The Mark of Fate: Book 3 of The Marked series

by Ford, Rinna

  “Not exactly,” Chei Yun chimed in and rounded the table, walking toward me.

  My eyes began to glow red, making him pause like the smart dragon he was.

  “Emi, cool it, baby,” Xan whispered. It wasn’t a warning, he was trying to calm me down so I wouldn’t do something I’d regret, like maim a councilman.

  I closed my eyes and felt my vampire slide away, just to the edge. She’d be there in an instant if I felt the need to bring her back out.

  “Then why are you here?” I asked.

  “He’s here on behalf of the rebellion,” Amos said. “He, like the rest of the members of the Council, know about our cause, but unlike them, he is on our side and has offered his help.”

  “And you believed him? You do realize that because of this man’s actions, your son, my father, is dead and I was sent away.”

  “Emi…”

  “Don’t, Xan,” I snapped at him. “I know he’s your father and you love him and I don’t blame or resent you for it. Not even a little bit, but dammit, I’m still furious over this! I trust Irna more than I trust that man!”

  I jammed my finger in Chei Yun’s direction, emphasizing who exactly I was talking about then looked at my grandfather.

  “And I don’t understand how you haven’t ripped him to shreds for even being in the same room as you!”

  Amos’ jaw hardened and he looked away. He was pissed, most likely at me for pointing it out to him and everyone in the room. They were all aware of our shared history, but they were ignoring it for the sake of their rebellion, while I didn’t want anything to do with the man.

  “Mon ange, calm yourself.” Della Liu scowled at me and stood up from a high backed chair near the window. I didn’t see her there until she addressed me, but in my defense, I was hyper focused on her mate up to that point.

  “Your mom’s here too?” I asked Xan and his nostrils flared. He was pissed at me too.

  “Xander and Chei Yun knew you would be angry, so I decided to come as well. However, they didn’t realize how angry you would be. Is it your vampire side that makes you so?”

  She glided across the floor on tall stilettos as if she were floating until she stood right in front of me. Della Liu was pure class and grace, and it wasn’t just because of her French accent. It was the way she looked at someone, the way she carried herself… and the fact that she was disappointed in me made me feel like total shit.

  “I have every right to be angry for what your mate did to me and my family. So does my grandfather.”

  “Yes, you do,” she replied, “but now is not the time or place to voice your hatred.”

  I sighed, “You’re right. I’m sorry, Amos, Xan.” I made no effort to apologize to Chei Yun and I never would. Della seemed even more disappointed when she realized that, but I willed myself not to care.

  “Now, if there are no more outbursts, shall we get back to it?” Amos stared at me, his eyes hard and I knew I was in for it after the meeting was over.

  I glanced at Xan and he gave me a very similar look that my grandfather was giving me. Ugh. I was really in for it.

  Chei Yun looked away from me and toward Amos, nodding once before returning to the table. Della walked over to her mate and stood next to him, telling me where she stood with everything that just happened, not that I’d expected anything different. Matias slipped his cool hand into mine and led me to the table as well so we could be a part of the meeting.

  Since waking up after being stabbed by that psycho caster, Michael Ironshot, my mates and I were included in the rebellion’s planning, thanks to my grandfather. He convinced his superiors that we were to play a part in whatever was happening and we’d do it with or without them because that was what fate had decided.

  Because of Amos, we weren’t alone anymore and we had the support we needed, but there was always red tape to go through to get anything done. Since that crazy morning at Devlin’s cabin, the rebellion decided to step up their plans of overthrowing the Council. They’d become more aggressive and began working on an outing campaign of sorts.

  They wanted the supernatural society to see what their leaders were doing and take up arms with us. It was a lofty goal, and one they were all fully on board with. That was, everyone but me. Even Xander liked the idea, though he was up for a little destruction too. My only thought about it was that it would take too long and because of that, there were too many chances for it to go completely wrong. I felt like we needed to destroy the Council quickly and decisively, but alas, I was outvoted.

  If you were to really think about their plan and that messed up prophecy, then I would play a much bigger role than I wanted to when it was all said and done. Me, not anyone else. From the way the men and women in charge were looking at me, the way they didn’t reprimand me for my outburst, they all believed in the prophecy. Not only did they involve me in meetings, me, a person new to the supernatural society who had trouble controlling her powers, but they let me get away with calling out a member of the Council that had offered his help. They would rather insult him than me. Thinking about that made me feel even more like shit.

  “What do you think, Emelia?” Brak, a vampire from the rebellion, looked at me and asked. They had been having their meeting while I was lost in thought and I didn’t hear a single word said.

  “Sorry,” I blushed. “I didn’t hear…”

  “Councilman Liu told us about a holding facility located on the east coast where they are performing experiments on the supes they have detained.”

  “What kind of experiments?” I asked Chei Yun, my brows furrowed.

  “I don’t know everything that goes on there, but from what I do know, they are trying to make supernaturals stronger in all ways.”

  “How is that a bad thing?” another person around the table asked.

