Author's note: Okay, boys and girls...here we go. Some will hate this others will be intrigued. (Anne shrugs) It's a risk but I can't always control what comes out of my head, even if readers end up hating it...

Chapter 7

Pierce rubbed the back of neck as he talked on the phone. "Look John, I'm just saying that there's more to this then a competitor cooking the books. Your team didn't even pick up on all this until it was far too late. What's going on down there?"

He glanced up to see Samuel in the doorway. God, as if he already didn't have enough to deal with at the moment. Pierce shook his head. "You can't give me that excuse, John. It's like all of you were in a trance or something. You're on the ball most of the time. Then you say all the sudden you realize a competitor just passed you by when the numbers indicate it's really been going on for much longer. Look, I'll meet with you tomorrow evening. Yes, evening. You know that's the only hours I work and if you want my support, you're going to abide by my rules. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow at six."

He hung up the phone and stood up. "Unbelievable. That's one of our best senior teams. I just can't figure out what's going on. First I thought it was just the competitor, but now I'm beginning to wonder. The numbers have been going down a lot more than we thought. It's been kept hidden from us, Samuel. We don't look closely at Logitech's numbers because we haven't needed to do so. But now? I just don't know."

Samuel hadn't moved and gave no expression. "Close your eyes."

Okay, not the reaction Pierce would have expected from his twin. "What?"

"Just do it."

"Why?"

"Because I'm asking you."

Pierce let out a huff of air. "Fine, whatever." He closed his eyes. "Is this supposed to calm me down or something? Try to clear my mind?"

Samuel's voice was low. "I want you to picture me with Carissa."

His eyes snapped back open. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Pierce felt his chest grow tight. He didn't want to think about Samuel and Carissa together because he was afraid of what his reaction was going to be. "Why is this necessary? I already told you I wasn't jealous."

"Shut up and do what I say."

Christ, fine. Guess the truth was going to come out now. He closed his eyes.

Samuel spoke in his head. Specifically, I want you to picture me kissing her. Don't think, don't argue, just picture it.

Frowning, Pierce conjured up an image in his mind of Samuel and Carissa. He'd never met her before, but his twin seemed to have no problem making sure he saw her clearly in his mind. Her skin was soft and smooth. She had rosebud lips. She was perfect…

Imagine me kissing her, insisted Samuel.

Pierce grit his teeth but complied, picturing Samuel leaning in and tasting her lips.

More than that, growled Samuel.

What the hell for?

Do it! snapped Samuel.

Pierce imagined his brother now invading her mouth, the kiss becoming more passionate. The images led to his worst fear, as Pierce felt his own body growing hot and hard. He could feel everything his brother was feeling in this imaginary scenario. He wanted Samuel to keep going, until Carissa was underneath him and screaming with pleasure.

Pierce ceased the image and tore away from his twin. He walked out of his office and down the hall to their living quarters. He heard Samuel telling Lucy and Graham to leave for the evening. Angry, Pierce whirled around. "They have work to do, you know!"

"Too bad. This is more important."

"Oh really? My sickness is more important than trying to maintain the investments we have left?"

"If it means making sure you and I are both around to look after it, yes. Anything happens to you I'm just as dead."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Samuel's eyes glared at him. "You never told me. Not only do you want Carissa, you also want her to still be with me. It's not just about you claiming how there's no jealousy feelings when I'm with her. You get aroused when you think of me being intimate with her."

Not wanting to face this topic, Pierce walked into their living room. The place had a huge flat screen TV and various overstuffed couches. Expensive artwork hung on the walls and Pierce had a fleeting thought that maybe they'd have to sell a few if Logitech went under; maybe they'd use the sale to buy another company.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes, I did. What? You want me to feel even more ashamed of myself? I'm sick, Samuel. Get it through that thick head of yours."

"No, you're not sick. Or at least not anymore than me."

Pierce narrowed his eyes. "You aren't the one who is sick."

"I want you to think of Carissa with anyone else other than me." When Pierce hesitated, Samuel hissed. "Go on! Do it!"

Pierce had a brief thought of another stranger coming on to Carissa, someone else touching her.

He wanted to kill something.

"You feel that?" asked Samuel.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"If any other guy were to even look at her in an intimate way, you'd want him dead." Samuel strode up to Pierce, standing only inches away from his face. "But not me. I can put my hands all over her and you'd like it. Admit it!"

"Congratulations. Now you know the truth about how insane I really am," said Pierce in a cool voice.

