Marked by Power (The Marked Series Book 1)

by Cece Rose

  “What?” I manage to mumble back, taking note of the fact he looks so much better minus his shirt. Maybe I’ll just keep it? I’d be doing the world a public service. Shirtless Easton Black, thank me later, world.

  “You didn’t do that on purpose, did you?” he asks gently, but I feel like I’ve been slapped, or had a bucket of ice thrown over me. He couldn’t be serious?

  “What? I just embarrassed myself in front of our entire class! Why the hell would you think I did that on purpose?” He flinches from the bite in my words, pulling back.

  “I don’t know, Kenz. Maybe to get Mr. Daniels’ attention?” he says, not looking me in the eyes anymore.

  “You think I need to throw myself naked at someone to get their attention?” I ask him incredulously.

  “No. Shit, Kenz, you’re taking this all wrong,” he mutters, running a hand through his hair.

  “I’m taking this wrong? You’re accusing me of jumping naked onto our teacher for attention, or what, to seduce him? You think I’m trying to sleep with my teacher?” I question him, narrowing my eyes. He looks back at me silently, his eyes telling me all I need to know.

  “You know what, East, get out,” I say, gesturing at the door.

  “Kenz, wait. I think—”

  “I said, get out!” I shout, losing my temper. I feel my marks start to respond to my emotional distress without my calling them. The room shakes and several objects are hovering above their rightful places.

  “Kenzie, just breathe a minute,” he says softly, stepping towards me slowly, as if approaching a skittish animal. “You need to calm down.” He really didn’t just say that, right?

  “And, you need to leave. You know what, maybe I do want to take my clothes off with Mr. Daniels, but I’m not really sure if that’s any of your business,” I snap. His head snaps up, and he looks me right in the eyes. I don’t look away from him as he stares at me, but I hear things breaking around the room and the ground starts lightly shaking.

  “Fine, I’m going.” Shit. Maybe I went too far? He walks to the door and then pauses, turning back to face me. “I’m gonna need my shirt, but I can wait a minute,” he says, leaning against the door. Without hesitation, I pull his shirt off over my head and throw it at him. Standing completely naked as I glare in his direction. He gapes at me, holding the shirt in his hands. Well, he said he wanted his shirt back.

  “You can go now. Don’t forget to shut the door behind you,” I say, turning around and storming into the guest room, slamming the door behind me.

  I lean my back against it, breathing in and out deeply, trying to calm myself down. I hear the main door to the cabin slam shut and cringe from the harsh sound of it. He left. Well what do you expect, dumbass? You told him to go. I put my head in my hands and groan, rubbing at my temples. Why do I have to go and open my mouth like that?

  After a while, my breathing returns to normal, and I feel my powers retreat. Thank gods for that. I move from the door and rummage through my bags for clothes, having not unpacked yet from moving in here. I pull out a red lace matching set of underwear and pull it on quickly. I hear the front door open and close again. Fucking East.

  I turn around and shove open the guest room door, storming out into the main living area.

  “East, I thought I told you to—” my words cut off as I spot who has actually entered into the cabin.

  “Kenzie, I would have thought you would have had time to put clothes on by now,” Enzo teases, not looking away. I roll my eyes. I can’t even be bothered to be embarrassed anymore. My whole class, my hot teacher, and Easton have already seen me butt naked today. What’s a little walking around in my underwear going to hurt now?

  “I thought you were East,” I mutter, walking over to the open-planned kitchen area to grab a drink. Maybe Mr. Daniels has something a little stronger in here somewhere?

  “Do you always greet East in your underwear?” he asks.

  “Funny. What are you even doing here anyway, Enzo?” I ask, checking the fridge first.

  “I was sent here to keep an eye on you. Mr. Daniels still has a class to teach, and they don’t want you wandering around alone,” he says and shrugs.

  “So, they sent another student to watch me?” I ask dubiously.

  “Not just any student, their best student,” he replies, following me into the kitchen area. He hops onto the counter, taking a seat there as I continue to search. I huff.

  “Sure, not even a tiny bit egotistical there at all, are you?” I ask, rolling my eyes.

