what?”

  “Then we’ll deal with it then,” he promised. “We’ve gotten this far together.”

  “I’m going back to juvie tomorrow,” he reminded Aiden. “Who’s going to take care of you and Sarah – since you’ve conveniently forgotten how to use your abilities?”

  Aiden bristled.

  “Xander, I’ll protect Sarah,” he promised. “Another way. You can’t do this. You’re not a killer.”

  But even as he said it, he wasn’t really sure how accurate his words were. Lately Xander seemed to push more and more boundaries. He was angry and resentful at the world and he acted on it by performing small felonies. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he seemed to take a certain amount of satisfaction when he was caught and his parents were told what had happened. Aiden couldn’t understand what made his brother do it.

  Xander scoffed – through Charles’ body. I’ll never get used to that, Aiden thought.

  “You’re weak! What happened to you?” the older twin demanded. “You used to care about Sarah and about me. Now you only care about yourself.”

  “You’re the one who continues to get arrested,” Aiden retorted, an uncharacteristic anger mounting within him. “Our powers have brought nothing but trouble to us.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Xander spat. “I’m offering us a way out of this. You sit by and allow this to happen over and over. He can kill himself and no one will be the wiser.”

  “You’ll know! And so will I,” Aiden yelled, his face red with fury. “Stop and think about what you’re doing!”

  They glared at one another for a moment and Charles raised the butcher knife again.

  Aiden gaped as the blade came down, swiftly. Arcing through the air almost gracefully. In his panic, Aiden reached out to stop his brother from acting.

  The knife stopped in mid-air, hovering, suspended, and Charles’ angry eyes pinned Aiden, his expression changi
ng to one of shock.

  “What are you doing? How are you doing that!” Xander gasped, his eyes swinging accusingly toward his twin. But Aiden didn’t have an answer. Somehow, he had managed to block his brother from stabbing Charles. Was he able to project now too? Since when? He had never shown any signs of having that ability before.

  “How are you doing that?” Xander screeched, trying to fight him off. But there was no contest.

  Easily, Aiden cast his brother back into his own body, the blade clattering to the kitchen floor as Charles gasped a deep breath into his chest. Xander stood gaping at him from his own body.

  The twins stared at one another, neither fully understanding what had happened, but there was no time to discuss it.

  Charles was lunging for Xander again.

  Get him outside and do something! Or I swear to God, I will kill him. Xander screamed silently as he jumped out of Charles’ reach. But Aiden couldn’t do it.

  After what had happened during the snowstorm that fateful day, Aiden could not bring himself to do it, to use his abilities.

  Knock him unconscious! Aiden growled back. You don’t have to kill him. Just reclaim his body and do what you always do!

  A chair flew over and Xander dodged another blow, but he still managed to give his brother a scathing look.

  I am already responsible for one death, Xander. I’m not going to claim another life. Not when you can just knock him out.

  Like a deranged monkey, Charles leapt onto the table and flew onto Xander’s back, as Aiden watched in horror. The noises emanating from Charles were unlike anything Aiden had ever heard and for the first time, he wondered if he had made a mistake in letting him live.

  Aiden made the decision to act, his need to protect his brother overwhelming his hesitation to use his abilities. But his brother moved at precisely the same moment.

  Xander spun, tossing his father into the far wall, stopping only to cast Aiden one last baleful look before he overtook Charles’ body again.

  Suddenly, the older man fell forward onto his face, unconscious.

  “Thanks, brother,” Xander hissed sarcastically when he was certain Charles was out. “I hope for your sake, that these two don’t kill Sarah while I’m locked up. If they do, it will be completely on you. You know I’m right.”

  “They won’t!” Aiden retorted, horrified at the idea. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

  “You almost let him kill your flesh and blood, your fucking twin. I doubt you’ll give a shit if they do anything to Sarah.”

  Xander did not give Aiden a chance to respond, spinning to rush from the house.

  In his wake, Aiden stood, consumed by guilt and worry.

  I would do anything to protect Sarah, he told himself.

  But he could not get the image of his dead classmate out of his mind.

  6 Years Later

  “Aiden, you have a call on line three.”

  “Thanks, Bri.”

  He turned away from the computer and snatched up the line.

  “Aiden Van Hoyt.”

  “Mr. Van Hoyt, this is Detective Keyes of the Rockville Police Department.”

  A sizzling bolt of alarm flooded through his body.

  “What has he done this time?” Aiden asked without thinking, falling back against the soft leather of his high back swivel chair, a headache beginning to form behind his eyes.

  “Could you come to Rockville, sir? I’m afraid I have some troubling news for you.”

  Aiden cleared his throat.

  “Whatever Xander has done – “

  “It’s about your parents, sir.”

  The wind was knocked out of Aiden’s chest and he closed his sea green eyes.

  “What happened?” he sighed. “Car accident?”

  Charles was drunk driving again, I bet. Oh my God -

  “No, Mr. Van Hoyt, they – “

  “Where is my sister?” he demanded suddenly. “Was Sarah with them?”

  In his panic, he had risen from his chair, his pulse racing dangerously.

  “Mr. Van Hoyt, you need to come to the police station on West Montgomery as soon as possible. When can we expect you?”

