Prologue

Daemon

It was late, after three in the morning when I smelled the first of the smoke. Smoke was a familiar scent to me, seeing as I could control the element of fire.

I opened my eyes slowly and sat up. My brother Ajax was sleeping soundly in his bed, he hadn't even stirred. I got up sleepily and opened the bedroom door, rubbing my eyes. The moment I saw flames licking their way up the wall by my parent's and younger brother's rooms across the landing, all traces of sleep left me and I raced towards the door.

I raised my hand, focusing on the flames, imaging the cool and dissipating, becoming less dangerous. The flames obeyed my silent commands and as I moved my hand up, the came away from the wall and into my hand where I crushed them into submission.

I opened my parents' bedroom door quickly.

The moment I opened it, my heart stopped.

There was so much blood. I feel to my knees, my breath near hyperventilation. My mother and father lay dead on the bed, both of their throats had been slashed.

Thick tears ran down my cheeks. "Mom, dad," I said weakly.

I nearly gave over to the grieve that threatened to consume me. As I dropped my head into my hands, I heard a screams from my youngest siblings.

I was on my feet immediately, I would not lose anyone else. "Howard! Luxerion!" I shouted and lurched to my feet, racing into the other room. Ajax was standing across the landing.

"Daemon? What's going on?" he asked, his voice high pitched with worry.

"Jax, get somewhere safe, now!" I screamed. I quickly pushed open the door to Howard and Luxerion's room. There was a man standing with my youngest brother up in his arms, unconscious, Howard lay on the ground, eye opened, paralyzed. "Lux!" I shouted, conjuring up a ball of fire in my hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you, you wouldn't want to hurt your baby brother, now would you?" the man asked, smiling sadistically.

I didn't get a chance to retort.

A blast of wind picked up from behind me, avoiding me and heading right for the man. It knocked him hard into the wall behind him, causing him to drop my brother's small body.

I rushed forward, scooping up my one year old brother, holding him to my chest. "Ajax, go pack a bag for each of us, grab whatever money you can find laying around, but whatever you do, do not go into mom and dad's room." I ordered, laying Luxerion down on his bed and quickly throwing things into a bag for him and Howard.

I knelt beside Howard once I was through, slinging the bag over my shoulder. I gently caressed his cheek. His eyes were closed now and he looked like he was sleeping. "Howie, Howie, come on wake up for me buddy." I said.

Howie's eyes opened slowly and he stared up at me. "Dae, what happened?" he asked.

"Don't worry How, just come on, I need you to get up for me okay?" I said, starting to pull him up by his hand. Howie let me pull him up. "Come on, we need to get out of here. We are going to mom and dad's safe house." Howie looked at me terrified.

"Dae, where are mom and dad?" he asked.

I leaned in and kissed his forehead. "Howie, they aren't here anymore we are on our own."

"Wha… what do you mean? Dae you're scaring me." Howard said.

I pulled him close for a quick hug. "Howard, I need you to not be scared right now, I need you to be brave. Okay? Can you be brave for me?" I asked.

Howard nodded. "Okay," he said.

Ajax came racing into the bedroom. "We need to go," he said, obviously out of breath.

I nodded. "Jax, hold his hand and don't let him go for anything." I said.

I carefully lifted my baby brother up into my arms and we ran, leaving behind no traces of where we were going.

I've been taking care of my younger brothers every day since the Sworn killed my parents. My parents prepared me just in case this day came. They prepared special bank accounts for each of us that could sustain us for years, a safe house so we'd have somewhere to stay, college tuition enough to pay all four years at the college of my choice, fake IDs, and passports.

It took me a few months after their deaths to find a job. I was seventeen at the time so it was fairly easy and when I turned eighteen I used that college money to attend NYU, rented an apartment near the campus, and adopted my three younger brothers legally with the state.

It's been six years since the bastards killed my parents. I'm the only parent that Luxerion has ever known because of the Sworn. The members of the Sworn have been after my family for years for our powers, our control over the four natural elements. They wanted to study us, take our powers, and kill us.

I took a sip of my coffee, taking a short break from my final paper for my creative writing class, a fiction piece of our choice with two well thought out characters. It was easy enough for me since a creative writing career is what I would like to go into after college, which wasn't that much farther away for me. At twenty three, I would be graduating in just a few short months.

"Dae?"

I looked up at the call of my familiar nickname. Lux was standing in the kitchen doorway, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Hey Luxy," I said, putting down my coffee and holding my arm out to him.

Lux walked over to me, heavy footed and dragging with sleep. He really wasn't a morning person.

I wrapped my arm around him and kissed his cheek lightly. "Did you sleep well?" I asked.

He nodded and slipped into my lap. Luxerion was small for a seven year old, his golden brown hair, minty blue eyes, and pale skin all reminded me of my mother. "Whatcha working on?" he asked and snuggled up close.

"My final essay for my creative writing class." I said picking up my coffee again and taking a sip.

"Ooh, fun," he said sarcastically.

"Well, it's one of the easiest finals that I've ever had, and there's no research involved, it all just comes from my head." I said, chuckling lightly.

"I'm hungry," Lux sighed.

"How about some eggs?" I asked.

"And sausage," he requested sweetly.

I smiled and kissed the top of his head. "Sure kiddo," I said and slipped him off my lap setting him in my chair.

I pulled out the eggs and got to work. The smell of food woke Ajax and Howie, luring them, blurry eyed and yawning into the kitchen. "Morning guys," I said in greeting.

"Morning big brother," Howie said and Jax only gave me a small wave. Since he was eighteen now, he had begun to attend NYU with me, a major in mathematics. Howie was going into his tenth grade year and Lux was going the first grade, but he was much smarter than your average first grader.

