Shadow of the Mark

by Leigh Fallon

  His face dropped. “Yeah, I guess we are.” He glanced back at Áine.

  “Oh, go on. I won’t say anything. Just don’t blame me when you drop dead.” She turned away and looked out the window.

  I bit my lip, hesitant.

  “Don’t mind her. A quick kiss isn’t going to kill me.” He laughed and pulled me close.

  I leaned in and kissed him, but pulled away as I felt him slump. I immediately put my hand to his face and concentrated on pushing the energy back. His body reacted instantly.

  “See.” He smirked. “I hardly felt that one. Besides, it’s worth it.”

  I shook my head sadly and got out of the car. As I turned to wave, I caught Áine scowling out the window at me. Was she mad that we had kissed? But an instant later, she blinked and shook her head, like she was trying to clear it, and then waved cheerfully at me as they drove away.

  Dad wouldn’t be home for a while, so I let myself in and headed to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. I was just sitting down at the table when the doorbell rang. I glanced out the window, surprised to see Chloe there. I was pretty sure I’d never mentioned my address to her.

  “Hey, Chloe. What are you doing here?”

  “Sorry for calling in like this. I was bored and thought we could hang out for a while. I have chocolate!” she said, holding up a bar and smiling.

  “Sure. Come on in, I was just making some tea. Do you want a cup?”

  “Yes, please, that would be lovely.” She sat down at the table and glanced out the window. “What is the story with the crows in this town? I swear that one has been following me all day!” She pointed out the window to where Randel was perched on a low branch in my garden.

  I hid my smile as I flicked the switch on the kettle. “I thought the same thing when I first moved here. The birds are just a bit friendlier in Kinsale than they are in most places.”

  “Yeah, well, nothing that a rifle and a few shells wouldn’t sort out.”

  I gasped and looked back at her.

  She held her hands up and laughed. “Just kidding.”

  With the ice broken, we chatted for hours; she wanted to know all about my life in the US, and she told me about Sweden and the UK. She also subtly pumped me for information on Rían, which I guessed was the main purpose of her visit. It looked like someone was developing a major crush. Before I knew it, Dad was clattering in the front door.

  “Hi, Meg,” he called as he hung up his coat.

  “Hey, Dad. Come and meet Chloe. She just moved here.”

  “Mr. Rosenberg, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Chloe said, standing up to shake his hand.

  “Hello, Chloe, lovely to meet you too.”

  “I better be off,” she said, grabbing her jacket. “See you tomorrow, Megan.”

  “She seems like a nice girl,” Dad said after Chloe had left.

  “She is.”

  “Is she in your year? She seems more mature.”

  “Oh, Dad. You just wish you still had a daughter who played with dolls.”

  “It was only an observation!” He backed away, feigning fear.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. You remember I’m having dinner at the DeRíses’ tonight, right?”

  “I remember. But let’s go out to dinner some night next week, you and me. What do you say? There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

  “Sure thing, Dad. How about Wednesday? I think I can fit you in.”

  He laughed. “It’s a date.”

  Adam picked me up at seven thirty.

  “Well?” I prodded. “What’s he like?”

  Adam raised his eyebrows. “It kills me to admit this, but he’s all right.”

  “Really? What’s his name? Tell me everything!”

  “Matthew Stevens.” Adam shrugged. “I don’t know . . . I guess he’s average-ish. He’s in second year at Cambridge, London. Seems a bit of a toff.”

  “Toff?”

  “You know . . . the preppy type, well bred.”

  “Got it. How’s Áine?”

  “That’s the weird thing,” he said thoughtfully. “She’s totally fine. They’re getting on like a house on fire.”

  “I don’t know if she’s handling this as well as she’s letting on,” I said, shaking my head. “She’s been acting really strange lately.”

  “Well, you can hardly blame her.”

  “I know, but I think there’s something more. The way she looks at me sometimes, it’s like she’s . . . jealous or something. But that doesn’t make sense.”

  “Well, she was in great form when I left,” he said, turning into his driveway. “You’ll see.”

