Marked by Pain

by Cece Rose

  “Do I need to? You know I did because you heard,” I shrug, and he grins as he gets a cup out of the cupboard and adding coffee to it. He pours his water in and adding a little milk, while I just watch him. His black hair is longer than it has been in a while, dropping into his dark eyes a little but it just adds to how good looking he is. He has on jeans and a tight, white shirt that sticks to his muscular frame, making it a little hard to look away.

  “You're right, I did, and you know what?” he asks me, sipping his coffee before putting it down, not saying a word until he steps in front of me. He takes my coffee from me, putting it on the side and leaning down to whisper in my ear. “I would usually be jealous to hear the girl I'm fucking mad for moaning, and fucking someone else, but it didn't make me jealous.”

  “What did it do?” I ask breathlessly.

  “Turned me on so damn much, Crowe,” he says, turning to kiss me harshly. He picks me up and slides me onto the counter as my legs go around his waist. We pause when a door is slammed shut. Enzo moves away from me, muttering curses under his breath as we turn to see Mr Daniels. He looks worn out as he leans against the door, his head bowed.

  “Long night?” I ask him and I pick up my coffee, pretending like I wasn't seconds away from sleeping with Enzo on the kitchen counter. Damn, that would have been some good sex.

  “Meetings, and then we just found out Stella's parents are dead,” he says. I instantly feel sorry for her; despite how much I hate her, I wish she didn't have to go through that.

  “Shit,” Enzo mutters loudly. I slide off the counter, walking over to Mr Daniels.

  “Then how are we going to find my brother and Kelly?” I ask.

  “I don't know, Miss Crowe, I haven't got a clue and I hate it,” he answers, sending dread through me as he pulls me to his chest, while I try not to panic.

  Chapter 24

  Mackenzie

  “You should answer the door, I know it's for you,” Mr Daniels says as I lift my head off his chest and frown at him in question. I slide off him, walking over to the door, and pulling it open to see my mum standing there, with Dad P right behind her.

  “Mum, Dad?” I say, just before my mum pulls me to her and squeezes me tightly.

  “Oh, Kennie, I swear I will kill Alaric for what he has done to my children,” she whispers, loud enough that Dad P hears and gives me a worried look as he steps closer, and puts his hand on my cheek.

  “You have grown up so much, I can tell just by looking at you,” he says, and my mum finally lets me go so Dad P can hug me.

  “Hello,” I hear Mr Daniels say and I turn to see him in the doorway.

  “Would you like to come in, Mr and Mrs Crowe?” he asks, and I quickly wipe my tears away as my dad lets me go.

  “Now you must be Mr Daniels, the one that called us and got us transport here in such short notice?” Dad P asks, walking around me and offering Mr Daniels a hand to shake. They introduce themselves and when Mr Daniels looks over at me, I mouth “Thank you,” at him.

  “Mrs C?” East says behind Mr Daniels, who steps out the way to let my mother go to East. She hugs him tightly, and pulls back.

  “Your mother is worried sick about you, now go to your room, and call her right now,” she says, and East loses all colour in his cheeks as he nods and walks away.

  “Now, what is the plan for saving my son and making sure no one ever touches my daughter again?” my mum asks, her hands resting firmly on her hips.

  “We finally have a location,” I hear one of my other dads say in the distance, and I turn to see Dad M and Dad L walking out from the woods. I run to them, hugging them both as they give me relieved looks.

  “I want to ask how you are, but it seems like a stupid question,” Dad M asks, as I pull away from him.

  “Not good, but a location? Do you know where Ry is?” I ask.

  “Why don't we take this inside?” Mr Daniels suggests once more and this time we all go in, finding spots on the sofa to sit. East and Enzo come out the room, followed by Locke and Logan who all introduce themselves before finding walls to lean on near the chair I sit in. East sits on the arm of my chair, and Mr Daniels sits on the other one. My mum gives me a knowing look as she looks between all my guys and how close we all are, before winking at me, making me smile for the first time in a while.

