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

did it work the other way around, too? Could he find me anywhere I went? Maybe that was how he found Alexis. If that were true, I was as good as dead, no matter what happened.

“Celia and I will go get Ayla and help her to the car,” Orion said. “You gather our things so we can get out of here.”

“No. We can’t run.” I dug through my duffel bag, taking a quick inventory of my belongings. It looked like everything was where I’d left it, from my spare weapons and extra clothes to Ayla’s daggers. The amulet was still wrapped in the old shirt I hid it in.

“Are you insane?” Orion asked.

“Raxael will find us anywhere we go. They didn’t take the enchantment—not the real one, anyway.” I held it up to show them. “We can do this tonight.”

“Wait,” Celia said. “You’re saying you want us to wait here for Raxael to show up?”

“Neither of us can use our magic,” Orion said. “We won’t last two seconds.”

“That’s exactly it,” I said, my voice speeding up as I formed a plan. “Raxael believes he’s walking in to massacre a group of traitors who have already been subdued. He won’t show up prepared for a fight. That should give me time to activate the enchantment, and once he can no longer plane-shift, we can take him down.”

Orion leaned back against the hood of an old car and rubbed the scruff on the side of his face.

“We’ll never have another chance to take him by surprise like this,” I said.

“I had a similar thought back at the bookshop. With that mark Raxael gave you, you could summon him into an ambush,” Orion said thoughtfully. “But that was before those injections.”

Celia shook her head. “I didn’t sign up for that. I’m trying to keep you two alive—not watch you die.”

“Then, leave,” I said.

“I’m going to make sure your friend is still doing okay. Excuse me.” Celia strode off without another word, not allowing either of us a chance to respond.

“Great,” I muttered.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Orion said.

“I know this is a lot to ask,” I said. “No one else has to stick around. But I’m doing this.”

He gave my arm a quick squeeze as he walked past me, leaving me alone for the moment.

Chapter Thirty

As I knelt down and stuffed everything back in my bag, I heard the groan of metal nearby. I rose slowly and held my gun at my side as I inched toward the sound.

“Who’s there?” I called out.

When there was no reply, I straightened up. Old places like this made strange noises all the time, and I was feeling jumpy. Still, I didn’t want anything to catch me off guard, so I did a quick sweep of the area.

“Don’t shoot.”

Maki stood in the doorway, holding his hands up to show he wasn’t a threat.

I gripped my handgun tighter as I looked him over. He’d ditched the robe and now wore a long jacket with a plain t-shirt and jeans. It was almost unsettling to see him look so normal after the monster he turned into that night.

He’s still that same monster, I reminded myself.

I lifted the gun and slid my finger down beside the trigger. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t.”

“I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Assuming that’s true, what is it you want?”

“I’ve been watching this building and tracking the Arbiters’ movements here in Omaha. I saw them drag you in here,” he said.

“And?”

“I was waiting for a chance to make a move, but it looks like you got to them first.”

“Is knowing you slithered in once we had the situation under control supposed to make me feel better?” I asked.

“Just listen.” He took a slow, careful step forward, still holding his hands up. “We’re on the same side here.”

“How do you figure?”

“The Arbiters are after you. I assume that means you’ve figured things out and have become enemies of the Council. They’re calling you Oathbreakers and hunting you down. Am I right?”

I nodded.

“Then, our goals are aligned.”

I didn’t have a chance to respond before Orion’s heavy footsteps approached.

“What’s going on here?” His voice trailed off as he noticed Maki standing in front of me.

“Orion, wait—” I yelled, but he was already rushing forward.

He tried to attack, but he carved through nothing but air.

Maki reappeared in the far corner of the room. He hunched over and rested his hand on the wall, gasping for breath, as though he’d just been sprinting for miles.

He’d moved too quickly, almost instantly. I only knew of one other being who could pull off a trick like that.

Orion held his sword in front of him, his entire body tense and ready to strike. “How did you do that?”

“The ritual,” Maki said between labored breaths.

“It gave you Raxael’s ability to shift through planes?” Orion asked.

“Sort of,” Maki said. “It’s unpredictable. I can’t really control it.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” I asked. “Wasn’t that the whole point of it?”

“Yes. But I didn’t complete it. If I had, I would be as powerful as Raxael now. I could stop him.” He shuffled forward and leaned on a car. “Now, though… I think it’s killing me. Eating away at me from inside. I’ve shifted across town three times now without warning. What will happen if I end up in the infernal plane?”

I lowered my weapon, but kept my gaze fixed on him. His face was strangely pale, and he had deep moons beneath his eyes, as though he’d hardly slept in the past week.

“There’s one good thing that has come from it, though,” he said.

Orion’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that?”

“It removed Raxael’s mark.”

“His mark?” I asked.

“The one he gives his followers, so he can find them anytime, anywhere,” Maki said.

My fingers drifted up to my collarbone. So I’d guessed right—he found Alexis through the mark he gave her, and he could do the same to me. There would be nowhere for me to hide from him.

This really would be my only chance to stop him.

“So, you still want