"Then I'm just as insane…because I have the same exact reaction." When his twin looked at him in question, Samuel nodded and turned away. "It's true. I started thinking about how I reacted when you were weak with no blood, and then how I felt my world turn upside down when you first talked to her on the phone. At first, I thought maybe I was wrong after all. That you were her lifemate."

Pierce was so sick of this. "We've had this argument before…"

"And then I pictured you with her. I was thinking about what would happen if we brought her with us to the Carpathian Mountains. I thought about you meeting and touching her." He whirled back around. "I felt the same thing you just did, Pierce. I wanted her to be with you. It's like," he drew a deep breath, "a sensation I've never known. You were with her, but it was just like I was there, feeling the same excitement when you touched her. That's why I needed to test you. I had to make sure you felt the same way."

Pierce was simply at a loss for words. "Only one can be her lifemate."

"No. Don't give me any explanation about us being twins. You said yourself this has never happened before."

"Then what other explanation is there?"

"She is our lifemate."

The thought that he and his brother would actually share the same female had Pierce stumbling back until he hit the wall. He glared at Samuel. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

Samuel advanced toward him. "Is it? Think about it. You feel everything I do."

"That doesn't mean she is our lifemate! She has one soul, Samuel."

His twin crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Exactly, so what do you think that means?"

"I have no idea," muttered Pierce. He looked up to see Pierce swiftly walk away. At first he thought maybe this strange argument was over for now, but then Samuel walked up to a wall where they had an 1800 sword on display. Pierce watched with horror as his twin yanked it off and then stabbed himself in the right leg so hard, the blade went right through his limb. As Samuel fell to the floor, Pierce rushed over to him.

Only to stumble and fall himself. Shocked, he looked down at his right thigh.

"Hurts like hell, doesn't it?" groaned Samuel.

"What is this?" Pierce could not believe it when he saw blood began to seep through the fabric of his dress pants.

"We share one soul."

"What?"

Samuel focused and went inside himself, healing the wound. When he returned, he looked over at his brother who was still staring at his leg. "It makes sense. It's the only explanation."

Pierce grew angry. "You will come up with anything to explain all this!"

Samuel slowly stood up and looked down at him. "No, you just refuse to believe it." He frowned. "Are you going to heal yourself or do I have to do it for you?"

Cursing under his breath, Pierce healed himself as quickly as possible. The logic he prided himself on demanded there had to be some other explanation. And because there was none, his emotions got the better of him and he ended up launching himself at Samuel.

Samuel had little time to react and found himself thrown against the wall. Pierce's eyes were black, seething with anger. He brought up his hands, holding his Samuel off. They were equally matched in strength and the two of them struggled.

"There can only be one lifemate for each of us!" growled Pierce.

Samuel sucked air into his lungs as he fought to push his twin off him. "She…was…meant…for us both!" Knowing Pierce wasn't thinking with his brain, Samuel switched tactics and swept his foot underneath his twin's leg.

Pierce fell, but not without grabbing his twin and pulling him down. Grabbing Samuel by the throat, Pierce took the advantage and rolled on top of him.

Samuel went limp. "Go ahead…choke me. You'll…follow me."

Pierce lessened his grip. "We don't share a soul! We are separate identities, just like other twins!"

"Exactly!" spat Samuel, "How many times have we found we are the extreme opposite?"

"That doesn't mean we share a soul!" snapped Pierce.

"No? We balance each other in ways no other brothers or twins ever have. Even as children we unconsciously noticed it, but we thought it was normal."

Pierce let go of his twin and got up. He staggered away, and slumped against a nearby wall. "I refuse to believe any of this."

Coughing, Samuel pulled himself up so he sat against the opposite wall. "Then you are blinded by what you know traditionally to be true. We are different, Pierce!"

"No, it's not logical."

"It doesn't feel logical, but it is."

"Come on, Samuel! How could we possibly not know that we shared a soul all these years?"

"We are young compared to most Carpathians," pointed out Samuel. "A few hundred years is nothing compared to others of our kind."

"So what?"

"So," said Samuel with impatience in his voice, "we are great in our world here, taking down the occasional vampire with ease. But when have we really even faced a true master vampire on our own and sustained life threatening injuries? If one of us was seriously injured like I just did with that sword, we would have known this a lot earlier in our life."

Pierce just shook his head.

Samuel winced as his back hurt from being thrown against the wall. "And we lost emotion very early," he went on, "if we couldn't really feel, especially as we matured into full fledged males, how would we know?"

