by Rinna Ford
"No! Emelia!" I heard Ronan yell out loud, followed by the sound of swords clashing together. I glanced over to see him fighting one of the men from the Council, and I stopped what I was doing in shock.
The other man didn't hesitate, though, and had his hand wrapped around my throat and shoved me against a nearby tree.
"Half-breed scum," he spat. "Councilman Ironshot will thoroughly enjoy executing you and I will get the notoriety I need. You've made it all too easy!"
I was gasping for air when I remembered that I wasn't a hapless human anymore. I reached my hand out and asked for help. I knew from Devlin that the sword that the caster had was unique to him and I couldn't take it from him, no matter what I did, so calling for it wasn't an option. But, I should be able to manifest my own. All casters could.
I reached out and willed a weapon to appear with all my might, but nothing happened. I started losing consciousness, and when I felt as if I were going to pass out for the second time that day, something cool and solid formed in my hand. It was smaller and lighter than I had anticipated, but I didn't hesitate to use it.
When my hand was completely wrapped around the hilt, I jammed it straight up and into the stomach of my attacker. My dragon, not to be outdone, half-changed my other hand into dragon claws. As the caster stumbled back, I swiped at his throat, spilling his precious blood onto the ground.
With a scream like a battle cry, I took the dagger out of his abdomen and the man fell to his knees. The dagger changed, growing longer until it was long and slim, appearing as a samurai sword, and I swiped it forward, severing his head completely from his body.
Ronan stood there in awe, his once pristine clothes covered in blood like mine. He had dispatched the other caster and looked as though he was coming to help me, but witnessed my brutality instead.
"That was fucking amazing," he smiled. He strode forward and kissed me again. "You’re incredible," he murmured against my lips. My weapon disappeared, as did my dragon claws since the danger had passed, and I held onto him as if my life depended on it.
Ronan kissed me once more, then pulled away. "Emelia, I didn't lie. I didn’t set you up. You have to believe me."
"It's not that simple, Ronan," I told him, and put my forehead against his. "You know that probably better than I do. We’re on opposite sides. Besides, I'm already bonded to Xander. I have two mates! How could we make that work?"
"Let the beast and I figure that out." he smiled. "I may be conflicted about a lot of things, but I know that I want you. Don’t ever doubt that.”
“For power?” I asked. “Is that why you need me? Don’t you dare lie either!”
He chuckled. “You’ll just have to wait and find out, won’t you? Go, Emelia. I promise I'll find you again, and next time, I'm not letting go. Councilman Ironshot is going to be asking questions, and you need to get far away from here before he gets the chance."
I pulled away. "What are you going to say?"
He smiled his cocky smile that was actually a little charming when I wasn’t hating him. "Don't you worry your pretty little head, I promise, I'll be alright. I've got a plan. Nothing will happen to me and it won’t entirely blowback on you either." He pushed me away with gentle hands. "I promise. Just go!"
I backed away, my desire to stay with him was fighting with my instincts to run, but eventually, my head won out and I turned and ran back toward the house. I approached it from the right side, coming around toward the front of the house. Xan rushed out the front door, his hands balled into fists, on alert as if he were looking for the fight. I stayed hidden behind the bush until I made sure that he was alone, and then I took off running toward him. He saw me coming out of the corner of his eye and whipped his head in my direction. I dove into his arms, nearly knocking him back.
"Emi, what the hell happened?!" he blurted out. He pulled me back and took in my blood-soaked clothes. "Tell me!"
"Xan, we need to go!” I exclaimed. I held out my hand and called for the bag I packed for him as well as his car keys, both appearing in my hands. I shoved the bag in his hand and started heading for his car.
Just as I unlocked the car, Chei Yun, Della, and Lucia came out the door. Della and Lucia stared at me in shock while Chei Yun continued on his path toward us.
"What happened?" he asked.
My dragon growled, making me growl right alongside her. "You sent them after me, didn't you?"
He calmly shook his head. "I did not. I saw them leave but I did not send them after you, I swear to you as one dragon shiftier to another."
"What's going on?" Xan repeated, getting more and more agitated.
"I ran off after my conversation with Lucia, and her escorts came after me. Xan, they knew who I was! We need to go!"
“Mark heard our conversation, at least part of it,” Lucia quietly admitted. “I’m sorry, Emelia, but I couldn’t stop them! They called Michael, and he told them to capture you!”
Without a word, he began to half-shift and turned to walk in the direction I came from. "I'll destroy them!" he growled.
"They've already been taken care of! But more people from the Council are bound to come."
“I don’t understand,” Della interjected. She looked at her mate. “Chei Yun, what’s going on?”
“My name is not Anne,” I said to her, “it’s Emelia.” Her eyes went from panicked to something softer and she turned to Lucia.
“Your daughter?”
Lucia nodded and looked down at her clasped hands.
“I’m sorry that I lied to you, Della,” I told her, “but Xan and I need to go. I’m sure Lucia or Chei Yun can tell you the rest, and I hope that you can forgive me, and even accept me as I am.”
“Of course, mon ange.” She took my hand in hers and gave me a small smile. “One day soon, you will tell me everything about you, the real you, and I cannot wait.” She then turned to her husband and stared him down, anger flashing in her eyes.
