Marked for Them

by Lia Davis

  I was his, as he was mine.

  My nails scored his shoulder as I screamed out my release and my world exploded.

  His body tensed as he followed with his own climax a moment later.

  When we came down from our passion haze, he snuggled me close. A new link formed between us, and I knew what we’d done. “Did we…?”

  He kissed my bare shoulder. “Yes. I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop the wolf once it started.”

  I smiled. I thought I’d be upset, but I wasn’t. “I’m not. I marked you, too.”

  “I know.” He pulled me closer, although I didn’t think we could get any closer than we were in that moment.

  We were mated. “What does this mean for the others?”

  “Right now, I don’t care. We’ll deal with it in the morning. Good night, Reese.”

  As if he’d commanded it, I yawned. “Night, my mate.”

  His growl of approval was the last thing I heard before falling asleep.

  Chapter 13

  I didn’t want to leave the bedroom the next morning. The guys were up. I heard them walking around and the rumbles of their low, deep voices from somewhere else downstairs. Zane had gotten up before I woke. It was disappointing not to wake in his arms, but I could feel him inside me.

  Stop being a chicken.

  I opened the door and jumped at the sight of Trevor with his hand raised. His eyes dipped to my neck—Zane’s mark—then back to my face. A smile lifted his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I wondered when he’d last truly laughed. “Wade’s back.”

  Then he turned and left. My heart sank. Even though he’d smiled at me and was nice, I sensed his hesitation and mistrust. I could also feel that there was a lot of pain that he hid from the others. It made my heart hurt all the more.

  I’d have to get Trevor alone. My intuition told me that he and Wyatt needed to be the next ones for me to connect with. I had to gain their complete trust. Which may be harder now that Zane and I had mated.

  With a heavy heart and a sigh, I crossed the foyer to the living room where I heard the guys talking.

  When I entered, my gaze locked with Zane’s. His brows were bunched, and his forehead was creased. Worry, fear, and anger flowed along our mating bond. I knew the others felt the new link by the looks they cast my way. But it was Dimitri who spoke.

  “Fuck, Zane. I thought we agreed to wait.”

  I ignored the comment and moved farther into the room until I was standing in the center of them. Dimitri reached out to me and drew me in for a hug. Relief chased away the tension from my muscles. I hugged him back, resting my head on his shoulder.

  Wyatt and Trevor retreated to the other end of the living room. Wade stared at me, then at Zane. My words brought the ghost’s attention back to me. “What did you find that has Zane wanting to kidnap me and hide me away?”

  After several moments of hesitation, Wade spilled his news. “The Council has been doing genetic experiments for decades. Maybe centuries. I haven’t looked at all the data.”

  “What kinds of experiments?” My question came out rougher than I had intended. Dimitri’s arms tightened around me. What was going on?

  Wade’s sorrow-filled gaze held mine. “They were creating hybrid demons. Your mother volunteered to be a surrogate. To carry the hybrid fetus—part witch and part demon.”

  My heart stopped for a few brief moments, and I sagged in Dimitri’s arms. Zane stalked to me, taking me from his best friend and holding me as if he could make it all go away. Flashes of my childhood flipped over in my mind.

  Mom had always been distant, but she was a good mother. At least, in my mind. But what did I know? She was the only mom I had. She never abused me. Made sure I was fed, clothed, and had a good education. Plus, she’d trained me to fight and taught me how to hide.

  But…she’d lied to me about being raped. Why? And what did it mean that she volunteered?

  Wade paced the room, now in solid form, running his hand through his hair. He wouldn’t look at me as he continued talking. “You aren’t the only one alive. There were so many names. So many that didn’t survive past five years old.”

  Five years old? My heart hammered, and my stomach plummeted. The Council had been creating hybrids. I was one of them. “Why create them only to track them down and kill them?”

  Everyone stilled and stared at me. Zane cursed. “I didn’t think about that. It must be because the survivors are too powerful to control. They must fear that they will turn on them. Especially if they knew of the truth of their births.”