  Everyone was silent as we considered that question. Why would it be bad? Making supernaturals stronger, the idea of making anyone for that matter would be a good thing, right? But then I thought about who they were experimenting on. Prisoners. Supes, who in the Council’s eyes were wrong, were dangerous. Why would they use them rather than loyal supporters? Then it hit me.

  “It wouldn’t be, if they weren’t trying to make super soldiers,” I filled in. “That is what they’re doing, right?”

  Chei Yun nodded. “That is what I believe.”

  Several gasps were heard from around the room as the idea sunk in. Matias, somehow, had the floorplan of the facility in his hands and was studying it intently while Xan sighed, his anger returning, but not at me this time. What the Council was doing… it would be devastating. If they succeeded, their control would be so much more than before. They could even take over the humans, if they chose to and rule over the entire world. No one would be safe.

  “When did you learn of this facility?” Matias asked Xan’s father.

  “I have known of it for quite some time, but I thought it was just a prison for those who had broken the laws. I did not know the extent of what they were doing there until five days ago.”

  “So you just decided that you’d tell the rebellion about it? Try to stop it?” I gave him an incredulous look, not at all believing him. “Maybe to do something to get involved with your son again?”

  “That’s enough, Emelia,” Amos growled at me. “Councilman Liu has come to us with this because he knows what we are trying to do. If you can’t control yourself, you are welcome to leave.”

  I huffed a sardonic laugh and rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe they trusted him!

  “You want to know what I think?” My eyes darted toward the vampire who addressed me earlier, then back to my grandfather. “I think it all seems too easy. We’ve been looking for something, anything for weeks! And then him, a Councilman of all people, brings us information about experiments being done on fellow supes with building specs,” I took the papers from in front of Matias and held them up, “about where they’re being held and we’re just going to trust that everything is on the
up and up?” I slammed the papers down onto the table and cut my eyes back to Amos. “I know you think it’s my anger that’s clouding my judgement at the moment, but if you think about it, you’ll see what I see.”

  I turned on my heels and stormed toward the door, but before I could get there, I teleported, landing onto a large boulder behind the mansion that overlooked the crashing waves of the ocean below.

  “Oh shit! No, no, no, no!” I waved my arms and went up on my tippy toes, trying to keep my balance, eventually finding it and planting my feet firmly on the rock.

  On shaky legs, I climbed off the boulder and slid all the way to the ground, lowering my head into my hands. I knew I wouldn’t have died if I fell, but the fear of falling was more than I could bear. I was coming down off of the adrenaline of my anger and then to be dropped on the edge of a cliff, literally…

  I made myself take deep breaths in and out until I felt stable enough to stand. Then I took a few steps toward the back door of the mansion and when my legs felt strong again, I ran. I ran through the door, straight up two flights of stairs to Irna and Dev’s workspace and grabbed the vial of whatever they made for me, downing it in one quick gulp.

  “Wait!” Dev yelled at me, but it was too late.

  I lowered the empty vial and looked my uncle in the eye, waiting for something to happen. A weird feeling, anything, but I felt nothing. I didn’t feel any different.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his question full of concern.

  “Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Dev.” I walked out of there, eyebrows furrowed, confused about what I thought I should be feeling, and I left. I started walking down the stairs and I heard my name being called as my mates were looking for me after my disappearing act.

  I turned around and walked back up the stairs to the third floor, toward an empty room I found just days before. The room had a balcony that had easy handholds up to the roof of the mansion. I tried it out when I found it and knew I could easily climb up there again.

  It wasn’t that I wanted to hurt the ones who loved me, but I needed to be alone. It was all just… so hard. The expectations… the ones others had for me and the ones I had for myself, the information Chei Yun brought to us, the fact Ronan could be dead or worse, all because he helped me. The more and more I thought about it, a lot of my anger came from the fact that we had no leads on him and Ainsley. Not a single one. He… I didn’t even want to think about it. I couldn’t if I were to keep a hold on the thin strand of sanity I had left.

  “Do you know where she is?” Xan asked from the ground, just underneath me.

  There was a beat of silence before Matias replied. “I can smell her, so she’s still here, but I don’t know where she could be.”

  “I’m going to kill her,” Xan sighed. His threat didn’t have any heat behind it so I knew he didn’t mean it, but it still made me feel awful.

  I sent out calming vibes toward my mates, hoping to let them know I was alright and unharmed, at least at the moment, and crawled up further onto the roof. I just couldn't face them. Not after the way I behaved.

  Chapter Three

  I sat up on the roof for a few more minutes, listening to my mates and others in the house as they searched for me, then they went back inside. The sound of the churning ocean was all that I was left with and I closed my eyes, willing myself to come up with some answers.

  “You have a lot of people worried about you, ya know.”

  I felt the air become tighter around me then pop just seconds before, so I wasn’t surprised to find my uncle sitting beside me on the roof. However, I was surprised he found me so quickly.

  “I’m such a bitch,” I sighed. “I’m just… not handling things well. I never do. But, this caster thing, Ronan, Ainsley, Chei Yun, the prophecy…”

  “What do you mean Chei Yun?”

