Marked by Pain

by Cece Rose

  “Why don't you have time?”

  “I have to leave for testing in like...” I trail off, looking for the clock on the wall. “Ten minutes ago,” I finish, seeing the time. I groan and reluctantly pull myself away.

  “Nope, not so quick,” he says, pulling me back and pressing his lips firmly to mine. I sigh in contentment, and then kiss him again, wrapping my arms around his neck and straddling his lap. His hands move down over my ass, tugging me closer to him.

  A cough from the door makes me freeze. “Mackenzie, you’re meant to be in the lab,” Alaric calls from the door. I roll my eyes. Great, because being tested on like a freaking lab rat is what I want to be doing right now, as if. I look at Locke, his hair is all ruffled and he looks sexy as hell. Yeah, I could think of better things to be doing right now.

  “Mackenzie,” he calls again impatiently.

  Standing up, I make a huffing noise as I follow him from the room. As I reach the door, giving one last look and quick smile to Locke before I turn back and leave, heading for the stupid lab.

  “Just try and keep calm,” the man in the white coat says.

  “Keep calm? You're planning on using the pain mark on me while I'm covered in freaking suckers on my head, and a million monitors beeping around us. You want me to keep calm? Are you fucking insane?” I seethe.

  “We just want to see if the mark will attempt to trigger, and what happens to your brainwaves and heart rate if that occurs,” he explains.

  “Oh, and that makes it all okay then,” I snap.

  “Please relax, Miss Crowe,” the man tells me, and then he presses his hand down on my shoulder. Pain shoots through my body instantly, my teeth clamp down and the sound of beeping filling the room is the only thing I can focus on for a second. The beeping gets louder, as I try to focus through the pain he is dishing out. Try and keep calm my ass. He either isn't using all his power on me, or is very weak with the pain mark as it doesn't hurt that bad I am eventually able to think. Not bad enough to make my other marks want to fight him. It's only annoying, like little bugs prickling all over my skin.

  “Enough, this will not work. Emotions trigger the twelfth mark, and I finally found proof in the things stolen from the academy,” a woman says as she walks into the room. The man moves his hand away and I take a deep breath. I roll to the side to see Kelly walking in, and she runs over to me, placing her hands on my head. They light up, warming my forehead and side of my face where she touches, making me instantly start to feel better. I sit up, pulling all the wires off me before looking back at the woman who watches me. She has long black hair tied up, a white coat on, and she holds an old looking book in her hands. I pick up my jumper from the end of the bed and pull it over my head.

  “Can I show you something, Mackenzie?” she asks me when I'm done and I nod, sliding off the table.

  “Whatever you have to show me can't be any fucking worse than that,” I reply and follow her over to a table. She sits down, and I take the seat next to her as she opens the book. It's old enough to be falling apart, the pages are torn at the ends and crumbling as she moves them. The woman opens the book to the last page, where the twelfth mark is in the middle. There are people drawn all around it, and the arrow is bigger, dividing the sphere and the people. I look down it, knowing this little mark is the cause of all the trouble in this world. One tiny mark. I look underneath the mark to see the rows and rows of symbols written in a paragraph.

  “They’re Ariziadian markings, or how they write. We don’t know the real name. That’s what is written underneath, as this book is from Ariziadia,” she tells me.

  “The rumoured place all marked come from? The old fairy tale that our parents used to tell us, to scare us into going to sleep? Go to sleep or you might fall through a portal to Ariziadia,” Kelly asks with a slight laugh, as she sits in the seat next to me. We have all heard the fairy tales of Ariziadia. That it’s another world, where marked originals came from, but it’s only rumours used to make marked children go to bed. Just like humans have their fairy tales of the big bad wolf. There is nothing of real proof anymore, nothing to prove the world ever existed all those millions of years ago. Even the books, the water in the academy, and every artefact can be explained away as things ancient marked made in this world. Not brought over from Ariziadia.

  “It’s not rumoured, it’s real, and the council have always known this. This book is from there, as are many other things we have collected,” the woman snaps and looks worried when I raise my eyebrows at her.

