Page 32 of Marked By Night

“Absolutely not,” I say, venom dripping from every syllable.

“You realize I’m the most powerful female Weaver around, right? I literally have six other Circle’s lined up ready to go, but I chose yours.”

I roll my eyes. Like that’s supposed to convince us.

“The little whore who’s been sniffing around you all night will no longer be of consequence soon.”

I study the glee reflected in her eyes. She’s done something, but I’m not sure what.

My spine stiffens, but I make sure not to display any outward signs. She’s a shark and they can sniff blood in the water from miles away. There is no way I’m giving her any ammo to use against us, or Sadie.

Calm down, Dante. Don’t let the anger consume you.

“What have you done?” Kaos demands, tension riding his body, and every word he speaks.

“Oh, nothing.” Savannah’s eyes flash dangerously before she suppresses it, pasting a brilliant smile across her face, but I’m no fool. I caught the darkness hiding beneath.

When we don’t speak, she folds her arms over her chest and sighs. “Why are we even still talking about her? You should be worried about your Link instead of some lowly bitch who doesn’t matter in the slightest. Her power is nothing compared to mine.”

“You’ll never be our Link as long as I have a say, Savannah.”

“Watch yourself, Dante,” she says, leaning in close to whisper against the shell of my ear. “I hold the power to destroy your pretty new toy in my hands. We don’t want that, now do we?” She kisses my cheek before sauntering off without another word. Her kiss leaves my skin crawling with unease.

“Do you think she’s bluffing?” I ask, rubbing my hand across my cheek to wipe away the feeling, but sadly, it does nothing.

“No,” he responds simply. “But we will deal with her when the time comes.”

A trickle of fear slides under my skin, burrowing inside my chest like a warning. Like an omen.

Kaos starts rubbing at his chest in the same spot as mine. “Do you feel that?” he asks.

Then the fear hits me full force, like a train slamming into the side of a vehicle left on its tracks. A familiar presence niggles the edges of my mind and I know something is wrong with Sadie. Dammit! We let Savannah distract us enough to let our guard down. Knowing her, that was the point. Savannah is nothing if not conniving, and I will kill her my damn self if something happens to Sadie.

Wait… her energy is in my head and that can only mean one thing.

She’s my mate!

Our mate.

There’s no denying it now and it would explain Elian’s weird behavior earlier. The self-destructive moron already knows. Elation fills me, chipping away at the rotten layers around my heart. I’m so excited that I’m almost giddy, until I round the corner, and then all I can see is red. So much fucking red it bleeds into my vision, fueling the fire within my soul. Fucking hell, this girl is something else.

No one touches our mate without losing a body part. Or their life.

I reach inside myself, feeling for the place in the center of my chest that I know my magic rests. Flames burst to life in my palms as I fling a ball of my fire magic at the man holding Sadie. At the last second, I flick my wrist and it breaks apart, only to come back together, encasing him in a perfect circle. I leave barely an inch of space between him and the flames, likely singeing him, but I don’t care. That slimy motherfucker was stupid enough to put his hands on my mate.

A vicious snarl breaks free from my chest. He’s a dead man walking. Consequences be damned. Although, he’s smart enough to freeze, recognizing if he moves that my magic will incinerate him.

I stalk toward him, flames blazing, murder on my mind. He sends a gust of air at my flames, but nothing happens. Unfortunately for him, I’m one of the strongest fire Weavers out there, if not the strongest. It’ll take more than a weak-ass blast to extinguish my magic. Our eyes connect and his widen as mine harden.

Ahh, there it is. Fear.

How?he mouths and tries to run away, but it’s futile.

One second, I’m at the end of the hallway and the next I’m using my extra speed to latch on to his arm, tossing him away from Sadie. He sails down the hall, gliding across the pavement before landing in a boneless heap.

The asshole was such a weakling that his power didn’t register on my radar until now. Still, I should’ve known. I’ll need to be more careful in the future because our kind has the lowest morals. Thanks to our good-for-nothing Elders reinforcing the sick and twisted behaviors.

We all have our issues—especially me and Elian—but the Elders? They’re some of the most corrupt, vile monsters I’ve ever met in my life. I’m ashamed to be a part of the same society they run. Thank the Goddess Kaos’s family was our Circle household. They raised us to believe in the old ways even though they were ridiculed for it.

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