Marked For Death: A Dark Urban Fantasy Novel

by Becca Blake

  He sat in the center of the spacious room behind an over-sized desk, with his back to a balcony that overlooked Market Street. The office smelled faintly of pine and lemon, like it had just been cleaned. He didn’t look up as Orion tapped his knuckles on the door, so we walked inside.

  The only sound in the room was the scratching of Marcus’s pen. When he finished, he set the pen down and settled his cool gaze on Orion.

  “Welcome home, Commander.” Marcus pressed his thin lips together in an unpleasant smile that made my skin crawl. “How did everything go?”

  “Not well.” Orion crossed his arms. “Maki betrayed us. Just as I said he would.”

  “I see.” Marcus’s chair creaked as he leaned back. “Why are these two with you?”

  “We’re here to give our mission report. I brought them along in case I ran into any trouble with Maki.”

  “You were instructed to go alone.”

  “I did go alone,” Orion said.

  “Alone with two extra hunters?”

  “Respectfully, sir, you told me not to bring along any of the other commanding officers. You were insistent that I not involve any of them, and I complied with that order. You never said anything about the hunters I oversee. As far as I’m aware, I have the authority to command the activities of my own unit.”

  “You do, Commander. Of course. Though, I must admit, a hunter who left her last partner to die and one who barely made it through his evaluation alive wouldn’t be my first choices.”

  Jacob’s fist tightened around his sword, though his careful expression showed no reaction. How much practice must he have had to perfect such a neutral response to his father’s insults? If I hadn’t just learned Ayla was still alive, I doubted I would have been able to remain so calm.

  Marcus studied us for a few more moments before turning his attention back to the paperwork on his desk. He shuffled pages around and scribbled a quick note. “Your mission is incomplete, then?”

  “Maki betrayed us,” Orion repeated. He rested his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “He used the emerald for a ritual to grant himself demonic power.”

  Marcus continued writing as though Orion weren’t inches away from his face. “Where is the artifact now?”

  “Gone. Maki escaped with it.”

  “I see.”

  “Is that all, sir?” Orion asked.

  Marcus signed the paper in front of him with a flourish of his arm and set it aside. “Effective immediately, you will be suspended without pay, pending an investigation into this mission. This is a failure of your leadership, Commander.”

  Jacob moved up next to Orion, still gripping his sword. “It’s not his fault things went wrong.”

  “Of course, the two hunters who accompanied you will receive suspensions as well.” Marcus met his son’s eyes as he continued. “If there were any other failures the Council should be aware of, I’m sure your hunters will report them.”

  “I would expect nothing less of them,” Orion said.

  Marcus nodded. “The three of you will have to remain in town while the investigation is ongoing. Your access to information about current events will be revoked, though you’re still welcome to use public facilities.”

  “Sir,” Orion began, but Marcus cut him off with a wave of his hand.

  “You can leave your formal mission report with Councilwoman Lawrence.” He nodded at the door curtly.

  “Yes, sir.” Orion’s boots thudded against the hardwood floors as he stormed out.

  Jacob stayed where he was, frozen in place as he stared at his father. I touched his arm to remind him it was time to go, but he shrugged me off.

  “Move along, Jacob,” Marcus said. “Unless you’d like to elaborate on Commander Orion’s version of events? Was there anything else that happened while you were in Omaha?”

  I sucked in a breath. If Jacob said anything now, Orion and I would be dead.

  He straightened up and gave his father an icy stare. “No, sir.”

  I followed him out of Marcus’s office. Orion waited outside the door for us, his shoulders tense as he paced across the hallway.

  “What now?” I asked once we started down the stairs, out of earshot.

  “I guess we go home and wait.”

  “Orion?” Celia Lawrence peered out from a door on the second floor as we passed by. “I’d like to speak with you about your mission report.

  “It’s not a good time, Celia. I’ll write it up and have it back to you by tomorrow,” he said.

  “I insist.” She opened her door wider and waved for us to join her.

  “Alright.” He sighed. “You should both head home, though.”

  “No,” Celia said. “It would be best to do this while I have you all here, and everything is still fresh in your minds.”

  The scent of flowery perfume greeted us as we walked inside her office, which was much cozier than Marcus’s had been. A white couch faced her tidy desk, and she gestured for us to sit.

  I moved aside a fluffy blue pillow and sat next to Jacob, while Orion stood behind us.

  After closing the door, Celia strode across the room and turned up the volume on a small radio. Classical music filled the room as she sat on the edge of her desk and faced us. When she spoke in a harsh whisper, I could barely hear her over the stringed instruments.

  “Orion, they’re saying—”

  “I know damn well what they’re saying,” he said.

  “We had a Council meeting early this morning,” she said. “I’m not sure what really happened in Omaha, but you’re a good man, and you have my support.”

  “We just got back,” I said. “How did the Council already have a meeting about the mission in Omaha?”

  Orion shot me a sideways glance. “Because the Council wasn’t waiting for my mission report. They didn’t need it.”

