The Jewels of Cyttorak by Unknown Author Read Free Book Online

and brother and returning to his office, he’d tried to sit at his desk, but his expanded frame had made the desk and all the chairs far too small for him. He had smashed a second chair simply by trying to sit in it. Obviously he’d have to have a special desk and chair made for him.
    The couch had held him and he’d spent the night sitting there, staring at the emerald, alternately laughing at his good fortune and silently trying his best to get in touch with the feelings he had inside his head. Later in the day, he planned on testing some of the limits of his new size and strength, and having a doctor check him over to make sure he really was as healthy as he felt. But for the entire night he just sat and stared at the emerald.
    And he got some answers.
    His new physical power, even as great as it seemed, was only a small part of what it might be if he found the other two parts of the emerald. How he knew this, he had no idea. But, as with the strength, it just came with the emerald.
    However, the emerald had given him no other special abilities that he could determine. He wasn’t any smarter, that he could tell, and he couldn’t sense anything that didn’t directly relate to the emerald. And even then the
    sense was distant, like a whisper caught on a breeze.
    But the whispers were loud enough for him to understand that two people possessed the other two emeralds. Both lived in the United States, one in the west, one in the south. Exactly where, he had no idea, nor did he know who the people were. But he could sense their presence and their direction and he figured that would be enough.
    He could also sense another very powerful creature tied directly into the source of the energy of his emerald. Every time he thought of that creature, he felt a faint pain throughout his body and saw red. At the moment, he had no idea what that meant, but he assumed in time he would find out. What he did know was that the red creature was getting closer with every hour and the pain was increasing slightly.
    He had no intention of being in this office when that creature, whatever it was, arrived.
    A knock at his office door interrupted his musings over the emerald.
    “Robert?” Gary’s voice drifted faintly through the thick wooden door.
    “Come in,” Robert said, his voice booming so loud that it startled him. Glasses on the wet bar shook from the intensity of it. It was going to take some t im e to get used to his new power.
    The door slowly opened and Gary stepped through, his face pale, his eyes sunken from lack of sleep. But at the sight of Robert, Gary’s face got even paler and his eyes widened with the shock of what he was seeing.
    Robert laughed, again rocking the glasses on the bar across the room. “Gonna take some getting used to, isn’t it, little brother?”
    Gary nodded and stopped in the doorway, still staring at the mostly nude body of Robert.
    Robert’s shredded clothes had fallen aw'ay during the night and he’d covered himself with a blanket that looked more like a towel over his huge body. He knew exactly how he looked—he’d spent a considerable amount of time staring into the mirror—-and he liked it. He liked the size of his chest and arms more than anything.
    After a moment Gary asked, “Are you all right?” “Better than ever,” Robert said, standing and wrapping the blanket around his waist like a beach towel. His head almost reached the tall ceiling.
    Gary’s mouth actually opened in shock as Robert stood and faced him, and it was clear to Robert that the look in Gary’s eyes was pure fear.
    “Jealous, little brother?” Robert asked, and laughed. Gary shook his head slowly, never taking his eyes off Robert. “Just worried,” he said softly.
    “You,” Robert said, pointing at Gary, “worried about me ? Now that’s a funny one.”
    “You are my brother,” Gary said.
    Robert stepped one large, building-shaking step closer to Gary and the smaller man cowered back slightly, but, to