  “He’s here. Or at least he was here. He brought some ‘valuable information’ to the rebellion about a holding facility or something like that. I’m surprised you weren’t involved in the meeting, actually. I just teleported from the room after insulting Chei Yun for the like, the fourth time and almost fell off the cliff when I landed. That’s why I took your potion like I did. I can’t control it...”

  Dev’s eyes were huge and he looked away, thinking about what I just told him. After a few seconds, he shook his head, clearing the fog and looked back at me.

  “Firecracker, it’s okay to feel sad and angry. Just don’t shut out the ones who want to be there for you and help you. Those guys are tearing the house apart as we speak because they can’t find you.”

  “Seriously?”

  Before he could answer, I heard a crash that sounded like a door being kicked open and a loud roar after it. Oh boy.

  Dev held out his hand and I hesitated only a second before taking it. When our palms touched, he teleported us to the living room of the house where indeed, the room had nearly been demolished. My uncle shrugged his shoulders and walked away toward Amos’ office, or at least that was where I imagined he was going. I bent over to right the couch when a pair of familiar tattooed arms were wrapped around me and carried us at vampire speed.

  I was deposited onto a bed, my bed, bouncing a couple of times before settling on the mattress. Both of my mates were looking down at me, eyes blazing with relief and quite a bit of anger.

  “Where did you go?” Xan growled. He made no move to approach me and I didn’t know if I should have been relieved about that or upset.

  “I, I took Dev’s potion,” I replied. “Then I went to be alone.”

  “What potion?” he growled again, annoyed with my answer.

  “A potion to suppress my caster side. Okay? When I teleported out of the room I nearly fell off a cliff! I just can’t stand it anymore! I’m sorry I scared you, I’m sorry I yelled at your dad and embarrassed you, but I’m not dealing with my shit very well right now and you two bearing down on me isn’t helping!”

  “Then tell us what we can do! Because you walking into a room and yelling at everyone, then running off when you don’t like something isn’t healthy, baby.”

  “Oh, and tearing a house apart because you can’t find me is healthy? I needed to be alone to get my fucked up head on straight, but I can’t do that because you two are tearing shit apart!”

  “You want to be alone?!” Xan roared. “You got it!”

  He threw the bedroom door open wide, making it loudly bang against the wall, then stormed out. When I couldn’t see him anymore, I turned my gaze toward Matias. He looked at me with a sadness I couldn’t quite place, and he followed Xander out the door, leaving me alone. Like I wanted.

  * * *

  I spent the afternoon cleaning up the house that my mates destroyed. Thankfully, there was a lot that was salvageable. That made me feel at least a tiny bit better about it. I worked alone, not seeing even a single soul as I went from room to room, righting furniture, books, whatever they overturned in order to try and find me.

  It was getting close to dinner time when I made it to the indoor pool and began turning over lounge chairs and tables when Amos found me. He walked in and leaned against the wall, watching me work.

  “You know that you were completely out of line back there,” he eventually said.

  “I know.” I kept my eyes on the job at hand. “I’m sorry, Amos. I just, I don’t trust him. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to, no matter how many good things he does. He ruined my life.”

  “Did he? You have two men who love you. I’d say that isn’t what a ruined life looks like.”

  I slammed a chair onto its legs and stared at him angrily. “He took away my parents, my dad was executed! My life was shit for so many years because of what his actions caused! I just can’t forget that and move on because certain aspects of my life are looking up!”

  Amos sighed. “If it wasn’t him, it would have been someone else. He thought what he was doing was right because that was what he believed at the time.”

  “You’re defending him
?!”

  “I don’t know anymore,” he sunk further into the wall, defeated. He was damned either way and he knew it.

  “You know, he hasn’t even apologized to me for what happened?” My voice was calmer, more even, but the anger was still present. “He had the chance to and didn’t apologize for the pain he’d caused. To me, here,” I touched my chest, “it feels like he still thinks as though he was in the right by doing what he did. He loves his son, so he’ll accept me to a point, but he still believes I’m an abomination and my parents were criminals for what they did. How do I trust someone like that? How can you trust him?”

  “I’m sorry. I wish I had answers for you. I wish I could make it better, but I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one. Believe me, I wanted to throw that man out the door when I saw him standing there, but I was told I had to welcome him into our home. You made things exponentially harder with your actions and it will not be tolerated again. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry.” He turned to walk away. “Just promise me you’ll keep an eye on him and any information he brings to the group. This one feels… I don’t know.”

  Amos nodded his head and walked away, leaving me to finish my task.

  I worked well past dinner time, avoiding everyone and everything for as long as I could. Then, when there was nothing else to clean, I went into the kitchen in search of sustenance.

  I walked past a few residents who all lowered their heads and scurried off without a single word or even a wave. I sighed, knowing I deserved it and gathered what I needed to eat and drink, carrying them all up to my room.

  I hoped my mates would be there waiting, but it was completely empty, just how I had left it hours before when I began cleaning the mansion. I slumped into the chair on the balcony and listened to the sound of the crashing waves off in the distance. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, leaving the sky streaked in beautiful pinks and oranges and I wondered if my mates were looking at it too. I knew how corny of a thought that was, but I couldn’t help it. I royally fucked up with them, and with everyone else, on so many levels, and not just earlier that day.