The Thrice Marked

by Liddie Cain

  “Was the work week okay?”

  “Everything went smoothly. Sylvia told you about the newcomer?”

  Mac nodded as he pulled the suitcases out of the back of his truck. “Yeah. That’s why we came back.”

  “Destiny knows her. She left right after Meredith got here. Don’t think she likes the new boss very much.”

  “Temporary boss,” I said firmly.

  A pained look crossed Rose’s face. “We will find him, Roz.”

  I reached out and touched her arm with a soft smile to soothe the harsh moment. Rose touched my hand as we shared a look. Then we all headed inside. Mac had already met Meredith once before. He had gone to the lower realm to meet with Devina and Meredith had been there for a meeting with the Demon Overlord as well.

  So when she saw us walk into the living room she stood and held her hand out to Mac. “Good to see you again, Macory.”

  “The pleasure is mine, Meredith. Thank you for helping us out until we find out where Felix is.”

  Meredith’s hazel gaze slid from his face as she made an affirming hmm noise. She turned to Jason and he stepped up with his charismatic grin.

  “I’m Jason.”

  I watched her gaze travel the length of him. He was wearing a lavender polo shirt that looked great against his black skin. It was tight enough to show how well defined his body was. There was a flicker of interest in her expression before she held out her hand to him.

  “I am Meredith. You are the deputy magistrate here?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Then her gaze was on me. Meredith was several inches taller than me with red curls that had a golden highlight to them and was several shades lighter than Darby’s red hair. She became more guarded as her attention turned to me. I hesitated for half of a second before smiling at her.

  “I’m Rozalyn, most everyone calls me Roz.”

  “Roz,” she said more neutrally and without offering me her hand, “I am sorry that Felix appears to be missing.”

  “Thank you, Meredith. I’m trusting we will hear something soon.”

  “Oh?”

  Mac laid a quick kiss against my temple while Meredith watched him. “Yes. We have some leads we are looking into.”

  I suddenly didn’t want him to tell Meredith what we knew. There was no obvious reason. I just had the feeling that my best interest and her best interests were not similar. So before Mac could tell her more I turned my body into his and gave him a loving look. He shut up immediately and smiled back at me.

  “I’m pretty tired.”

  “Let’s head up on up to bed then.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. I smiled at him as I took Jason’s hand to tug him with me.

  But he shook his head. “I need a donor before I can join you.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him because he had fed the morning before and normally Jason only needed a donor a couple times a week.

  Mac answered the question he saw on my face. “The sun at the beach is draining. It is here too but the reflection off of the sand amplifies it I think.”

  Jason nodded. “Sometimes it’s easier to stick with the die in sunlight stereotype.”

  “I guess that is where it came from if being outside at night uses less energy,” I responded, “okay, Love, if I’m asleep when you come to bed wake me up.”

  Jason gave me that handsome smile, kissed me sweetly, then headed towards the back door where Destiny would have arranged to have a donor waiting on him in the pool veranda area.

  Destiny walked into the living room from outside as Jason walked away. She was one of the more outrageous vampires I had met. Her six foot frame caught your eye to begin with, but she also always dressed provocatively. Tonight she wore skin tight leather pants, a red leather corset that her large breasts spilled out of, no shirt and high heels that turned her 6’ frame into 6’5. Her shoulder length hair was dark brown and she always wore smokey eye makeup with bright red lipstick. Like Jason, she had the ability to make almost anyone like her.

  So when I felt that aggressive wave of power flow out from her and sweep across Meredith I was surprised. Mac immediately gripped Destiny’s arm and jerked her up against him, his own power driving hers back down. It had just been a warning shot from Destiny but it felt like Mac was surprised too.

  “I’m not sure what your problem is, Destiny. But Roz was right there. You could have gotten her hurt if someone responded to that threat. Go stay with Darby and Sylvia tonight.”

