Page 1 of Mark of Love (Love Mark 3)
Mark of Love
Love Mark Series: Book 3
Linda Kage
Mark of Love
Copyright © 2020 by Linda Kage
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses or establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book—except in the case of brief quotations in reviews—may be used, reproduced, or translated without written permission of the author.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Publishing History
Linda Kage, October 2020
Smashwords edition
Credits
Cover & Formatting: Kage Covers
Editor: Summer @ Red Pen Revolution
Proofreader: Shelley @ 2 Book Lovers Reviews
Proofreader: Judy @ Judy’s Proofreading
Created with Vellum
This one’s for Sadie because when I asked her which cover from all my books that she liked best, she picked Mark of Love and started calling it hers. A day later, when a package of paperbacks arrived in the mail, she got so excited, thinking it contained her book, but it didn’t. Because I hadn’t even written the story yet. So I decided to work on it next so Sadie could finally hold her book.
Love you, my sweet and crazy plus totally unique, mermaid- and unicorn-loving little girl!
Prologue
Quilla
THE TENTH REAPING
I clapped my hands over my ears as another scream echoed down the hall, this one louder and closer than the last. It sounded like Mama.
When the cry stopped abruptly, I gave a thick swallow, tucked my knees up to my chest, then squeezed my eyes shut, rocking myself slowly back and forth.
I guess Mama was gone now. Just like Grandpa, Grandma, Daddy, my brother Quatro, and a handful of cousins.
I had just seen them all die.
I’d never witnessed murder before.
And I didn’t want to ever again.
Huddled in the dirt behind the main staircase, I swiped the back of my hand across my upper lip when the slow trickle of something wet slid from my nose. My hand came away red and sticky.
Blood.