"What's for breakfast?" Jax asked coming to stand at my shoulder.

"I'll make omelets for everyone if you guys will clean up," I said.

Ajax smiled and nodded. "Okay,"

I ruffled Jax's hair and he ducked out from under my hand, giving me an indignant look. "I'm not a kid," he said.

I chuckled. "But you are my little brother," I said.

Jax rolled his eye and went for the coffee.

"Howie, take Lux and get ready for school," I said and started pull out the vegetables.

"Yes sir!" Howie said in a joking tone. I rolled my eyes as he pulled Lux off his chair and started dragging him down the hall.

I just shook my head at Howard's antics and started to mix the eggs in a large mixing bowl. This was our usual morning routine, a little teasing here and there, laughing, eating together, and just making the best of the time we had together.

Breakfast was a quick affair in our house because we all had places we needed to be.

As we were about to head out of the apartment, me to take Howie and Lux to school, Ajax to his first class of the day, and then me to work, I felt a shift in the air, a tangible shift. Ajax saw me stiffen. "What's wrong?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"I feel something," I whispered in reply. "Someone is inside the barrier I have around the apartment, someone who doesn't belong here."

"Is it the Sworn?" Ajax asked, immediately reaching out to grab Lux's hand. Those bastards had been after us since they killed our parents, and anytime they got close, they'd go straight for Lux and Howie, our weakest links.

"I don't know, all I feel is very strong magic." I said.

Lux whimpered and buried into Jax's side. "It's alright, we won't let anything hurt you," Jax soothed.

"What are we going to do?" Howie asked, looking from me to Jax and back.

"Jax and I are going to go down and investigate, you and Lux stay up here. Keep your cell on you, we'll call you if its nothing. If Jax and I aren't back within a half hour, don't worry okay? We'll be back," I said, resting a soothing hand on top of Howie's head.

Howie just nodded and wrapped a shaking arm around Lux's shoulders. We hadn't come into contact with any potential threats from the Sworn in years. If they were back, we would have to move, I wouldn't take any chance of them hurting our family.

I leaned down and pecked the top of Lux's head. "We'll be okay," I said.

Lux just gave me his puppy eyes and said, "Just don't get hurt."

I smiled and shook my head at my youngest brother. "I won't, go to the bedroom, both of you and stay away from windows." Both of them nodded and began to retreat to their room as Jax and I slipped out, quietly, taking the stairs even more quietly, avoiding the elevator.

"Do you really think its Sworn?" Ajax asked in a soft whisper, keeping close to me.

"I don't know what to think, I just know that whoever this is, they are very powerful, and I don't want them near my family if they are dangerous." I kept my just low enough that Ajax could hear me.

Once we reached the lobby, we slipped out onto the street and I let my flames trace outwards, feeling for the anomaly within my barrier. The man who reflected back a dark, shadowy flame was the definition of suspicious, dressed in a dark suit with a trench coat though it was nearly eighty degrees out, and a hat that covered his eyes. On the sleeve of his trench coat was a small patch bearing the emblem of the Sworn.

"Damn," I breathed and pressed my hand against Ajax's stomach. "Go back upstairs with Howie and Lux,"

"No Da…" I shook my head sharply at him, cutting off his protest.

"If there are more of these bastards here, I do not want them to get our brothers." I said as quietly as I could.

Ajax looked torn but nodded and slid back inside. I gave a small sigh of relief, if this turned bad, they were all safe in the apartment.

I watched the man dressed in black as he walk the length of the street slowly.

The Sworn were a malicious group of scientists who were sworn in blood to eradicate those of the natural gift, the gift to control the elements. They dissected people like us, they tortured our kind. I'd heard stories, rumors mostly, but they were the types of things I could see them doing. I'd heard that they'd take siblings, separate them by just a few feet, then make each other watch as they tortured the other.

I'd never let them hurt my brothers. I'd already seen what they did to my parents, they'd tried to take Lux from me, I wouldn't let anything else happen to this family.

The man seemed like he was waiting for something, someone.

After fifteen minutes, a black sedan pulled up, the man got into the passenger side, and the sedan pulled away.

I sighed and went up to the apartment. "Jax, How, Lux," I called when I unlocked the door.

I heard Lux's small pattering feet and I saw a whirl of golden brown before I felt my younger brother wrap his arms around my waist. "You're safe," he said, burrowing his face into my stomach.

"You sound so surprised," I said, wrapping my arms tightly around him.

"No, we're glad," Ajax said. "You scared me when you sent me away."

"I'm sorry Jax, I didn't like the magical aura I got from him." I said, giving Lux a squeeze. "I just wanted to be safe rather than sorry." I kissed the top of Lux's head. "I don't want to lose anyone else, ever again."

Howie leaned against Ajax and gave a sigh of relief. "We're safe now right, at least for today?" Howie asked.

"Yeah, for now," I said. "We need to move though, soon, very soon, like maybe by the end of the week."

"Where are we going?" Jax asked.

"Back to the safe house for now, just for now, I'll take a the semester off, we will move where you guys want," I said. Lux pulled back just enough to look up at me.

"Do we have to move again?" he asked sadly.

I kissed his forehead and lifted him up, holding him on my hip. "I'm sorry kiddo, I don't want to move either but right now, you're safety is all that matters to me and I'll do anything to keep you safe." Lux wrapped his arms around my neck.

"Okay, I guess I can't complain about it," Lux said, cuddling up to me.

I chuckled and pressed another kiss to his forehead. "We'll start packing today, alright? I want to be out of here as soon as we can." I said. All three of them nodded.

"Got it boss," All three of them said, echoing each other in perfect harmony.