Marked For Death: A Dark Urban Fantasy Novel

by Becca Blake

  “You have to. If you don’t, you’ll continue to indulge those emotions and give in to dark magic. And in the end, it will destroy you.”

  I watched in silence as he walked away, leaving me alone in the warehouse. It was a long time before I followed him out.

  Chapter Seven

  I parked the Cavalier behind Orion’s truck in the community lot. Given how tired I was, it surprised me that I managed to survive the trip home. I wanted to stay the night in Omaha, but Orion insisted we needed to return to Haygrove to get medical attention immediately. There’d been no time to stop and get a good night’s rest.

  He wasn’t at all moved by my argument that my need for medical attention would be even more urgent if I ended up in a ditch after falling asleep at the wheel.

  The soft pink light of dawn broke over the buildings in Haygrove. It wouldn’t be long before the streets were filled with people rushing to work, but for now, a serene quiet settled over the town.

  I leaned back against the headrest and closed my eyes, imagining myself spending the day cuddled in my own bed under a pile of soft blankets, maybe indulging in a cup of hot chocolate while watching some TV.

  A girl could dream.

  Orion knocked on my window, pulling me away from my thoughts of a peaceful afternoon. I got out of my car and leaned against the door.

  Jacob stepped out of the back seat of Orion’s car. He already looked much better than he had at the warehouse, where he’d barely been able to stay conscious. He probably even got a few hours of sleep during the drive.

  Lucky bastard.

  “Go to the clinic with Jacob so the two of you can get checked out,” Orion said. “When you’re feeling up for it, you should stop by the alchemy lab to see if Ed has enchanted your sword yet.”

  “What about you?” I asked.

  “I have a report to write up. I’ll try to catch up with you at dinnertime.” Orion started off for HQ, leaving me alone with Jacob.

  “You look like you took a beating,” he said as he looked me over.

  That was putting it kindly. I was covered in dirt and grime from rolling all over the warehouse floor during the fight. My blood had soaked through Orion’s previously white shirt, and tearing the crusty thing away from my skin later was going to suck. The lower half of my own shirt was still torn to shreds, and I wished I’d taken the time to change into one of the fresh sets of clothes I kept in the trunk.

  “You don’t look so great either,” I shot back, though it wasn’t true. Other than the cloth wrapped around his head to cover his wound, he looked perfectly fine, which only pissed me off more. “You almost got us both killed. Why didn’t you listen to me?”

  Jacob shrugged. “What do you want me to say?”

  “That you’re sorry? That I’m right? That things would have gone much more smoothly if we hadn’t rushed in like that and maybe, I don’t know, worked together?”

  “I already got this lecture from Commander Orion while we were driving home. I don’t need to hear it again.” He shoved past me and started walking toward the clinic.

  “You’re lucky Orion came to back us up,” I said, following close behind him. “If he didn’t, we’d both be dead.”

  Jacob didn’t seem to have a snide response ready for that.

  I wanted so badly to tell him the truth, that I had been the one who defeated Casey, without help from him or Orion. That even after his stupid mistake, I’d saved his ass.

  Again.

  Nothing good would come from that admission, though, so I kept my mouth shut. We walked the rest of the way to the clinic in a sullen silence.

  Thankfully, it wasn’t far. The clinic was often the first stop for wounded hunters returning from a mission, so it was close to the community lot. Haygrove’s doctors were trained in both mundane medical programs and alchemical healing, and the unique blend of modern and magical treatments meant they handled most injuries with ease.

  I stifled a groan as we entered the clinic to find Jane listed as the head nurse on duty that morning. She stood behind the counter, scribbling something furiously onto a clipboard. Her sharp, hawkish eyes were so focused on her work that she didn’t acknowledge us as we approached.

  “Riley Collins and Jacob Thorne. Checking in from a hunt,” I said.