  I eased out of Zane’s arms and held up a hand when he reached for me. “Please. I need a few moments. I promise I won’t leave the coven.”

  Then I made my escape and stalked out of the house. My body hummed with tension as thoughts churned in my mind.

  When I reached the end of the driveway, I broke into a run. Mom had told me she loved me. In the end, when she knew she was going to die, she’d said it again. The logical part of my brain told me there was a reason why she did it. Volunteered for something so heinous. Deep in my heart, I hoped the answer was because she’d wanted a child.

  Tears streamed down my face, and my heart broke all over again.

  I stopped running and scanned the area. Half-torn houses and buildings lined the broken cobblestone streets. Some were burnt to the ground, while others appeared to have been blown to hell on one side. My father did this. But why?

  Why this coven? Why mark the guys to go after me? I was afraid the Council held those answers. Or maybe it was the demon’s choice.

  Footsteps sounded behind me, and I knew it was Wyatt before his minty scent reached me on the breeze. Out of all of them, I hadn’t expected him to come after me. Wade, yes. Zane definitely. Dimitri, of course.

  Wyatt had come after me the last time I’d left in one of my emotional need-to-be-alone episodes, as well. But he was the one who’d hurt me.

  I waited until he got within a few feet of me before letting him know that I sensed him. “Are you the official bring-back-Reese guy?”

  A soft chuckle warmed me as he approached. “I thought we could walk together.”

  I sighed. Yes, he’d been sent out.

  To my surprise, he reached for my hand and linked our fingers together. “I volunteered to come.”

  Facing him, I scanned his features, frowning. “You can hear my thoughts?”

  He averted his gaze and his cheeks tinted. “Yes. And only yours, which is odd. And just since this morning. I believe it has something to do with you and Zane mating.”

  “Oh.” It was my turn to look away. “It just happened.”

  “I know. The others know.” When I met his gaze, he smiled. “Your mark on Zane is doing what we hoped. It’s changing the one Salrus gave us. We don’t feel him anymore. We feel you.”

  That was good, right? It was what we wanted, to link together, combine our strengths, and defeat Salrus. I couldn’t ignore the hesitation—or was that worry? Fear?—that I heard in Wyatt’s tone. “But…”

  He sighed and closed the gap between us. My breath caught in my throat. His grey eyes stared at me as if he could see right into my soul. Placing a hand over his heart, I rose to my toes and brushed my lips against his.

  I wasn’t sure why I did, other than that I needed a distraction from the whirling questions in my brain. Plus, deep down, I knew he needed it as much as I did.

  He wrapped his arms around my waist and flattened me to him, meshing our bodies together. Pleasure filled every cell of my being. As soon as I opened, he darted his tongue inside my mouth. I groaned as our tongues met and twisted in an erotic dance.

  The presence of one of the others knocked on my awareness, so I broke the kiss and glanced to where I felt whoever it was. Trevor stood frozen in the middle of the road, staring. Confusion with a hint of jealousy bled into his features. I silently cursed myself and stepped away from Wyatt.

  My stomach fell to my feet, and guilt threatened to consume me. What
had I done? I’d come between them. When I stepped toward Trevor, he held up a hand and shook his head.

  Dread slammed into me, and I wanted to run again.

  “I think Zane is trying to figure out how to kill Wade all over again.” Trevor frowned. “You should head back to the house now.”

  “What’s going on?” I started walking, moving past Trevor toward the house. Zane wasn’t happy. I felt it through the bond. It made me uneasy. Something was about to happen. Or had happened.

  My heart hammered in my chest as I broke into a run. Fear urging me to move faster.

  Chapter 14

  When I pushed through the front door, shouts met me. I crossed the foyer to the living room. Once inside, I notice Wade in ghost form, hovering near the ceiling. Zane was pacing the length of the space, while Dimitri stared out the window.

  “What is it?”

  Zane jerked to a stop and instantly crossed the floor to take me into his arms. He buried his head against my neck. A soft growl escaped him. “You smell like Wyatt.”