  “I wouldn't speak to my friend like that, not if you want my help,” I say, watching as she looks at me and then back to Kelly.

  “I'm sorry, I’ve spent my whole life researching a place you just claimed is rumoured, please understand,” she says to Kelly, who nods.

  “So…can you read this?” I ask, placing my finger on the symbols. They look like marks, just smaller and every one of them is different from any marks we know.

  “Yes. This claims that the twelfth power is drawn out by emotion, heavy emotion. Be it fear, sorrow or love,” she says, tracing a finger over the book in almost a loving motion. I bet this woman is married to her work.

  “Well there's nothing we can do here then,” I say. Wanting to leave and maybe break into this woman's room later to find out what the twelfth mark is myself.

  “I believe we should test this new theory with your friend Kelly...and me,” Verity says, as she walks into the room like she owns it. Dressed in all leather again, and her stupid shiny hair looks good as it moves around her. Gods how much I want to be petty as fuck, and cut all her hair off in her sleep.

  “I don't believe that it would be smart to test such high emotions at this time,” the woman shakes her head and gets up, “I will go and ask Mr Daniels or Alaric what their opinion is on the matter, with this new information,” she says, practically running out the room after grabbing the book. Looks like I’m not the only one who wants to move very quickly in the other direction whenever Verity shows up.

  “Let's go,” I tell Kelly, standing up as Verity moves in front of me.

  “Everyone out, now,” Verity shouts, and I watch in the corner of my eye as all the scientists and healers run out from the room. This can’t be good.

  “What are you doing? Your brother wouldn't let you do this. You’ve already had a warning, and the next time your brother won't be able to protect you from getting locked up. Playing the innocent sister won't work forever, as fucked up as you are,” Kelly spits out. Verity steps back and slams all the doors in the room shut with her air power.

  “No one will hate me for activating the twelfth power. You should be thankful Kelly, you have no idea what Kennie's daddy dearest has planned for her,” she chuckles, and I grab Kelly's arm when she steps forward. While I'm distracted stopping Kelly from attacking the crazy bitch, she lifts her hands into the air and then pulls them down, making me and Kelly slam onto the floor.

  “What happens when the twelve and her friend run out of air?” Verity chuckles, and aims her hands at us both. I go to call my powers when I realise I can’t breathe, and I panic. I roll on the floor, feeling my lungs being strangled and black dots slowly appear in front of my eyes the more I struggle to breathe.

  “Maybe I should kill your friend? It would teach you a lesson for going after my Enzo, you little slut,” she says, and the pressure increases in my chest. I scream in my head as I taste blood in my mouth, calling every single one of my marks. I turn my head to the side and see Kelly turning blue, her eyes wide and panicked as blood pours from the corner of her mouth. The twelfth power takes over as I stare at Kelly, burning the back of my neck as I close my eyes. I feel each one of my marks start to burn, the fire mark, the water mark...

  “NO! You stupid girl, she will destroy the whole unit!” I hear Alaric scream, seconds before a hand punches me hard in the face, and everything goes black.

  Chapter 12

  Mackenzie

  My dream is strange, blurre
d and yet clear. Loud and then silent. I'm aware that I'm dreaming, but I get so lost in it, it feels completely real.

  I look around the table, seeing all my loved ones surrounding me, but something is missing. Someone is missing. We're all eating dinner, forcing smiles and laughing, but something is so wrong.

  Someone's eyes are sad. Someone else is looking over at the door constantly, as if waiting for him to come in. My heart feels like it's shattered, and I don't know how I will ever heal fully. A hand links in mine, and I turn to face the man I've been in love with since we were kids. He squeezes my hand and lays a kiss on my forehead comfortingly.

  “I love you, Kenzie. It'll get better, just give it time,” he whispers. I feel the teardrops rolling down my face, I taste them when they cross over my lips, the salty tang sticking to my tongue. Maybe he's right, but right now, it's not time to feel better. The wound is still too fresh, and it burns me deeply, cutting me straight to my core.