  “Gladly.” Destiny dropped her ice blue eyes to my face and her stance softened. “I do apologize Roz. You know I would never want you hurt.”

  I nodded at her. Destiny wasn’t my best pal, but she was a friend. The two of us had shared a lot of laughs as we worked together for the live donor program. “Will you tell Darby I will see her at the spa in the morning?”

  Destiny nodded. “Sure, of course.”

  There was one more look she shot at Meredith before she left again. Mac shook his head and looked at the archdemon. “I guess the two of you have a history?”

  “Yes,” She responded as she stared in the direction that Destiny left, then she looked at us. “Macory, if you could join me later I need to talk to you about a few things for the district. Some of my vampires from Vegas will be arriving soon.”

  “Sure, I’ll be free in a little while.”

  “Indeed. Goodnight, Rozalyn.”

  She said the right words and her face did not betray them to be ingenuine, but for some reason I didn’t feel like she actually meant the pleasantness.

  “Thanks. Good to meet you.”

  “You as well.”

  ***

  The Rejuvenate Shop was my little slice of serenity in my hometown. My duties as the district’s blood medium, the human that arranges the live donor program for the local vampires, kept me away from the spa more than I would like. Rose ran things beautifully when I couldn’t be there but I missed seeing everyone.

  One of the locals named Joletta was coming out from the back when I walked into the lobby. She directed a friendly wave toward me then pointed at the healing bite mark on her neck with excitement.

  “Rozalyn Hunt, I admit I wasn’t sure about your dealing with the vampires. But, Honey, that young man Hugh was a delight when I had my appointment with him last night.”

  Hugh Draper had been closer to middle aged when he had been turned. He looked like what he was; a fantastic accountant. He was kind and he knew how to be flattering. Joletta had held onto her beauty as she aged and Hugh had thought she was wonderful. I had grown up thinking of her as the town’s former beauty princess turned gossip queen so it had been amusing to see Hugh so taken with her.

  “Hugh spoke very highly of you, Joletta.”

  The cutest blush rose up on her cheeks. Darby was standing behind the check-in desk and I had to make myself avoid her eyes or we were both going to start giggling.

  “He is a very nice man. Vampire man.” Joletta cleared her throat and gave Darby her credit card to pay for the massage she just got.

  Darby smiled at her. “Hugh is great. You should take him to see the art alliance collection at the civic center. I bet he would love that. He’s new in town you know.”

  Joletta raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Yes, I suppose he is.”

  I walked around behind the reception desk but still avoided Darby’s eyes. “Just don’t give him another donation this close together, Joletta. You need time to recover.”

  “Recover?” Her gaze was unfocused. “Oh! Yes, of course.”

  I looked down to hide my amusement. Vampires were made for seduction to draw you in as prey. Part of that seduction included that feedings were pleasurable, sometimes even sexual. It was a passive magic that worked as long as they took their time. The donation process in our district started with the vampires doing a soothing scalp or shoulder rub to make sure that each experience would be pleasant. By the way Joletta was acting, it was obvious that Hugh excelled at providing this service during donation se
ssions. Mac could bring me to a very quick and pleasurable completion when he fed from me. Darby was dating Sylvia and experienced the same mutual benefits when she provided blood for her.

  “Have a good day girls! I believe I will go give Hugh a call.”

  “Bye, Joletta,” Darby called out pleasantly.

  As soon as the door shut behind her, me and Darby made eye contact and dissolved into laughter. Sylvia slid through the door from the back and the amusement was obvious on her face.

  “Hugh is going to have his hands full with that one,” she said.

  “That’s the truth,” Daby replied as Sylvia stepped up behind her and touched her back.

  I watched them gaze at each other. They were cute together. And striking, with Darby’s pale skin and long red hair against Sylvia’s short afro textured twists and chocolate complexion.

