He shook his head, leaning back in the fold-up chair and studying me. The emerald-green aura around him was bright and energetic. In the short time that I’d known him, it had become apparent that Aaron loved his work. Loved a challenge, too. This kind of thing was right up his alley.

“I got your message, by the way. The Elders said they’d make one more amulet and that’s it. Ask for another and you’ll have insulted their power more than enough.” He gestured to a pile of old crates stacked farther down the wall. “Pull up a box.”

I dragged one over, wincing as it let out a nails-on-chalkboard whine. Once I was seated, the nerves set in all at once. We stared at each other for a few seconds.

“What?” I finally asked.

“I sense this visit is more than work-related.”

My laugh contained no hint of pleasure at all. “You could say that.”

“Well, you are changing. Evolving. Things are going to be odd across the board, Charlie. So, what’s been happening lately? Still eating nonstop?”

“Carbs and protein, mostly. Can’t seem to get enough and I’m losing weight. Find out the answer to that one, and the hell with everything else—we could make millions as diet gurus.”

“Quite true. That’s your metabolism. Inside, your body is working overtime to stabilize itself. This is actually very normal. What else?”

“Well, let’s see. An Adonai serial killer broke into my house and raided my mind last night.” I laughed inwardly, the words sounding ludicrous. “He’s looking for something. Or maybe he found it, I don’t know, but I think he’s the same one who wrote that script,” I said, gesturing to the wall. “I think it has something to do with Mynogan …”

His brow lifted at my revelation, and his expression became intensely thoughtful. He nodded slowly, but his only response was, “Mmm.” And then, “What else?”

I picked at my fingernails, my mind going back to the bizarre flashes I’d had recently: the hellhound, the mirror in my room, the odd blood vessels I saw beneath my skin, and now the script on the wall. I took a deep breath. “You mean besides seeing a few seconds into the future where my partner kills a hellhound, seeing straight through things as if they aren’t even there, thinking my entire body is trying to tattoo itself with script from the inside out?” I shook my head, avoiding his insightful emerald gaze. “I turned a stuffed bunny into a tiny fur ball, Aaron.”

That sort of said it all.

Aaron angled in his chair, the light catching the silk sheen of his dark blue tunic. “I’ve been studying your case, Charlie, quite a bit in fact … and I’ve made a rather interesting connection. Mind you, it’s just a theory, but one I think you should hear.” He scratched the short black stubble on his chin, taking his time to choose just the right words. “What do you know about the Old Lore?”

I blinked, not expecting the question. “Not much. I know it’s some sort of ancient Elysian legend.”

“The Old Lore is a priceless collection of the oldest known writings in our world. These writings are based on a much earlier oral tradition about the pre-history of Elysia, and about the creation of our race and our world. The Charbydons have a similar Lore called the Creation Myth.”

“Okay. So what’s this have to do with me?”

“We know very little about our pre-history, but thanks to the collection we have, we know a few stories from this time period. It was from these early myths that our belief in a single creator evolved, a belief, in some ways, like your own monotheistic religions.” He shrugged. “You are familiar with the One God Theory.”

“That we’re all created by the same being? Yeah, I’ve heard about it.”

“Being. Deity. Metaphysical entity.” Aaron smiled. “Who knows. All we have are myths, and doctrines, and stories, just like you. Some chose to believe in them. Some chose not to.”

The theory had gained popularity over the years. The discovery of alternate worlds made a lot of people think or rethink—it was only natural given the circumstances. New theories popped up all the time, and faded away just as quickly, but the One God Theory appealed to many believers. I suppose if you believed your God is the only God, the creator of the entire universe and everything in it, then that would also have to include the off-worlders. The theory hadn’t put much of a dent into the existing human doctrines, but it did spawn new churches and more places for nondenominational worship.

“In any event,” Aaron said, “the coincidences in our religious doctrines and myths are quite compelling. The stories of the Old Lore, for instance.”

“How so?”

“One of the myths speaks of the first beings, First Ones, made by the Creator. The myth claims that inside of them was the genetic foundation of all three noble races.”

“Wait a minute. Three? I thought there are only two.”

“Besides Charbydon nobles and Elysian Adonai, the Old Lore claims that humans are the third noble race.” He leaned forward. “So one Creator gave rise to the First Ones, and eventually, from them, the three races sprang, evolved—there is nothing in what remains of the traditions to tell us how this happened or even what happened to the First Ones.”

Thank God this was all fiction. Try telling a noble or an Adonai that they shared a common ancestor, and you’d better have stellar health insurance.

I wasn’t a big history buff, but I did find Aaron’s words fascinating … until I realized where he was going with all this. My chin dropped a notch and I fixed him with a bland stare. “Please don’t tell me—”

“What exists inside of you, Charlie, might very well be the same genetic code that existed in the First Ones: the genes of all three races.”

I dropped my head into my hands and let out a deep exhale, then sat back, stunned and a little harried. “You’re saying I’m becoming a First One, a myth? You might as well tell me I’m an orphan from Atlantis.”

He laughed. “Remind me to tell you about Atlantis someday. Look, all myths are grounded in truth. It’s true I have no way of knowing if the First Ones were real or not, but if they were, if the myths are true like some people believe …” A shrug was all he gave to finish out that thought. “There’s no way to tell what you’ll eventually become, no way to know exactly how your body will process the new off-world genes you have. Your entire code is transmogrifying, morphing. It won’t happen overnight. You might eventually become a divine being like the First Ones, or something completely unique, something that all three worlds have never seen before.”

My mind came to a full and total stop. Just stopped, every thought, every sense replaced by lovely, welcoming white noise.

A singsong echo started. Distant. Two syllables.

“Charrr-leee. Charrr-leeeeee.”

Several bright flashes caused my eyelids to close tighter.

“Charlie!” Sharp, loud, to the point. I reared back, blinking rapidly, my brain scrambling to make sense of what was in front of me.

Two blurry faces. Up close. Peering at me.

“See there, she’s blinking.”

Flash.

What the hell?

“There. She’s coming out of it. Charlie!” The sound of snapping filled the air.

“Liz?” The two faces zoomed out and came into focus. Aaron and Liz. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Yeah. See. Told you,” Liz said in her no-nonsense tone, bumping Aaron’s shoulder and flicking her small flashlight on and off. “Good as new. Yell if you need me.” She flipped her hair behind her shoulder and marched back to her work station.

“Just a moment of shock, Charlie, nothing to worry about,” Aaron said. “I imagine it’s not every day one hears they might be evolving back into a divine being.”

There it was again, that white noise.

“Head between your knees,” he ordered gently, hand on my shoulder as my head went down and my hands covered my face.