Beautiful Monster-The Exchange Read Online Free Page A

There was still time for romance.
    One Saturday evening, there was a knock on Lev’s door.
He was expecting no one and debated if he should even answer. But his neighbor
down the hall was pregnant, and her husband often worked late. What if it was
her and she needed help? That scared him all the more, but how could he ignore
a woman in need? When he opened the door, he found Alexei, wild-eyed and pale
as a freshly fallen snow. His hair was an unkempt mess, his clothes dirty and
ripped.
    Alexei stood on the threshold as if rooted to the spot.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in, brother?”
    “My God, Alexei. What happened to you? It’s been years
since I’ve seen you.” Lev pulled him into an embrace and whispered, “Yes, yes,
please come in.”
    “You thought I was dead?”
    “Yes, in the war.”
    “Well,” Alexei heaved a sigh. “I am.” He smiled. Those
were the last words Lev heard, before he too was dead.
    Alexei was back in the dining room. A huge grin spread
across his handsome face, pulling Lev from his thoughts. Something had come to
Lev when recalling the story. Perhaps it was divine intervention, though he
doubted there was anything divine about his life anymore.
    “Do you know where Boris is?” Lev asked his brother.
    Alexei’s smile guttered out.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    Alexei cleared his throat. “Why do you want to know
about Boris?”
    Lev thought he heard a wobble in his brother’s voice. “I
think we need to find him. He might be able to help Carly and I.”
    “No! I can’t go anywhere near that pig .” Alexei
shook his head and started to back out of the room. His handsome face
transformed, giving him the look of a frightened child.
    Confusion settled on Carly’s face as she watched the
exchange between the brothers, but Lev knew now wasn’t the time to explain.
Although he’d never met Boris, the fact was the man was one of a handful of
ancients—creatures of the night who’d been around since the dawning of time.
And because of that, Lev hoped he possessed some knowledge, something neither
he nor Alexei knew of to help him stay with Carly.
    Lev followed his brother. He wasn’t about to give up
easily. “Boris might be able to help us. Time is of the essence—we only have
two days!” An unexpected urge to cry swelled in him, but he swallowed it. He
couldn’t show weakness now, not when Alexei was so upset. His brother was a
loose cannon on the best of days. Still, Lev couldn’t help but wonder why he
seemed so frightened of Boris. His brother had told him stories, and he knew
the man was a bully, but Alexei had always given the impression he was in
control—that he could handle his maker if he had to. It wouldn’t be easy to get
Alexei to take him to Boris, that is, if he even knew where to find him. But
Alexei was clever, Lev had to give him that. He knew a little something about
everything, and what he didn’t know, he could find out. Modern technology was
his brother’s passion—computers, the Internet. He even had a smartphone,
something Lev didn’t have the slightest interest in. And there were occasions
when Alexei hinted he knew where Boris was. Thinking back on it now, Lev had
the sudden realization that his brother probably did know where his maker was,
and maybe, just maybe, for some reason he also needed to know.
    Lev cornered Alexei in the hallway, stepping close
enough so that their faces were inches apart. He said nothing, only stared into
the dark eyes that were so much like his own.
    “I’m sorry, but I can’t help,” Alexei said, and for the
first time in a long time, there were tears in his eyes. He pinched them away
and gave his head a shake as if restoring his bravado. “Besides, you’d be crazy
to take Carly anywhere near that…that monster.”
    Lev slammed a fist into the wall beside his brother’s
head. “Are we not monsters?”
    Alexei flinched and tried to step out of the way, but
Lev held his position. There was nowhere for him to