Adam by Jacquelyn Frank

in power and wickedness. Adam was far more dogged in his ways. He would have taken all manner of risks to attain victory.”
    “Do you think he was better than Daddy was?” she asked quietly.
    Gideon immediately shook his head. “Jacob had wisdom and age and the power that comes with both on his side. There has never been a more powerful Enforcer than your father, Leah.” He took a breath. “But I would hesitate to pick sides in a head-to-head battle of the brothers.”
     
     
    Leah hurried away from Gideon and Legna’s quarters, Seth scurrying along in her wake.
    “I know what you’re planning to do!”
    Leah came to a screeching halt and about-faced, glaring at Seth and shushing him fiercely. She grabbed him by his shirtfront and yanked him into the privacy of a nearby alcove, hoping to cut their conversation away from the natural echo of the caverns.
    “You don’t know anything! Just keep your mouth shut!”
    “You’re insane, Leah. You don’t even have the power to do it. So what, so you accidentally were able to jump through time once. You were two years old! It was a raging accident. Since then what have you been able to do? Send a stopwatch five minutes into the future?” Seth scoffed at the feat. “The great and magnificent child of Time, ladies and gentlemen!”
    “You don’t know anything!” she hissed at him again. “I’m so sick of you thinking you know so much and being such a jerk to me because I have powers and you don’t. The great and magnificent child of Space, ladies and gentlemen, who can—gee, what can you do besides whine like a little brat?”
    “Shut up! Why don’t you just give it up, Leah? Your parents got their asses kicked and now they’re dead. Dead, dead, dead! And there’s nothing you can do about it!”
    Leah swung out her hand and smacked him right across the mouth. The action shocked them both. Leah nursed her smarting hand and Seth nursed his bruised lip. Leah felt the need to cry stinging across her sinuses and burning in her eyes. She felt unable to contain the painful emotions flooding over her. She refused to let Seth have the satisfaction of seeing her hurt, so she ran. She kept running until she couldn’t see her way anymore and couldn’t breathe. Finally she fell to a stop beside an underground pool, one of many in the castle and the caverns. She knelt down and grabbed up a handful of the always cold water, splashing it over her face. Slowly she got herself under control, drew her sobs in until they were hard sniffles. She swiped at her eyes, blinked and looked up to see a beautiful brunette standing next to her. Her hair was loose, a black cape all around her shoulders that reminded Leah of her mother. Her legs were encased in shiny tights of an opaque white and a short black miniskirt that barely covered her butt. Her pierced navel was exposed by the short navy blue tank she was wearing. It was her boots that dominated her outfit, though. They were soft black leather with brass buttons climbing the backs of her legs in a nice steady row all the way up to her thighs. It was as though they alone were announcing her presence, and they were saying she was way too fine to mess with.
    Leah had only glimpsed her from a distance over the past ten years, but she would never forget who the Vampire was. It immediately disturbed Leah that Jasmine should see her like this. Weak and out of sorts. She didn’t know why it should matter, but it did.
    She stood up and faced the Vampire, smoothing her own simple T-shirt down over her favorite pair of jeans. Still, she suddenly felt like it wasn’t enough. Like she ought to be wearing something better. Like she ought to be something more. It was a moment Seth must experience every single day he woke up to his father’s magnificence and stood in his shadow without anything to show for her parents’ expectations of him.
    Leah supposed it was because this woman had been her rescuer. Her hero, really. Jasmine was strong and