Page 45 of Marked By Night

The second driver opens the door and bails, rolling across the pavement. Then the SUV explodes, sending shrapnel in every direction. Luckily, no humans are around to get hurt. This stretch of highway is relatively deserted. Still, I disguise the Blazer into the surroundings in case any drive by.

“Hell yeah!” I whoop, patting Vinson on the back. “You did well. I’ll talk to the others about increasing your pay.” The man deserves a raise after this.

“Thank you, sir. I’d appreciate that.”

I clear my throat, trying to make my voice sound businesslike. “I trust you’ll dispose of the body in the trunk and bring the live one back to base for questioning after you get rid of the limo?”

“Yes, sir. Go. I’ve got this,” he assures me while not taking his eyes off the road. I don’t need to be told twice.

Closing my eyes, I once again imagine the silvery cords of my magic, but this time I picture the threads that connect me to my Circle. When I find the silver thread that connects me to Elian, I tug on his string, borrowing his ability to walk through the shadows. Elian can, and will, yell at me for it afterward; after I get to Sadie and make sure she’s okay.

Sadly, it weakens the borrower when we use our other Circle members’ magic, but this is an emergency. We only use it in dire situations and I think this classifies as dire.

When I pop back into existence again, it’s right beside Sadie. She jumps, clutching her chest with one hand and her switchblade with the other. Smart girl. She’s always prepared.

“Feeling stabby, are we, Angel?”

“For the love of fuck, you guys have got to stop doing that! I’m going to have to put bells on you or else you might actually get stabbed!”

And I don’t doubt she would for a second.

This girl. She’s going to give us a run for our money, I already know it. I’m one hundred percent looking forward to it. I’d give up my entire fortune for her if that’s what it takes. The Kings take care of our own. Even if she’s still fighting it, she’s one of us now.

21

Sadie

Ican sense something is off as soon as I pull off onto the little suburban street that leads to our duplex. All the hair on my body stands on end and my spine stings with a thousand little pinpricks warning me there’s trouble nearby.

While I wait for Dante, I circle our block twice and try to scope out the scene. Nothing out of the ordinary jumps out at me as I make another loop. Yet my internal alarm continues to make my neck and spine ache with dread.

Where the hell is he?

On one hand, I want to take a stand and make sure these jerks know that no one messes with Sadie Sinclair. But on the other, they have magical abilities beyond my comprehension, and I’d be an idiot to fly into this blind.

“I figured he would have pulled in right behind us,” Ash says, voicing my thoughts aloud.

“Me too,” I say quietly.

Time feels like it’s ticking in an invisible hourglass and I can’t afford to wait any longer. My intuition is driving me to make a move and every nerve ending in my body feels like a live wire getting ready to snap.

Wrenching my car into our assigned space, I sigh. “I want you to stay here. I’m going to run in and grab our stuff. Do you still have your go-bag packed?”

“Forget it. Let’s leave. Or wait for Dante to get here, but don’t go in alone, babe.”

With a sigh, I take my phone out of my pocket and go back to my recent calls. The last call went out to Dante and hopefully, he’ll answer. The contact name for himself makes me smirk.Blondie.

It rings and rings, and the noise sounds deafening in my ears, rivaling my racing heart.Come on, come on. Pick up.The line clicks and the voicemail lady starts talking. Stupid robotic bitch. Then of course my phone beeps signaling it’s dead.

“Fuck!” I curse. “I have to, Ash. We can’t wait any longer and he’s not responding. Where is your bag?”

“Under my bed,” she pauses, grabbing my hand. “Look, I was going to tell you tomorrow, but I have a thousand dollars saved.”

I gape at her. “You havehowmuch? Why the hell did you need me to cover your half of rent last month? I had to pull a bunch of doubles! You know how much I hate putting up with that place.”

She shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I’ve been working two jobs, plus I wanted that new eyeshadow pallet that came out last month.”

My eye twitches, but a flash of light reminds me why we’re here.

---