Marked By Lies: A Reverse Harem Series (The Marked Series Book 1)

by Paige Orr

  “You do realize that they aren’t normal men, Marcus. In fact, you’re hosting royalty right now.”

  His face turns ashen and his eyes widen as he finally seems to understand the situation he’s in. Even if he did manage to take me down, without his little Witch, he wouldn't be able to get far before he was found. That doesn’t mean that he’s going to make this shit easy on me though. I didn’t really expect him to just surrender, but it would have been nice for once.

  He tries to charge me to use his size and weight to his advantage, but the stupid fucker trips a foofoot away from me, making it comical how easily I disarm him. This shit is like a cat fighting a mouse that thinks it's a dog. Grabbing his arm, I spin him around, smashing his face into the wall.

  He stumbles back, stunned from the blow, and I advance on him as quickly as I can. He backs away from me, scanning the floor anxiously for where his knife landed. We both notice it at the same time and race towards it, and just as he leans down to grab it, I bring my booted foot down on his fingers. I grind my boot down as hard as possible, the sounds of his bones breaking reaching me along with his screams.

  I grab the top of his head, holding it in place as I bring my knee up into his face. He falls backwards, landing on his ass and looking up at me in fear. Just as I get ready to kick him in the face to knock him out though, the most terrifying roar comes from the cavern where the guys are.

  My head whips around in the direction of the cave, worry filling me for the guys, and the sleazy bastard uses the opportunity to grab me with his uninjured hand, pulling my leg away from me and sending me to the floor. I land hard, hitting my head off of a rock, which causes my eyes to blur for a second.

  When my vision clears, I find Marcus crawling over the top of me and grabbing his knife with his good hand. As he turns back to me, bringing the knife down towards my face, I grab it with my bare hand, gritting my teeth through the pain.

  I refuse to let this fucker think he’s won, so will he’s too busy shocked at me willingly injuring myself, I bring my legs up between us. I use all of my strength, pushing with my legs, and it’s enough to send him crashing back into the wall.

  “You really should stop fighting the inevitable, Marcus. You fuck with the Fae, you signed your own death warrant.”

  I call on a little bit of the magic that I feel dwindling inside of me, letting it encompass my hand where he can see it. This causes the opposite from what I expect though as disgust begins to fill his face. He spits on the ground in front of me, trying to struggle back to his feet, not that he actually gets anywhere.

  “I should have guessed you were a dirty fucking Witch with how easily you managed to retrieve the necklace. Your kind doesn’t even deserve to breathe the same oxygen as us.”

  “Funny that, I’m pretty sure that’s not what you told your little Witch in the other room. Let me guess though, we are only worth breathing if we are doing something for you. The thing is, I’m not a Witch.”

  “You’re clearly using magic, what else would you call that. Your kind makes me sick.”

  “Still not a Witch dude, not that it really matters. Time to greet your fate head on.”

  This causes him to finally try and fight his way past me, but using the magic that I still haven’t let go of, I let it course through him, knocking him out. It's almost ironic that it is a person he believes to be a Witch that’s finally taking him down.

  It’s not easy, but I begin to drag Marcus’s heavy body back down the tunnel to where the guys will hopefully be finished with the rest of the cult. The fucker really could have down with losing some fucking weight, it ain’t exactly easy to drag his unconscious body around with all of my injuries.

  I push through it, and even though it takes me a good ten minutes to get to the end of the tunnel, I’m rather proud of myself when I do. I drop Marcus to the ground, satisfied with the dull thud his head makes when it hits the floor, and lean against the wall for a second. The end of the tunnel is just in front of me, all I would need to do is peak my head around the corner to see the cave.

  I’m almost scared to do so though after that roar earlier, I don’t want to find any of the guys or Annika hurt. I care about all five of them too much to see them injured now. I know I can’t say much since I’m littered with wounds, but I just don’t think I could stomach it.

  Before I get the chance to check for myself though, Morpheus’s smiling face pops around the corner, almost scaring me to death. I hold my hand over my heart, feeling it beating out of my chest, as he comes into the tunnel chuckling at me. He notices the body at my feet and a coldness I haven’t seen before washes over his face.

  He quickly hides it behind another smile, this one not as bright as the first and it doesn’t last long when he begins to scan my body, noticing all of the blood.

  “Please tell me that blood not yours, kitten.”

  “Ah, yeah, I can’t do that. Before you go all me man you woman bullshit though, do you mind helping me get this asshole back into the cave. He’s the leader of the cult.”

  He looks down at Marcus’s body with a shrug, but when he grabs him and gets a closer look at his face, a growl rumbles its way out of him as his eyes flick to me.

  “Isn’t this that douchebag client that we saw at your office?”

  Rubbing my hand down my face, I wince at the pain it causes. I really don't want to have to explain to him what I know now and see the hate in his eyes just yet. So avoiding his eyes, I tell him.

  “Yeah, I’ll explain everything I found out once we’re with the others.. I’m sure we still have a lot of work to do to get the Fae in their home to their families.”

