Mark of the Dagger (The Marked Series Book 1)

by Rae, Stella

  Dani wanted to be alone so instead of heading back to her dorm she turned toward the pond… And their tree. She was so mad at herself for giving him the chance to do what she always knew he would. He broke her heart all for the sake of a stupid point. It’s not as if Dani hadn’t already known she loved him, it was just a closely guarded secret that she never wanted anyone else to know. That’s why she kept it so close, why she never acted on it. Because the one time that she let her guard slip around him he crushed her in just a matter of minutes.

  She hugged her knees to her chest and laughed out loud. How pathetic, she thought, to think that an eighteen-year-old would be interested in a sixteen year old. And one that was an amazing Demon Hunter at that and she was just a lowly mixed blood. She couldn't quiet the sobs that racked her chest. She had never been so torn up in her life.

  "The guy is a jerk Dani. He doesn't know what he's talking about," Jan said when she caught up to her. She sat beside Dani and pulled her into a hug. "What he said, you know we don't really think that right? At least me, Nick and Damien don't, I can't speak for everyone else. I don't know what they think but I do know that it doesn't matter. I'm sorry that I dragged you to that party."

  "Don't be. I had a lot of fun while it lasted. I just don't understand why he acted that way."

  "Well," she shrugged. "In a way he was kind of right about Jordan, he is a tool. But you weren't acting like a fool, not at all. I wouldn't have let you get crazy with him and he had no right to use your own feelings against you. That was just low."

  "How did you know?"

  "What? That you're in love with the stupid jerk?" she asked on a laugh. "Because you're my friend and I pay attention. You didn't deserve what he did. And after seeing what just happened, I don't blame you anymore for being a jerk to him all those times."

  "Gee thanks," Dani said sarcastically.

  Chapter Ten

  Dani tossed and turned all night, the events of the party running through her head over and over again. She was utterly broken. Granted, she shouldn’t have conveniently handed her heart over, especially to someone that she barely knew. So she would accept the blame for this pain and move on.

  Aside from what happened tonight at the party, Dani was pretty happy with the way things were going. She has great friends, people are starting to warm up to her. She is excelling in both her classes and training. Overall, things were going great. As long as she didn’t include anything that had to do with Samuel.

  If there was one thing that Dani would change since being here, it would be the fact that she hasn’t gotten up the courage to go to the auditorium. It really shouldn’t be all that hard. Yes, it was the place her father died, but in the end it was just a room. And she really had to stop making up excuses for not going in there. She could admit that she we was scared. Would she be able to feel her dad as soon as she walked in there? In a sense, would there be ghosts, even if they were only ghosts that she could feel?

  That’s what scared her the most. She was terrified of what she might find. Nevertheless, Jan was right. She really did need to face it head on, just as she had with everything else since coming to Mt. Claussen.

  Taking a deep breath, Dani pushed out of bed, pulled on a hoodie sweatshirt and her shoes and went out into the hall. She paused at Jan’s door, debating on whether to ask her to come with her. Deciding against it she continued on her way. It was better to do this alone.

  Dani wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the cold and hurried across the dark grounds. Luckily she didn’t run into any Hunters doing their nightly checks. Once she made it to the main building that housed the auditorium, she quickly ran up the stone steps and quietly opened the heavy door.

  The halls were dark and empty except for wall sconces hanging every few feet that lit the hallways with a soft, warm glow. Even after being here for months, she still couldn’t get over the mid-evil feeling of the campus. It was amazing, especially this building. She always felt that if you listened hard enough and sat still long enough, then you would be able to hear its secrets.

  Outside of the door to the auditorium Dani stilled. She didn’t want to just rush in there. Yet she knew that she needed to hurry in case there were any Hunters roaming around. Taking another deep breath, she slowly opened the door and walked in.

  Stopping just inside the door she paused to look around. Just like the rest of the building at this time of night, it was dark and silent. There were a few lights lining the pathways on the floor, other than that it was pitch black. Though she could not see much, she could feel the vastness of the room. It was massive with many layers of theater seating as well as a balcony.

  Dani slowly made her way down the main aisle toward the stage. Where in this room did he fight his last battle? Where did he take his last breath, she wondered, as she sat on the edge of the stage and let her feet swing back and forth. Was it here, on the stage? Or was it closer to the door where he could meet the demons before they could get any closer to the students.

  She could almost hear their battle cries and felt their terror, desperation and courage. The Hunters fought with all they had. With the acute sensation it was like she was there when it took place.

  How horrible it must have been for the students locked in here while their home was under attack. Did the younger student’s cower in fear while the other students and Hunters protected them or did they pick up a weapon and join the fray? Young or old Dani knew instinctively that they all would have picked up a weapon to defend what was theirs if they had to.

  All of the worry and fear that kept her from coming here was for nothing. She may have sensed the battle but she felt nothing from her dad. Oh, how she wished she could talk to him again. She missed him terribly and just wished that she could talk to him about all of this. She had a lot of questions for him; where did he get his sword? what did it feel like when he found it? and was it the same feeling she had in her dream? There was so much that she could say to him or ask him about but the main thing she wanted to know was this; did he think of Dani and Sarah at all during the battle? Did he regret coming to help?

