The Mark of Fate: Book 3 of The Marked series

by Ford, Rinna

  Sitting there at breakfast with Alec oddly glancing at my mates and me, I had to wonder if I was wrong about him and his intentions. Soleil, who, like my mates, hadn’t cared for Alec from our very first meeting when Matias got upset, and nudged against my mind angrily.

  “Leave him alone, Xan,” I harshly whispered and looked down at my plate trying to ignore him, Soliel, and everyone around me. Even though I should be starving, I couldn’t eat another bite. I was tired of being on edge. “He’s been through a lot and he’s confused.”

  As if he heard me, Alec stood from the table and winked in my direction before picking up his plate and glass and taking them into the kitchen. I put my hand on Matias’ arm and shook my head at Xan as they both began to stand, as if to follow him. They really didn’t like him.

  “That’s enough,” I growled and released them.

  Picking up my fork, I continued eating what was on my plate, if only to stall them from going after Alec like they wanted to. I probably should have let them beat him into next week for being such a shit stirrer (he knew what he was doing with that wink) but I didn’t want to deal with another fight. I wasn’t protecting Alec as much as trying to keep Matias and Xander from starting something and giving me another headache. I seemed to be getting those a lot lately and all the fighting and arguing wasn’t helping.

  The potion Dev and Irna gave me did exactly as they predicted and wore off a little more than a week after taking it, eight days to be exact. On the eighth day, I began to feel whispers of magic flitter in my ear that turned into a headache. The headache would grow and grow, incapacitating me to the point of complete and total agony. Once I took the second dose, it all went away, the intense pain and the whispers of magic. It was relieving and heartbreaking all at the same time.

  As I sat there trying to eat my breakfast, I began to feel a headache coming on and I tried to figure out if it was because of Alec or if it was my magic, but then I realized it had been eight days since I took my second dose, and it was time for my third. I didn’t know what would happen if I never took the potion again and that thought worried me a little, but for the moment, I knew it was necessary if for no other reason than I didn’t want to hurt.

  “I need to go see Dev,” I told my mates as I rubbed my temples and closed my eyes.

  They both seemed to understand what I was telling them in so many words and our plates and glasses were gathered as I was led out of the dining room by the hand.

  I relaxed my body as much as I could to try and play it cool while I walked up the two flights of stairs to Dev’s caster lab. It seemed to take forever to climb two flights of stairs and when we got inside and the door was closed, I collapsed onto the nearest chair, curling forward, putting my head between my hands. The pain was so intense that even my ears began ringing. I almost didn’t hear Dev speak.

  “Bon vorta tiamos.”

  Devlin said the spell to seal us protectively in the room so the secret would stay well between us. He saw the state I was in and kept a better track of the days than I did, so as soon as the walls were protected, he was kneeling in front of me with a vial of his potion in front of him. With shaky hands, I took it from him and brought it to my lips, tipping my head back and letting the liquid flow down my throat.

  I squeezed my fingers around the vial and closed my eyes as I waited for it to work. It took almost a whole minute for the sharp pain to lessen to a dull throb, then another thirty seconds or so for it to go away completely.

  When I felt like myself again, I took a deep breath in and out as I relaxed against the chair cushions and opened my eyes. All three men were stationed around the room wearing matching looks of concern.

  “I’m fine, guys,” I told them and handed the empty vial to Dev. “Thanks.”

  I pushed up on the arms of the chair to stand, but he put his hand on mine, halting my movement.

  “Rest.”

  His eyes held something that looked like what a parent would give his child when he was worried about them. When he saw that I was going to follow his command, he patted my hand once more before getting up himself and placing the glass tube in an empty bin, most likely to be cleaned.

  “That was close,” he said when he turned back around. “How long was it from the first moment you felt your magic return until you got here?” Dev looked from me to my mates and back again as he waited for an answer.

  Matias and Xander both looked at each other thoughtfully before Xan answered.

  “One, maybe two minutes. When she told us she needed to come see you we packed up our breakfasts and brought her straight up here.” The realization seemed to bother him because his eyebrows furrowed and he looked to me for clarification.

  “It was a little longer than that,” I admitted. “I started feeling it at the beginning of breakfast, but that was also the same time you two were getting pissed off when Alec started looking at us. I wasn’t able to tell the difference between a stress headache and a… whatever this is kind of headache until after he left the room.”

  “He wasn’t looking at us, little one, he was looking at you. As your mates, we have every right to defend our mate against anyone who threatens what we have.”

  Matias stood rigidly as he spoke, and I could feel the need to maim and destroy rolling off of him in waves. I glanced over at Xan to see how he was reacting, although I had a pretty good idea. His rage was more subtle, but I could see his fists balled up at his sides while he stared out the ground, which made his hard jaw more pronounced.

  I sighed and asked Devlin for help with a look. He shook his head and turned around to pretend to be busy. The traitor.

  “What makes you think he’s a threat to what we have? I don’t want him. Why can’t you two believe me when I tell you that?”

  “He wants you!” Xander exclaimed, his anger exploding out of him.

