Page 57 of Marked By Night

I refuse to go down like this. I’m no one’s prisoner. A fire surges to life in my belly and I feel the overwhelming urgeto protect them. Even if it’s irrational and crazy to already be this attached. Deep down my soul recognizes them.

My pulse thunders in my ears, drowning out everything else. I take a deep breath, wasting precious seconds to clear my mind as we sail straight toward the Elites. They’re close enough now that I can see the smirks on their faces, thinking they’ve won, and it infuriates me.

Something inside of me snaps and it’s like a levy breaking. Black pulsing wavelengths shoot out from our car in my furious rage. I may not have fully accepted these guys yet, but nobody messes with what’s mine.

The pulsing black smoke reaches the Elites’ vehicles and each windshield shatters. Then the waves toss the cars from the roadway, clearing us a path. They land upside down on either side of the valley.

“Holy fucking shit!” I whoop and cheer as Kaos accelerates and we go sailing past the Elites who are forced to jump out of the way.

Dante makes a weird noise and I find his eyes scanning me like I somehow hold all the secrets to the universe. That’s comical because as much as I wish I could give him any information, I’m as clueless as he is. As they all are, judging by their astonished facial expressions.

The sun crests the hill on the horizon, illuminating the field behind us and a glint catches my attention in the rear-view mirror. I watch as the car that was tailing us screeches to a halt to avoid the black shockwave still wreaking havoc on the Elites.

Amountain of a man steps out and his cold bottomless eyes lock on mine through the mirror. My breath hitches. The man is terrifying. Lethal.Dangerous.

But that’s not the worst part. His eyes are completely dead. It’s as if there’s no emotion or life left whatsoever.

A lead weight settles in my gut. Men like him, like my uncle, well they’re worse than a bloodhound when they get on the trail of something. They don’t stop until they’re forced to, or they find their target. And something tells me that this man right here, this dead-eyed man will continue to chase after us until one of those two options happens.

Shivers of dread trail down my spine but I don’t let any of my unease show on my face. Instead, I give him a small wink and flip him the bird, like I meant to do all of that. Those dead eyes shine, and he smiles but it’s all teeth as he draws an ‘X’ in the air. Then he raises his pointer finger out to me.

A haze starts to descend on my mind and I don’t have much time to think about it because my vision starts to falter, fading in and out.

Eventually, everything goes black, but not before I hear Dante whisper, “I’ve got you, Angel.”

24

Kaos

“What happened? Why did she pass out?” I demand, running my hands down her arm, pushing my magic into her to heal, but nothing happens. Or nothing that I can fix anyway.

“She’ll be fine in a few hours. She merely used too much energy taking out the Elites. From now on we’ll have to watch her, make sure she doesn’t use too much, or she’ll burn herself out.” The talking mutt supplies from the backseat.

“How do you know all of that?” Elian questions before I can get the words out myself. Hmm, does the surly asshole care after all?

“I’m her familiar,” the dog responds, like that explains everything.

“That’s impossible. Familiars are a fucking myth,” Elian replies coldly.

“Ah, that’s what the Elders want you to think. Bedi found me, kept me safe until Sadie met her mates, and was ready for me. That’s when her powers became active.”

But she already had power before meeting us…

I keep those thoughts to myself for now, instead opting to ask the dog, “Who exactly is Bedi?” Elian could argue with a brick wall and that conversation is going nowhere fast.

“Bedi is complicated, and extremely powerful, in case you hadn’t noticed, but no one knows exactly what she is. She has taken an interest in your mate. Which is odd. Normally she’s a recluse, content to live alone in the mountains. We were traveling across the countryside when we crossed paths with her. Sadie doesn’t remember, but Bedi did and she finagled her way into her life.”

Ash leans forward. “Bedi was our neighbor at the duplex. She moved in next to us right after we did. Honestly, she’s like an overprotective grandma to us. Although, she never had a dog…” She trails off, looking to him expectantly.

“Ah, that would be because she kept an Illusion on me. I was there, you just couldn’t see me.”

“This is truly insane,” she whispers and I watch as she leans back against the seat through the rearview mirror, rubbing her temples.

“With all that aside, the real question is; what does Bedi want with Sadie?” Elian inquires, spearing the dog with a deadly look, but if the mutt is concerned, he doesn’t show it. No one knows much about familiars, considering no one has had one in our lifetime. He could be extremely useful for all we know.

“I can’t say for sure. All I know is that she thinks Sadie is important.” The dog shrugs like a human. It’s disconcerting, to say the least.

“I could’ve told you she’s important,” I snap. “She’s the first true Link in years and that makes her a giant fucking target.”

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