Marked (Last Princess Book 1)

by A. M. Hardin

  I don’t actually know if he’s been with Gloria, but with how comfortable he seemed to be by her hanging all over him, I’m making an educated guess. From the way he blanches, it would seem that I’m right.

  “Yeah, that’s essentially it,” he admits. “I honestly figured that you’d take the hint.”

  Bile burns in my throat, and before I know what I’m doing, my hand has already made contact with his face. Tears fill my eyes. “I can’t believe I actually thought that I was in love with you, you fucking dick,” I hiss. “Go burn in hell with your new toy and stay the hell away from me.”

  Adam stares at me, his hand rubbing against the cheek I just slapped, his expression shocked.

  I shake my head and turn away from him, not willing to let him see me cry over his worthless ass. I walk away from Adam, wiping the few tears off my cheeks that manage to slip through.

  With my focus on wiping the tears, I don’t notice that anyone else is in the hallway until I run straight into something solid, and the force causes me to stumble backwards. The only thing that saves me from falling on my ass, is a pair of strong hands gripping my arms and keeping me upright.

  I swallow hard and look up to see three sets of eyes narrowed in on me. I mumble out an apology to the one I had bumped into and quickly step around the group of new guys, not wanting to have an audience to my stupid tears. I seriously can’t even believe I’m crying over that asshole.

  Then again, that’s what happens when you spend over a year with someone and they manage to trick you into falling in love with them while they’re busy playing you the entire time.

  “Cherish,” Lucy calls out from the entrance to the lunch room, getting my attention. “You okay?”

  I shake my head and let out a breath, composing myself. "Yeah, Luce. I'm good."

  Zoe appears behind her and is watching me carefully. "Are you sure, honey?"

  I purse my lips. "Yeah. I'm going to just go outside for lunch and hang out away from all the people."

  Lucy opens her mouth, about to speak when Zoe smacks her hand over her mouth. "We'll get you some food and meet you out there."

  I give her a small grin. "Sounds awesome. See you guys in a bit."

  By the time that Lucy and Zoe catch up to me, I'm relaxing against a large oak tree in the back of the school, doing my absolute best to ban all thoughts of Adam and Gloria.

  "So, you gonna tell us why you were crying?" Lucy asks bluntly as soon as she and Zoe are sitting down on either side of me.

  I chuckle humorlessly. "Adam and I are done. He didn't outright say it, but I'm pretty sure he's been cheating on me with Gloria."

  Lucy scowls. "She's such a fucking bitch."

  "You know she only went after him because he was yours, right?" Zoe asks, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

  "I guess. She's been after him since before we got together last year, though," I point out.

  "It's not like it matters, anyway. They deserve each other. You know that I never really liked Adam in the first place." Lucy bites into her apple and shrugs. "He and I never got along, but I always did my best to keep my mouth shut to him whenever he was around. I did it for you, though. Now that you've kicked his ass to the curb that means I no longer have to bite my tongue."

  I can't help but laugh at the eagerness in Lucy's tone. She's probably excited to be able to tell Adam off for the first time in over a year.

  "Can we stop talking about that asshole, though? It's pissing me off," Lucy admits. Her face brightens. "Oh, have you seen any of the new guys we got today?"

  I purse my lips. "Yeah. They were in the principal's office when I came in this morning."

  "You were late again weren't you?" Zoe looks like she's attempting to fight a smile.

  I narrow my eyes at her. "By, like, one freaking minute. Anyway, I also ran into them after my showdown with Adam. I wasn't actually paying attention when I ran into them, though."

  Lucy snickers. "Leave it to you to not notice running into three of the most seriously gorgeous male specimens we've got at this school."

  I raise an eyebrow at her. "Really?" I drawl.

  She shrugs. "They're fucking hot, Cher. Tell her, Z."

  Zoe nods her head, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "They're definitely hot."

  "I know!" Lucy suddenly shouts, making me jump slightly. "Why don't you try to hook up with one of the new guys! You know that whole thing that says that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else."

  I snort a laugh. "You're crazy, Luce."

  Zoe shrugs and gives me a weird look. "She actually has a point. There is a saying like that. Although, I'm not really certain that it's actually the best idea."

  "Why is that?" I ask, curious.

  "Gloria was sniffing all over them once you and Adam left the cafeteria. They didn't stay long to deal with her shit, though. That must be when you ran into them."

  Lucy laughs loudly. "That was seriously the funniest thing ever. They kind of just stared at Gloria while she chatted them up then walked away without saying anything to her."

  Zoe's eyes catch on something behind me, and she nudges me with her foot. "That's them."

  "They're looking over here." Lucy sounds confused, and I chuckle before turning to look at the people who caught both of my friends' eyes.

  It takes a shitload of willpower to keep my mouth shut. I thought my friends were just exaggerating on the guys' good looks, but they weren't. The three of them are too far away to get a good look at. But I can definitely tell they're absolutely drool-worthy. Black hair on the tallest, blond hair on the shortest, and brown hair on the middle. Though they're all close in height, there's still a slight difference.

  From how tall they seem, they're all definitely taller than my friends and me. Considering that I'm the shortest out of our little group at a whopping five-foot-three, it's really not that hard to be taller than me.