  “Follow me,” she said curtly. She smoothed out her navy blue scrubs as she stood up. “I’ll take you upstairs. We’re very busy with more urgent patients right now, so you’ll be waiting a while.”

  Only Nurse Jane could make me feel guilty for getting injured on a hunt. She’d never been one to bother with a good bedside manner.

  On our way upstairs to the rooms that were reserved for less serious injuries, we passed through the emergency floor on the building’s ground level. As soon as we walked into the ER, my gut clenched at the stench of infection and illness that lingered beneath the heavy use of soaps and cleaners.

  It seemed like every bed was occupied, and no one even bothered to close privacy curtains as the nurses hurried from patient to patient.

  In all the times I’d come to the clinic after hunts, I had never seen it so chaotic. Usually, only one or two of the ER beds were in use at a time, if any.

  Had there been an attack somewhere?

  “Jake?” a raspy voice called out from one of the beds as we passed. “Is that you?”

  The guy who called us over was young, no older than eighteen or nineteen if I had to guess. His blond hair was cut short, though a recently stitched up scar interrupted his hairline on the left. A blanket covered his legs over his pastel hospital gown.

  “Ian,” Jacob breathed out. “You’re alive.”

  “Yeah. Doesn’t look like everyone else was so lucky.”

  With a sinking feeling, I realized that these were the new recruits who faced the hellhounds. The ones who survived, anyway.

  At least Jacob’s friend Ian seemed to be in better shape than a lot of the others in the ER.

  “Let’s go,” Jane snapped. “We have a lot to do today, and we don’t need you hanging around down here and getting in our way.”

  “Give him a minute,” I said. “He’s checking on his friend.”

  “Fine.” The nurse scowled at us. “I trust you can find the rooms upstairs, then—rooms two and three. We’ll get to you when we can.”

  She disappeared behind a curtain to check on another patient.

  Jacob shot me an appreciative look before turning his attention back to Ian. “I hate seeing you like this, man.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Ian said, offering his friend an unconvincing smile. “I knew you’d pass your eval. Have you already gone out on a hunt?”

  “We just got back. They sent us right out of town, so I didn’t have time to check up on anyone,” Jacob said apologetically.

  “Totally understand,” Ian said, waving a hand. “No hard feelings.”

  “I’m glad to see you’re mostly alright, though, aside from this.” Jacob pointed to the side of his head, indicating the spot where Ian had his scar.

  “Not quite.” Ian’s face fell as he pulled away the blanket, revealing legs that ended just below the knee. “That thing tore them to shreds. Even if it wasn’t an infernal wound, there was too much damage to heal. They couldn’t be saved.”

  Jacob’s olive complexion turned pale. “Oh, man… I’m so sorry.”

  “I’ll be okay, and that’s more than can be said for a lot of other folks,” Ian said, replacing the blanket. “But don’t worry about me right now. It looks like you’ve got your own problems to focus on.”

  Jacob nodded. “I’ll come see you as soon as I can.”

  When we made it to the stairwell that led to the second floor, I paused and touched Jacob’s arm. “I’m sorry about your friend.”

  “That could have been me,” he murmured, more to himself than t
o me.

  I was thankful when we separated into different rooms to wait for our nurses. I wasn’t sure what more I could say to him, and I doubted he wanted any comfort from me.

  Exhausted, I collapsed on the exam table. I had no idea how much time passed before the door slammed open, waking me with a start.

  I held in a gasp as Nurse Jane ripped Orion’s shirt away from my torso, tearing away some of my scabbed over skin along with it. The scratches had healed some, but fresh blood trickled down from the spots where she reopened the wounds.

  “Demon or human?” Jane demanded as she leaned in, squinting at my stomach. “I can’t quite tell. They’re shaped like a demon claw, but they aren’t infected like an infernal wound.”

  “Um, both, I guess?” I said, unsure how to answer the question. I’d seen demons take a human form to blend in, but I’d never seen it the other way around before. I hadn’t realized it was possible for a human to take on a demonic form like Casey had.