  “So, they set you up?” Jacob asked.

  “I tried to speak up, but nothing I said seemed to matter,” Celia said.

  “Yeah, I’ve gotten the message that Marcus has already made up his mind. What’s his game?” Orion plucked a small piece of candy from her jar and popped it in his mouth.

  “I’m not sure, exactly. I haven’t been able to figure that part out.”

  “So, they already knew Maki would turn on Orion?” I asked.

  “I don’t know for sure,” Celia said. “I wasn’t part of the mission planning for this.”

  “Who was?” Orion asked, his brow furrowed.

  “As far as I’m aware, only Marcus.”

  “He wanted me to fail.”

  “I would have warned you if I knew.” Celia poured Irish cream into her coffee mug and took a long sip. “But I do know this: you need to leave town and disappear. It’s not safe here.”

  “Why?” I asked. “What will they do to Orion?”

  “And to us?” Jacob added.

  Celia set the mug down and folded her hands in her lap, fidgeting with her thumbs. “If you stay here, they’ll make an example of you. All three of you.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  After our conversation with Celia, Orion drove us back to my house. He stopped the truck out front, but instead of stepping out, he left the engine running.

  “You’re not coming inside?” I asked.

  “I’ve got a few things to take care of at home. If anything happens—”

  “I’ll call and let you know,” I said. “How long do you think we have?”

  “Hard to say. Their investigation could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. In the meantime, they’ll be watching us very closely.”

  Jacob shifted in the seat beside me. “Everything Celia was saying back there… How worried should we be?”

  “She said they’re going to make an example of us,” I said.

  “So, the
y’ll suspend us? Force Orion to resign?” he asked.

  “For most infractions, sure. But this involved a demon lord. The Council won’t allow any room for error here.” Orion’s mouth tightened in a grim line. “This could get ugly.”

  “We’ll be careful,” I said.

  As Orion drove away and I walked up to my front door, it struck me that the place I’d called home all my life would soon be empty. My parents were both dead now, and I planned to leave Haygrove soon. With the last living Collins gone, the house that had been in my family for generations would be abandoned.

  All the memories I had here, all the old family heirlooms, the ever-present smell of coffee that clung to the air… I would leave it all behind.

  I blinked back the tears that warmed my eyes and pushed open the door. As I bent down to unlace my boots, Jacob kicked his off. They hit the wall with a heavy thud that tore me away from my thoughts, forcing me back to the present.

  I just wanted to grieve in peace. He was an unwelcome trespasser who didn’t belong here in these final days.

  And I wanted him gone.

  “You don’t have to stay with me anymore if you don’t want to,” I said, hoping he would take the hint. “Our commander is on suspension, and so are we. There’s no reason to keep following that order right now.”

  I expected a snide comment about how he never wanted to be here in the first place. Instead, he looked at me with those warm hazel eyes, filled with something that looked like concern.

  I hated it. I didn’t want his pity.

  “Are you sure you should be alone right now?” he asked.

  “I’m fine,” I snapped, though I wasn’t convincing anyone. Even I knew my response sounded anything but fine.

  He leaned back against the door and crossed his arms. “You’re not. And you shouldn’t be, after everything you’ve been through this week.”

  I closed my eyes and brought my hand to my forehead. He was right, but I was just so damned tired. And I didn’t want him here, seeing me at my weakest.

  “Why don’t you go sit down on the couch? I’ll order us some pizza,” he said. “We don’t have to talk about any of it if you don’t want to.”

  I wanted to argue with him, but his suggestion sounded like exactly what I needed. As I collapsed on the couch, he tossed me the blanket I’d given him to sleep with, since he’d been camping out in my living room. I wrapped it around myself and found that it held a faint earthy scent. It wasn’t a familiar smell, but it was a pleasant one, so I pulled it tighter.

  As I listened to the muffled sound of Jacob pacing in the kitchen as he called in our order, I tried to relax on the soft cushions. The weariness of the past few days seeped into my bones, but my mind was still on high alert, waiting for the next threat. I’d moved so fast from one disaster to another, and it felt like it had been years since I last allowed myself to just be still.

  It wouldn’t last—we still had so much to do—but I longed for some peace.

  When Jacob returned, he sat on the opposite end of the couch, leaving a respectful distance between us.

  “Thank you,” I murmured.

  “Don’t mention it.”

  We sat in a comfortable silence for a long while before I spoke again. “I’m sorry about what happened earlier—back in your dad’s office. He shouldn’t treat you like that. Like you’re…” I wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence, so I let it hang in the air.

  “A burden?”

  “That’s harsh,” I said.

  “But true.” Jacob leaned back and crossed his arms. “He’s always been like this.”

  “Still,” I said. “You’re his son.”

  “That doesn’t mean much to him.”

  I couldn’t believe how calmly he said it, as though it were normal for a father to have so much disdain for his own child.

  “I’m sorry,” I said again, though the useless phrase didn’t come close to fixing anything.