  Chapter Three

  Xander

  "You're positive that that's her?" Andrei asks me softly.

  "I'm sure. When she ran into me, I could feel a surge of power in her. Though its dormant, it's definitely there."

  "Just because there's power there doesn't mean it's her," he points out.

  I roll my eyes. "Maybe not, but the power was incredibly similar to King Leander's. It's her. I'm sure of it."

  "She's much smaller than her sisters and brothers," Kade says quietly.

  "She's half human, and from what I understand from the king, her mother was a tall woman but the king’s mother was quite short.."

  I chuckle when the girl we're referring to turns away from her friends, and her eyes widen slightly at the sight of us.

  "Do you think she wasn't actually paying attention to us after running into you?" Kade asks.

  "It's possible. She was probably too busy trying to hide the fact that she was crying," Andrei says.

  I clench my fists to my sides, not liking the fact that our princess was crying. Since she doesn't actually know who she is to us and she doesn't know anything about us, we can't just go up to her and start fighting her battles for her.

  "The king said that she doesn't believe she's anything but human. How are we going to go about this?" I ask Andrei.

  "For now, we keep watch over her. We'll have to get her to trust us before she'll believe a damn word we say anyways."

  "Does anyone have any clue about why she was crying in the hallway earlier?" Kade asks.

  "It's probably something to do with the human boy," Andrei mutters. "The one that we saw walking down the hallway shortly after she did."

  "Did you happen to catch the name the princess goes by here?"

  I chuckle at Kade. "Seriously, man. Stop asking questions."

  He narrows his eyes at me. "I'm just saying, there's a possibility she still goes by the name that the King told us she was named at her birth."

  "What do you mean by that?" Andrei asks.

  "I looked at the school’s sign in sheet wh
en we left the office. Apparently, not long after first period started, someone by the name of Cherish Marsh signed in a couple minutes late." He lifts a shoulder in a shrug. "It could be nothing, but I don't really think that's a coincidence."

  I run my hands through my hair. "Well, one of us needs to get in touch with the King and let him know that we found her, but it's not going to be easy or simple to bring her back with us."

  Andrei raises a brow at me. "Go do that, Xander. Kade and I will keep watch over the princess."

  Giving him a nod, I push off the side of the building we're all leaning against. My eyes catch on the princess' as I pass by her and her friends. Her brows furrow, and confusion flashes across her face as she watches me, and I bite back a smirk when I realize the reason why.

  She's eighteen today. Over the last couple of months, the spell the king had placed over her as a baby would have faded just enough for her to start realizing that things aren't what they seem.

  The spell won't break completely until we bring her to her father and he breaks the spell, but it will continue to fade.

  I step deep into the woods beside the school and use a small spell to confuse anyone who comes near, so they forget why they were walking this way.

  Holding my hands out in front of me, palms up, I summon my sword, welcoming the familiar weight of it in my hands.

  Slicing my palm on the blade I call for the king. If I had an actual mirror it would be a hell of a lot simpler and cleaner, but since I don't, I have to settle for using the sword.

  The king's reflection appears on the blade, and I incline my head respectfully.

  "My Lord," I greet.

  "Xander, have you found her?" he asks, cutting to the chase.

  "We believe we have, sir. Her powers are dormant but incredibly similar to yours."

  He nods thoughtfully, the crown on top of his head glinting in the light. "Yes, it is similar to mine, but I believe that she'll have more powers than we're aware of. We won't know until you bring her back here for protection, and I break the spell placed to hide her abilities."

  "King Leander, may I speak freely?"

  "Go on."

  "Why does the princess not have any knowledge of us? Or her own abilities?" We really should have gotten the answers to the questions sooner, but the king wouldn't answer any fucking questions until we had found her.

  "I cannot answer those questions until you are all safely back here." The king glances off to the side for a brief second before turning his gaze back to me. "When do you think you will be able to bring her home?"

  I exhale heavily. "I don't believe it will be that easy, sir," I answer honestly.

  "Why is that?"

  "The princess doesn't know us. We have to gain her trust before we can even broach the topic of what she is and what we are. Assuming she doesn't freak out, we still have to then convince her that she's in danger and needs to come with us."

  "I'm not seeing the problem. It shouldn't take long to do these things."

  "She has friends and, I'm assuming, family here, My Lord. She won't want to leave any of them. Especially if she doesn't believe us when we tell her everything."

  The king sighs. "If she's anything like her mother was she'll be a stubborn one to get through to anyway." He pauses. "Fine. Take the time you need to build her trust. I'll expect you boys to keep me updated on everything that happens."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Keep my daughter safe, Xander. I will not be pleased if anything should happen to her," he warns, a dangerous glint in his eyes before he disappears from the surface of my sword.

  I take in a deep, soothing breath, clearing my mind before sending my sword back to my room in the home I’m currently sharing with Kade and Andrei.

  The school’s bell rings behind me, and I inwardly groan. Being at this human school is necessary, but I really wish it wasn’t. Being in this realm weakens our abilities slightly, though. If we stay for too long here, we’ll continue getting weaker until we have no choice but to return home. I can only pray to the gods that the princess doesn’t take much convincing and willingly comes with us before that happens.