  Dani was thrown out of the auditorium with a dizzying force of speed. When the dizziness had subsided she opened her eyes and found herself on the grounds of the compound. She had no clue how she had gotten here. As she took a look around the grounds, she noticed that something was off. As soon as she took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down enough, she realized what it was. This wasn’t real. This felt the same as her dream. The dream she had just before she was marked. And on the tail of that thought brought another. Would she be marked again? She really hoped not.

  Before she had time to think much more about it she took off running toward her dorm room. Though if this was like her dream she had no clue what she thought she would gain by going there. She turned around and ran toward the staff quarters and her uncle, her sword.

  Halfway there she was surrounded by the mist that she now knew was a capability belonging only to vampires. Menacing laughter floated all around her. She was trapped. She knew it, and they knew it and there was no one around to help her, there was no way out.

  “How did you get past the wards?” she asked in false bravado.

  “We had help,” was all she heard. The reply came from nowhere and everywhere all at once. The sound of its voice was terrifying in a way that she had to hold back her cry. Deciding that she had nothing to lose as they were inching closer and closer to her, she started yelling. Yelling for help, yelling in warning, she didn’t know. When she heard an answering war cry to her left, she pivoted to see who it was and what they were doing.

  Samuel. He was coming to save her. No, she couldn’t let him. There were too many, he was likely to get killed. That thought sent a terror she had never felt before skidding down her spine. “No Samuel don’t. Go get help. Please don’t. There are too many. Please go.” No matter what she said, he ignored her and kept charging closer and closer to the group of vampires that surrounded
her. Once he got close enough, she saw him smirk and swing his sword in a large arc looking every ounce the fierce warrior that he is.

  Dani wrenched out of the dream and found herself back in the auditorium. She was shaking, sweating and crying. How had that happened? She couldn’t really qualify that as a dream since she was wide awake when it overtook her.

  She hopped off the stage and landed on shaky legs. As she slowly made her way to the back of the auditorium and toward the exit she thought about what had happened. Was it a premonition of sorts or a remnant from battles past? It could be either of those things, though premonition wasn’t a normal talent for Hunters to have. At least not that she knew of.

  It was probably just some kind of residual memory or something. She was in the auditorium thinking about and imagining the battle that happened years ago. Her imagination was just in overdrive. Dani shook it off and decided that she would talk to Joe about it later and headed back to her room. And she will admit that she looked over her shoulder the entire way back.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next morning, having only gotten two hours of sleep, Dani was back to her normal routine and on the track. She ran to clear her mind of the horrible things that were said last night between her and Samuel and the trip to the auditorium. The combination of both was horrendous and brought nothing but tears as she tried to sleep. This morning she even had to use concealer for fear of running into Joe.

  Dani decided to treat what happened last night with Samuel the same as she would with any other student. She would ignore it, let it just roll off her but since she knew she wasn’t as unaffected as she liked to seem, the more realistic approach would be to pretend that it just rolled off of her. She would project a calmness that her inner self didn’t feel to keep everyone from knowing the torment wreaking havoc on her insides.

  Even though it will break her heart to do it, she’ll go back to ignoring him like she did before the tree incident. If a time came and Dani was put in a position where she had to talk to Samuel again then she would. Her actions toward him before last night were less than civil at best. Any future interaction would undoubtedly be worse. But thinking about the things he said and the way he had used her just made her feel angry. And terribly sad. She didn’t want to feel either of those emotions but if Dani had to choose then she chose angry.

  And angry she was, enough so that it is what fueled her emotionally and physically drained body to move around the track. Her anger intensifying with every thump of her feet. Thump, she was pissed that he used her. Thump, she was irritated beyond all repair that he knew he could. Thump, she felt rage at herself for aligning the circumstances that allowed it to happen. Thump, and she was furious that she let it keep her down longer than the useless rat deserved.

  "Dani....Dani!” She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed someone on the sidelines of the track, waving her down. She slowed as she neared the next turn and finally noticed it was Alex and stopped in front of him with a big smile on her face.

  "What are you doing up this early? It's Saturday?" she asked him.

  "I'm a Hunter guarding the school remember? I'm on duty this morning," he laughed. "Girl you looked mighty mad. I've never seen anyone run like that." His voice softened. "Want to talk about it?"

  "No,” She smiled at him. "Thanks but I'm ok. A little anger never hurt anybody."

  "That was more than a little. But if you’re sure then..."

  She nodded. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything to Uncle Joe. No need in him trying to pry something that’s no big deal out of me. And you know he would."

  "He is a little over protective, I'll admit that." He smiled. "Kiddo, I don't want to promise not mentioning this to him if it's going to come back and bite me later."

  "It won’t," she laughed

  "Of course you would say that."

  "I promise. It's just girl stuff," she added, knowing that would get him to drop it.

  "Alright. Well it's still early, and I got to make my rounds. I'll see you later alligator," he said.

  "After 'while crocodile," she said.

