Page 6 of Sorcia's Heart
Marcus leaned back in his chair, his expression softening—not entirely, but enough to send a different kind of shiver down her spine.His eyes, usually alight with mischief, now held something heavier, more serious.“You’re in more danger than you realize, Sorcia,” he said, his voice steady but tinged with something almost tender.“And this time, you can’t handle it alone.”
The lasagna, no matter how decadent and perfectly crafted, suddenly turned to ash in her mouth.Her appetite vanished, replaced by a chill that spread through her chest like frost.
Chapter 3
Marcusnodded,hisexpressionunreadable as he cut another bite of lasagna.“I agree.Exceptionally good,” he said casually, though his tone carried an edge of something sharper.He pointed a piece of garlic bread at her like it was a weapon.“Your problem, though, is that someone is pissed off at you.And if you weren’t so preoccupied with whatever’s going on in that pretty head of yours, you’d already recognize the problem for what it is.”
Sorcia froze mid-bite, her fork hovering over her plate.Her green eyes flicked to his, narrowing slightly as if searching for cracks in his confident demeanor.“I’m fine,” she replied, though her voice held a defensive note.
Marcus’s blue eyes darkened, the intensity behind them sharp and unrelenting.He leaned back in his chair, his shoulders rigid with restrained energy.“About six months ago, your friend Jace had a challenge to his leadership, right?”
She hesitated, then slowly cut another bite of lasagna, her movements deliberate.“Yeah.So?”Lifting a chunk of garlic bread, she scooped up some of the tomato and pesto sauce, her jaw tightening slightly.“He’s a wolf shifter.His pack was threatened.Jace dealt with it, and his pack is stronger than ever.”
Marcus’s sigh of impatience was almost a growl.He leaned forward, his elbows braced on the table, the lines of his jaw taut.His fingers began drumming an erratic rhythm against the tabletop, betraying his growing frustration.“I know it’s a secret to others in our world, but I’m aware of the fact that you’re good friends with the head of a shifter wolf pack.You didn’t think the other covens would object?”
His glare sliced across the table, piercing and unrelenting.His lips pressed into a thin line, and his eyes—normally playful, even when serious—now burned with something far more primal.
Sorcia set her fork down with precision, resting her wrists on the edge of the table.Her posture was calm, but her gaze met his head-on, defiance sparking in her green eyes.“What I do to protect and govern my coven is no one else’s business,” she said firmly.But there was an undertone of unease in her voice, a small crack in her confidence that betrayed her awareness of the precarious position she was in.
Marcus didn’t back down.He poured himself more wine, the rich liquid swirling into his glass.The candlelight flickered across his face, accentuating the hard lines of his jaw and the slight clench in his teeth.“Until someone decides that itistheir business,” he countered, his voice low and measured, but with a razor-sharp edge that sent a chill down her spine.
Sorcia’s fingers tightened imperceptibly around her glass, her jaw stiffening.“What are you saying?”she asked, her voice quieter now, as if daring him to say the words she already suspected.
Marcus leaned forward again, his gaze locking onto hers with a protective fierceness that caught her off guard.“I’m saying that someone knows about your alliances.And not just anyone—someone powerful.Someone who’s decided to make a move against you, though what that looks like… we don’t know yet.”
Her stomach twisted, the weight of his words settling heavily in her chest.He wasn’t teasing now, wasn’t trying to needle her for a reaction.This was Marcus in his most serious form—the alpha male who had always fought fiercely for what he cared about.
And in that moment, it hit her.He wasn’t just tracking her alliances because he was nosy or self-righteous.He was keeping track because hecared.Because he didn’t trust anyone else to protect her the way he could.
She swallowed hard, breaking eye contact to glance down at her plate, though her voice remained steady.“I’m not afraid of whoever is challenging me,” she said.
Marcus reached across the table, his hand hovering for a moment before he pulled it back, his restraint palpable.“You should be,” he said softly.“Because they’re coming, Sorcia.For what—or who—I don’t know.But it’s only a matter of time.”
The tension between them hung heavy in the air, an unspoken storm brewing just beneath the surface.And despite her bravado, Sorcia couldn’t shake the feeling that this time, he might be right.
Her eyes narrowed, her voice sharp and demanding.“How do you even know about my friendship with Jace and Viktor?”
“It’s you, Sorcia.I know.”Marcus’s tone dropped, low and grumbly, like distant thunder.His patience was clearly wearing thin, the clipped edge of his words biting.“Not only do I know about your alliance with the other groups, I know that three months ago, your friend Viktor had someone trying to form their own clan right in the middle of his territory.Correct?”
Sorcia stared at him, momentarily thrown.Her green eyes flickered with uncertainty, though she quickly masked it with defiance.“What of it?Viktor dealt with the invader and brought the newly transitioned vampires into his clan.They’re loyal to him now and are thriving.”
Marcus tilted his head, his piercing gaze never leaving hers.“And Cerberus?What happened to him?”
Her fingers tightened slightly around the edge of her plate.“Viktor said that the ancient vampire was ‘taken care of.’”
Marcus’s brow lifted, his expression skeptical.“Taken care of,” he repeated, the weight of his tone making the phrase sound more sinister.“And you didn’t ask how?”
Sorcia’s jaw tensed.“Viktor doesn’t leave loose ends.I didn’t need to ask.”
Marcus leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, his voice dropping lower.“Sorcia, you felt it, didn’t you?That day.Something shifted in thesphaera—a ripple, faint but unmistakable.Almost like someone was there… and then gone.”
Her stomach churned as the memory surfaced.She hadn’t spoken of it to anyone, not even Viktor.“I thought it was nothing,” she admitted reluctantly, though her tone was defensive.“Just an anomaly.”
Marcus shook his head, his eyes narrowing.“It wasn’t nothing.Someone was watching—testing, maybe.Cerberus might have been a pawn, but whoever’s behind this knows what they’re doing.First Cerberus, then the others trying to splinter Jace’s pack.You can’t tell me that’s coincidence.”
Her defiance faltered, the knot in her stomach tightening.“What are you saying?That this is coordinated?”
He exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening as his blue eyes locked onto hers with unrelenting intensity.“I’m saying that maybe someone’s targeting your alliance.Perhaps they have just been poking at it, looking for weak points.And they’re not finished.”