  “I love you too, East,” I whisper. I'm so relieved to have him and the others here today here to support me. I don't know what I'd have done if I'd lost them all. They kept me going through all the destruction my twelfth mark caused.

  “I know you do,” he says with a small smile. He runs a hand through his hair, looking every bit the picture of perfection. A warm hand rests on my shoulder and I turn around to face him.

  Blinking open my eyes, I look up at the white ceiling for a moment, before immediately shutting them again. The light is way too bright.

  “She's awake,” an unfamiliar voice shouts loudly, hurting my ears.

  “Can you keep it down,” I grumble. A hand touches my shoulder, and I recoil away in pain. Noises are too loud. Lights are too bright. The slightest touch sets every nerve in my body on fire. Everything is too much. “Too much,” I whisper.

  “Get another healer in here. Get Kelly!” I hear a familiar voice demand. The demand is followed by muffled whispers. “No, I don't care if she’s still recovering, Miss Crowe is in agony. She will come in here and help her,” he growls. I can hear the absolute franticness in his tone. I've never heard Mr Daniels like that, not to this level. He really does care... I can't let him bring Kelly to help me, not when she's hurt.

  “N-no,” I mumble, trying to force my eyes open again, but my body won't follow orders, and my eyes stay shut. “Don't get Kelly,” I manage to whisper, before passing out again.

  Chapter 13

  Mr Daniels

  “I don't care what you have to do, you will make her fucking better. I don't care if you have to grab every fucking healer in this camp, you will do whatever it takes,” I snap at the doctor who has been monitoring Kenzie. I haven't left her side since she passed out again half an hour ago. I'd debated going to get Kelly, but I didn't want to go against her wishes. Not unless I have to. If the other healers can't do the job, she will. Miss Crowe’s wishes be damned.

  “We are doing everything possible to ensure Miss Crowe's wellbeing, we just need some more time so we can heal her. We won't let anything happen to her,” he says.

  “Bullshit,” I say, grinding it out between my clenched teeth. They won't let anything happen to her? They already have. I knew we should have left yesterday, but no, we planned for tonight. Looking at Kenzie lying comatose on the bed, I know we won't be leaving tonight as planned. Fuck. I need to call the council. And now I know I need to get Verity out of here first. My body tenses as I think of my sister. She did this. She caused Kenzie this pain. Maybe what Kenzie saw at the school was true, but I don't want to believe my sister is completely gone. The good in her has to be there still. I would get her away from here, and in time, she would realise her mistakes. I just have to hope that Kenzie will forgive me for needing to save Verity too. My sister is all that is left of my family, and I don't intend to lose her too. Stroking a hand down the side of Kenzie’s sleeping face, I’m lost in my thoughts.

  Kenzie doesn't understand Verity like I do, she doesn't know what she has gone through, what happened to her as a child. I hold Kenzie's sleeping hand tighter as I remember what one of my fathers did, how he used the pain mark on her when she was only a toddler. I wish I could kill him, but my other dad did that for me, for all of us. I know she isn't evil inside, she was so sweet before it happened, but ever since then, the trauma changed her, the magic changed her. She manifested her pain mark before ever stepping into the waters at the academy, not that we ever revealed that to anyone outside of our family. The kind of attention that marked anomalies give you is always the bad kind.

  A hand rests on my shoulder and I shrug it off. “Fuck off,” I mutter.

  “Cut the shit, Daniels. We're all worried about her,” Enzo says, and then he leans down to whisper. “Get your crap together and play your part properly. He can't know how deeply you care for her, not for this to work,” he whispers harshly, but I know he's right. Letting go of her hand, I swallow and stand up, heading for the doctor.

  “You know we need her alive for what her mark does; if she dies, we have nothing. You fucking have her awake and healed by morning, or you'll never wake again. Do you understand me?” I snap. He nods frantically, and I swear I hear one of the twins chuckle. “Do you think this is funny?” I turn around, snapping at Locke. He points at Logan next to him. “You then, asshole, do you think this is funny?” I growl.

