Page 40 of Marked

Jack holds his hands up as if I’m some spooked, rabid animal. “Hey, it’s okay. Calm down. Tell me what happened just now.”

Gods, he’s so fucking reassuring and he has no idea what I just did to him! I have to do something to fix this. I have to! Ignoring the confused Jack, I whirl towards the mirror, glaring at the black pawprint below my breasts.

Take me to Cerberus.I demand. When nothing happens, I rub hard at the mark, snarling in a panic induced rage. Take me to Cerberus! Now!

“Val?” Jack asks softly, using my nickname to get my attention.

I see him approaching me in the mirror and shake my head. “I’m going to fix this, Jack. I promise.”

His brow furrows. “Fix what? What is going on?”

My bottom lip trembles, but I break my gaze from his in the mirror and sneer at the pawprint again. “Now, damn it!” As soon as the command leaves my lips, I’m tilting sideways to the ground. I can see Jack rushing to catch my body, but my soul has already sunk through the floor.

I crash onto the sands of the Styx, still completely nude. I leap to my feet and whirl around until I see Cerberus. The triplets are standing in almost a straight line, crimson eyes staring at me in a blank expression.

I close the distance between us and grab the lapels of the one in the middle. His gaze turns questioning, as I stare up at him with wide pleading eyes. “I didn’t mean to mark him,” I rush out. “I take it back!”

“You cannot just take back a mark,” he replies. “It doesn’t work that way.”

Tears sting my eyes again. “Please, Cerberus. I had a moment of weakness. It’s not his fault!” I shake him, my desperation mounting.

“This man you are with,” another begins, doing nothing to rebuke me from their triplet. “He is not what you think he is.”

I blink. Do they know what Jack really is? It doesn’t matter. Not right now. Shaking my head, I press on. “It doesn’t matter. Please take back the mark. Please.”

Cerberus stares down at me, mouth tightening so that his lips are pressed in a tight line. “You should stay away from him.”

Anger punches my gut at the warning. Who are they to tell me who I should be with? “Fat chance of that.” I sneer up at him. “I don’t care what you think of him. Of us. I just need you to get rid of the mark I placed on him.”

His red eyes narrow slightly before they all wave a hand simultaneously. “He is not marked.”

I blink, lips parting in surprise. A part of me didn’t think they would actually do it. “Really?”

“Yes.” They answer blandly as the one I’m holding pries my hands off his lapels.

“Thank you,” I murmur.

“There is nothing to thank,” they say as the middle one straightens his suit jacket. “You may go back.”

Before I can reply, they wave their hands again and I’m back in my body.

I gasp loudly, sucking air greedily into my lungs. I thrash for a second until strong arms tighten around me. It takes me a second to realize I’m in Jack’s lap, cradled in his arms. Blinking rapidly, I look up at a seriously pissed off detective. “Jack?” I ask in a rough voice.

“Where?” He demands with bite in his tone. “Where did you go?”

Swallowing at the hard look in his eyes, I try to sit up, but he holds me firmly in place. “What do you mean? I didn’t go anywhere. I just passed out, that’s all. It happens sometimes.”

His lip twitches up in a silent snarl. “Don’t lie to me. I felt your soul leave your body, Valkyrie. You were just a husk.” When I glance away, he grabs my chin and forces my face back towards his. “No more lies. Tell me the truth.”

I lick my lips nervously but can’t look away from him. “I had to fix what I did.”

His brow creases ever so slightly. “I don’t understand. What did you have to fix?”

“I marked you,” I whisper, forcing myself to break eye contact as shame and guilt resurface. “Your soul, rather.”

“That’s not possible,” he says, but I refuse to look at him to truly determine what his tone means. I can’t tell if it’s disbelief or certainty.

“It is,” I mumble. “I’m…”

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