  Chapter Four

  Cherish

  “Mom! I’m home!” My forehead creases in confusion when I notice that mom’s sitting at the table, in the same position she’s been the last several days whenever she sits at the counter or table. Head buried in her hands, like she’s worried or freaking out about something.

  Her head lifts up, and she gives me a soft smile that doesn’t match the sadness in her eyes. “Hey, birthday girl. How was school?”

  I bite my lip, debating on if I should bring up the fact that something’s obviously bothering her or not. “School was school,” I finally say with a shrug. “Adam and I broke up,” I admit softly.

  “Good,” she says in a no nonsense tone.

  I gape. “What? You loved Adam.”

  She chuckles softly. “Not really, honey. I just dealt with him because he was your choice. I didn’t really like the boy. He doesn't deserve you, anyway. What happened?”

  “Things have been strained between us for a while, I’ve just been burying my head in the sand, I guess. Not wanting to see the truth or something. I don’t know. Then there’s the Gloria situation–” I cut myself off, not wanting to go into it all again and shake my head. “Nevermind. It’s not important.”

  She watches me for a moment before nodding her head. “Anything exciting happen at school today?”

  I purse my lips as I think about it. “Not really. Oh, there are some new students that all the girls at school are going absolutely crazy about.”

  “New students?”

  I toss my bag on the table and cut my eyes to her, studying her expression. Though she looks interested, there’s something in her eyes that’s scaring me. Adding the look in her eyes to the way that her voice hitched a little when she asked about the new students, isn’t giving me a good feeling.

  “Uh, yeah. Three guys just started at school today. There’s something . . . off about them, I guess is the best way to say it,” I admit thoughtfully.

  I pull my homework out of my backpack and plop myself down on the chair beside my mom, so I can work on it.

  “Hmm,” she hums quietly. “I’ll let you get to your homework, honey. Don’t make any plans with your friends tonight. We’re having cake after dinner.”

  “It’s chocolate cake, right?” I call after her as she leaves the room.

  She laughs. “Of course it is. I’d never do something as stupid as not get your favorite kind of cake for your birthday.”

  “Cherish,” Ella’s soft voice breaks through my sleep, and I grumble incoherently. She chuckles. “Mom sent me to wake you up, Cher. She said she didn’t want you to be late to school again today and to ask if you could take me to school.”

  “Go away,” I moan, gripping my blanket tight and pulling it over my head.

  “Cherish, come on. I need you to take me to school early today.”

  I peek out from the blanket and glare at her through my barely open eyes. “Why the hell do you need to go to school early?” I ask, my glare slipping into an incredulous expression.

  She laughs. “Because I have an art project due, and I was hoping that you could help me with it.” She bats her eyes at me innocently. “Please?”

  I groan. “God, you’re evil. You know that, don’t you?”

  She swats at my arm. “Just get up, please. I really need this finished before school starts.”

  “Fine. Go away, so I can get ready.”

  Ella leaves my room, and I slowly pull myself out of bed and hop in the shower. Throwing on a pair of black skinny jeans and a red shirt before putting my hair up in a messy bun, I take a look at myself in the mirror and call it good. I don’t have the energy to worry about my appearance today. Stupid english paper kept me up half the night. The other half of the night while I was actually sleeping I’ve been having all kinds of weird-ass dreams.

 
Weird dreams on top of an english paper does not equal to having a great amount of sleep.

  Dragging myself into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee I look at the time and groan. Too early. Turning to Ella after starting the coffee I glare at her. "Why are we going to school an hour early?"

  "I told you, I need help with my art project. You're the artsy one in this family. I don't have a creative bone in my body, but you do," she explains after taking a bite of her cereal.

  "But a whole hour?" A shifty expression flits across her face. "You haven't even started it yet, have you?"

  She shrugs, taking another bite. "Um, no. I haven't."

  I snort a laugh while pouring myself a bowl of cereal. "I thought I was bad at procrastinating. You, little sister, take it to a whole new level of insane."

  "Did you finish the english assignment then?"

  "Like two hours ago," I admit with a disgruntled sigh.

  Ella chuckles. "How long did you work on it for? When did you start it?"

  "After dinner last night. Worked on the damn thing all fucking night."

  We finish eating and take care of our bowls before grabbing our bags. Walking outside I tilt my head at the empty parking spot where dad's car usually is at this time. Usually, our parents leave for work after we’ve already left for school.

  "Where's dad? Isn't it a little early for him to go to work?" I ask while pulling my keys out of my bag.

  "They got into another fight this morning. It was a bad one. Really bad," she whispers.

  I frown and decide that I'm going to try talking to them tonight or tomorrow to get to the bottom of all the fighting. This shit's getting to both of us, and it can't be good for them either.

  "Mom went back to bed after telling me to wake you to take me to school. She was crying and said she just couldn't do it today."

  I bite my lip as we get in my car and start leaving the driveway. "Did you happen to catch what it was about?"

  She hesitates. I peek at her before turning my gaze back to the road.

  "What?"