  He studies me for another minute, his gaze burning a hole in the side of my head, obviously reluctant to let it go. Knowing there’s not much else that I can do, I turn back to him, pleading with him with my eyes to let it go for now. IT’s probably pity at how pathetic I look, exhaustion weighing me down, covered in my own blood, that finally makes his mind up for him.

  He grabs Marcus under his arms and goes to drag him on his own. Reaching my hand out and placing it on his arm, I stop him from moving, leaning down to grab his legs. This mess is partly my fault, so It should be my job to help clear it up. As Marcus jostles in our arms, that damned fucking necklace pops out from under his shirt, making me grit my teeth.

  “Should we take that back before he regains consciousness?”

  Morpheus stops, turning back to Marcus, noticing where my eyes have landed. He balances the body with one arm, reaching forwards and ripping the necklace from his neck, drawing blood in the process. I don't even feel bad for him, it’s the least he deserves for everything he has done. He doesn’t say a word to me, causing my heart to sink as I avert my eyes from him.

  I know that I’ve seriously fucked up, but surely he doesn’t think I would help the cult if I knew that’s what I was doing. I know that we haven’t known each other for long, but I thought that I’d shown him that I’m not a bad person. I’ve done absolutely everything I can to stop this shit, and once I found out the part I played, I tried to put it right.

  We continue on in silence, the others finally noticing us as we come through the mouth of the tunnel. They all rush over to us, Elias gently moving me out of the way and taking my place, making me feel even worse. I know that I have to tell them about my connection to this all, but I can’t help the dread that fills my stomach.

  I don’t know what they’re going to think of me after this, but it sure as shit isn’t going to be good. I walk away from them, not ready for the questions that I’m sure they’ll have when Morpheus and Zaphyr fill them in on Marcus being my client. Making my way towards the captives, I busy myself by freeing them from their restraints, taking my time so that I don’t hurt them anymore than they already have been.

  I start with the two children, feeling like shit when they rush towards me, wrapping their tiny arms around my neck. I try my best to comfort them with the first friendly touch they have proba
bly had in a while. I’m a horrible person for my part in their pain, and I don’t think I can ever forgive myself. My eyes fill with tears as I grip them tighter.

  Morpheus catches my eye over their shoulder, and I can see a battle in them while he tries to figure out if I can be trusted, which just twists the knife in deeper. I bury my head into the kid's shoulders, as sobs take over me. How could anyone forgive me for this?

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Cailean

  I watch Melissa closely as the tears stream down her face, the tiny bodies of the children she has helped to free enveloped in her arms. Something tells me that she isn’t crying with the relief of managing to stop the cult on time though. My gaze flicks towards Morpheus, trying to read the thunderous expression on his face, hoping for some clue as to why the atmosphere between him and Melissa is so strained.

  He hasn’t got rid of the puppy dog eyes since he met her, and yet now he’s acting like he doesn’t know if he should trust her. Maybe it’s because we saw her using magic, but we knew she wasn’t fully human, even if we haven’t heard of anyone with her abilities.

  I have a lot of work to do to clean up this mess though, so turning away from the both of them, and look at the body laying at my feet. Waiting for him to regain consciousness. I’m glad that Melissa managed to stop the leader from getting away, because if he had succeeded then it would just mean him starting up another fucking group of radicalists.

  I try my best to think about if I remember him from any past dealings with the cult, but I keep drawing a blank, not that I’m all that surprised. This man was probably a baby the last time that we had any involvement with the cult, so who has been influencing him all of these years.

  Zaphyr begins to make his way towards me after checking on Annika and her captive, and when he looks down at our own prisoner, his eyes widen in recognition. I watch him closely as his eyes flick to Morpheus in question, who just gives him a nod of his head, before he turns to Melissa with suspicion in his eyes.

  My spine stiffens, as I try to work out their reaction to the man, but before I can ask anything, Melissa is rising to her feet. She wipes her eyes on the back of her hands, smearing blood across her face, as she takes a fortifying breath before making her way towards us. She stops in front of me, refusing to meet my eyes, as she slowly drops to her knees, head bowed towards the floor. Her voice is barely a whisper as she says to me.

  “I’m so fucking sorry, I swear I didn’t know”

  “Didn’t know what, Melissa?”

  “I didn’t know that he was a cult member. This is all my fucking fault?”

  I stiffen once more, confused at her words and trying to make sense of them. How does she know this man? Thankfully, she doesn’t leave me long before filling in the blanks. My eyes widen in surprise as she spits her story out, almost too fast for anyone to keep up with, and I feel my hands fisting at my sides.

  She doesn’t leave anything out as she tells me how Marcus came to her to hire her to find the necklace, and how she snuck into my party so she could steal it. I can feel tension radiating from Zaphyr the more she explains, and I look at him out of the side of my eye.

  Melissa tells me how she left with the necklace, not knowing that she was about to hand it over to the leader of the cult, and how she bumped into Zaphyr, which is when she gave him her card. I can stop my anger flaring, knowing that he helped someone to steal from me, but I don’t let it get the best of me, knowing that I would have probably done the same thing to needle at him.

  She tells us about how she was hit over the head while searching the house that Annika led us to and waking up in one of the rooms with Marcus telling her how she was all part of his plan. More tears spring from her eyes, as she confesses her part in this story, looking as though she’s ready to be punished.