  A humorless laugh left me before I could stop it. “Well, it’s going to happen from time to time.”

  Zane lifted his head and locked gazes with me. Without breaking the eye contact, he reached out and cupped Wyatt’s head, drawing him closer. At first, a spike of fear burned in my veins at what Zane might do to him. Then Zane faced him, staring. After an intense moment, Zane nodded. “It’s going to be harder than we thought to protect her.”

  Wyatt placed a hand on Zane’s shoulder and then pressed his forehead to Zane’s. It wasn’t sexual. It seemed like some kind of sign of trust or submission to the Alpha wolf inside Zane. “I’m all in. It’s time we end this. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I’m tired of ignoring the demon and hiding.”

  Trevor stepped up behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “I’m in. And not just because Wyatt is.”

  Trevor’s warmth seeped into me, relaxing me. Suddenly, D was there, pressed into my side. “You know I’m in.” He glanced at me and asked, “When is the best time to unlock my powers.”

  “Anytime, really.”

  Dimitri nodded. “Tomorrow night, then.”

  “Wade.” Zane spoke the ghost’s name like a command.

  The ghost lowered to the floor but didn’t transform to his solid form. Nor did he move closer to Zane as he spoke. “The Council has a collection of relics, but I’m guessing Reese already knows this. However, the Sleeping Stone is missing.” With a shaky hand, Wade laid a leather-bound book on the coffee table.

  I gasped and pushed away from the others. The book was my mother’s journal. I’d thought it was lost. I should have known the Council took it. I hovered my fingers over it and asked in a whisper, “Did you read it?”

  Zane growled, but I ignored him. I met Wade’s stare. He nodded. “I wouldn’t have kept anything from you. If there were something in there that could hurt you, I would have broken it to you privately.”

  I snorted. “We are well past the privacy thing. You all know I’m an emotional wreck.”

  Sitting on the couch, I picked up the book. “I’m assuming she mentions the stone in here?”

  “Yeah, she said the Council gave it to the demon to help him put the humans under its trance.”

  Not good. My gut burned with fear and anger. The Sleeping Stone had two powers: putting anyone within a hundred miles of it to sleep and placing them under an unbreakable trance where they had to do anything the bearer of the stone told them to.

  If Salrus had it, we were all doomed.

  “We need to get that stone,” I said, hugging the journal to my chest.

  Zane growled again, and I knew he hated the idea of me being anywhere near my father. I felt the protective wolf inside Zane’s body. It was like the animal paced within and tried to tell, no, command me not to go after Salrus. But my mate, his human half anyway, knew that I was the only one who could stop the demon. Together, we’d convince the wolf I was ready.

  Meeting Zane’s green gaze, I relaxed. He was aware of my thoughts. He said, “We read every document tonight. Find out what the Council knows. What they’re up to. Then we start training tomorrow.” He paused, his gaze never leaving mine. “Reese will finish the sextet bond by marking each of you.”

  Dimitri nodded. “But we need to mask her mark until we’re ready for the demon to know.”

  I agreed. “You and I can work on a spell. No, wait. We could just keep blocking him like we are now. If he can’t sense us, then he won’t know I took his mark away.”

  “You’re right. We’ll make more amulets and seal the whole coven.” Dimitri’s features lit up as if he had purpose and hope for a future once again.

  My heart filled with love for each of them. I’d never had anyone besides my mom wanting to protect me or care for me.

  Several hours later, the savory scent of dinner drifted into the room. I was lying with my head in Zane’s lap and my feet in Trevor’s. I vaguely remembered them switching me around while I read my mom’s journal. When I cried, someone passed me tissues while another held me. But none of them had asked me to stop reading, which I was thankful for.

  The parts of the journal that made me tear up were when Mom talked about how I was her miracle. I’d never known she couldn’t have children. When the Council started creating the hybrids, even though she hated the idea of it, she volunteered so that she could have a child.

  She did love me, even before she knew me.