  Jane rolled her eyes and drew in an exaggerated breath. She enunciated each word slowly, as though I wasn’t capable of understanding her if she spoke at a normal speed. “Demon. Or. Human. I need to know if the wound was infernal, since that would mean it’s resistant to the magic of healing herbs and would mean you’ll have to suffer through a longer healing process. You should know this—you’ve been out in the field long enough that you should have a grasp on the basics, haven’t you?”

  I ignored the condescending jab and described Casey’s transformation, how the gem had turned her into a demon, and how she returned to being human before she died.

  “Human, then. That was all you had to say,” Jane said. She picked up a machine the size of her palm from the counter and ran it over my torso. “Was there dark magic?”

  I froze. “Yes. The woman we brought down used some.”

  “What kind?”

  “Electricity,” I said.

  Jane set the device down on the counter and snatched a jar of gooey herbs from the shelf. “You’re certain that’s all?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Hmm.” Jane scrutinized me through narrowed eyes, as though my answer wasn’t satisfying. When I didn’t elaborate, she moved on and slathered the herbs on my side more forcefully than necessary. “Reapply healing herbs every few hours. Watch out for mundane infections, and return here if you notice anything out of the ordinary.”

  She left the room without another word before I could form any sort of response.

  I tossed the jar of healing herbs in my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Out in the hallway, I found Jacob waiting for me, a fresh bandage on his head. He leaned against the wall with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

  “She says I might have a concussion,” he said.

  “That sucks,” I said. “So, you’ll be off duty for a while? How long?”

  “She said healing herbs can heal the external injury, but not the concussion. Not entirely, anyway. It’ll heal faster than it would have otherwise, but I’ll still be out for at least a week,” Jacob said as we started down the stairs.

  “Have you told Orion?”

  “I just got off the phone with him.” His face scrunched up.

  “And? What’s wrong?”

  “He says he wants us staying together while I recover.”

  I stopped on the landing to stare at him. “Why?”

  “Apparently,” Jacob said, dragging out the word, “our main mission in Omaha was supposed to be getting to know each other, but that didn’t end up happening. So, he wants us to be roommates for the next week or so.”

  I scoffed. “Seriously?”

  “I’m not any happier about it than you are. Trust me.”

  “Fine. We’ll stay at my place.” I crossed my arms, bracing myself for his protest. The last thing I wanted was to stay in the same house as Marcus Thorne. I wouldn’t budge on this, no matter how much Jacob complained.

  “Okay.” He pushed past me and continued down the stairs. “I have to stop at home to get a few things, though.”

  Okay?

  I was so stunned by the lack of an argument that it took me a minute before I followed him out. I’d been expecting him to argue, if not flat out refuse. He was used to living in one of the massive homes that belonged to the Council members. My house was a small two bedroom I shared with my dad, and I was sure he’d find that as trashy as my car.

  Once I joined the academy, I could have moved into my own apartment. But Dad and I got along well enough that neither of us minded sharing the space, and the house had been in our family for generations. I didn’t see the point in leaving it.

  Not to mention the fact that I didn’t want to leave him by himself. Losing Mom changed him. Even if we weren’t always home at the same time, I figured it was good for him to know he wasn’t living there alone.

  Instead of turning toward the end of town with the Council members’ homes, though, Jacob started in the direction of the apartment complex.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  He frowned. “I told you—I have to stop at my place. You don’t have to come along.”

  “Aren’t the Council homes over that way?” I asked, pointing my thumb over my shoulder.

  “Yeah. But I don’t live there.” He spun around and continued walking to make it clear the conversation was over.

  Jacob’s apartment building was across the street from Ayla’s old place. Aside from those of us who had families with long histories as Arbiters, most of the town’s residents lived in the dozens of buildings in this complex. Regular maintenance was often neglected in the small, dingy apartments, but considering how much time we spent on the road in crappy motels in worse conditions, most folks who lived in them didn’t mind too much.