  “I’m not, it’s a fact. I could have already finished and left this place if I wanted to, as it is I’m set to finish this year, instead of next,” he replies, not an ounce of exaggeration in his voice.

  “Whatever,” I mutter as I open the last cupboard and spot a glass bottle hiding in the back. Bingo. I pull out the bottle of Vodka and place it on the kitchen side, and go in search of glasses. I’m sure I just saw them.

  “What are you doing?” Enzo questions.

  “What does it look like, Mr. Know-It-All?” I question back sarcastically as I place a couple of frosted, coloured glasses on the kitchen side. “How do you want it?”

  “Straight, I guess,” he mutters. I roll my eyes, typical macho attitude. I pour some vodka into each glass, and top mine up with some Pepsi from the fridge. I hand a glass to him, he takes it, clinking it against mine.

  “Cheers,” I mutter.

  “What are we drinking to?” he asks, amusement colouring his tone.

  “Embarrassment,” I reply wryly, before downing half my drink in one go. He drinks some of his. I lift mine back up and finish it off, going to pour myself another.

  “Slow down,” he comments, knocking back some more of his own.

  “What, worried you can’t keep up?” I tease. I down another drink, then I grab the vodka, Pepsi, and my glass and head into the main living room area. I sink down onto the leather sofa, feeling the cool material clinging against my bare skin. I can already feel a light buzz hitting me. Enzo takes the spot next to me, sitting much closer than he really needs to, his eyes running over me constantly.

  Two can play at that game, buddy. I turn in my spot on the sofa, stretching my bare legs out across his. I take a swig straight from the bottle, trying not show the burn I feel on my throat as it makes its way down. I hand the bottle to Enzo, who silently takes a swig too, before handing it back.

  “You wanna talk about it?” he asks.

  “Not really,” I mutter.

  “What do you wanna do then?” he asks, the slight curve to his sensual lips giving me all kinds of bad ideas. I wonder what kind of ideas are going through his head?

  “I don’t know,” I answer, before taking another swig. The burn is slightly less noticeable this time, which can only mean one thing.

  “I think you know,” he replies, looking down at me. His dark eyes are staring at me intently. He’s really putting in no effort to hide his visual pursuit of my body. Well, if he’s going to keep staring, I might as well have some fun with this, tease him a little.

  “What do you think I want?” I ask seductively. I move over him, sliding a leg on either side of him, so I’m straddling his lap. He visibly swallows. I can feel his body responding to me. Or, maybe he’s been like that since he walked in and found me half naked?

  “Kenzie,” he breathes.

  “What?” I whisper, running a hand down the front of his body absently. Feeling his toned body, I almost forget my plan. He groans as I reach the top of his jeans. I brush my fingers lightly over the edge of the waistband. Leaning down against him, I put my lips to his ear, brushing them against his earlobe lightly. “Stop staring, it’s not gonna happen,” I whisper. I pull back slightly and meet his eyes. I’m sure smugness is painted across my face, as realisation crosses his. He narrows his dark eyes on me and opens his mouth to say something, when the door opens. It lets a gust of chilly air into the cabin, I feel it hit my skin, as well as the gaze of the person who opened the
door.

  “What the fuck is going on in here, Enzo, Miss Crowe?” Mr. Daniels’ voice calls into the cabin. He eyes take in the bottle of vodka on the floor next to the sofa, the two glasses on the table in front of us, and me. Sitting half naked on Enzo’s lap. Great, just damn, fucking peachy.

  “I can explain,” I say, turning slightly to face him, feeling the heat rise into my cheeks. Enzo leans back and begins laughing. “Shut up,” I mutter. I slide off him and stand up, wrapping my arms around my body self-consciously. Is he really going to make me stand here half-naked and explain? Or can I go grab some clothes first?

  “Well?” he asks, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

  “Um, well . . .,” I trail off, trying to think of some kind of explanation for what he walked in on. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I just figured after embarrassing myself in front of the whole class by getting naked and jumping on you, followed by arguing with Easton, that getting drunk with Enzo in my underwear was a great idea.’ It sounds terrible even to me.

