When seventeen year old Layla Levy discovered that her brother was the biggest, baddest, psycho in the little town of Dark Grove, she could hardly believe that he was capable of hurting anyone. Kai had always been a difficult sibling to grow up with, but that was only because he had been rescued from an abusive foster home and adopted into the Levy family at age seven. Layla loved him to pieces and always looked up to him. He was seven years older than her and had become her best friend and savior, especially after they lost their parents in a house fire when Layla was only nine. With no other living relatives, Kai had been the one to take care of her and help his sister through her grief. Without her brother, she was sure her life would have taken a turn for the worst.

A month after the house fire destroyed their home and family, the siblings had made a fresh start and moved to a small town called Dark Grove. Their parents had been wealthy doctors and had left them both a trust fund that Kai was able to access once he turned eighteen. The insurance company gave them more than enough to start over on their own. The last thing Kai had wanted was for him and his sister to end up in the foster care system. He had already lived through those horrors in his younger years and didn’t want Layla to experience it. Instead, he became her sole guardian at sixteen, finished his senior year in high school and started college right after. Now, at twenty-four, Kai had successfully opened his own business and was managing a bar downtown called the Grove Grill. He was extremely resilient, smart, charming, handsome… and dangerous.

What Layla didn’t know was that her brother had been keeping a secret from her and their family ever since he was adopted. On Christmas Eve of 1997, Kai’s biological parents and siblings had all died in their sleep. He had been the only one who was found alive. The odd thing about the tragedy was that autopsy reports had found nothing; they had all died of “natural causes.” The authorities had no idea that Kai Lockwood had psychokinetic abilities and was responsible for the deaths of his parents and brothers.

Bodies had been disappearing ever since Layla and Kai moved to Dark Grove, but she never once thought that the murders were connected to her brother… not until she actually saw him kill an unsuspecting victim one night. Life as she knew it was far from normal. Living with Kai meant that her life was automatically thrust into the realm of supernatural. So many things had happened with no logical explanation. Something dark was living inside of him; something that had no name. All that Layla could do was keep his secrets because she loved him too much to lose him. He had a Jekyll and Hyde personality: charmingly sweet one moment, and terrifyingly angry the next. She knew he would never hurt her, no matter how angry he got, but she couldn’t help but wonder if Kai had been responsible for the house fire that happened all those years ago.

Any psychiatrist would have concluded that the young man had a few screws loose in his head. Fortunately for Kai, he’d managed to stay off the radar of government officials who would have loved to have turned him into a lab rat. He was extremely protective of his sister. Layla was his world and he would have done anything for her. He would have killed for her. She was a beautiful brunette with deep hazel eyes and a smile that would melt any heart. Kai didn’t particularly like the idea of her dating, but luckily Layla had never brought any boys home. She was always dedicated to her studies and driven to succeed in the world of academia.

Both siblings were seductively attractive. Kai was a tall young man with a muscular stature, chiselled jawline, and dark brown eyes. There was a noticeable scar on his right eyebrow and the only place on his body that was covered in ink was his back: a pair of black wings were stretched over his shoulder blades, narrowing downwards. He had short dark hair and a small crucifix had been branded into his left forearm; the scar was permanent.

Layla always knew there were mysterious things about her brother that didn’t make sense to her. She was just too afraid to question him and investigate because she was worried about discovering the truth. Now that she knew he was killing people—and she knew that he knew she’d found out, all she could do was act as if she had never seen him rip the heart out of that man in the dark alleyway. She was living with a predator: a freak of nature who should have been locked up a long time ago… but Layla couldn’t dream of separating from him. Kai was everything to her. He was the only family she had, so if she had to play dumb and act as if she knew nothing about his dark impulses, then she was willing to do that, if it meant he would never leave her.

Some nights whenever Layla was feeling sick with grief, Kai would cuddle her in bed until she would fall asleep. He would hold her and tell her that he loved her, that he would always be there for her. Losing their parents had traumatized Layla. She was so afraid of abandonment and unexpected death. The reality was that her brother was responsible for causing so much misery to everyone she loved, but she just couldn’t leave him. He was a part of her now. He’d shown her a side of him no one else had ever seen. Layla didn’t know if it was just his sociopathic nature, or if he genuinely trusted her enough to let her inside his head so she could know him—really know him.

During the weekends, she and Kai would watch movies on Netflix and snuggle up on the couch together. She never felt uncomfortable around him, but if anyone else had walked in on them during these cuddle sessions… they would have said their overt affection was much too inappropriate for siblings to express.

