The Thrice Marked

by Liddie Cain

  “I’m so sorry you’ve had to face Meredith alone,” I said.

  He pulled back and smiled down at me. “I’ve been fine. Jason and Lear have been helpful.”

  “Felix told you the plan?”

  “Yes.” he looked up at Conall, Darby and Maeve and said, “How will the spell work?”

  Maeve looked up at Conall before replying, “I need to be close enough to her that I can feel her power, but really I can do it from outside and just walk in with the spell already in place. Conall will likely need to conceal me until I get it ready.”

  “Will someone be able to break her free like we did Felix?” Conall asked.

  “She does have a bound human, or she used to. His name is Walt. Is he here with her?”

  “No, he is still running her business affairs in Vegas,” Mac responded.

  “He would be the only one except for someone like Devina or a greater demon than her.”

  “Where is she now?” I asked Mac.

  “At home, waiting for us to come back.”

  “Then let's go, I’m ready to get this done.”

  Mac nodded before looking at Darby and saying, “Sylvia is on her way here to see you.”

  Both me and Darby tensed. Mac gave both of us questioning looks, but Darby shook her head. “Later,” I said. He frowned but he took my hand and led us out to his truck. I climbed in the front with him while Conall and Maeve got in the backseat.

  As we rode down the road, I held Mac’s hand tightly, happy to be there with him but not completely able to stop thinking about him having sex with Meredith. He caught those thoughts and his hand squeezed mine. I shot him an apologetic look and said, “I’m sorry. I can’t help it. I know it’s not real.”

  “No, it’s not. But if it helps, I’ve been able to mostly avoid it except for the one time.”

  I nodded, but really didn’t want to know the details. He didn’t try to give any, thankfully. I knew I didn’t want to hold it against him and felt frustrated with myself for feeling cringy about it.

  I hadn’t held it against Felix that he had been sleeping with Maeve for the last few months so it wouldn’t be fair to hold Meredith against Mac. Now that I was enclosed in a moving vehicle with Maeve, I realized that I had been pushing down my anger at her. I really wanted to test out some new powers on her face if I was being honest with myself. She had no psychic connection to me so she didn’t know my thoughts. Mac did, though, and I saw him grin with a flash of fang that meant he was enjoying the visual.

  Conall spoke up from the backseat, “If the spell does not work as we wish, Meredith has made overtures to me in the past. I can invite her to visit me, just as a backup plan.”

  “That would also be good, but I think Maeve owes us this one so I hope the spell does what she plans on it doing,” I replied.

  “I am confident it will work,” Maeve said, “I know it will not make up for my association with Devina.”

  “No, not even close,” I said.

  She was quiet for a moment. “I will keep trying. I am compelled to right some of the wrongs I’ve caused.”

  “You have some chances to do that here and in the near future, Lennán Sí,” Conall replied.

  We turned onto the road that the house was on, only a couple minutes from the entrance to the driveway. Mac gave me a quick glance and asked, “Why did you act weird when I told Darby that Sylvia was coming to see her?”

  I sighed and said, “I am not sure but I think Darby is over the relationship.”

  “Oh,” he said, “I guess I can see that.”

  “Really?” I asked as he turned into the drive.

  “Yeah. Sylvia isn’t as outrageous as Darby can be when she's in a good place.”

  “That’s kind of what I was thinking after Darby told me. Once we got into Fairy, she was being more herself. More animated,” I said.

  “Sylvia will be okay.”

  “I hope so. I love both of them.”

  “Me too,” Mac said as he put the truck in park.

  We decided that if I walked in with Mac it would be enough of a distraction that Meredith wouldn’t notice if Maeve started to invade her defenses. Mac wasn’t happy about taking me in as bait but Jason and Lear were waiting inside and would help keep me protected if Meredith decided to lash out.