  “I’m waiting,” he drawls. “Enzo, what about you, any explanation?”

  “You don’t hide your booze well enough?” he mutters, but I’m standing close enough to catch it.

  “I’m sorry, what was that?” Mr. Daniels asks.

  “Nothing, sir. Just remarking how chilly Kenzie must be with you leaving the door open. Maybe she should go finish getting dressed?” Enzo asks. A wash of gratitude hits me. I really don’t deserve him being nice after that. Turning back, I shoot him a grateful smile before looking again at Mr. Daniels, who is staring at me, deciding what to do. Or, maybe he’s—Nope, not today, Satan. I shut that thought up before it can finish forming.

  “Fine, Miss Crowe, please go finish getting dressed. We can talk about this in a minute. Enzo, please come outside with me for a moment?” he finally says. Letting out a breath, I turn and make my way into the guest room. I catch Enzo’s eyes as I’m closing the door, but I’m not able to read the look in them.

  Just what is he thinking?

  Chapter 22

  Enzo

  “Go on then.” I wave a hand at Mr. Daniels as he stops outside the cabin and slams the door shut, resting his head against it. I know I’m going to get a lecture on behaviour or whatever else he has planned. I look over at him, wanting to know how angry he is, but the defeated look he is wearing confuses me. There’s a long, uncomfortable silence, and I look back through the cabin window, catching a glance of Kenzie as she walks towards the bedroom, the lacy red underwear turning me on.

  She is something else, and I don’t think I’ve ever liked a girl as much as I like her. I remember the first time I saw her, walking down the middle of the hall with determined eyes and wet hair. She was beautiful, but that wasn’t the only thing I liked. She didn’t care what anyone said, what anyone thought about her.

  “Miss Crowe doesn’t need these kinds of distractions,” Mr. Daniels starts off, and I just smirk at him as I lean against the cabin. When I got the message in class from the teacher that Mr. Daniels needed me to watch Kenzie, I was curious why he sent me. I doubt he knew how close I was getting to Kenzie, and I saw East stomping through the woods away from the cabin. I think he didn’t trust East around her alone.

  “You might as well call her Kenzie. We both know you’re bullshitting me that she is just a student to you,” I say, knowing that he won’t lie to me. I’ve been friends with him since we were kids. Our parents lived near each other, and he was the big kid I looked up to and followed around. Eventually, he got bored of me annoying him and took me under his wing. I know him too well, and the look he gave Kenzie in there was a look I’ve seen plenty of times with his past girlfriends.

  “While I’m here, she is my student,” he tells me, confirming my thoughts that he likes her. I wonder if Kenzie realises how much?

  “Why are you here?” I ask him, and he shrugs, looking away. It doesn’t make any sense. When he finished the academy two years ago, he was the highest ranking marked in years. It didn’t surprise me, as I know how powerful he is with his eight marks. It was a surprise when I got more marks than him, and he helped me master them all quickly, the ones he could, anyway. But, I know he passed everything with flying colours and was given a job with the council. Everyone, including me, knew he would get a place on the council. Even with the issues with his sister–how he let her go, and now she is with the rogues. I grew up with her around, too, and never guessed how she felt about the rebels, how she wanted to be one.

  “To watch Kenzie. I was sent here to guard her, the council sent me. She is too important,” he says, and I nod, looking back into the empty room. It makes a lot of sense, considering no one knows what the twelfth power is, or if it’s controllable at all. I bet the council want to make sure Kenzie can be controlled, and the best way to do that, is to send a young, powerful, and good-looking teacher to stalk her. I can’t help but wonder if they want them to get close? An easy way to have more control of her.

  “Can you guard her? Without being jealous?” I ask him, and he narrows his eyes at me.

  “I’m not jealous of anyone,” he says bluntly, and I just laugh quietly, watching as he gets more annoyed.

  “We can both have her . . . just a thought,” I tell him as I walk down the cabin steps and into the woods. I don’t expect him to reply to me, but he does. His voice is quiet, but I still catch it.

  “Not yet.”