  “Just tell me what happened! And tell me where my sister is!”

  “Sir, your parents have been murdered…and your sister is being held for questioning.”

  Aiden’s mouth fell open and he began to shake his head in denial.

  “No,” he muttered. “No, she didn’t do this.”

  “Sir, please, it will be much better if we can do this in person.”

  “I’ll be there as soon as possible. It’ll take me an hour to drive there,” he said flatly, slamming down the phone onto his maple desk. His pulse was racing erratically as he tried to reach out to his brother.

  Where the hell are you? He demanded. You have to come home!

  There was a derisive snort in his head.

  What the hell is home? The place where Charles and Lisa live? Xander laughed mirthlessly. No thanks.

  They’ve been murdered, Aiden told him, grabbing his keys from inside the top drawer of his desk. And they are holding Sarah for questioning.

  An ominous silence filled Aiden’s ears.

  Xander, did you hear me? Meet me back in Rockville.

  There was no response and Aiden’s blood suddenly ran even colder. Oh my God, could it be? Aiden’s mind started turning over probabilities, the scenarios building quickly.

  Goddamn it. Sarah didn’t kill our parents, he realized. Xander did and now he’s going to let her take the fall.

  Anger filled him as he glanced at the photograph on his desk.

  Jamie smiled at him brilliantly from the silver frame, her cheek pressed up to Audrey’s chubby infant face.

  I have to protect Sarah and I owe it to Xander to help, but at what cost?

  Part I

  Chapter One

  Present Day

  “Don’t pull up to the front!” Audrey ordered with typical eight-year old sass. “Right here is fine.”

  Aiden cast her a sidelong look, wondering when she had gotten to an age where she was embarrassed by her father.

  It wasn’t a new thing, not really, but it didn’t get any easier to take.

  “Dad!” she groaned as he ignored her request and continued toward the drop off in front of Bethesda Elementary School.

  “What?” Aiden asked. “Do you see anyone else dropping their kids off three blocks away?”

  “I thought you were always the one saying that being different is not necessarily a bad thing,” she retorted, pulling her bag out of the backseat before she reached for the door.

  We can’t win. The next generation is always smarter than us.

  “Uh, are you going to give me a kiss?” he asked, trying to keep the exasperation from his voice.

  She groaned as if he had demanded a kidney, her peaches and cream complexion melting into an expression of disdain and for a fleeting moment, Aiden was reminded of Xander.

  Xander, who was still in prison for the murders of Charles and Lisa.

  She sighed deeply as she placed a prefectural kiss on his cheek before disappearing up the walkway toward the school.

  A strange pang filled his gut as he watched her go, a bittersweet experience as he realized how fast she was growing up.

  She looks like Jamie and acts like Xander. Beauty and ruthlessness in one innocent package. I am so screwed.

  Someone behind him honked and Aiden waved apologetically before pulling away from his spot on the curb.

  A light rain was falling over the town as he merged onto I-95.

  Traffic had slowed to a standstill, a fact which never ceased to amaze Aiden.

  It’s water sprinkling over the streets. I don’t understand how this causes everyone to lose control of their common sense and their cars.

  Of course, not everyone was Aiden Van Hoyt.

  He pressed the screen on his dashboard, activating his Bluetooth and called the office.
<
br />   “Quick Accounting.”

  “Hi, Eileen. It’s me.”

  “You’re stuck in traffic?” she asked automatically, and he chuckled. His receptionist knew him too well.

  “I just dropped Audrey off at school,” he explained. “But traffic is crawling.”

  Eileen chuckled lightly.

  “You know you probably won’t even be late,” she replied. “And even if you are – “

  “Yes, yes, I know. I own the company. I just thought I would let you know,” he laughed, feeling chastised.

  “Duly noted, Aiden,” she placated. “Your morning is pretty clear anyway. Maybe you should take the day off and go see a movie or something.”

  He snorted aloud, and she laughed.

  Aiden Van Hoyt taking a day off for no good reason? Highly unlikely.

  He was nothing if not thorough and scheduled. Men like Aiden did not simply play hooky, CEO or not.

  Eileen was more than likely right; he probably would not be late. Still, he didn’t want anyone worrying about him.

  Does anyone really worry about you? He asked himself and the answer churned his stomach slightly.

  His daughter was eight now, the days of curling up in his lap and spontaneous hugs a thing of the past.

  Since Jamie had died, Audrey’s attitude had reflected the grief in the worst ways possible and even after two years, she showed no signs of rising over the rebellion nature which had taken a hold of her.

  At least once a week he found himself in the principal’s office, apologizing to someone’s mother or a teacher for something Audrey had said or done.

  The problem was, her fury was brilliant, not randomly acted out in punches or kicks. More implied, than actual.

  She seemed to be a pool of slowly increasing anger and resentment, and Aiden had no way of knowing when it was going to spill over.

  “She needs more discipline,” Principal Bellajoy explained. “She feels she is above reprimand and can get away with anything. That sort of thing starts at home.”

  “She lost her mother,” Aiden replied with as much patience as he could muster. “It’s a difficult transition at any age. But she was only six when it happened…”