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

I looked at the red mark on my finger. “Will it burn like that when we use it?”

“Yes,” he said with a casual shrug, as though the burn on my finger was nothing.

I shook my hand, trying to distract myself from the pain throbbing in my fingertip. “Okay, so what exactly does this do for us? How does it work?”

“Five hundred feet. No opening portals or shifting through planes. Nothing in or out. Though, I suppose there’s nothing stopping anything inside from simply walking out, but hopefully you have a plan for that. Might be a problem. Sorry—time was limited, and I can only do so much.”

“No, it’s fine,” I said, reaching for the amulet again. “This is great. How long will it last?”

“A hundred twenty minutes.” He looked down at his notebook, frowned, and jotted down numbers, double-checking strange math I couldn’t hope to understand. “Or maybe twelve. Not sure. Hard to say.”

I blinked a few times before I could manage a response. “The best guess you can give me is either two hours or twelve minutes? That’s a pretty significant difference, don’t you think?”

“One hundred and eight minutes is extremely insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe, you know.”

I gaped at him. He had to be kidding. Had to be.

“Alchemy is an art, not a science,” he said. “Well, mostly magic with sprinkles of science. It’s kind of unpredictable. This is the best I can do. Take it or leave it.” He dropped the amulet into a pouch and held it out for me.

I had no choice but to take it.

“And you’re sure this will work?” I asked.

“Yes, of course. It may need moonlight to work, since the emerald draws its power from the moon. I wasn’t able to test that.”

I rubbed my eyes. “Is there anything else I should know before we use this? It won’t explode and kill us unless we recite a crazy incantation or something?”

“No. Probably not.” At my exasperated glare, he chuckled. “Art, not science. Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“That’s really encouraging,” I grumbled as I stuffed the pouch into my bag.

“Ah—one more thing.” He held out a cloth wrapped around a long, thin object. “The dagger you came for.”

“Thank you for doing this,” I said. Despite Ed’s uncertainty about how the amulet would actually work, I meant it. He’d taken a big risk by doing this for us, and I wouldn’t forget it.

“Don’t mention it,” he said, waving a hand. “It was my pleasure. Though, it has set me terribly behind schedule.”

I saw myself out and met up with Jacob in the lobby. I found him leaning over the counter at the reception desk, chatting with Judy.

“Got it,” I said. I removed the fabric that was wrapped around the dagger and held it up to show him, making sure it was clearly in the guards’ view.

“Let’s head back to your place, then,” Jacob said.

As soon as we were outside, one of the guards seized me by the shoulder and spun me around. “Hand it over.”

“What?” I asked, pulling away from him.

“The dagger.” He held out his hand. “Marcus wants it.”

“Why?”

“He didn’t say.”

I gripped the hilt tightly, as though I was hesitant to give it to him. “Will I get it back?”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know. All I know is that he told me to bring your dagger to him if you picked it up. Are you going to give me trouble?”

“No.” As I passed it over to him, I made a mental note to thank Ed again for being so thorough.

We left the alchemy lab and took the long route home, back through the main stretch of Haygrove. We still had plenty of time before nightfall, and part of me felt like I needed to say goodbye to my childhood home, the town I’d lived in my entire life and might never see again.

Though, I was also curious to see what remained of the town hall.

When we arrived at the Courtyard and the building came into view, I drew in a sharp gasp.

I’d only set fire to the ground level, but the flames must have spread further through the building before anyone put them out. The bricks were mostly intact, except for some near the top that had crumbled away, but the roof had almost completely caved in. The blown out windows left only charred outlines in their place, and even the face of the clock on the tower was now fully black.

Looking at the shell of the building left me with a hollow feeling, a deep sense of all that I’d lost over the last few months. The loss of Ayla, my partner, who had abandoned me. The loss of my father, who had been taken from me. And now, the loss of the only life I’d ever known, the life I was leaving behind.

I swore my oath to the Arbiters of Shadow in that building. And now, both it and my oath had been broken beyond repair.

People gathered outside the town hall, filling the Courtyard with whispers as they gossiped about what happened. I couldn’t catch much of what they were saying, but it seemed word had already spread that Orion was responsible for the fire.

I stood on the tips of my toes, trying to get a better look. Marcus Thorne, John Grayson, and Celia Lawrence were having a heated discussion with the rest of the Council on the stairs.

I nudged Jacob’s arm. “Let’s move up.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked.

“Something’s happening. We should find out what.”

As I pushed through the wall of bodies, a chill traveled across my skin. I glanced back over my shoulder. Our guards were still following close behind, keeping an eye on us. But even they were looking around and fidgeting uncomfortably. The others around us seemed similarly unsettled, as what had previously been a steady murmur of discussion quieted.

The crowd parted for a man who walked through, his hands stuffed in the pockets