  We were greeted by Áine as soon as we walked in. “Megan!” she exclaimed. “Come meet Matthew.”

  Matthew stood up as we entered the sitting room and awkwardly waved at me. I would have expected a stiffer type, but his light brown eyes had the trademark laughter lines of someone who smiled a lot. He looked nervous, though.

  Adam leaned down and picked up what looked like a receipt. He gave it to me as he took my coat. “Here, you dropped this. Want a drink?”

  “Sure, I’ll have a glass of water, please.” I sat down opposite Matthew and Áine and chuckled at Randel, who was standing on the back of the couch and giving Matthew the evil eye. Poor bird. It looked like there was a chance he would have to share Áine. I glanced at the receipt Adam had handed me, then tossed it into the fire. But I caught my breath as it left my fingers. Time seemed to slow as I saw the words scrawled on the small bit of paper.

  Anú, Bebinn, Sigrid, Megan.

  I scrambled to grasp the burning paper in my power, but by the time I caught it, it was nothing more than a glowing ember. My throat felt tight as I recalled the names. Anú, the girl who’d killed her own mother for a Mark and then had it stripped from her by the Order. Bebinn, the girl mentioned in the Scribes as having had a relationship with another Marked, and who subsequently created some sort of evil being that killed her husband and consumed her. That story had haunted me since my first meeting with the Order in their crypt. I’d never heard of Sigrid. And I had no idea why my name was on that list or where the piece of paper had come from.

  Matthew was looking at me now, clearly waiting for a response.

  “I’m sorry?” I said, pulling myself back into the conversation.

  “I was just asking if you were enjoying living in Ireland,” he answered.

  “Yes.” My brain refused to cooperate and struggled to find anything interesting to say to him. “It’s great . . . are you liking Cork so far?”

  Matthew cleared his throat, rolling his wineglass stem in his palms. “I haven’t seen much, just the drive in from the airport, but it seems nice. Perhaps I’ll explore more on my next visit.” He started to say something else but yelped as he lost his grip on his glass.

  Without thinking, I flicked out my hand and caught it with my power, righting it before any wine spilled and floating it down to the coffee table in front of him.

  Matthew looked at me with wide eyes. “Wow. Turns out knowing you guys have power and seeing them in action are two very different things.”

  Rían procured a ball of fire in his hand as he popped into the room. “Poor Matthew’s a tad intimidated by us. I can’t for the life of me imagine why.” He extinguished the ball of flame in his hand with a loud hissing sound as he sat down beside Matthew, putting his arm along the couch behind him. “Well, isn’t this cozy?”

  Poor Matthew looked very uncomfortable. “Rían, play nice,” I scolded him.

  Rían laughed. “I’m not the one he’s intimidated by. Isn’t that right, Matthew?” Matthew slid his eyes over to look at Rían and then brought his gaze back to me as Rían continued. “You see, he’s been hearing all these stories about the innocent schoolgirl turned big, bad demented element. It seems word of your super strength has filtered down through the ranks in the Order.”

  I laughed. “You don’t have anything to worry about, Matthew. I’m completely harmless.”


  “Unless she kisses you,” Rían muttered under his breath. His eyes burned into mine, and a sudden stirring in my chest caught me off guard. I motioned with my hand and sent a large cushion smashing into Rían’s face.

  “See, Matthew, she’s a loose cannon,” Rían said, laughing.

  Thankfully, Fionn called us for dinner at that moment, so I was able to hide my obvious discomfort. As soon as I walked into the kitchen, I pulled Adam aside. “You know that receipt you gave me earlier? Why did you think it was mine?”

  “It fell out of your pocket.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He gave me a look that said he thought I was starting to lose it. “I think so. Why?”

  “It wasn’t a receipt. It was a list of names—me, Anú, Bebinn, and Sigrid.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. Adam, how would that have gotten into my pocket?”

  “Maybe it wasn’t in your pocket at all. I wasn’t really paying attention. Don’t go getting all freaked out.”

  “Adam! Anú and Bebinn were raging psychos, and my name is listed with them. I think I’m allowed to freak out.”