  Jason and Lear were waiting right inside the front door and I was immediately swept up into Jason’s strong arms and hugging him tightly. I met Lear’s gaze as I looked over Jason’s shoulder. He gave me a solemn nod to which I smiled back at him. I was again struck with an uneasy awareness of Lear. I still had not figured out if it was attraction or some kind of instinct alarm going off in my head.

  “So the girlfriend returns,” Meredith’s voice coming from the living room made us all look in her direction. “Finished with your visit to the Unseelie King?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I answered. “He spoke fondly of you though.”

  That caught her off guard and I saw the surprise register on her face. “Conall?”

  “Yeah. He mentioned to me that he was still entertaining the idea of having you come visit him as well.”

  “Yet, he still invited you though, didn’t he?”

  I hesitated, looking over at Mac. Meredith stood up and walked toward us, her hips swaying to emphasize her aggression. “You see, Roz, I like my men to share me, but I don’t like to share them. I had come to terms with the idea of sharing Mac with you because you were there first. But Conall, he’s way on my level now isn’t he?”

  Jason stepped in front of me before she could close the distance between us completely. She stopped and barked out a laugh. “My gracious Roz, yet another suitor, isn’t he?”

  She turned and looked at Lear with her perfectly arched eyebrow lifted in question. “And how about serious-face-Lear? Have you also fallen under Roz’s spell?”

  Lear’s face was guarded. What would be the safer answer? I wasn’t sure either. She jerked her hand up toward him and snapped, “Shielding your thoughts from me is a stupid idea, Lear.”

  She stepped over in front of him and spoke, power in her words making her voice hiss, “Answer me.”

  Lear visibly trembled as he fought against the power that she oozed over him. Anger reflected in his foggy grey eyes. “Yes,” he finally ground out between clenched teeth. But Meredith didn’t release him. She bore down with that power and spoke barely above a whisper, “And Conall? Does he love Roz?”

  Lear was visibly straining as he was forced to respond, “I don’t know the Unseelie King.”

  “Oh. But you know Mac. Has Mac been fibbing to me, Lear? He is much too strong for me to force the truth out of him.”

  Lear fell to his knees as his body started to shake. He shook his head trying to keep himself from being overpowered. She grabbed a handful of his red hair and jerked his head back so she could glare down into his face. “Answer me, Lear.”

  “Yes.” The word came out brokenly as Lear tried to fight his body.

  “Would you protect her from me?”

  Silence dragged out while he continued to struggle. Jason maneuvered me behind both him and Mac and I finally heard Lear’s anguished, “Yes.”

  “Then you are no use to me.” I couldn’t see what she did, but I felt the power move through the room and heard Lear’s grunt of pain. Mac didn’t dare move from in front of me but he was instantly arguing with her. “You cannot terminate Lear for protecting the girlfriend of the magistrate. He is supposed to keep her safe if she hasn’t committed any crimes.”

  “I’ll run my dominion how I please. Lear does not please me.”

  “Do I?” Conall’s voice came from across the room as he walked into the kitchen. I leaned over a bit so I could watch as he walked in, his crown again poised on his head. Meredith was giving him a considerate look as Maeve walked in behind him. Then the demoness’ eyes flew open wide and she pointed one crimson manicured finger at Maeve. “How are you here? You are the guardian of…”

  “F
elix,” Mac filled in the end of the sentence she couldn’t finish since she was staring at Maeve in wonder. Tears flooded her eyes as Maeve walked to her and cupped her face in her hands. She watched her with complete admiration. It was frightening to know that Felix had faced this, twice.

  “I bring you my love, Meredith.”

  “Yes,” she responded.

  “Will you help me?”

  “Of course,” Meredith replied with a soft smile one only used for their lovers.

  “We need to hide Felix here. Can you make sure no one tells Devina he is here?” Maeve leaned her face in close to her and Meredith strained forward like she wanted to be kissed.

  “Anything, I’ll do it.”

  “That is why I love you,” Maeve responded before she laid her lips across Meredith’s. They both melted into that kiss. Meredith’s arms clung around Maeve as if she never wanted to be away from her again. I would have felt sorry for her if she wasn’t absolutely rotten. She had killed Destiny and tried to steal Mac from me. She could rot in her own Hell.