  The door chime sounded and I looked to find my parents walking in. Evelyn and Ellison Hunt were heaven sent. Really. Darby’s angel mother, Ariel, had picked them for me to be born to. They had been wonderful to both me and Darby. Ariel had not been able to intervene on who Darby was born to and her human mom had been neglectful while struggling with substance abuse. She had exposed her daughter to her trashy boyfriends who had sexually harassed Darby as we got older. Eve ‘n Ell, as most people called my parents, had frequently saved Darby from these situations. She had spent more time in our home than her own.

  So when Dad beamed at us and said, “Hello, my girls.” He meant it. Darby was as much his as I was.

  Mom was a former beauty queen much like Joletta who had left a few moments before her. Joletta was a year older so that prevented most head to head competition between the two of them. Mom still carried herself like she was on stage and dressed carefully. Darby and Sylvia were both meticulous with their appearance too. Sometimes they made me feel frumpy when I was around them.

  I made sure I didn’t look slouchy but it was not uncommon for me to show up for work in a pair of blue jean shorts and a t-shirt. My dirty blond hair was left loose after I had spent less than two minutes running a straightener over it and my makeup was minimal. Mom, Darby and Sylvia never went into public without their hair properly styled and a full face of makeup on. Sylvia even had flowers tucked in her hair today and it looked adorable.

  I was Dad’s clone. He stood there in a wrinkled button-up shirt and blue jeans and smiled at me like I was the most beautiful girl in the world. I thought like him, liked the same sci-fi and thriller fandoms he did and approached any task with the same get in and get it done mindset that he did. Not that he wasn’t just as beautiful as Mom. Local women flirted with him all the time but he was usually oblivious to it.

  “How was the beach, dear?” he asked as I came around the reception desk and met him for a hug.

  “It was good.”

  “But still worried about Felix,” Mom said it as a statement and I nodded.

  “We might know where he is. Mac is trying to figure it out,” I replied.

  She sighed and pulled me into a hug. They hugged Darby and Sylvia next since they had stepped around the desk to greet them.

  “Just let us know if there is anything you need,” Mom said as she turned back to me.

  “Of course.”

  “Well baby, we just stopped in to say hello. We are headed down to Dothan to meet Frank and Teresa,” Dad told me before giving me a kiss on the forehead.

  “Okay, y’all be careful.”

  They did another round of hugs and kisses before they left. Darby went back to prep for her next massage client and Sylvia left to do some errands in town Mac needed done. I went into my office. It was empty. Rose was going over inventory in the salon. There was still some accounting and employee payroll work that I had to come in and handle, but the money I was paid from the vampire Imperium for being the blood medium had taken away the burden of worrying about profits of the spa. It still made plenty of money but I was able to put most of the profit back into it now.

  I sat down in my desk chair and felt the dark cloud that had been kept at bay by being constantly surrounded by other people sweep over. This was the room that I had first met Felix. Of course, I had actually met him in my past life, but more and more the life I lived as the angel Alidia seemed like a dream. I was Rozalyn. And in this room, Felix had swept into my life and forced my heart out of the coma it had stayed in since Mac left.

  Mac would have found his way to reawaken my heart eventually, in his own way. But Felix was a force of nature. He pushed me out of that comfort zone and made me see what I was capable of. He had urged me to be his equal. Then to love him and Mac fiercely.

  I ran my hand up over the demon mark on my rib cage. It lay there, quiet and inert. Useless to me. There was no power for me to push into it to bring him back to me. Mac and I had tried with Mac coming to the conclusion that Felix was not in the same metaphysical realm as we were for it to be so quiet.

  Tears broke across my lashes and I gave into them. It was a blessing to always have someone there. Mac and Jason had barely left my side. But now that I could have a few moments alone, and sure that they wouldn’t be walking in, I could let myself grieve. I sat in the chair that Felix had made love to me in and missed him terribly.

  When I walked back into what I considered my home, the district capital residence that Mac had acquired when he took over as magistrate, Destiny was yelling at Meredith in Mac’s office.