  Just two words that speak a lot more than they should, but I understand the meaning behind them anyway.

  Not turning to look at him, I walk away into the woods and follow the path back to the school. I pull the back door of the school open, waiting for two girls to walk through and then close it behind me. I walk up the stairs to my room, needing to find my phone and then get to my elective class. I open my room, surprised to see East and Logan in there. They are playing Xbox and talking quietly. The room looks like a tip on one side, clothes everywhere, and I like mine neat. I pick up a few of Logan’s shirts as I walk past and chuck them into the washing basket by the door. Thank gods for the cleaners and their insistence on washing all our clothes every night. They are always back, neatly folded in the morning.

  “Don’t you have class?” Logan asks, and I shake my head.

  “I had to stay with Kenzie until Mr. Daniels came back,” I say, deciding not to explain that I had her half naked on my lap, and she knows how much she turned me on. It took everything in me not to kiss her and fuck her on Mr. Daniels’ couch. Now, that would have made him mad, had I slept with Kenzie before he can even make a move. East turns to look at me, looking stressed.

  “I fucked it up with her, was she still mad?” he asks. So that’s why she was like that, East pissed her off. It makes some sense.

  “If you call walking around in just your underwear and getting drunk on vodka mad, then yeah,” I answer, and he groans, running his hand through his hair.

  “I thought . . . well, I thought she might have shifted back naked in front of Mr. Daniels on purpose. I’ve seen plenty of girls do it before her, but they didn’t jump on him first,” he says. What an idiot.

  “You did what?” Logan asks, before whacking him on the arm.

  “Fuck, that hurt, and yeah, I know. I’m surprised she didn’t do more than just throw me out. I regretted my words the minute I said them,” East says, both his voice and face turning glum.

  “Kenzie isn’t like the rest of the girls. I don’t know her well and didn’t grow up with her like you did, but I know she wouldn’t do that. She isn’t like that,” I tell him. I know because she didn’t kiss me or throw herself at me like every girl usually does. It gets boring after a while, and Kenzie is anything but boring, and East seems to realise this. He has as many girls throwing themselves at him as I do in this damn place. Being that there are more guys born than girls, seems to make the girls here think they can fuck any guy and that guy is lucky to have them. Which isn’t true, but most of the girls around here have personalities like pamper
ed princesses.

  “Fuck. I should go and say sorry or something,” East says, turning off the Xbox and putting the controller down.

  “You’re gonna have to do more than that. You need a big gesture,” Logan says, and East shrugs.

  “Like what?” East replies as I sit down on the bed.

  “Something big and romantic. Like in the human movies,” Logan suggests.

  I sit and listen to their insane plan and don’t make any suggestions. Kenzie can tease me all she likes, but this will be amusing to watch as a comeback. The best part is, it isn’t even me doing it.

  Chapter 23

  Kenzie

  “Would you like pasta for dinner? I can make you some,” Mr. Daniels says gently as I come into the kitchen a few moments after getting dressed in jeans and a thick, long-sleeved, jumper. I tried to choose something that covered me the most, feeling that I’ve been naked enough today. I still feel a little drunk, but the whole getting caught by your teacher, half naked on a couch with a hot guy, has a way of sobering you up. I nod, confused why he isn’t shouting at me and watch as he moves around the kitchen, pulling out pans and food. I expected a massive lecture about underage drinking and what it looked like I was doing with Enzo on his couch. I mean, he invited me into his home, and I do that on the next day. I feel like such a bitch and seriously guilty over it.

  “Can I help?” I ask him and he looks over his shoulder for a second, his eyes meeting mine and then turning back.

  “You could grate the cheese,” he offers, pointing a finger towards a plate and grater he has gotten out. I pick them up and get the cheese out of the fridge before starting to grate the cheese like he asked.

  There’s an uncomfortable silence between us that just seems to go on and on before I cave in and blurt out: “I’m sorry for today, all of it. I know you must think I’m an irresponsible brat or something, but I swear it won’t happen again. I just seem to have a habit of messing things up, and I get it if you don’t want to speak to me,”