  “Now Kenzie, I don't want you to freak out when I explain this all to you? Okay?” Dad M asks, as East slides his hand into mine.

  “Okay?” I question nervously. Telling someone not to freak out, actually just makes them freak out, so I never got the point of people saying that.

  “We received images from a guard undercover with the rebels, who we thought was dead, showing us a rough location in a local shipping yard not far from here,” he says, and I smile before feeling confused.

  “Wait, why would I freak out about that?” I ask and Dad L takes over.

  “They also showed Kelly beaten and tied up.”

  “No!” I shout, horror filling me as I stand up, and shaking my head in disbelief. Ryan wouldn't let that happen to Kelly, and if he couldn't stop it, what have they done to him?

  “Show me the photos and then we need to go there right now!” I demand, and my parents all look at me.

  “The rescue and attack party leaves tomorrow morning, but you will not be going,” mum says gently.

  “I can’t stay here when she needs me!”

  “I will go to get her and Ryan back, with some of the others. Your parents are right, you can't come and get captured. It's what they want,” Mr Daniels says, and my guys all mumble agreements.

  “I know you're right, I just can't bear the thought of her dying while I stay here and do nothing,” I say, feeling useless because I know I can’t go.

  “We are all going as well, and I will heal her as soon as I can,” Dad P says and my mum gets up, walking over to me.

  “I will stay with you in the academy because I'm not a good fighter or healer. I want to go to save Ryan, but I know when it's not the time to be overprotective, and when it’s time to trust your partners,” my mum tells me before turning back to the rest of the room. “Let's go back to the main school and leave Mackenzie with her boyfriends to discuss this. I could use a drink,” she says and my dads all get up, kissing me on the cheek before leaving.

  Chapter 25

  Mackenzie

  “What do you mean, you want me to go to class? You’ve got to be joking,” I say, gaping open-mouthed at the two headmasters standing in the doorway to Mr Daniels’ cabin. They'd shown up, asking why I hadn't gone to class, as it had started fifteen minutes earlier, and they were expecting that I would attend. What the hell are they thinking?

  “We think it would be best to return you to a level of normalcy,” one of them says.

  “You and Mr Black will remain here, and resume your classes, whilst the others will be assisting Mr Daniels and the council,” the other adds.

  “You can’t just expect me to go back to my classes, to act like nothing ever happened?” I sputter, not believing they could really suggest something so incredulous.

  “That is not what we are suggesting, Miss Crowe. We simply believe that it would be best for you to resume your schedule as soon as possible. You're already behind now as it is,” the first replies firmly. He goes to step into the cabin, but I hold firm. I doubt Mr Daniels would want them in here.

  “But with everything going on, can't it wait?” I whine pathetically. I really don't want to go. Everyone will be looking at me after what happened.

  “No. The decision is final, and you are already late for class. You should get going now, before you miss the whole thing,” the other answers.

  “Fine, give me five minutes to say goodbye and get changed. What day is it anyway?” I question, and they both give me exasperated looks.

  “It's Monday, Miss Crowe,” he answers dryly.

  What classes do I even take on Monday? Headmaster Lockhart must see my confusion, as he lets out a deep
sigh.

  “You're currently meant to be in healing class, followed by pain this afternoon,” he says in an unamused tone.

  “Great, thanks,” I say, and then I slam the door shut in their faces. I'm too pissed over having to go back to classes already to care about how rude that may have been.

  “You didn't just...?” East asks as he walks in from the bathroom.

  “Maybe.” I shrug. It's too late to worry about that now.

  “You're probably going to live to regret doing that,” he says in a serious tone, but his eyes are shining with amusement.

  “Yeah, yeah. I'll risk it. Where are the others?” I ask. I hadn't seen the others since late last night. It had been eerily quiet in the cabin this morning. I'd fallen asleep on the sofa, and I woke up tucked up in Mr Daniels' bed, alone. I had much preferred the large bed with company.

  East hesitates before answering, “They already left to get Ryan and Kelly. They left at about five in the morning, they didn't want to wake you since you've been getting so little sleep.”