Pierce walked to the nearby couch and sank down into the cushions. "I don't want to believe any of this."

"I know," replied Samuel in a quiet voice.

"You're certainly taking this better than I am."

Samuel shrugged. "If it means that I will not lose you, then I'm willing to consider all options."

"Including sharing your lifemate? Tell me that doesn't bother you!"

"Of course it does. But at the same time, what's the alternative? If something happens to you, it places not only me in danger, but also Carissa."

"She hasn't been bound to either of us," Pierce pointed out. "She felt no pain when you stabbed yourself."

"I took her blood and she fed from me. Like it or not, there's still a connection now. When we bind her to us, we will be twice the protection for her as well as twice the risk. If something should happen to either of us…"

"Stop," said Pierce in a hoarse voice. "This can't be happening! It can't be real."

"What do you want then? Do you want to pretend it's not happening?"

"And you?" shot back Pierce, "what are you thinking we should do? Go before the prince? Become an outcast among our people or even worse, have him condemn us to death because of…" His voice trailed off.

"Say it," said Samuel. "A mutation. We are unnatural in the Carpathian world."

"Exactly! How could this happen? No one shares a soul except with their lifemate. The two become one."

"I don't know the answer either. And maybe we never will. It could be something that happened in the womb when we were conceived. Or when we were born. I don't have an explanation other than the fact that we are one. I cannot live without you, nor you without me. And our soul together makes one that wants to bond with Carissa."

"And just exactly how the hell would that work, Samuel? We can't share her, for God's sake!" When his twin looked thoughtful for a moment, Pierce cursed loudly. "Never. Do you hear me? I cannot share a female with my brother!"

"And why not?" challenged Samuel. "Our very nature demands it! If you go by your instinct and not listen to your brain, you would find it might be the most natural thing in the world for us."

Pierce just stared at his brother.

"Oh stop looking at me like that. Whom do we hurt? In fact, who has to even know?"

"What are you saying? That we do this and not even inform the Prince? That we live a lie to everyone?"

Samuel's voice got quiet. "I know you don't want to be treated as an outcast. Neither do I. Instead of working against me, help me. Help us."

"This just can't be real," whispered Pierce. He looked up at Samuel who was now staring at the floor. His twin looked completely defeated. When Pierce reached out to his mind, he found that his twin was just as scared as he was. "Let's suppose for one moment I believe all this."

Samuel looked at him, his eyes suddenly filling with hope. "And?"

"Our honor demands that we not lie, Samuel. Let's keep the scheduled flight we have in a few weeks that takes us to the Carpathian Mountains. Once there, we'll request a meeting with the SongMaker."

"Which means Carissa comes with us. The SongMaker will tell us for sure that she is our lifemate."

Pierce looked gravely at him. "You realize even if he confirms that we are her lifemate, we may still be shunned."

"But at least not condemned to death. I have to admit, without the SongMaker, I don't think Mikhail would take this situation very lightly. It would be too hard for him to believe it."

"I am still having a hard time believing it," replied Pierce.

"Well, you better believe it, because if we're going to take her to the Carpathian Mountains, we need to keep taking her out."

"We?"

"Well, maybe it's not best to immediately let her know about the fact that she has twins wanting to bond with her."

"Lying isn't any better," muttered Pierce. "Incidentally, how is it that we can lie to her?"

"I guess we didn't really lie. I told her I was you. Technically, brother, we are one soul."

Pierce sighed. "How do you think she'll take to finding out about us?"

"Somehow I think her absorbing that Carpathians exist is hard enough for her at the moment. As you said before my brother, one thing at a time. And I think it's about time you spend time with her."

"Me?"

"I'll go meet John tomorrow at six. You will take Carissa out."

Pierce blinked. "You mean you actually heard me talking about Logitech?"

"Yeah, I know, hard to believe. But come on, let me take a stab at it with fresh eyes while you court our lifemate." When Pierce looked away, Samuel persisted. "Being with her might also be the only way to convince that head of yours that this is real."

"And what about binding her to us? How exactly will that work?" Pierce paused at the thought. "This is sick."

Samuel rolled his eyes. "And as always, you think as a pessimist."

"No, I'm realistic. In all the years I imagined my lifemate, my brother was never a part of it!"

"Look, I don't have all the answers and neither do you. We're just going to have to trust our instincts. We'll have to focus on what we feel is natural for us."

"None of this is natural," muttered Pierce.

Author's note: (Anne ducks and runs)