  He narrows his eyes on me. “Of course it isn't funny, I'm worried as shit. What made me chuckle was Locke's comment about the doctor looking like he just shit his pants. You're a scary fucker, Daniels, to most people anyway,” he replies. I let out a breath and grunt. Maybe I did take it too far with the doctor?

  Looking at Kenzie one last time before I leave the room, I decide there isn't a ‘too far’ here. I would do anything for her. I send off a silent prayer to whatever gods may be listening. Please let her be okay.

  Once I am far enough away from the compound, I pull over on the side of the road and pull my burner phone out. I dial my contact at the council.

  “I need to speak to Mrs Curwood, now. It's important,” I snap as soon as he answers.

  “Nice to talk to you too, Daniels,” Miles' voice responds sarcastically.

  “No fucking time, transfer me now,” I snap.

  “You're always such a pleasure,” he snaps back, and then before I can reply, I hear the transfer hold music. Who fucking thought people waiting on hold would want to listen to this crap? I almost smash my phone to escape the awkward 90s music. Like anyone wants a reminder of that.

  “You have news?” Mrs Curwood's voice comes down the phone.

  “Kenzie and Kelly are injured. They’re with healers and should be okay, but we cannot do the move tonight. It's off. Call it all off,” I say quickly.

  “Call it all off? Our team is already in position, and ready to go on your signal. We have been planning this since she was taken, and now you are telling me we have to put this off?” she replies. I grip my steering wheel with my free hand tightly.

  “Did you miss the part where I said both Kenzie, and your daughter Kelly are injured?” I say, hoping she meant to say something

  “Surely we can pull this off, even if they are injured,” she says plainly.

  “They’re not in a fit state to travel. I'm telling you it can't be done,” I growl. “Are you not the least concerned about your daughter?” I snap.

  “I'm sure Kelly will be fine, as you said, she is being looked after by healers, is she not?” she replies, and I grit my teeth to keep in the reply. That woman is an emotionless robot. I've hated her from the moment I'd met her at the council building in London last year. She cares only about results, never what it takes to achieve those results. I wasn't surprised when she had so easily agreed to allow her untrained daughter to take part in such a dangerous mission, but this is a whole new level of low. How can someone be so uncaring towards their family? Does she not realise how lucky she is?

  “Daniels, are you still there?” she asks.

  “Here, but I'm going. Don't se
nd them in under any circumstances. Trust me, if you attack without my help from inside, you will fail. I'll call tomorrow.” I hang up the phone before she can reply, and then I roughly throw it at the windscreen. I cringe when I see the chip it's caused there. Fuck, that's gonna spread. I'll be avoiding potholes like my life depends on it.

  I get out of the car, slamming the door behind me and just walk for a bit, stretching my legs. So much adrenaline is coursing through me, I need an outlet, I need to do something. I call my protection mark, and then I call forth my wolf, shifting easily. A quick run in this form should do the trick nicely.

  Chapter 14

  Mackenzie

  “Enzo?” I ask, hearing him talking to me, or maybe he’s talking to someone else, but everything is blurry as I just about croak out his name.

  “Take it easy, I'm here, Crowe,” he says, his voice soothing as I feel a finger tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear as I blink my eyes open. The room is bright with the artificial lights on the ceiling, and everything looks so white. From the white walls to the white sheets I'm tucked into.

  “What happened?” I ask, turning my head to the side of the bed where Enzo is sitting watching me. He looks worn out, with big dark bags under his eyes, his hair looks like someone has rubbed their fingers through it a million times and his clothes are wrinkled.

  “Do you not remember?” he asks me, taking my hand in his and squeezing tightly as everything comes back to me in fast flashes. Verity using her air mark on me and Kelly. Kelly's face turning blue, her eyes panicked, the feeling of suffocating.

  “You're okay, relax, Crowe,” Enzo says, but I can't stop thinking about the pain. The feeling of being so desperate to live, the twelfth power taking over without me calling it and how it burned each one of my marks. It hurt so much, my marks still feel sore from it as I feel them on my body. Enzo leans over me, pulling my head to face him and kisses me. I'm in shock for a second as he moves his lips against my own frozen ones, before I relax into the sweet kiss and return it.