Chapter 2

2

The moment Lexie mentioned ending the pregnancy, my mother scrambled to grab her hands.

She was terrified for her precious grandson.

Caleb rushed to pull Lexie off the floor. "Lexie! Baby, you know I love you! I promised I'd take care of it, and I will!"

My mother chimed in, "Don't worry, honey. This house isn't run by that little brat. You're the boss here!"

They hovered over Lexie on the sofa, while three sets of hateful eyes glared at me.

I looked at Caleb, feeling a deep sense of betrayal.

"Caleb, I never said no when you asked for help before. I took every hit, every sickness you earned. But this? You're asking me to die."

Caleb didn't even listen; he was too busy stroking Lexie's hair.

He looked at her and promised, "My sister does what I tell her. Don't worry. I saved her life years ago; she owes me this much."

Mother rubbed Lexie's belly gently. "A daughter is nothing compared to the boy you're carrying. She'll do it, or I'll break her legs myself."

Lexie crossed her legs, a smug look on her face. "Then tell her to get my brother out today! If I don't see him by tonight, the baby is gone!"

Hearing her threaten the pregnancy again made my father lose it. He lunged forward and grabbed me by the throat.

"Go to the damn jail and swap with him now!" he roared.

Caleb actually stepped forward to pin my arms down so I couldn't struggle.

He looked at me with pure venom. "You selfish bitch! You only have this power because you inherited it from Grandpa. You've had it easy for too long!"

"Giving your life now is just paying back what you stole from me!"

Looking at Caleb's crazed expression, I finally understood.

He didn't love me. He was jealous of the protection I provided.

Over the years, that envy had turned into a burning hatred.

He wasn't the brother I remembered anymore.

He only saw the magic, never the agony I endured behind the scenes.

I had absorbed disaster after disaster for this family until my body couldn't take any more.

I had traded my health for their safety.

If it wasn't for me, all three of them would be corpses by now.

I was only eighteen, but I had the heart of an old woman, failing kidneys, and scarred lungs.

I had over a dozen chronic illnesses raging inside me at once.

The only reason I was still breathing was because of my destiny as a Bearer.

But even then, every day was a living nightmare of pain.

I had wanted to fight back before, but I was clinging to the memory of Caleb's kindness.

Plus, the ancient laws of my bloodline forbade me from leaving my family before eighteen. If I ran before then, my body would have literally imploded.

But they didn't know that rule.

"You're doing it today, one way or another!" Caleb screamed. "If you don't use your power, I'll choke the life out of you myself!"

They had planned this whole thing.

Today was supposed to be my funeral.

Luckily for me, today was also my eighteenth birthday.