  They had been saying that parting for as long as she could remember, and suddenly she realized how lucky she was. She may have been in a new school around new people but she was still surrounded by people she loved that loved her back. She had Joe, Nadia and Alex all of whom she has known her entire life. She had family here. And Adele too, though she didn't see her as much. With this new realization she headed to her dorm room to shower, already planning to spend the day with her family.

  She stood, banging on Joes door, waiting for him to answer. She looked at her watch to make sure it wasn't too early. He should be up by now. She knocked again, even louder and called out to him. She heard a muffled curse from the other side of the door, and realized why when he answered, naked from the waist up and Nadia readjusting her clothes.

  "Oh jeez!" Dani said turning beat red. "First let me say yuck! Shame on you two. Second, it's about damn time." She laughed and jumped out of the way when Joe tried to smack her. "I'll come back later."

  "No it's alright, were done,” Nadia said.

  "Ick! Too much info there woman," she said and watched Nadia blush

  "That's not what I meant." Dani laughed, she had never seen the great Nadia as flustered as she was at that moment.

  She shrugged to show she didn't really care. She was in too good a mood today. "Why are you in such a good mood?" Joe asked as if reading her mind. She smiled.

  "You'll just think it's corny.” When Joe only stood there staring at her, she sighed and continued. “I was out running this morning, blowing off some steam when Alex walked up to the track. You know how we always used to say that whole 'see ya later alligator' saying to each other?"

  "Yeah, you've been doing that since you were two. Actually I think he's the one who taught you to say it," Joe said.

  "Yep. Anyway, we said that to each other when he left and I realized something. I'm an idiot for not putting it together before, not in the sense that I did this morning. I realized that I'm not alone here. I have family with me all the time. I have you, Nadia and Alex."

  “And the knowledge that I'll have you guys here, made me happy. I mean obviously I knew you were here before but... I mean, I've known all of you my whole life. I know that you all care about me and I'm not really alone here... God that sounded lame."

  "You just now realizing this?" Nadia asked with swat at the back of Dani's head. "Silly girl."

  "Anyway, enough about me. I want to know how long this has been going on and how come I never knew about it? Is it a secret? Does Alex know? Does-"

  "Enough Dani, breathe,” Joe interrupted her. "That’s why you didn't know. You ask too many questions and I wasn't ready to explain the relationship to you."

  “What do you have to explain? It's not like you have to give me the sex talk Uncle Joe."

  "Jesus, Dani,” Joe turned beat red causing Dani and Nadia to laugh at his expense.

  "What? I already know what sex is. Mom gave me the talk plus we have cable at home. Remember?"

  "Oh God Dani, stop," Nadia said, laughing at Joes' expression. "Don't goad him. You’re giving the poor man a complex.

  "Your own dang fault for keeping it from me," she shrugged.

  "Alright, I'll be good, now answer my questions."

  "It's not a secret, Alex knows and we have only been together for about three months," Nadia answered.

  "Really?" she asked looking from one to the other. "I guess I just thought you guys had been together for longer, and since I caught you with your hand in the cookie jar I felt it was ok pry."

  "No," Joe said. "And 'caught you with your hand in the cookie jar?' Where in the hell do you get this stuff?" He laughed.

  "I'm a teenager, we hear all kinds of things. Either way, I'm glad you guys are together."

  Joe looked relieved yet his tone was sarcastic when he said, “Thanks Queen Dani for your approval." She shrugged indiffe
rently.

  "I was wondering if we could get a pass to go off campus?" she asked Joe in her sweetest most innocent voice she could. He knew right away that she was trying to work him. Which she always did, and he always allowed.

  Knowing that, he asked cautiously. "Why?"

  "I need some new clothes. A lot of my jeans are a little baggy, plus I just want to get away. I figured I could hang out at the mall with my family! Maybe we could grab lunch at the food court too?"

  Joe sighed. "Why are you losing weight? You shouldn't be losing weight you're too skinny as it is."

  "It's not on purpose. It's from all the training simulations you've been putting me through. So, kind of it's your fault and you should definitely take me and Nadia to the mall." She finished with a cheesy grin.

  "Ooh! I agree,” Nadia said.

  "Girls!” he said, exasperated. "I don't know if I can. I've got some stuff to do.” Seeing their twin looks of disappointment he added. "Let me check around. I'll have to ask some people first. But if I can't, you two can go without me."

  Chapter Twelve

  Spending the day at the mall had done its’ job. The longer she was away from campus the more her disposition improved. They had a great time browsing through the stores and eating lunch together. The only downside had been that Jan wasn’t able to join them. But all in all, she had been able to push the events of the party out of her mind!

  The next Monday at school was business as usual and only a few people gave her odd looks. Meaning that not that many people witnessed what had happened outside of Damien’s dorm room on Friday night.

  The only thing that dampened her rejuvenated spirits was seeing Samuel around campus. She vowed to not show any outward reactions because she knew it would be humiliating if he were to find out how much he affected her. In fact, he would probably love it. She decided that indifference would cut him the most. So that’s exactly what she did, she pretended that he wasn’t even there. She had to save her pride somehow!