Kai often liked to hold Layla in his lap and caress her thigh, and she’d fall asleep in the safety of his arms. It was the closest feeling to sheer comfort. Layla used to hate cancelling plans with her friends because of Kai’s possessive nature, but ever since she turned sixteen, she looked forward to coming home to him as soon as her classes were done. They would cook together, shop together, and go out together. They were inseparable.

As the year passed and Layla reached her seventeenth birthday, her ability to recognize that they were crossing forbidden territory had completely diminished, until one evening. While she was cooking dinner in the kitchen, Kai came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before he softly kissed her neck.

Layla’s body reacted and she felt… aroused. She realized that his kiss was anything but innocent; it was sexual.

“Kai…” she said while ignoring her sex deprived libido. “I don’t think you should… kiss me… like that.”

Something hard was throbbing against her, making her blood thrum in her veins.

“Kai…”

His hands fell away from her waist and she couldn’t help but feel an ache from the loss of contact. Layla lowered the temperature on the stove and turned to face him. His dark eyes looked so sad. She panicked and cupped his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just feel like… sometimes we…” she sighed in frustration.

“Don’t you like it when I hold you?”

“Of course I do.”

“I thought you like it when I make you feel safe in my arms.”

“You know I do, Kai.” She softened her expression and stroked his cheek tenderly. He really was so handsome—ruggedly handsome, she thought. “It’s just… kissing me like that is…”

“Wrong?” He filled in the blank as Layla reluctantly nodded. “Says who?” He sounded angry. “Society?”

“I guess…”

“Fuck them! We’re not even related!”

Layla jumped when the pots and pans suddenly fell from the rack. Every time Kai got angry, everything around them would constantly break. He couldn’t control his psychic powers when he was raging.

“Kai, please calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down! Mom and Dad always used to make me feel like a freak! Stop making me feel like a freak, Layla!”

Vases began to break… dishes… books and lamps fell to the floor as he stormed out of the kitchen and locked himself inside his bedroom.

Layla winced as she heard him cursing like a madman. He was having another psychotic episode and she hated having to witness it. Kai had always been this way. As far as she could remember, every time he got angry he would have explosive episodes. Their parents had done their best to try and help him control his psychic powers. They were doctors by day and scientists by night. John and Kara Levy loved Kai as if he were their own biological son. They had done their best to protect him from himself. But Kai had a deep resentment towards them for reasons that Layla could never understand.

“I hate them!” he shouted from his room. “They made me this way! It’s their fault!” Kai kept shouting as everything in his bedroom was nearly destroyed.

Tears streaked down Layla’s face as she approached the door and gently tried to talk him down. She knew as soon as she’d step inside, his room would look like a warzone.

“Kai, please let me in.”

It killed her to listen to his silent sobs. He really was a mess in his head.

“Please, let me inside so I can hold you.”

“You hate me…” he said through tears. “You hate me because I’m a freak!”

“You’re not a freak! You’re my brother and I love you!” She cried with him. It was as if she could feel his every emotion. Kai’s feelings affected her just as much as hers affected him.

After a brief silence, he used his powers to unlock the door. Layla stepped inside and found him sitting on a broken bed. It looked like a tornado had gone through the room. She felt so bad for him because she understood his torment.

“Oh, Kai…” She rushed toward him and wrapped her arms around him protectively while he cried into her stomach. She was his only weakness. He never cried in front of anyone and never felt vulnerable, except when he was around his sister. Layla consoled him and petted his dark, thick hair until he finally calmed down.

Somehow, she found herself sitting astride facing him in his lap. Her arms were wrapped around his neck so intimately. She was mesmerized by the dark mysticism in his eyes as he kept switching his gaze to her sultry lips. Her heart was pounding as Kai stroked her hips and slowly brought his face closer to hers. Layla knew what was about to happen, but she was too overwhelmed and unable to think properly. Her natural reaction was to shut her eyes. And when she did, Kai softly pressed his lips against hers.

She felt something hard and stiff throb beneath her as he deepened the kiss and slipped his tongue inside. But the kiss didn’t last. Layla pulled away with a gasp.

“I’m sorry!” Kai panicked. “I’m so sorry! Fuck!” He slapped himself in the head, and then again, and again, and again like a raving lunatic. Layla didn’t like to see him unravel this way.

