Page 17 of Marked
“What fucking happened?”
Smooth crystal to my lip, my eyes raise to find Markus Alport leaning against the nearest alcove, his face blank.
The reigning King of Eternity appears relaxed at first glance. His pale hair hangs down his shoulders, framing his square-boned face. The tumbler in his hand holds part blood and part whiskey as he swirls it idly. But it’s the icy chips of his topaz gaze that gives me pause.
“My lord—”
“What fucking happened, Ruin?” A trace of the old country’s lilt fills his voice, deepened with his anger.
“Vlad got away.”
His eyes flash. “I’m aware. I want to know how.”
“Carnage was a Haven, my lord—”
“You let the target get away.” His voice is as empty as his expression. “Who knows how long it will take us to locate Vlad again. The drug is dangerous. We need him to find the supplier. I thought I made that clear?”
My shoulders tense. “There was a human woman... A girl, really. She worked there. Her uncle was going to sell her out. In lingerie, Markus. I couldn’t leave her. The last girl had her throat ripped out on stage by one ofourkind.”
There is a gasp, and I turn to find Raina, Markus’s Consort. She stares between her husband and myself. “How horrid,” she breathes, one hand clutching the pale flesh of her neck. “The poor creature, she must be terrified now.”
Considering how pissed she was in the car, I’m not sure terrified is the right word. Homicidal, maybe.
Markus pushes away from the stone wall and walks over to his wife. “Raina, dove. You should not hear this. Not now.” His voice is deeper now, almost rasping. The dark marks on his arms seem to pulse the closer he gets to her.
A sign of their coupling.
She smiles softly, but lays one small hand over the still flat expanse of her stomach. “I’m pregnant, not invalid.”
He chuckles and cups the slim line of her face. “So I see.”
Her almost innocent features watch him in wonder. The expression is so open, so bare, I have to look away.
I down my glass and pour another.
Agile fingers lay over my arm, halting my less than sane intake of liquor. I peer down at Raina. She searches my face, her long gold ringlets framing bright blue eyes. The face may be childlike, but her body is all woman.
“You did the right thing, Ruin,” she says, “helping to get the girl away. Don’t let Markus lie to you, he’s proud too.”
I glance over her shoulder at the man in question. His lips purse. Though he doesn’t disagree, I have known him long enough that his discontent comes through loud and clear.
“We can still track Vlad, my lord. The girl ... I may be able to—” I shake my head. “I can get another lead from her.”
His hawk-like eyes glint in the chandeliers above. “Fine. I want you to question her.” He stalks over the marble floor. “You will get the information any way you need to. And there will be no slip-ups this time.”
My teeth grind.
“Do you understand?” he asks, gaze hardening.
I nod. “Yes, my lord.”
“Good.”
He wraps his arm around Raina’s shoulders and ushers her to the staircase at the far side of the dim room. “Now, dove,” he croons to her. “Allow me to put you to sleep for the day.”
She giggles, the sound fading as they disappear downstairs.
I take another gulp of bourbon and slam the glass down. It cracks, but I leave it sitting and head to the massive oak door next to the stairwell. The keypad flashes as I punch in the code. Ducking inside the tunnel, twin dark shapes break free from the old stone. Gage and Tanner fall into place at my side.
