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

Jacob and pinned him down. He cried out in pain as the hound raked its claws across his shoulder. Blood leaked onto the floor, catching the reflection of the beast’s glowing eyes.

With his sword out of reach and the demonic creature atop him, Jacob Thorne would have no hope of surviving.

My gaze darted from Jacob to Orion, whose tense body hadn’t moved an inch since they released the hound. Beyond him, Marcus Thorne’s expression remained unwavering as a hellhound prepared to tear his son apart.

This guy was about to die, and no one, not even his father, was going to do a damn thing about it.

Before anyone could stop me, I leaped the eight-foot drop from the balcony and rolled into my momentum. Orion and my dad screamed for me to come back, but I ignored them.

I wouldn’t let someone die right in front of me when I could stop it. Not again.

I knocked the hellhound off balance just as it let loose a stream of flames. Instead of hitting Jacob in the face, the blast flew into the air.

He took my outstretched hand and pulled himself to his feet. The hellhound looked between us before settling its furious gaze on me, the one who had robbed it of its kill. It opened its mouth to let out another blast of flame. I calmed myself, shutting out all emotion to channel my energy, and a magical shield surrounded me in a bubble of safety. The hound’s fire disappeared with a loud hiss as it connected with the ward.

The creature howled with rage and crouched down, preparing to attack once more. I pulled back the energy from my ward and stood firm, waiting to dodge its attack.

Before the hellhound could come for me, a blade tore through its neck, and it dropped. Blood and sparks spurted from the wound as Jacob withdrew his sword from the beast’s flesh.

Across the training room, somewhat obscured by the shadows beneath the balcony, a dark figure caught my eye. Stark, milky-white skin and green eyes with an ethereal glow popped out of the darkness. My skin crawled beneath his steady gaze, and a growing sense of unease forced me to look away. When I looked again, the figure had disappeared. But the chill I’d felt while looking at him remained.

I turned around to face the crowd and, more importantly, the Council. Orion stood next to Marcus Thorne, his hands animating his words. My father stood beside him. I couldn’t hear what either of them were saying, but I was sure they were pleading with the Council to go easy on me for interfering.

Marcus sat with his arms crossed, his face paler than usual. He didn’t seem moved by Orion’s speech.

I’d broken the rules—big time.

And I suspected my mandatory leave was about to go from temporary to permanent.

Chapter Three

Time stood still.

I had everyone’s attention, and the weight of their stares was suffocating. The only person in the room who wasn’t staring down at me was Orion, who had taken his seat again and now rested his head in his hands. Whatever pleading he and my dad had tried to do, it didn’t look like it worked.

Even my father stared down at me, his mouth hung open in horror.

“Riley Collins.” Marcus Thorne folded his glasses and returned them to his pocket. “I seem to remember your evaluation ending three years ago. Did it not?”

“It did.” My cheeks burned.

“Then, please. I’d love to hear you explain what exactly you’re doing standing on that floor in front of us all again.”

“I couldn’t stand aside and watch him die. The rest of you were going to just… let it happen. Your own son, and you were going to sit up there and watch him die a horrible death.” The rest of the words caught in my throat.

Marcus let my response hang in the air for a long and uncomfortable silence.

The woman next to Marcus stood up. Celia Lawrence was notable, both for being the newest member of the Council and for being the only woman who had ever joined them. Her braided black hair was pulled up into a bun on top of her head, and the white dress she had chosen for the day was striking against her dark skin. She rested a calming hand on Marcus’s shoulder as she spoke.

“Ms. Collins. Riley? You recently lost your partner, didn’t you? To a hellhound, no less?”

I nodded, unable to get the words out.

“Well, of course you couldn’t stand aside today. Perhaps,” Celia continued, this time addressing Marcus, “since Riley just lost a partner, we can assign Jacob to be her partner instead of issuing him a failure on his evaluation. The two of them seemed to work well together.”

Marcus tapped a finger on his lips, considering her proposal.

“Agreed,” he said. “We can’t have further interruptions like this, however. So, Ms. Collins, I trust you’ll see yourself out. As will you, Mr. Thorne. Let me be clear that no one else will interfere with today’s evaluations. No matter what happens.”

The two men who had freed the hellhound from its crate grabbed Jacob and me by the arms and escorted us to the exit of the training hall.

“I didn’t need your help.” Jacob slammed his arm into my chest, shoving me against the wall. His hazel eyes burned with rage, and if I hadn’t just fought a beast that came straight from hell, his expression might have frightened me.

“It looked to me like you kind of did.” I shoved him away. “From where I was sitting, it looked like you were about to die.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I was fine out there.”

“How’s your shoulder, by the way?” I asked pointedly. “That could have been a lot worse, you know.”

He raised his fingertips to the wound as though he’d forgotten about it. The grey t-shirt he wore had been shredded as easily as the skin beneath. Fresh blood continued to ooze out of the wound, caking onto the fraying edges of his shirt.

“You need