  Still, it shocked me that Jacob would choose one of them over a mansion. Especially after how appalled he’d been by my car.

  “Home sweet home,” he muttered as he unlocked the door and pushed it open. His apartment was a tiny studio, with just enough room for a bed, a couch, and a TV stand. He didn’t even have a dining table to eat on.

  I could see why he hadn’t argued with me about where to stay. Neither of us would have had any privacy crammed in his studio for a week.

  While he packed his bag, I sat down. “I wasn’t expecting you to have your own place.”

  “It’s better than the alternative,” he said. “I moved out as soon as I turned eighteen and joined the academy.”

  I spun around and crossed my arms on the back of the couch. “But you kept the nice car?”

  He shrugged. “Wouldn’t you?”

  “I guess.” I turned back around and relaxed on the couch, staring at the cracks on Jacob’s ceiling. He hadn’t struck me as the independent type, but maybe I’d misjudged him. He seemed so set on following in his dad’s footsteps and joining the Council that I never considered the two of them might not get along.

  Then again, I remembered how coldly Marcus had looked at Jacob the day of his evaluation, when he nearly died. I couldn’t imagine my dad sitting there and watching calmly while a hellhound tore me apart, no matter what the rules said.

  As much as I hated that Orion was forcing us together like this, I had to admit that he was right about us needing to talk more. Jacob and I knew almost nothing about each other, and we hadn’t given each other much of a chance so far.

  Maybe living together for a week would change that.

  Or maybe we’d just end up hating each other worse.

  Chapter Eight

  If I’d been hoping for a heart-to-heart that fixed all the problems Jacob and I had with each other, arriving at my house brought me crashing back to reality. Whatever understanding we reached back at his apartment seemed to have disappeared, and he seemed content for us to go back to ignoring each other.

  That was fine with me.
I was too too tired to deal with the emotional labor, anyway.

  I made a hasty retreat to my room after helping him get comfortable on the couch with a blanket and the remote. The sounds of groaning zombies on TV followed me upstairs. I shut the door behind me, tossed my bag and weapon harnesses down in the corner, and plopped down on my bed.

  What a disaster.

  I picked up my phone to call my dad. We always checked in with each other after jobs, and I wanted his advice. He would know what to say about the situation with Jacob.

  The call went straight to his full voicemail, which meant he was probably busy on his hunt. I typed up a quick text.

  Just got my ass kicked. But I’m alive. Hope you’re okay, wherever you are. Call me when you can.

  I tossed the device across the bed. It couldn’t have been more than a full minute before I was unconscious.

  When I woke, it was with the groggy feeling of oversleeping. I checked the time on my phone and found that my quick nap had turned into the next day.

  “Crap,” I muttered.

  A quick check under my bandages revealed that the scrapes on my torso had almost completely healed, despite my sleeping through Jane’s orders of applying healing herbs every few hours. I slathered more of the mixture on and tucked the jar away in my bag.

  Over the fresh bandages, I slipped on a basic black tank top and jeans, then headed downstairs. I found Jacob passed out, with the remote still in his hand. Judging by the pile of dirty plates on the floor next to him, he’d found the pantry and made himself right at home.

  Even though our orders from Orion said we needed to stay home and get to know each other, I didn’t want to be around when he woke up. Going to the alchemy lab to check on my sword like Orion suggested seemed as good an excuse as any to get out of the house. I grabbed a granola bar for breakfast, then slipped out the front door, moving quietly so I wouldn’t wake my partner.

  I made my way to the alchemy lab on Market Street and hesitated at the entrance to the single story brick building. It was unremarkable, aside from the massive greenhouse attached to it, where they grew Haygrove’s supply of healing herbs. The sign on the front read: Dr. Edward Moran, Alchemy. There was no mention of what sort of doctor he was, and I assumed his credentials wouldn’t hold up to any scrutiny outside of Haygrove.