Page 38 of Marked By the Dark Lord
My head snapped up just in time to see his lips curl in a knowing grin. I stumbled as a wave of heat rolled through my body at that evil, taunting smile, moving out from the middle until all my lips burned. One with the memory of his kiss and what his mouth had felt like, the other with a nearly unceasing need to feel it for the first time.
He snatched my wrist, stopping me from flailing further, although the press of his fingers on my flesh sent goosebumps along my arm and spine.
“Come,” he commanded, gesturing with his head to indicate the hole in the cliffs ahead while somehow managing to make the word soundfarmore loaded. As if I could do that with a simple word from him. Nobody was that good.
I gathered my balance, tried to do the same with my composure, and stumped up the slope, leaving stupid-sexy-Korr’ok behind. Why did he have to be so alluring, despite his clearly inhuman origins? I mean, I’d seen black people before,but they had human skin that was simply black. Korr’ok’s skin was almost a shiny metal. But it was warm. And soft.
I tried not to think about that. Instead, I shifted gears, forcing my sex-addled brain to think about escaping his clutches rather than jumping into them with no clothes. We were going back to Earth. To my home. It would be my chance to lose him. To find a way to leave that scary world far, far behind.
“How does anyone not notice?” I asked as Korr’ok waved away the false rock deep within the cliffs, returning us to the caverns behind the Falls, the sound of a tour guide speaking to his group reaching our ears. “Won’t they notice us suddenly step out of nowhere?”
“No. Humans are, in general, oblivious. Their minds will seek the easiest and simplest explanation for a situation. They will just assume they must have missed us before, that we were there all along.”
“Yeah, that might work for me,” I said, glancing back at him. “But what about your hor …”
The Korr’ok who stood behind me was not the one I was used to dealing with. While still quite tall, he’d shrunk to a much more reasonable stature that was only perhaps a few inches over six feet instead of closer to seven. Muchmoreremarkable, however, was the fact that his horns were gone. Not covered butgone.
“Well, isn’tthatconvenient,” I said, reaching up to wave my hand through the space over his head, only to feel empty air. They were gone-gone, not just invisible. “I guess that could make this a bit easier. But your eyes … okay, fine, showoff.”
His eyes had still been glowing red, but they rapidly cooled to a dark brown, concealing all trace of his inhuman heritage. Even his skin took on a more natural texture to it.
We joined the tour group at the back. A few people glanced at us as if surprised, but as Korr’ok had predicted, they quickly dismissed us, focusing instead on the tour guide.
“Does the sun ever set back there?” I asked under my breath once we emerged from the tourist center to see that the sun was low on the horizon.
“No. It is fixed. Come, we must hurry. Too much time has already passed,” he said cryptically, refusing to elaborate when I pressed him.
I did as ordered, trying to shove aside the continued gnawing at my insides. The fact that Korr’ok was keeping me in the dark did not sit well. Had I done something even worse? Would I be sent back to jail when they discovered what had actually happened that night? I didn’t know, and it ate at me.
The Green Line bus approached, and Korr’ok indicated we should get on it. It would take us up along the edge of the river, past the Clifton Hill tourist area, and toward the downtown, where I had made my home for the last decade or so.
Back to where the nightmare had begun.
As we climbed on, the bus driver nodded at Korr’ok, who tilted his head in response.
“What was that all about?” I asked, flicking my eyes back toward the front of the bus as we found a place to stand, all the seats already occupied.
“Tinsley is a fire elemental disguised as a human,” he replied from the corner of his mouth. “He has been on Earth for a long time. He enjoys watching humans. They constantly change, from second to second, and that pleases his inner self. He finds it relaxing.”
“Oh.” I frowned. “Are there many like that?”
Korr’ok nodded slowly. “Yes. Niagara Falls is a locus point for the … for my world,” he said, choosing his words wisely given the nearby people. “The biggest in the northern half of this continent. Not as large as New Orleans, for example, but bigger than any of the other northern hubs, mainly because of The Place Behind. You will find that there are many here who are … aware.”
I sat back, wondering who else I’d interacted with over the years that might not have been human. There were so many weirdos. Someof them had to be that way because they were magical and not moronic … right?
The bus jerked into motion, every second drawing us closer to the bakery and what we would find there. Several days had passed, and I didn’t know what to expect. Had Lily survived? Was she still there?
More people got on with each stop as we approached Clifton Hill. Tourist mecca. I licked my lips, a plan suddenly forming.
When the automated voice announced our stop, what seemed likeeveryonestarted heading toward the exit. It was simple. I let go of the pole and let myself be swept away before Korr’ok could react.
Once I was free, I ducked around people, moving swiftly through the crowd. If I could make it to the hill, I would be able to lose him in the crowd easily. It was my home. I knew every nook, every cranny, every place to dart around a corner and be out of sight.
No more prison. No more punishment. Nothing. I was—
I hissed as my breastbone suddenly grew warm. That couldn’t be a good sign. I hurried up the hill, but each step grew harder than the last. I glanced back, but without his red eyes or horns, Korr’ok was much harder to spot in the growing gloom of thepost-sunset hour. I didn’t immediately see him, but that didn’t mean much.
The heat intensified, stiffening the muscles in my body as I went. Eventually, I was forced to move off the sidewalk for fear that I wouldn’t be able to take another step and I might be knocked down. So, I stood in the shadow of the wax museum, struggling against the heat shutting my body down.
