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

She pulled out her handgun and aimed it in our direction. Her finger hovered beside the trigger. “Don’t make me do it.”

Ayla set the mugs on the table, then dove for the weapons in my duffel bag.

Celia fired a shot in her direction. I lifted my hand and flung the bullet away with a quick ward.

Another gasp came from the corner, but we didn’t have time to worry about the civilian girls. At Celia’s command, the Arbiters rushed for us, and another swarm of bullets flew in our direction. This time, Orion held up a ward to stop them.

“This way!” Ayla bolted for the back room.

Orion and I alternated barriers as we followed her. As soon as all three of us made it into the room, I kicked a wheeled cart full of books toward the doorway. It slammed into the first Arbiter to enter the room. He tumbled over the cart, sending books flying in every direction.

We kept running through the next door Ayla opened, which led to the alley behind the building.

“My car isn’t far from here,” I said.

Sirens sounded in the distance, drawing closer every second. The civilians in the cafe must have called the police, though it wouldn’t matter much if they showed up. Arbiters would flash their fake FBI credentials and send the civilian cops on their way.

The teens and their phones would be a much more difficult mess for them to clean up, but that wasn’t our problem.

I fumbled in my pocket for the keys and unlocked the Cavalier just as Celia and the other Arbiters emerged from the building and continued shooting at us.

Our wards couldn’t catch everything.

Orion cursed. “There go the tires.”

Celia gestured for the hunters to move forward, and they surrounded us.

I let the fury of my flames ignite along the steel of my blade as I spun into action. I thrust the flaming sword into the gut of the first guard to approach me, then turned to meet the next. Her sword clashed into mine as she parried my attack, and the force pushed my arm backward.

She took advantage of my momentary stumble to lunge forward and wrest my sword free from my grip.

The force knocked the sword free from my grip. Fiery magic surrounded my hands, and as she tried to restrain me, I let the flames surge up my arms. She stepped back with a sharp scream, staring at her burnt hands, and I picked up my sword.

On my right, I got a glimpse of Orion fighting off Celia, while two of the other guards closed in on Ayla.

I sent a blast of flame shooting toward her, and she backed away to let it strike her attackers.

“Watch out for dark magic!” Celia called out to her hunters.

More Arbiters came from the street and flooded into the alleyway, blocking off any hope of escape we might have had. I let my sword guide my arms as I slashed at them, carving my way through the swarm of bodies, but there were too many. Only a few of them had confronted us inside, but there had to be dozens more after us now.

I dodged one hunter only for another to tackle me. My head smacked on the pavement, and my vision flashed a bright white.

Someone rolled me over onto my stomach and pinned me down, their knees digging into my arms. Rough hands brushed against me as the hunter pushed my hair to the side, baring my neck.

Rocks and dirt bit into my skin as I shoved against his weight with all the strength I had, but my attacker didn’t budge. My hands heated up, but without the ability to move my arms, I couldn’t direct my magic at the Arbiters.

I tried to look through the mass of legs surrounding me, but I only got quick glances of Orion and Ayla, who had been overpowered just as I had.

“Wait,” I said. “This is a mistake. I—”

Before I could finish my sentence, something sharp pierced the skin on my neck. I thrust my body from side to side, trying in vain to wiggle free as fire scorched through my veins.

The Arbiter on my back released me, and I writhed on the ground, screaming. The effort became too much, and though the pain still tore through me, I couldn’t fight it any longer. Distantly, I became aware of the fact that I’d stopped screaming.

As exhaustion took me and my body stopped moving, one of the Arbiters slung me over his shoulder. My gaze settled on Celia until my vision blurred, and everything went black.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

When I opened my eyes, my vision was still dark. Like I was blindfolded, though nothing covered my eyes. Indistinct voices surrounded me, along with the occasional thuds of heavy footfalls on stone. Dust in the air tickled my nose.

I blinked a few more times, trying to clear my vision, but the darkness remained.

How long had I been unconscious? And where were the others?

Orion?

I tried to say his name, but my weak voice came out as more of a groan that burned my throat. When I coughed, I tasted the slightest hint of copper, and I spat out blood.

Rope bound my hands above my head, but my legs were free, and I was sitting on hard ground—concrete, maybe? I moved to test my weight. A hard surface pressed against my back, and something small, like pebbles or dirt, shifted beneath me. Iron groaned when I tried to pull free from my bindings.

I focused harder, trying to listen for any hints about where I was or what was happening, but I only caught small snippets of conversation.

“—hold them here—”

“—wake up—”

The memories of what happened before I lost consciousness came back to me as a slow trickle. Where had they taken us? Most likely, we were back in Haygrove now, awaiting another sham of a trial.

Or perhaps they were already preparing to hand us all over to Raxael.

My skin prickled as hands traveled up