  “We were all still up talking at one, they couldn't have had any sleep,” I say, my worried feeling slipping into my tone. East crosses the room to me and pulls me into his arms.

  “It'll be fine. They'll be okay. They planned on sleeping in the car on the way to the meeting point. Someone else is driving, so they'll all have a chance to catch a few hours,” he reassures me. I bite my lip, not quite believing that they'll actually sleep. I hate the idea of them going into a fight when they haven't even gotten enough rest. He rests his fingers under my chin and tilts my head up so I'm looking into his hazel eyes. “Don't worry yourself about them, Kenz. They've got this,” he says softly, brushing his other hand across my cheek tenderly.

  I open my mouth to argue all the reasonable reasons I have to worry, but he silences me by pressing his lips against mine. He kisses me softly, and then pulls away to look at me.

  “East, I can't help but—”

  He cuts me off, crashing his lips back against mine harder this time. I return his kiss eagerly, as his hands thread roughly into my hair, and he walks me back to the wall. My back slams into the cold wall, feeling the chill set into me quickly. He slides one hand down my body, resting it on my hip, gripping it tightly. His teeth graze my lower lip, and he moves his body closer to mine, trapping me tightly against the wall. I'm not so cold with his hot body against mine. I manage to pull away, just about convincing myself that I do indeed have to go to class. I probably pushed my luck as it is with the door slam.

  “Sorry, but we have to go to class,” I say. I really don't want to go though. I never wanted to go to this damn school anyway, and I was right not to want to be here, considering all the trouble that's happened. But there have been good things too, I muse as I look at East.

  “Class...that's what they wanted? You can't be serious?” he questions, his eyebrows shooting up.

  “So serious, and they said you had to go to my classes with me rather than your own.” I sigh. “I need to get changed, I slept in these clothes,” I say, gesturing down at my crinkled jeans and top. Luckily I'd already tamed my long, black hair back in a thick, high ponytail.

  “I should probably change too,” he concedes, stepping back. I look at him properly, noticing the tight grey workout top and black joggers he's wearing. The top clings to him, showing off every muscle. Does he really have to get changed?

  “If you keep looking at me like that, we're not going to class, Kenz,” he says in a low tone.

  “Is that a threat or a promise?” I ask teasingly, and he steps closer again, leaning down so his lips brush my ear slightly, making me shiver.

  “A promise, and I always keep my promises,” he answers. He then pulls back again, and heads for my room, where he and the others have stashed their clothes. I watch him as he goes, and then groan to myself. I'm going to have to follow him in there to get my clothes too, damn it!

  I move slowly across the sitting room, creeping into my room quietly. East has his top off, and is rummaging through a backpack for another. He turns around, catching me staring at him. He grins, crossing the room to me and leans around me to shut the bedroom door.

  “What are you doing?” I ask innocently, even as I flutter my lashes a little.

  “I don't break my promises, Kenz,” he says, he steps closer to me, and I move back.

  “We're going to get in trouble,” I say slowly, taking another step as he matches mine. He moves in time with me, watching me like a predator eyeing up its dinner. My back hits the wall.

  “They'll live,” he whispers, and then he pounces. His arms pin me to the wall, and his lips easily find mine again. Slinking my arms around his neck, I jump up, wrapping my legs around his waist tightly, feeling his hardness press against me just right. I moan into his mouth as he grinds his hips against me, and he pushes me even tighter between him and the wall. There's no way we're leaving this room anytime soon now.

  We were already late, might as well just try and be on time for the next class instead, this one's a lost cause. I smile as he pulls his lips from mine to kiss along my jaw. So worth missing class for.

  Chapter 26

  Mackenzie

  Despite the best of intentions, we are still running late as we rush through the main building to pain class. The door of the room is still open, so we can't hover outside when we get there. The teacher, Mr Tower, is leaning against his desk watching the door. He scowls at us both as we walk in slowly, hand in hand.

  “Mr Black, I wasn't aware you were joining us today. Did you suddenly develop the pain mark over night?” he asks mockingly.

