Marked For Death: A Dark Urban Fantasy Novel Becca Blake (fiction novels to read .txt) 📖

I expected a snide comment about how he never wanted to be here in the first place. Instead, he looked at me with those warm hazel eyes, filled with something that looked like concern.

I hated it. I didn’t want his pity.

“Are you sure you should be alone right now?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I snapped, though I wasn’t convincing anyone. Even I knew my response sounded anything but fine.

He leaned back against the door and crossed his arms. “You’re not. And you shouldn’t be, after everything you’ve been through this week.”

I closed my eyes and brought my hand to my forehead. He was right, but I was just so damned tired. And I didn’t want him here, seeing me at my weakest.

“Why don’t you go sit down on the couch? I’ll order us some pizza,” he said. “We don’t have to talk about any of it if you don’t want to.”

I wanted to argue with him, but his suggestion sounded like exactly what I needed. As I collapsed on the couch, he tossed me the blanket I’d given him to sleep with, since he’d been camping out in my living room. I wrapped it around myself and found that it held a faint earthy scent. It wasn’t a familiar smell, but it was a pleasant one, so I pulled it tighter.

As I listened to the muffled sound of Jacob pacing in the kitchen as he called in our order, I tried to relax on the soft cushions. The weariness of the past few days seeped into my bones, but my mind was still on high alert, waiting for the next threat. I’d moved so fast from one disaster to another, and it felt like it had been years since I last allowed myself to just be still.

It wouldn’t last—we still had so much to do—but I longed for some peace.

When Jacob returned, he sat on the opposite end of the couch, leaving a respectful distance between us.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

“Don’t mention it.”

We sat in a comfortable silence for a long while before I spoke again. “I’m sorry about what happened earlier—back in your dad’s office. He shouldn’t treat you like that. Like you’re…” I wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence, so I let it hang in the air.

“A burden?”

“That’s harsh,” I said.

“But true.” Jacob leaned back and crossed his arms. “He’s always been like this.”

“Still,” I said. “You’re his son.”

“That doesn’t mean much to him.”

I couldn’t believe how calmly he said it, as though it were normal for a father to have so much disdain for his own child.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, though the useless phrase didn’t come close to fixing anything.

“It is what it is,” Jacob said. “When I was a kid, I tried so hard. But no matter how much time I spent training or studying, trying to be the perfect son he wanted, it was never enough for him. He was always disappointed. I’d give anything to have the kind of relationship with my dad that it seems like you had with yours.”

A pang of grief clenched my heart, both at the reminder my dad was gone and at Jacob’s description of his childhood. I couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like for him to grow up constantly trying to win his father’s affection, knowing he would never succeed.

“What about your mom?” I asked.

“I never knew her. She died giving birth to me,” he said.

The doorbell rang, giving us a much needed break from the somber conversation. I started to get up, but Jacob was on his feet first. He returned a few minutes later with a box of pizza, which he set on the coffee table.

Though we hadn’t eaten all day, neither of us bothered with the box, and I wondered if his appetite had been as spoiled by the conversation as mine.

When he sat back down, I wasn’t sure if I imagined that he was now a few inches closer to me.

Part of me felt guilty for dragging him into my mess, especially now that I knew more about his relationship with his father. Before, I figured he wasn’t in any danger, and that if they caught us, his father would step in to protect him.

Now, I wasn’t so sure.

He was taking as much of a risk as Orion and me, and we still hadn’t told him anything about our plans to leave town. Would he want to join us?

“You said earlier that we should be honest with each other.” I shifted my body to face him, and my knee brushed against his. “I haven’t been fully honest with you.”

He tensed, subtly enough that I might have missed it if not for the clenching of his jaw. “Oh?”

“When I spoke with Orion outside last night, we made plans to leave Haygrove. I was worried you might say something to your dad, so we didn’t tell you.”

I explained everything Orion told me about the demon lords, and how the Arbiters did their bidding. It felt more disgusting explaining it to somebody else, and once his disbelief wore off I saw it on Jacob’s face, too.

“I’m surprised you came back here at all,” he said, once I finished.

“We only came back so we could try to learn more about how to destroy them. Orion mentioned checking the vault at the library—the one only the commanding officers and members of the Council have access to.”

Jacob shook his head. “That won’t work.”

“Why not?” I asked. “Marcus said we had access to the facilities as usual.”

“Public facilities,” he corrected. “The vault isn’t public. And even if Orion does still have access, it would be a terrible idea for him to go there. They track everything. The Council would know exactly what he was looking into.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

He nodded. “I’ve heard my dad talk about it before.”

I cursed under my breath. “We could ask Celia to look for us.”

“I doubt she would,” Jacob said. “Her warning Commander Orion about the Council’s plans was a huge risk