  I don’t know what has given her the impression that I would ever hurt her for unknowingly being involved in this shit, but it’s something that really needs cleared up. I can’t have an innocent woman be weighed down with grief and guilt over something that isn’t her fault. Crouching down so that I’m eye level with her, I reach out taking her hand in mine, ignoring how she flinches before relaxing.

  “Melissa, this shit isn’t your fault. Even if you didn’t agree to take the job, he would have just found someone else who would have. You are not responsible for this monster's actions.”

  She warily turns her beautiful mismatched eyes up to look at me with disbelief shining from their depth. I understand why she feels guilty, but we can’t control other people's actions, and she shouldn’t let this dick for brains be the cause of all this self-doubt.

  “But, it’s my fault that you and Zaphyr almost lost so many of your people.”

  “No, it's this pathetic bastard Marcus’s fault. He had already taken almost every Fae in this room before he even reached out to you with the job, remember. Which means he had been planning this for a lot longer. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and were unlucky enough to be the person he chose. That doesn’t make any of this your fault.”

  Her shoulders slump with cautious relief, as she gives me a small smile of thanks, and reminding me just how lovely she truly is. This woman has such a strong heart, even if she doesn’t realize it herself.

  “Thanks Cailean, but I don’t really understand how you could forgive me for my part in this, I sure as hell can’t forgive myself.”

  “You will come to terms with all of this in time. Anyway, we can talk later about how you stole from me, it seems we have a lot to work out, which means we will be seeing a lot more of each other.”

  The shock on her face causes a grin to spread across mine as I give her a wink to show that I’m not truly angry at her. I’m actually looking forward to talking to her about how she managed to pull it off. She could probably help us bolster security so something like this doesn’t happen again. So maybe it’s a good thing that all of this happened the way that it did, I sure as fuck ain’t going to complain.

  Zaphyr comes up the other side of us, causing Melissa to stiffen all over again, and I send him a scathing look that does nothing but make him roll his eyes at me. I can’t stop the chuckle that slips out of me, glad that we took this opportunity to work together. Maybe this could be good for all of us.

  Melissa only took the job that Marcus gave her because she was short on money. But we are never out of mysteries that need solved, so this could be a very lucrative relationship for us. She has shown just how good she is at this job, so now it's just time for us to let her know that. Zaphyr takes his turn to reassure her that she has done nothing wrong as I’m distracted by the low moan coming from the piece of shit laying on the ground beside me.

  I turn towards him, leaving Zaphyr to comfort Melissa, and watch as his eyes slowly open, taking in everything around him. At first he doesn’t seem to notice the danger that he’s in, but that doesn’t last long. When he finally notices me looming over him, he lets out a high pitched squeak, scurrying backwards away from me, and drawing everyone's attention.

  He frantically looks around, taking in the carnage around him, and his whole body begins to shake as he realizes he’s on his own this time. Even the little Witch sitting with Annika refuses to look his way, obviously having had enough of this guy's shit. When your own people turn their back on you when you need them the most, it really is a true testament of the kind of person you are.

  “There is no point trying to fight this Marcus. As much as I would love to dole out your punishment myself, there is already an escort on their way to transport you to Faerie. There you will stand trial, and the kings will be the one to choose your punishment.”

  I watch as the grown man in front of me dissolves into hiccuping tears, curling into a ball as if that could protect him from what is to come. He was a fool if he thought that he would just walk free from something this serious. My father can be a cruel man, and a lot of the time I don’t agree with his decisions, but this bastard deserves everything t
hat he gets.

  I motion Elias over to me, telling him to watch our captive, before heading over to the group of Fae who haven’t moved since their restraints began getting released. I can see that some of them are still bound, so before addressing them, I make my way around the group, letting the rest of them go.

  I walk to the front of their group, feeling their eyes watching my every move, and I can’t blame them. I can’t imagine what they’ve been through since they were taken, but by their bedraggled appearance, I know that it wasn’t easy. If this had happened before we had all met Melissa, I would have immediately separated my people from Zaph’s, but now I realize how stupid that is.

  I doubt these Fae see any differences between themselves anymore, and I’m not going to force them apart when they are gaining comfort from their fellow captives. My job as their prince is to help them, not make the situation any worse than it is.

  “I’m sorry that it took us so long to find you all, but no one is going to hurt you anymore. If you go over to Morpheus and tell him your name, if he doesn’t already know it, then he will begin to contact your families so you can go home. The kings may call for your presence for the trial, but it shouldn’t come to that.”

  A few of the stronger Fae help those that can barely lift themselves from the ground, helping them to follow my request. I know that this won’t be a quick job, but knowing that they are all finally safe, I can feel a burst of energy filling me. I can only thank Danu that we made it in time.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Melissa

  Two Month Later

  I lean back in my office chair, taking a deep breath as I rub my hand down my face. I haven’t been sleeping much since I returned home after rescuing the Fae, and the exhaustion is really starting to get to me. I know that the guys don’t blame me for what happened, but that doesn’t change the guilt that’s been swallowing me whole.