  “And?! So fucking what?!”

  I was on my feet and in front of both of them.

  “I don’t want him! I never will!”

  “We see the way you look at him! Don’t deny that you like him!”

  “Oh my God! Are you serious right now? Because this is ridiculous!” I threw my hands up and turned in a circle. “Yes! I do like him! I admit it! He’s funny and nice and charming, but I don’t want to take him as a mate, or even a lover. If anything, I consider him a friend and why is that so bad? Why?”

  “Because he wants you as a mate and a lover,” Matias spoke up. “It’s written all over his face whenever he sees you. He has designs on you and you’re falling for his charms like the rest of the females in this house.”

  I laughed out loud at the humor of it and looked back toward Devlin, who was doing his absolute best to ignore our conversation but failing miserably.

  “We aren’t blaming you…”

  “No, you just think I’m stupid. You don’t think I see how everyone responds to him? I see it, and it makes me weary of him and his intentions.” Both of my mates looked away sheepishly. “I don’t know if he’s genuine, but in all honesty, up until this morning, he hadn’t given me any reason to believe that he means to do anything but get to know me. Now, I don’t know what his plans are, but I promise, I’ll stay away from him if that’s what you two want.”

  Xan loudly sighed and crossed the distance between us, wrapping me in his arms. I told him what he wanted to hear and as I felt the warmth from his body, how he molded around me, I knew I would do everything in my power to live up to my promise. I turned my head and looked at Matias. He let out a deep breath, as if relieved. My promise meant a lot to him. It meant a lot to both of them.

  Chapter Thirteen

  After a little more snuggling with my mates, they both said their goodbyes. Amos asked to meet with them before our morning briefing with the rebel leaders. I tried not thinking about what he needed to tell them without me there. It was just one more thing I was trying not to worry about.

  Dev and I talked a little bit more about the potion, as if that huge sce
ne between my mates and me didn’t just happen, but it was difficult. Fighting with them isn’t something I like doing, but fighting with them in front of others is pretty embarrassing.

  “I have an idea,” Dev told me and began to dig through a drawer on the far wall.

  We were talking about the next dose that I would need to take. After several seconds of digging, he pulled out a little vial with a stopper on top and held it up for me to see. He then walked over to a table and pulled out our family spellbook and began flipping through it until he found the right page. With expert precision, he gathered the materials he needed and began mixing them together.

  I loved watching my uncle mix his potions. I didn’t know any other caster that was able to make them so effortlessly. He was really and truly gifted.

  After several minutes of pouring and mixing, he took a medicine dropper and pulled some of the swirling liquid up then deposited it in the small vial. He put the stopper on top and handed it to me.

  I took it from him and frowned. From the look of it, I could tell that it was the exact same potion I took earlier, but why would he give me another dose so soon?

  “In eight days,” he began, “when you start feeling the potion wearing off, find a private place and take this immediately. I don’t want you to suffer in pain while you’re trying to get to me.”

  “It didn’t take me that long to get up here,” I refuted and tried to give it back. He closed my fingers around the bottle and pushed it back toward me.

  “Yeah, but if you had this, you wouldn’t have had to suffer at all. What if you’re alone next time? If you lose it or the bottle breaks, which it shouldn’t, I can quickly make you another dose. Take it, Emelia.”

  He never used my real name unless it was something important. I could see something burn in his eyes but it was gone just as quickly as I’d noticed it. He cleared his throat then gathered all of his materials and took them to another empty bin to wash them.

  “But what if I lose it and someone else finds it?”

  We were keeping the existence of the potion secret for a reason. It was a valid question. He stopped what he was doing and looked up as he considered it.

  “Well, it won’t work like it’s intended for anyone else, that’s for sure. Your blood is an active ingredient, so it’ll only work as it’s intended for you. As to what it will do, I don’t know exactly. Let’s just hope no one else tries to take it.”

  “No pressure at all,” I muttered to myself and stuck it inside the front pocket of my worn jeans.

  “You’ll be fine, you big baby,” Dev smiled and walked over to the door.

  Using the same spell he used to let Xan and Matias out earlier, he released the protection spell and waited for me. We were late for a meeting with the rebel leaders and needed to be on our way.

  “Have you heard from Irna?”

  The day Alec was released from the infirmary, my grandfather told me Irna had moved to the New York faction. I was glad she took my advice and hoped she’d do well there. All in all, she was a good person, much like Chei Yun, but also like him, she made a big mistake when she told Di about me.

  He shook his head. “No.”

  When I made the promise to my mates about staying away from Alec, I didn’t realize how hard it would be. We got down to the main floor of the mansion at the exact time that Alec came in through the front door. He looked surprised to see us. A smile lit up on his face while Devlin and I looked at one another then back to the other caster. He stopped right in front of us and put his hands in his pockets almost nervously.

  “Hey, Devlin, Emelia. How are you feeling?” he asked me.

  “Hey. Fine. Why?” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

  Alec’s smile dropped.

  “Well, I… I saw your mates take you upstairs. You looked to be in pain.”