  “No, sir. I'm just sitting in,” East replies politely.

  “And you, Miss Crowe, after Mr Anders informed me you missed healing class earlier, despite Headmaster Lockhart’s reassurances you would be attending, I assumed you must have fallen gravely ill. What other possible excuse could you have?” Mr Tower says, as he slicks his greasy, black hair back. He gives a pointed look between me and East, and I glance away from him to look around the room.

  Stella is sitting there with a wide grin on her face. She's dyed the tips of her hair purple since I've last seen her. I normally love seeing colours in people's hair, but on Stella, the purple looks tacky. Especially considering her top is the exact same shade of purple.

  “I wasn't feeling great earlier, but I'm feeling much better now,” I lie, and then I head towards the only two free seats together, tugging East along after me. Unfortunately for us, that puts us right next to the desk where Stella is sitting alone. Dropping his hand, I quickly snag the seat further away, leaving East to take the spot between me and Stella. Only a small gap to walk between separates them. He gives me a dirty look as I grin evilly at him from my secured spot. Without any other option, East settles down in the seat.

  “Now, before we were so rudely interrupted by a late student, where were we?” Mr Tower asks the class, I can't stop my eyes from rolling at that. “Something funny, Miss Crowe?” he asks, narrowing his eyes on me. Shit.

  “No, not at all, Mr Tower,” I answer blandly.

  “Uncle, she was just whispering things to East. I'm sure I saw her dirty hands sliding onto his lap under the table too,” Stella whines. Lying bitch!

  Both of my hands are flat on the table in front of me, but that doesn't stop my face from flushing hot as everyone in the classroom turns around to stare at me.

  “Mr Black, if Miss Crowe cannot keep her hands off you, you will need to leave,” Mr Tower says sternly.

  “But that's bullshit, she didn't touch me!” East shouts angrily, pushing his chair back. I lay my hand on his shoulder and shake my head slightly at him. Losing his temper isn't going to help either of us.

  “She's touching him again,” Stella gripes incredulously. Seriously?

  “I'm touching his shoulder, not his freaking dick. I know you sure as hell aren't a prude, so what's your damn issue?” I ask, snapping at her.

  “What are you trying to
say?” she growls, standing up and folding her arms. I stand too, not wanting her to tower over me.

  “You know exactly what I'm saying,” I answer, raising an eyebrow at her as her face contorts in anger. East goes to stand too, but I rest a hand on his shoulder. I don't need him to fight this battle for me. Rebels, I may need help with, but bitchy school girls? I'd dealt with enough of them to know how to handle myself.

  “I'd like you to clarify it for me, bitch. From where I'm standing, you're the one getting around. Even a teacher from what I hear,” she says in a haughty voice. I hear a few sharp intakes of breath. Shit. I may know he wasn't here as an actual teacher, but I doubt anyone else does.

  “You're only pissed because none of the guys in this school will touch you even with a ten-foot fucking barge pole!” I snap back.

  “Oh really? That didn't stop Enzo coming to see me before he left earlier,” she taunts. Fuck off.

  “Yeah right, like he'd go anywhere near you!”

  “Ask him yourself. He dropped by my room around five in the morning, he couldn't keep his eyes, or his hands off me.” She steps closer to me, her eyes flaring with anger as she tosses her hair back over her shoulder.

  “You're lying,” I insist. She goes to reply, but the sound of a book smacking a desk makes us both look to the front of the class.

  “Mr Black, please leave the classroom at once. And you, be quiet and take your damn seat!” Mr Tower shouts, and Stella gives me a victorious look, but it's short lived. “You too, Stella. I won't be pleased if I am forced to put my own niece in detention.”

  “You can't be serious,” she splutters disbelievingly, as I quietly slide into my seat. East stands up, leaning down to place a kiss on my forehead. “I'll just wait outside, Kenz. Don't worry, I won't leave you,” he whispers in my ear, before he walking out the room. I can still see him through the open door, and he gives me a little wave.