  “It is what it is,” Jacob said. “When I was a kid, I tried so hard. But no matter how much time I spent training or studying, trying to be the perfect son he wanted, it was never enough for him. He was always disappointed. I’d give anything to have the kind of relationship with my dad that it seems like you had with yours.”

  A pang of grief clenched my heart, both at the reminder my dad was gone and at Jacob’s description of his childhood. I couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like for him to grow up constantly trying to win his father’s affection, knowing he would never succeed.

  “What about your mom?” I asked.

  “I never knew her. She died giving birth to me,” he said.

  The doorbell rang, giving us a much needed break from the somber conversation. I started to get up, but Jacob was on his feet first. He returned a few minutes later with a box of pizza, which he set on the coffee table.

  Though we hadn’t eaten all day, neither of us bothered with the box, and I wondered if his appetite had been as spoiled by the conversation as mine.

  When he sat back down, I wasn’t sure if I imagined that he was now a few inches closer to me.

  Part of me felt guilty for dragging him into my mess, especially now that I knew more about his relationship with his father. Before, I figured he wasn’t in any danger, and that if they caught us, his father would step in to protect him.

  Now, I wasn’t so sure.

  He was taking as much of a risk as Orion and me, and we still hadn’t told him anything about our plans to leave town. Would he want to join us?

  “You said earlier that we should be honest with each other.” I shifted my body to face him, and my knee brushed against his. “I haven’t been fully honest with you.”

  He tensed, subtly enough that I might have missed it if not for the clenching of his jaw. “Oh?”

  “When I spoke with Orion outside last night, we made plans to leave Haygrove. I was worried you might say something to your dad, so we didn’t tell you.”

  I explained everything Orion told me about the demon lords, and how the Arbiters did their bidding. It felt more disgusting explaining it to somebody else, and once his disbelief wore off I saw it on Jacob’s face, too.

  “I’m surprised you came back here at all,” he said, once I finished.

  “We only came back so we could try to learn more about how to destroy them. Orion mentioned checking the vault at the library—the one only the commanding officers and members of the Council have access to.”

  Jacob shook his head. “That won’t work.”

  “Why not?” I asked. “Marcus said we had access to the facilities as usual.”

  “Public facilities,” he corrected. “The vault isn’t public. And even if Orion does still have access, it would be a terrible idea for him to go there. They track everything. The Council would know exactly what he was looking into.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  He nodded. “I’ve heard my dad talk about it before.”

  I cursed under my breath. “We could ask Celia to look for us.”

  “I doubt she would,” Jacob said. “Her warning Commander Orion about the Council’s plans was a huge risk already. It would be stupid of her to do anything more for us.”

  “So, we came back for nothing.”

  We were no closer to learning more about Raxael or coming up with a plan to defeat him. And if everything that happened in Omaha had been a set up to take down Orion, then coming back played into their hands.

  “Maybe not,” Jacob said. “We know Raxael can shift through planes instantly, without having to open a portal. We saw him do it.”

  “What about it?”

  “So, what if we figure out a way to stop him from doing that?”

  “That could work,” I said slowly, considering it.

  There was only one person in Haygrove who might know whe
ther that was even possible. I glanced at the clock beneath my TV. It was still early afternoon, which meant I had plenty of time.

  “I have to get to the alchemy lab,” I said.

  Jacob caught my wrist to stop me from leaving. “Go tomorrow. You need rest.”

  His voice was so much softer than usual, and though I wanted to rush off, I found myself falling back onto the couch beside him. Somehow, we’d moved closer to each other as the conversation had gone on, and my shoulder now pressed against his. He was so warm, and his tan skin carried that same earthy scent, like the ground after fresh rain.

  The muscles of his arm tensed, and a moment later, he was on his feet. His absence left the space beside me cold and empty, and though I wanted him to return, I stopped myself from asking.

  “I should let you get that rest,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’m going out to get some air.”

  The front door closed behind him as he left me alone in my family’s achingly empty house, just as I’d wanted to be.

  ***

  When Orion stopped by to check on me the next day, he agreed it would be safe to ask Ed for his opinion. The alchemist’s only loyalty was to his craft, so if we brought him an interesting enough question or a new project to research, he’d be thrilled to work with us and keep it a secret.

  I hoped he was right.

  As I jogged down Market Street with my duffel bag slung over my shoulder, my gaze drifted to the town hall, and the window on the third floor that I now knew belonged to Marcus Thorne. The glare of the sun reflected on the glass windows, blocking the view of the room within.

  How often did he stand at that window, watching over Haygrove? Could he see me now, making my way toward the alchemy lab?

  He must have had more important things to do than spend his day staring out the window, but the thought still made me uneasy.

  I arrived at the lab at the same time the alchemist did. He paused in front of the door, fumbling with his keys.

  “Dr. Moran?” I called out.

  As soon as he saw me, he groaned. “Not today.”

  “Wait,” I said, blocking the door’s handle. “I need your help.”

  “I don’t have time for another favor today. Too much to do.”