  “Look, we’ll ask Fionn about it. I’m sure it’s nothing. What was that third name again?”

  “Sigrid, I think. I only noticed the names after I threw it into the fire.”

  “I’ve never even heard of a Sigrid. Let’s see what we can find out before we start jumping to conclusions, okay?”

  Not jump to conclusions! Sorry, too late.

  I couldn’t enjoy dinner; my mind kept going back to the list. Matthew, however, relaxed enough for both of us after three glasses of wine. Once he let his guard down, he was pretty funny. His face became animated as he told a story about one of his “Áine classes,” where he learned about her food preferences.

  Áine gasped in horror. “That’s not true! I hate avocados.”

  Rían burst out laughing. “Seriously, they teach you that stuff? That’s too funny.”

  “You guys are not at all what I expected,” Matthew said. “You’re all so different in person. Especially you, Megan.”

  Rían snorted. “Not quite the raging lunatic she was built up to be? She’s a pussycat, really.”

  Matthew winked at me. “I see that now.”

  Adam rather pointedly put his hand over mine, where it rested on the table. Matthew clocked the movement and turned and smiled at Áine. Fionn, noticing Adam’s hand on mine, started drumming his fingers on the table.

  Adam ignored Fionn’s hint and changed the subject. “Fionn, have you ever heard of a Sigrid in the Marked history?”

  Fionn’s fingers froze. “Where did you hear that name?”

  “Megan thinks she saw it on a list.”

  “What list?”

  I looked between Adam and Fionn, feeling a little uncertain. “There was a piece of paper. It fell out of my pocket earlier . . . we think. It had four names on it. Bebinn, Anú, Sigrid, and mine.”

  Fionn’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”

  “Well, no,” I admitted. “I threw the note into the fire—I only caught a glimpse of it.”

  He shrugged. “The name Sigrid means nothing to me. It’s probably just some old rubbish of Hugh’s.”

  “But Adam thought it fell out of my pocket.”

  “That’s very unlikely, don’t you think?” Fionn said, forcing a smile. “Now, who’s for dessert?”

  “I’ll get it,” Áine said, standing up and shooting me a pointed look.

  “Uh, I’ll help you with that,” I said, and followed her into the kitchen.

  She lowered her voice. “What was all that about?”

  “I don’t know. Fionn seemed annoyed, didn’t he?”

  “Maybe it was Fionn’s note, and he was pissed at you for finding it.”

  “Maybe. But if it was, wouldn’t he know who Sigrid was?”

  “Good point. Anyway, don’t mind Fionn. He’s on edge because of Matthew and me. Speaking of which, what do you think of him?”

  “He seems nice. More importantly, what do you think?”

  “Oh, he’s grand. I’m definitely not interested in him romantically, but at least our test-tube babies will be blond and cute!” She giggled. “It’s such a relief to meet him and make that decision now instead of worrying about it for the next few years. I don’t think he’s too interested in me either. In fact, he seems to have the hots for you!”

  “Shush. Let’s not get Adam going.”

  “I’ll tell Matthew after dinner that I’m fine just being friends.”

  “What about the Order?”

  She shrugged casually. “There’s no point in rocking the boat for now, so we’ll string them along. Ultimately, nobody will care as long as the line continues, right?”

  Seven

  NINJA

  After everything with Matthew was said and done, Áine was ready for a dose of normality, and Saturday’s shopping trip was the perfect antidote to her strange circumstances. Caitlin, Jennifer, Chloe, Áine, and I hit the town with a vengeance. I quickly realized it was going to be a while before my wallet—and my feet—recovered.

  “Where to next?” Áine asked excitedly as we walked out of our eighth store.

  “How about a refuel and recharge?” Jennifer suggested. “I’m parched.”

  “Sounds perfect. I’m running on empty myself,” Chloe said. “Where’s good?”

  “Let’s go to the Farm Gate, in the English Market,” Áine suggested, leading the way.

  The English Market was a maze of indoor alleys with merchants touting their wares and tempting potential customers with tasty morsels. The heady smell of raw meat, fish, cheese, and olives, mixing with melting chocolate and freshly baked bread, was a total sensory overload. The Farm Gate café was jammed. The sounds of chattering and cutlery on ceramic filled the air as we found a table and ordered a round of double-shot lattes.

