Page 75 of Marked
I whirl to find Ruin and Caine backlit by the hall light. Ruin’s eyes glow like small suns and Caine has twin orbs of crimson hellfire in his palms. They start forward.
I plant myself in front of Larry, hand up. “Ruin. No.”
He glares at me. “Don’t defendhim. You got bit because of his fucking games.”
“Bit?” Larry asks, confused. “By who?”
Ruin’s livid gaze tracks back to the druid and locks there with a world of pain waiting to be delivered onto the smaller man.
“Larry, not helping,” I hiss and lunge to push at Ruin’s still approaching form. My boots skid over the floor. “Ruin. It wasn’t what you think. Larry didn’t want to hurt me. But there was a guy ... A guy at Carnage in a hood and a mask. I think it was Vlad.”
That stops him.
He looks from me to the druid and back, as some of the gold light fades. “What?”
I sag as my arms give out from trying to keep him back.
Holy hell he’s strong.
My head drops to his sternum as I try to control my erratic breathing. “Larry tracked the charm to Carnage.” I peer up at the hard line of his jaw, and he stares right back. “There was someone else there with us. And I think it was Vlad.”
Chapter 33
Ruin
I listen as the druid lays out everything from Carnage. And as much as I hate it, I believe him.
Damn it.
It’s more than the kid’s innocent face, it’s the steady rhythm of his heart and every scared but honest breath.
I stand and move off, scrubbing my hand through my hair.
“Theories?” Gage asks as he steps to my side, arms folded over his chest. The warrior may be as unhappy about all of this as I am.
Larry was a target. Someone to focus on. And that just got blown to hell.
“Not any that I like,” I mutter. “This is fucking ridiculous. Lilah said she has never even seen Vlad. So why is he coming after her like this?”
“Maybe she has seen him and doesn’t realize it,” he says. “We caught a glimpse of dark hair and a suit. Didn’t Interpol have him listed as blond?”
I dip my head in a jerky nod. “Yeah, but boxes of color are a few bucks at the market. Fucker probably changed his appearance as fast as he could. There’s no telling what he looks like now. But see if you can get the file on the bastard anyway. It would be nice to have something to go on besides flashes of his profile and grainy security footage.”
“I’ll have T get on it as soon as he can.” He glances back across the room. “Do you think the Druid’s magick is what you saw outside of Carnage?”
My eyes trail over the orange haired man perched solemnly in one of the dining hall chairs. “Most like, yeah. But the figure I saw was in dark clothes. And he was fast. Too fast to be human.”
Gage paces a little. “Larry said the mask-guy chased him. Maybe you caught the tail end of the guy’s back when the druid had to teleport. But that would make our dark-clad friend an alpha. Be he vampire, shifter, or whatever.”
I glance over. “Is there an alpha in the Fae world?”
He smirks. “Yeah, asshole. And you’re looking at him.”
I flip him off.
His grin fades into something mild. “Don’t look now, but I think your dinner date cancelled.”
My head turns and I catch sight of Lilah curled up on the low stage. Her cheek is pillowed on one arm and her voluptuous body is arched inward. And she’s so beautiful it makes my heart hurt.