  Maeve broke the kiss and tucked Meredith in against her neck. She purred against Maeve’s skin and started kissing her there. Maeve blew out a breath and looked back at Conall, giving him a quick nod. “You can bring Felix here.”

  “Thank you, Maeve.”

  “Meredith, my love, do you have a room where we can have some privacy?” Maeve asked as Meredith slid her hands up under her shirt.

  “Yes. I have a room here in the new guest house.”

  “Let’s go there,” Maeve told her.

  “Yes, yes,” Meredith whispered. She took Maeve’s hand and led her out through the kitchen and out through the back door that led to the pool veranda and the new guest house.

  Then Lear made a small noise. “Shit,” Mac uttered. Maeve’s horrifying ability had distracted us from Lear’s injury. I rushed over and kneeled down beside him and looked up at Conall and said, “I need Hanna here.”

  “I just told Aurnia to send them.”

  I nodded and Mac was there beside me ripping Lear’s shirt apart down the front. He had black scorches down her chest and abdomen that were still sizzling. Her power had burned him from the inside out. Jason knelt down on my other side and touched my back. “He’s fading.”

  Lear caught my hand in his and I looked into those fog colored eyes. “Damnit, Lear, you are not going to die for admitting you have a crush on me,” I told him firmly. He gave a ghost of a smile. Rose ran into the room and knelt, cradling Lear’s head into her lap and giving me a wide and desperate look. The two of them had obviously become close while I was gone. “I promise, I’m going to try and help him,” I told her.

  “I know you will,” Rose responded. She looked down at Lear and touched his forehead. “Hang in there, okay?”

  “Try my best,” he whispered.

  The angels started appearing. Azrael and Eziel first, then Raguel and Felix. Ariel and Hanna appeared hand in hand with Mom and Dad. Hanna quickly saw what was happening and rushed over to me. She kneeled down on the opposite side of Lear.

  “Can you help him?”

  She shook her head and replied, “No. Using heavenly healing on a vampire would destroy him.”

  Raguel spoke from across the room, “Rozalyn should try.”

  I shook my head and said, “I don’t know, what if I destroy him too?”

  “Drinking your blood doesn’t hurt us, it helps us,” Mac said quietly beside me.

  I looked at his face. He gave me an encouraging smile and said, “Try it.”

  I looked at Lear and he nodded at me. I took in a deep breath and said, “Okay.”

  “Ariel?” Raguel called for her attention but I kept my attention on Lear. I laid both of my hands on his bare torso and called upon all those long ago powers that my mortal body had never grasped. It came easily, humming across my skin to pour out through my hands. I pictured light flowing into him and filling him up with healing and protection. My own body felt like warmth flowed throughout it. That warmth spilled up over me and across all of him. The air charged around the two of us and isolated us in a moment that was only meant for the exchange of my energy to his.

  When I finally opened my eyes, his skin only bore faint marks of the damage that had been there before. There was more life in his face. I let a shattered breath escape across my lips as he drew in a shaky one. “You did good,” he said weakly.

  Mac and Jason both slid their arms around my back and smiled at me affectionately. Hanna beamed her own smile at me from the other side of Lear. “That felt wonderful,” I said.

  Rose leaned over and hugged my neck. Mac and Jason loosened their grip on me long enough for me to return her hug. Felix walked over to us as Rose and I released each other. His new black wings were tucked up against his back. It had been a long time since he had a set of those and his had be white before, but it felt so right to see him have them. We all got to our feet, Mac and Jason giving Lear a hand. I met Felix halfway and wrapped my arms around his waist, trailing my fingers across the underside of those great wings.

  “I can see the change of fate on his soul, Ariel,” Raguel’s voice broke above the quiet murmur that he and Ariel were arguing in.

  “It was never supposed to be his fate. Roz’s birth was chosen, her life was chosen.”