“Stop! Stop, Kai!” She managed to grab his wrists and begged him to end his self-inflicted pain.

“I didn’t mean to! Please don’t leave! Please don’t leave me, Layla!”

He was so scared and she could genuinely see that fear. The man that she was interacting with in that moment was just so different from the man that presented himself to the world. It was a night and day difference. His personalities were polar opposites.

“I’m not leaving. Kai, just calm down!”

She took his hand, led him into the kitchen and turned off the stove. Layla abandoned her cooking so that she could cuddle her brother in her bedroom where everything was still intact and orderly.

While Kai lay in bed, she changed into something more comfortable: a crop top and short shorts before she slipped next to him. She wanted to spoon with him, but he asked her if he could be “the big spoon” instead. Layla agreed and shifted on her side so he could move in closer.

The heat of his body made her shudder in forbidden pleasure as he gently stroked her naked hip and glided his palm up and down the hourglass curve of her waist. Layla breathed out contentedly and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his touch. He was completely relaxed now and no longer having a manic episode.

Kai whispered the sweetest things in her ear, about how much he loved her… How he’d die first before anyone harmed her… How he’d sacrifice all his powers to make sure she was happy.

“You complete me, Layla.” He softly kissed her neck and let his hand travel up her rib cage until it landed on her soft breast. He felt her erected nipple through the lace fabric of her lavender bra. Layla was half asleep and aroused. She knew his touch was beyond inappropriate, but she decided to overlook it because she chalked it up to him being different. It was Kai being Kai and loving her in his own way—the only way he knew how. Layla was planning to study psychiatric medicine once she’d start college. She wanted to understand a lot of his mental conditions.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured in her ear. “I don’t ever want to lose you.”

“You won’t,” she sleepily replied.

Kai caressed her like this until they both passed out.

~oOo~ 
All through the night Layla had sexually graphic dreams about being pounded into… and every time she looked up at the man who was on top of her, she stared into her brother’s face. It was Kai who was making her feel such indescribable pleasure. When she woke up, her panties were soaked.

As she turned around, she admired the way he slept. He looked so at peace and even more handsome in his state of relaxation. Layla stroked his cheek and felt an overwhelming amount of love for him. He had become the center of her universe now. The bond they shared was beyond comprehension. He loved her selfishly, and she loved him selflessly. He loved her in ways deemed immoral and taboo, and she accepted his darkness and twisted nature because Layla’s heart was too big. They were like Yin and Yang. She never thought it was possible to ever care about him this much, even after she discovered his secrets. But their sibling bond played the biggest role and influence when it came to their emotional connection. She was his kryptonite and her power over him was her ability to make him feel and reciprocate love.

Kai suddenly stirred awake as he took his sister’s hand and kissed it. “Up so early?”

“It’s almost seven. I need to get ready for class, anyway.” She smiled and caressed his stomach, her fingers brushing his chiseled abs. She loved these moments with her brother. When he wasn’t going off the deep end, he was funny, charismatic, sweet… and sexy. Layla felt guilty for feeling a little attracted to Kai. She usually told herself that it was because she was naturally attracted to danger, and he was the epitome of it.

He opened his sleepy eyes and stared into her beautiful face. “What am I going to do when you go away for college?”

“You’re gonna survive it because you’ll be happily dating someone by then.”

“That won’t happen.”

“And why not?”

“You know I don’t trust others.”

“Kai, you can’t be alone for the rest of your life.”

“I’m not alone. I have you.”

Layla felt so warm inside when he admitted this as she stroked his face.

“Besides,” he whispered, “I can always make your professors give you straight A’s… you’ll get that degree much easier…”

“Kai, you promised you wouldn’t do that psychic stuff on any of my friends.”

“Professors aren’t your friends.” He smirked.

“Anyone I associate with,” she added.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. You want to do it the hard way? Go right ahead, little sis.”

“… It would defy the whole point of me learning. We’re not all powerful and invincible like you, Kai.”

“Do you even know what I am?”

“No,” she nervously replied.

“Have you thought about it?”

“Maybe.”

He chuckled to himself. “What was your first guess?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you.”

“Oh, come on, Layla! I’m curious.”

She sighed and murmured, “Vampire…”

Kai laughed out loud. “Do I look like I sparkle in the sunlight?”

“Okay, now I just feel stupid. I don’t like these head games you play with me.”

“I’m not a vampire.”

“Then what are you?”

“I don’t quite know myself.”

She...