"Where in the woods are they?" Chei Yun asked, trying to change the subject. "I promise, Emelia, I am on your side." I looked into his eyes to determine his intentions, and he seemed genuine. "Doing what I did to you and your father has been the biggest regret of my life. Please, allow me to do this for you now."
"About a mile and half that way." I pointed in the direction I came from. "Ronan is there too, or he was."
"What do you mean he was there?" Xan exclaimed. His dragon features became more pronounced as his anger rose.
"Xan, please! We’ll talk about it down the road, I promise! Please, for me!”
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, allowing his dragon to recede back until he was just my Xan again. I forced a small smile for everyone, including Lucia and walked back toward the car when Chei Yun stopped us.
"Take the car in the garage,” he said to Xander. “It isn't registered to you, so it will be harder to track." Xan clapped his father on the shoulder and jogged over to the garage, putting in a code on the side. Once the door was completely opened, he hopped in a large muscle car and backed it out, rolled down the windows and stopped near where we were standing.
"Thanks, Dad," he told Chei Yun. "Emi, let's go," He said as he pushed open the passenger door.
"Take care of yourselves," I said to them, and slid into the front seat, closing the door behind me. Before I had a chance to even look for a seat belt, Xan was backing down the driveway.
We drove in silence as we headed back through town and onto the open road. Once we were passed most of the traffic, I threw my bag into the backseat and climbed over after it. Xan glanced back, but when he realized I was changing my clothes, he turned his attention back to the road.
"What exactly happened back there?" he asked, and I knew he was asking about the two escorts, but mostly about Ronan. How did I tell him that I cheated on him? Since getting away from the pull I felt toward my caster mate, that's what it felt like. Cheating.
I opened my backpack and pulled out the first change of clothes I could find, my h
and brushing against the spell book.
"So much happened, and I don't know how to tell you all of it without you hating me," I admitted.
He sighed as if he already knew. "I could never hate you, Emi. I promise."
I unzipped my boots, taking the ring out, and then pulled the dress up and over my head before putting on a flannel shirt and a new pair of jeans. I slid my mother’s ring onto my finger.
"I felt the nervous mate feeling when I was talking to Lucia, and I took off running away from it. But then, he caught up to me, Xan," I sighed. "He's on our side. At least I think he is." I looked at his eyes in the reflection of the rearview mirror.
"He kissed you, didn't he?" I gulped and nodded my head. "Did he fight you, or fight the other witches?"
"He killed one of the casters and I killed the other. Xan, he let me go."
He sighed again. "You know, he'll probably blame you for both deaths and play dumb so he won't get in trouble."
I scrunched my eyebrows as I thought about it. I guessed it was possible, but I didn't think so. "I don't know, Xan. He said he was going to fix things."
"I don't trust him," he grunted as I threw my bag over the seat, and crawled back into the front, next to my mate.
Shaking my head, I smiled. "Regardless of whether or not you trust him, I think I do. But I didn't tell him where we are going if that makes you feel any better."
Xander was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "It does. So, you know where we should go? Because I'm completely out of ideas."
I took the spellbook out of my bag and held it in my lap. "I do,” I told him. Xander glanced toward the book then back to the road. “I know exactly where we should go. California.”
Acknowledgments
Thank you, first and foremost to my family. They are by far my biggest supporters, my biggest cheerleaders. My kids have even started making up and writing their own stories because they love that Mommy does it. For that reason alone, this whole process has become more than worthwhile. They are my inspiration, and I’m excited that I can be that for them too.
Thank you to my Beta readers- Nikki, Shannon, Nathalie, Teresa, and Kayla. Thank you for not making fun of me too much for making Ronan sound like a pirate before I changed it! Your feedback has been very insightful, and I really feel like Curse Marked is a much better book because of you!
Thank you to Nikki, Jenée, and Kassie for being there to bounce ideas off of. It was Nikki’s idea to make The Marked series a Reverse Harem, and I’m thankful that she gave me the idea. Thank you to Poppy and my sprinting friends! You gave me so much motivation to write, even when I had none to begin with. I don’t think I would have finished this book without your support! And Talen, thank you for supporting me and my journey. I love you, friend!
Finally, thank you to the fans. I began writing a year ago because I wanted to not only tell the stories that I had in my head and in my notebooks but because I wanted to help others escape from reality when they needed it. The fact that I can do that for you, and that you love my stories means the world to me! I hope I can continue to do that for years to come!
About the Author
Rinna Ford is a Southern girl that lives in the Midwest USA. She lives with her amazingly sexy husband, two adorable daughters, a lazy dog, and a skittish cat. She loves music, sushi, Game of Thrones, and getting packages in the mail (much to her husband’s dismay). Rinna Ford is the pen name the author uses to write the stories that float around in her head.
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Also by Rinna Ford
The Aurelia Chronicles series
Queen of the Fireflies
Queen of Flames
Deadly Night: A Twisted Christmas Anthology
My Bloodiest Valentine Paranormal Anthology
A Bite of Frost: A Paranormal Romance Anthology