  “You used him to bring her and your son back together.”

  She glared at him. The two of them had always bickered like siblings. If I had a brother, this is how Darby and him would have acted, I imagined. Hanna, accustomed to their arguments, glided over and inserted herself in between them. Ariel’s face softened a touch as she looked at her friend.

  “What is Raguel talking about?” Hanna asked.

  “Mac,” Ariel answered.

  At the sound of his name, he turned and looked at them with surprise. “Me?”

  “Yes,” Ariel looked as if she was searching for words.

  Raguel jumped in to insert his own explanation. “I don’t know exactly what she did, but she influenced you in some way. I can see the mark she left when I look at your aura and I recognize her power on it.”

  “I influenced your decision to pledge to Felix,” Ariel said quickly, “I didn’t cause the interaction with the vampire who wanted to be your maker.”

  “Oh, but that’s not so bad. It brought Felix here close to us,” I said. But he was tense where he stood behind me. Mac looked at us, hovering over Felix’s face as if he was trying to read it. He finally shook his head and said, “I don’t understand why Raguel is mad and you’re so guarded.”

  I turned to look up at Felix and raised my eyebrows since I didn’t get it either. He touched my face with sadness in the depths of his gaze before looking at Mac and saying, “Because you could have said no.”

  “I would still be human?”

  “And very likely married to Roz, with a couple of kids, and never even met me.”

  It was like a sudden wind blew through my thoughts and cleared everything except for shock and agony. Mac stood there with his lips parted, breathing heavily because he was upset, not because he needed to. Those shamrock green eyes bore into mine, his emotions knocking down the barrier that usually kept our thoughts separate. We were swept down into a vast canyon of what could have been. A realization that he would have never chosen to stay away. It didn’t make sense to either of us why he would do it. Mac was every definition of loyal and true. There had been no reason for him to turn from the steadfast love he had felt for me since we were just teenagers. The compulsion had just been there and he had no weapons to fight against it.

  He walked to me in the silence of the room and his fingertips touched my face reverently. Felix began to retreat but Mac’s arm flew out faster than I could see and held the other man where he was. Mac moved forward, pressing my back against Felix as he pressed against my front. My heart started racing as I looked up at him but I knew that he was still reeling from what we had just learned.

  I was so tuned into him that
when he spoke to Felix through the connection of our marks, I jumped. “You didn’t know?”

  “No. I cannot see a change of fate scar as a demon.”

  Mac nodded, his face so much more intense than I’d ever seen it. I heard Mom’s sniff in the distance and knew that Dad had explained what had happened and she was crying. I was too shocked to cry yet, but I knew that she had loved Mac so much and never understood why it happened. Then she had held my hand through the years of heartbreak, knowing that Mac was the one who got away.

  “We have some time to make up for, Dove,” Mac said to me with a gruff voice, thick with emotion he was suppressing.

  “We do,” I whispered back.

  He pressed my body firmly back into Felix and swept my face up so that his mouth could take mine in a determined kiss. Felix did not shy away. In fact, he brought his arms up around us and used his hands on Mac’s sides to pull him even tighter into me so that I was sandwiched in between the strength of both of their bodies. I found myself really wanting us to be alone for this because this would definitely do it for me.

  Mac knew where my thoughts were headed because he pulled back from kissing me and just smiled against my mouth, resting his forehead against mine.

  Felix loosened his grip, looked at his mother, and said, “There will be a time when we will talk about it. But not right now. Now we must plan on how to kill Devina.”

  The angels all reacted with a moment of stunned silence, but none of them disagreed. Jason joined us where I still stood between Felix and Mac and I leaned half of my body against him. Rose was blushing as she helped Lear put on another shirt.

  Somewhere out there, Darby was having a difficult talk with Sylvia while Aurnia wondered what the outcome would be. Conall was going to stick around for a while, claiming to be doing so to be helpful, but part of me hoped that I was some of that reason. Another King from Fairy would also be appearing soon, I was willing to bet.