  “These should perk us up for another couple of hours,” Áine said, pouring a mountain of sugar into her cup.

  Chloe blew on her coffee, and a cheeky smile crept across her lips. “So, Áine, what’s the story with Rían?”

  Áine raised an eyebrow. “Why, are you interested?”

  Chloe blushed. “I was just wondering. . . .”

  “Chill, Chloe. I’m only joking. He’s young, free, and very single.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Oh yes, you did.” Áine laughed. “There’s no point in beating around the bush. And he seems to like you too.”

  Her almond eyes brightened. “Really?”

  “Yes, really.” Áine looked a little pained. “What is it with my friends picking off my brothers? What’s next? Jennifer, fancy shacking up with Fionn?”

  “Oh, don’t tempt me.” Jennifer licked her lips. “That man is sex on legs. Unfortunately, I’m taken.”

  “You are?” we all said in unison.

  “Yeah, Patrick, the college guy I met in Marbella,” she said, smiling. “I think he’s a keeper. We may even give Adam and Meg a run for their money.”

  I laughed and threw a sugar packet at her.

  “Are you and Adam very serious?” Chloe asked.

  “Oh, they’re as good as married,” Caitlin chimed in. “I could never imagine them apart.”

  “Caitlin!” I blushed.

  “What?” she said innocently. “I’m only telling it like it is. You’re attached at the hip.”

  Chloe was wide-eyed. “Are you sleeping with him?” she blurted out.

  My mouth fell open as four pairs of eyes turned to me.

  “Well? Are you?” Chloe demanded.

  I shook my head from side to side. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I’m not.”

  Jennifer and Caitlin looked disappointed with the anticlimactic answer, but Chloe and Áine looked positively relieved. I felt irritation wash over me. What was their problem? Áine’s eyes watched me over the rim of her mug for a few moments, and then she smiled and slowly
took a sip.

  We finished our coffees and hit the shops again for round two of the spending extravaganza. It was dark by the time we got back to the car. The side street where we were parked had looked perfectly harmless this morning but was starting to seem a little creepy.

  “Let’s hit a restaurant for dinner before we head home,” Caitlin suggested.

  I was ready to call it a day, but everyone else seemed to think it was a great idea. We packed our shopping bags into the trunk and headed to the main street. I was trailing the others when a hand on my shoulder yanked me back.

  I screamed and spun around. Two men stood behind me, one grabbing my bag. I lost my balance and hit the pavement. Before I even thought to use my element, Chloe was there. She shot her leg up and slammed her boot into one guy’s face. Then she swung it back down while turning around, flicking her other leg out to pull the second guy’s feet out from under him. In the same movement, she landed on him and went to slam her fist into his frightened face, stopping only millimeters from his nose. She dug her knee down harder into his chest until he cried out.

  “Who are you?” she roared, her fist ready to smash into his face.

  The guy tried to shield himself and started whimpering. “I was only going to swipe her bag.” His eyes searched for his friend, who was now lying facedown on the road.

  Chloe jabbed her knee into the guy’s chest again, demanding his attention. “I’ll ask you one more time. Who are you?”

  “Pat, I’m just Pat,” he cried out.

  Chloe’s face relaxed. “Well, just Pat, let this be a lesson for you. Stop stealing handbags.”

  The guy on the road turned over and tried to sit up, holding his bloody nose. “You stupid bitch.”

  I looked on in horror as Chloe backed off the grounded man. He shuffled to his feet and grabbed the other guy from the pavement. They half ran, half staggered away.

  “Should we call the Gardaí?” Caitlin whispered.

  “No need,” Chloe said, dusting off her jeans. She turned back to us and smiled, all sweetness and light again. She offered me her hand and pulled me up. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “Chloe, what the hell was all that?”

  “Oh, self-defense classes,” she said, shrugging. “My dad insisted on them. I knew they’d come in handy someday.” She started to laugh but stopped when she realized none of us were joining in.