  Zane nudged me as Dimitri appeared with a bowl of soup and a sandwich. “Get up and eat. I let you skip lunch. You’re not skipping dinner.”

  I smiled at the command in his tone and sat up. Dimitri handed me the tray and sat beside me. I frowned and glanced around the room. Empty bowls sat on the coffee table. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? We could have eaten together.”

  Dimitri kissed my cheek. “We really didn’t want to disturb you, but you do need to eat.”

  “Thank you.” I handed the journal to Zane and then flipped to a section in the back. “My mom left me a lot of information on the hybrid project.”

  “Fuck. There is a list of names of the survivors.” Zane worked his jaw.

  I placed a hand on his knee. “My name is there. My mom’s name is listed under the names of the deceased.”

  The handwriting was different. The Council had been updating the journal. Or someone else had.

  I ate my dinner while the guys went over the rest of the notes from Mom’s journal and the archives Wade had stolen. I tuned them out after a little while, already having read most of the information in the journal. The Council thought they were gods by creating and destroying life. It made me sick, so I ignored the chatter between the guys and ate my dinner.

  The relics bothered me, though. Witches believed the relics were hidden in sacred tombs, protected by magic and the gods themselves. What was the Council doing with them? How did they get them?

  We needed to get the relics from the Council and hide them again.

  My thoughts drifted to the coven. “What if we rebuild the coven? Then D and I can craft a spell to draw in the hybrids. Build our own army against the Council.”

  The guys fell silent and stared at me. I rolled my eyes, but Dimitri spoke. “That could work. We’ll make the spell specific to those on the list—now that we have names. However, I want the Salrus threat removed first.”

  “Yes, of course.” I yawned and placed the tray on the table. Wade, in solid form again, moved in and cleaned up the mess. A hint of something that wasn’t quite sadness rolled from him. I watched him leave, narrowing my eyes.

  Zane caught my stare and nudged me. “He’ll be fine.”

  I didn’t think so. I stood and followed him into the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

  He was once again in ghost form. He shrugged but didn’t look at me. “I’m not sure where I belong.”

  My heart sank. Was he feeling the pull to cross over? I didn’t want to let him go yet. We had so much to do. He
was as much a part of this as the rest of us. “I don’t want you to leave, but if you feel the pull, then I can’t stop you.”

  Wade faced me then, his brows drawn. “No, I don’t feel the pull. I meant… I don’t know where I fit with you and the others.”

  “What do you mean?” I inched closer to him, feeling unsure.

  His cheeks tinted, and he lowered his gaze. “Is it possible to bond with a ghost?”

  Oh! Of course, he’d feel the mating bond between Zane and me. Guilt rose up. Why didn’t I think of the real reason he wanted to stay? That he too was attracted to me. I closed the distance and placed a hand over his unbeating heart. “You are the reason I’m here. You annoyed me until I got up. Then led my father to me so I’d be forced to leave my hiding place.”

  His eyes went round. “I didn’t mean to put you in danger.”

  I went to place a finger over his lips, noticing that when I touched him, he seemed more and more alive. Once I removed my hands from him, he went back to a ghost. Interesting. “Hush. I’m not done. When I got here, my purpose was to end Salrus so I didn’t have to run anymore. I wanted to be free to live a halfway normal life, if that was possible. You and the others showed me that we are better together. I feel a pull to each of you, and it has nothing to do with our demon marks. Nor my mating bond with Zane. Every minute that I’m with you guys, the feelings become stronger.

  “I want us to be a family. I believe in the future again, thanks to you. We have a purpose, a need to protect our people—both the paras and the humans.” I leaned in and kissed him.

  He completely solidified and then groaned and wrapped his arms around me, deepening the kiss.

  The awareness of being watched made me break the embrace. I turned and glared at Zane. He flicked his gaze to me and then Wade. A moment later, he crossed the kitchen to us. I straightened and put myself between the two of them. One corner of Zane’s lips twisted. Then he reached out and grabbed Wade’s shoulder. Glee fluttered in my belly when Wade became more alive under Zane’s touch, just like he did with mine.