Page 10 of Shadow Kissed (Marked by Blood 1)

“I’m the one with powers here and a gun, so you can try.”

“You’re only putting yourself in danger by being out there. You don’t know anything about fighting vampires. You’ll only cost more of us our lives.”

A pain ripped through my chest as the truth tore through me. I opened my mouth to argue, but shame swallowed my words.

“Give me the gun, Livi. We both know you’re not going to shoot me.”

Tears ran down my cheeks as I threw the gun at him, sniffing back a sob which bubbled in my throat.

“I’ll be back soon.” He tucked the gun into his waistband and shook his head as he passed me on the way to the door. “If you try to force your way out of this room, so help me, Olivia, I will have to stop you.”

My fists balled at my sides. “If you leave me in here, Draven, you can kiss our friendship goodbye. I’ll never forgive you for this.” The words bit harshly from my tongue.

A muscle in his jaw feathered. “Now that? That hurt more than any gun,” he said and left the room.

The door clicked shut, and I dropped to my knees, sobbing into my open palms.

THREE

I awoke from a sleep plagued with nightmares of monsters with soulless eyes and sharp fangs. My mom had been one of them. Sitting upright, I shuddered away from the thought, sweat soaking through my nightgown.

Fumbling in the dark, I found the smooth metal switch and flicked the fluorescent white lights on. I shielded my eyes as they adjusted to the brightness, and the truth blasted through my sleep-hazed mind: my mom was gone. But she wasn’t dead, not yet anyway. I assumed they wouldn’t turn her because then she’d be useless to them. It’s impossible to be both sorceress and vampire. Once turned, she’d lose her magic, and that’s what the vampires wanted from us.

Right now, she was probably waking up in Sanmorte, surrounded by monsters. The idea of her being alone in a place where no mortals ever returned from made my throat close. Panic coiled around my core, stealing my next breath. I grasped at my throat, feeling heat creeping up my chest, then checked my phone on the off chance she’d contacted me, but it was dead. My stomach rumbled, but nausea overpowered the growing hunger. I looked around, but there were no windows to tell me what time of the day it was.

I climbed out of bed, careful not to bump my head on the rail of the top bunk, and dropped onto the cold floor. Before I lost my mind, I uncurled my fingers and stared at my palms. I had to get out of here to at least attempt to save my mom. Being a sorceress was pointless if I couldn’t use my powers to save her when she needed me most.

All our practice sessions flitted through my mind as I searched the fragments of important information for something that would help, but that information threaded into a dozen thoughts, mixing the information together. I closed my eyes, focusing on the energy around me, but everything felt scattered. Being able to feel everything had hindered me in the past and broke my concentration when using my powers. I’d spent years trying to block other people’s emotions, which I’d achieved. It was probably the only thing I had been successful at.

It felt wrong being stuck down here while others died to protect me, when I was useless with my magic. I could help the guild like my mom, or assist the royal family like other sorcerers did, but my magic didn’t work properly.

We were descended from gods and mortals and valued by society. My mom was a perfect example of everything a sorceress should be—powerful and wise.

Closing my eyes, I willed for my powers to surface, hoping for a flicker of some magic I could use to get out of this damn bunker. In here, I was no help to my mom, and I wasn’t sure what I could do once I got out, but at least it wouldn’t involve sitting around and doing nothing.

I stared at the lock until my eyes burned and my nails bit into my skin. My heart pounded as I let out the breath I’d been holding. Nothing happened. It was worse than a year ago when I could produce some glimmer of magic.

Staring at the marks on my palm, I slumped back on my bed. Then, pressing my forehead against my knuckles, I let out a scream behind closed lips, feeling it vibrate in my throat. Astor was dead, my mom was gone, and Draven probably hated me.

In two weeks, I had somehow lost everyone I cared about. My mom always told me not to feel sorry for myself, to keep getting back up when life throws punches, but I wasn’t as strong as her. Grief and pain had chipped what little resilience I had left in me.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been lying there for, curled up under the thin white sheets, when the door finally opened. Draven’s bloodshot eyes met mine. My brows furrowed as a faint ringing fell through the open door. “Is that an alarm?”

“They’ve breached the guild.”

I froze on the spot. “But that’s impossible.”

“It’s not. Someone let them in.” He grabbed my arm, dragging me from the bed. “Get behind me and do as I say, else neither of us are making it out alive.”

Nodding, I pulled my slippers on and grabbed my black jacket from the back of the chair.

He motioned for me to follow as he carefully stepped outside the door, a rifle in his arms. I noticed he had no sword or ax on his belt to slow him down. He didn’t plan on killing any vampires. Instead, he would shoot them, allowing us to escape, for me to get away.

I touched his bicep, hoping the gesture was enough to tell him I was sorry. He flinched but didn’t look back at me. I followed him down the tunnels, peering around him in the low light.

Draven looked over his shoulder, pressing a finger against his lips. Swallowing thickly, I slowed my breathing as much as I could and crept behind him. Even with the alarm, we couldn’t guarantee there wasn’t a vampire in the tunnels who might hear us with their heightened senses.

Draven reminded me of a cat in how he moved; each step was calculated with such grace and poise. We stopped at the joining of two tunnels. I shuddered back against the black metal wall as he looked both ways and behind me. He pointed left, and we rounded the corner. He halted before we could move farther down the tunnel. I caught my next step before I ran into him, pressing my hand against his back. He extended an arm out behind him and shuffled us backward.

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