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

“At least now that we left Haygrove, you’re finally free from trying to impress him,” I said, offering him a half-smile.

“Yeah.” Orion laughed. “If his body hadn’t been burned, I’m sure he’d be rolling over in his grave about me breaking my oath.”

I leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. You deserved better.”

“It is what it is.” He shrugged slightly, just enough for his shoulder to push my head up. “Jacob might come around. It doesn’t seem like he said anything to Marcus about the emerald. That’s promising, right?”

“Maybe.”

Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what to think about Jacob anymore. Part of me wanted to call him to fix things between us, to convince him to leave Haygrove and his father. The other part of me never wanted to see him again.

Either way, I didn’t have time to worry about him. We had to focus on what to do next.

As though he sensed I was ready for a change of subject, Orion cleared his throat. “Celia is going to stay and fight with us.”

“She doesn’t have to do that,” I said. “None of you do. Celia doesn’t want to be here, and Ayla isn’t in fighting condition. All three of you should go somewhere safe.”

“And leave you alone?”

“There’s no reason you should risk your lives. You warned me not to do this, that it would be too dangerous, and I didn’t listen. I don’t want anyone else to die because of me.”

“Celia is sticking around, and so am I. We’re both here because we chose to be. After serving as a commander and on the Council, we both have a lot to make up for, and you don’t get to send us away.” He rubbed the scruff on his chin. “You were right earlier. Even shorthanded, even without our magic, I can’t imagine we’ll have a better opportunity than this.”

“I’m not so sure anymore,” I said.

“Why not?”

“Maki thinks we should do another sacrifice to power up the emerald,” I said. “He says it’s the only way to use it, and that it won’t work unless we do.”

Orion stood up and leaned against the wall, tapping his foot. “As much as I don’t want to trust anything that comes out of his mouth, it would make sense. Magical artifacts like that all have their own rules.”

“But it’s possible he’s wrong? Or lying?”

“Sure,” Orion said. “Though, there’s no way to know for certain until we use it.”

“Then I have to take that chance.” As I stuffed my hands into my jacket pockets, I let out a gasp.

“What is it?”

I pulled the insides of the pockets out to be sure, but there was no mistake. When had he swiped the amulet from me?

“We need to find Maki.”

Inside the warehouse, we found him standing near a broken window, gripping the ledge with both hands. It was just barely too small for him to climb out, and I imagined he was making the same calculation.

When he heard us approach, he spun around and hid his hands in the pockets of his dark brown trench coat.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

“Where is it?” I demanded.

“Maybe you should pay more attention to your things.”

“Give the emerald back,” Orion said.

Celia carefully removed Ayla from her lap and stood up. While Maki’s attention was on us, she crept toward him with nearly silent footfalls.

“So, what’s your plan?” I asked, trying to keep Maki talking to give Celia time to get to him. “Take the amulet, do another sacrifice, and take Raxael’s place?”

“I suppose. Most importantly, I won’t let you waste it. I won’t let Raxael get his hands on it, which is exactly what will happen if you go through with this tonight.”

“How do you figure?”

“He’ll kill you and take it, which will leave me with no way to—”

Maki turned just in time to see Celia rushing for him, and in a flash, he disappeared. She ran into the window just as he reappeared near the entrance, next to where Orion and I stood.

He hunched over, gasping for breath. When he saw Orion coming, he moved his body like he wanted to shift again, but nothing happened this time.

At least the ability being unpredictable worked in our favor.

Orion’s fist sailed through the air and connected with Maki’s nose. He lurched forward, and Orion tackled him.

“Coward,” he snarled as he straddled atop Maki, holding him in place while I fished the amulet out of his pocket.

“You don’t understand—” Maki began, but Orion cut him off with another punch.

“Do you have anything we can use to tie him up?” he called out over his shoulder.

Celia returned a few minutes later with a coil of rope around her arm, and she and Orion bound Maki to a nearby car.

I ignored his pleas for us to release him and looked to Orion and Celia. “What do we do now?”

“They said Raxael is coming tonight,” Celia said, checking her watch.

“What time?” Orion asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “They originally told me he’d be coming at midnight tomorrow, but it sounds like they were trying to catch me off guard, too.”

“I can summon him here,” I said, rubbing my neck. “The surprise will be on our terms. Not his.”

“What should we do with Ayla?” Orion tilted his head in her direction.

“There are rooms upstairs. She should be safe up there,” I said.

Orion helped Ayla to her feet, and I slipped under her arm to help support her weight. Together, we walked her upstairs, and I laid out a blanket for her.

“Will you be okay?” I brushed the pink strands of her hair out of her face.

“Of course,” she muttered, smiling weakly. “I’m sorry I can’t help.”

“If anything happens, you might want these.” I handed her the pair of daggers I retrieved from my house before we left Haygrove.

Despite her illness, her face lit up. “You kept them?”

“Of course,” I said. “I’m glad they’re back where they belong.”

Ayla set the daggers down beside her. “Be careful out there.”

“I will.” I