  “You’re just a bitch, Meredith.” I could hear Destiny clearly as I stood at the end of the hallway.

  “And you are on thin ice, Destiny. I am in charge of this dominion until you are told differently.”

  They quieted down as I started to walk down the hall because they could hear me. I didn’t knock, I just opened the door. “Please go somewhere else to argue. There are humans here for donations and I could hear you as I came in the front.”

  Destiny met my gaze and sighed, “Sorry, Roz. I--”

  Meredith knocked her down to the ground with a wave of power that made my head swim. Blood lashed out from Destiny’s face as Meredith focused more into her. It was so unexpected that it took me a moment to react. Probably not the best idea for little human me to jump in the middle of it, but I stepped into the office the rest of the way and shut the door behind me.

  “What the hell are you doing!”

  Meredith didn’t hear or didn’t acknowledge. Her face had gone blank as she poured all that demonic power down on Destiny’s struggling form. I grabbed a book off of the shelf beside me and hurled it through the air. It thunked against the side of Meredith’s face. She slowly turned her gaze to me.

  “Stop hurting her!” I yelled.

  She released Destiny from that power and stalked across the room towards me. I could feel that power rebuilding. It swept across my mind, made the air pressure around me build heavier and heavier.

  The door behind me burst open and Jason was in front of me in a blink. Two new male vampires spilled in behind him. Mac was there a moment later. Meredith was already throwing power across the room towards Jason. Mac was in front of him, moving faster than I could see with my eyes, and took the blast.

  The mark on my ribs flared as that archdemon energy flowed into Mac and into me. I gasped and sank as my legs gave out. One of the vampires I didn’t know caught me before I could hit the floor.

  Meredith stopped the attack almost immediately and dragged in a breath. Before she could speak Mac had rallied and looked at her with angry green eyes, “You will go through me if you feel like any of the members of my district need to be punished.”

  Power flared with her irritation again. But she finally backed down. “Then let us speak of it.”

  A look of silent communication passed between Mac and Jason. Jason picked Destiny up and nodded to the vampire that was holding me. We all left the office for Mac to speak with Meredith.

  The new vampire holding me was tall. He had fair skin and red hair that was long, falling midway down his back, and curly. Hi
s grey eyes met mine as he carried me down the hallway. “I am Lear. This is Ryan.”

  The other unknown vampire walked beside him. He wasn’t as tall and looked very young. Maybe 16 or 17. His brown hair and brown eyes would have blended in easily with a crowd.

  “Hello Lear and Ryan. I am Roz, the district’s blood medium.”

  Jason led us outside to the pool verandah and laid Destiny down on one of the outdoor chaise lounges. She had begun to stir again and Mac’s house manager, an older human man named Arthur, had anticipated our needs as usual and arrived to hand Jason a bottle of blood. As Jason got her fed and feeling better, I looked up at the new vampire holding me again.

  “You can put me down now.”

  He sat me on my feet, his grey gaze watching me. There wasn’t an open friendliness to that look, just a quiet neutrality. I had the impression that he was not the type to make friends. Ryan had left out sides and started helping Jason care for Destiny. It left me and Lear in one of those awkward moments that I would usually fill with friendly chit chat.

  “Where are you from?”

  “Boston.”

  “Oh, so you--”

  “I was one of Monroe’s magistrates. Yes.”

  Monroe, the archdemon who had kidnapped and tried to use me to gain power, had died at Felix’s hands. His dominion had been dismantled and Felix awarded part of his wealth. All vampires who had held power in his dominion like Lear had suddenly found themselves without jobs and reassigned.

  I wanted to ask him if he was angry or apologize for him having to move but none of it had been my fault. Monroe had made his own choices. I still ended up having to ask. “Are you looking at me that way because you are angry you lost your district?”

  The neutral expression didn’t flicker. “I am angry, but not with you. I look at you because it is poignant to be holding the one that carries the blood that Monroe made such fatal decisions over. I served him for a long time.”