  It was strange. How did he see that? He was long gone by the time Matias, Xander, and I left the dining room after breakfast.

  “Yeah, it was just a headache. Dev fixed me right up,” I replied, warning bells going off in my head. “He’s a wiz when it comes to healing potions and salves.”

  Okay, I knew I was overdoing it, but all of a sudden, Alec made me nervous, and not a good nervous. Why else would I use a word like ‘wiz'? Sensing how uncomfortable the situation was, Devlin gently nudged me away from the stairs and toward the hallway where Amos’ office was.

  “Sorry, Alec, but we need to get going,” my uncle said and gave him a tight smile.

  “Oh, yeah, sorry,” Alec replied. I got a few steps away when he spoke again. “Emelia, I’ll be out back if you want to train later.”

  His smile was dazzling and I could see exactly what my mates had been so angry about. He was charming for sure, but there was something more in his smile. I smelled the air subtly with my vampire sense and I could smell something else coming from his direction. Something… sweet.

  He was using magic to try and influence me. That sweet scent was a spell being woven in with his intention. I didn’t know how he was doing it, but I was going to ask Devlin as soon as I got him privately again.

  Trying to hide the panic, I smiled at Alec.

  “I’ll let you know,” I told him and waved goodbye as my uncle and I rounded the corner and hurried down the hall.

  “That was weird,” Devlin smiled at the uncomfortableness of it.

  “You have no idea. I picked up on something back there and I want to talk to you about it later, if that’s okay.”

  I pinned him with a serious look that made the humor vanish from his face.

  “Of course,” he replied and held up his hand to knock on my grandfather’s office door.

  Amos opened the door and ushered us inside where he, Ingrid, my two mates, and a few of the rebel leaders were gathered. They were in the middle of discussing something, but stopped when Dev and I entered the room.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Devlin told them and found an empty place at the table.

  My mates had saved me a seat between them, so as easily as possible, I slid down and smiled my apologies to my grandfather. Ingrid sealed the room with magic and then she continued with what she had been telling the others.

  She tapped the large disc-like device in the middle of the table and a video of what looked like the rebellion’s most recent raid on a detention facility began playing. It displayed as if a hologram in the middle of the table, making me once again marvel in the magic that casters could do. This was straight out of sci-fi movies, and casters had somehow made it real.

  The rebellion had taken out three more detention facilities in the United States, counting the one we were watching since that very first one, all thanks for Chei Yun Liu and the information he gave us. I often wondered how he was getting the information without making others suspicious of him, but it wasn’t my problem. At least, not yet.

  My biggest concern was that there were many more detention centers all over the country that we hadn't gotten to yet. Our missions took days to plan before being able to carry them out and in the time it took to get it all together for a raid, we’d learn about even more from Chei Yun. We weren’t even making a dent in the sheer amount of places we needed to hit.

  “One of our casters allowed me to see his memories of the raid, which I am showing you today,” Ingrid said as we watched it all unfold in front of us. She used magic to display his memories for us to see. “Forty-six supes were rescued and moved to rebel cells in Texas, Arizona, and Georgia to heal. This was by far the largest institution we have raided and I’m saddened to say that even more supes were too far gone to be saved. The Council is getting closer and closer to achieving their goal of creating super soldiers.”

  Ingrid paused as we watched the raid play out until we got to a point in the memory where the caster who’s eyes we were seeing out of, came upon a supernatural in a cell. The supe was a shifter, and I could tell this because he was half shifted into a tiger and he was pacing back and forth, ready to spring. His skin had
taken on orange, black, and white stripes and there were large tufts of hair around his face and neck. But his eyes… they were feral.

  When the tiger shifter saw the caster, he stopped pacing and ran directly at the bars of his cell. He hit them with such force, the walls surrounding them began to shake and bits of plaster fell down from the ceiling. The shifter backed up as he prepared to do it again when the caster shot him with a type of tranquilizer dart. The shifter loudly growled and pulled the dart out of his right leg but I could see that it was beginning to do what it was meant to do. He wavered on his feet, but then reared back to charge at the bars again. The caster shot him with two more darts quickly before the tiger was able make a run at them again, making him stumble and fall, where he passed out.

  “We took that shifter into custody,” Ingrid told us and tapped the memory-viewing device, turning it off. “We were unable to reverse the effects of what had been done to him. He killed two of our people before we were forced to put him down.”

  “Put him down?”

  I needed to make sure I heard her correctly.

  “We had no choice,” she sighed and sat back down in her chair. It hurt her to admit it.

  Everyone at the table sat in silence as it all sunk in. None of us blamed her or the other supes that had to carry it out. It had to be awful to be in the position of having to execute someone you were trying to save.

  “We’ve been able to heal plenty of those who were experimented on in the past. How was this case different?” Matias asked.

  “We don’t know exactly,” Ingrid answered. “My guess is just that he was further along in the experimental phase.”

  I looked toward my grandfather who was looking down at the table thoughtfully as Xander took a hold of my hand and squeezed it. They were getting close to achieving their goal and we were nowhere close to ours. We needed to change our tactics if we were going to win this. But what should we do?