Incarnate: A Dark Paranormal Romance (The Marked Saga Book 5)

by Bianca Scardoni

  I glared back at her, my fingernails digging little crescents into the palms of my hands. “Even if I knew that, I wouldn’t share it with you.” At this point, I didn’t even want to be sharing the same oxygen as her.

  “Well, do let me know if you figure something out,” she said calmly as though we were trying to decide what to eat for supper. “I’d certainly hate to see my meal tickets go to hell. Which reminds me.” She smiled coolly and then finished off the last sip of her drink before placing the tumbler back on the counter. “Dominic, darling. I’m hungry. Who do you have to eat around here?”

  Dominic cleared his throat as I openly glared at her.

  “I know I didn’t just hear you say that,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

  She looked over at me and squinted. “You are aware that I’m a Revenant, aren’t you?”

  I pursed my lips. “Yup. Super aware.”

  “Then you know how this works, or do you just expect me to starve to death?”

  I pretended to think about it and then said, “The last one. Definitely the last one.”

  Pricilla scowled at me and was about to say something back when Dominic quickly interjected. “I have a full supply of donor blood in the fridge, Pricilla. Help yourself.”

  She gaped at him. “You don’t actually expect me to drink old, bagged blood, do you? Goodness, Dominic. What has she done to you?” She tsk’ed him as though scolding her child. “Please just be a darling and order me a pizza.”

  “A pizza?” I snorted. “What the hell are you going to do with that? Suck the blood out of the pepperoni?”

  “Is she always this daft?” she asked Dominic and then leveled her icy blues on me. “I’m not eating the pizza, you duchess of dimwits. I’ll be eating the pizza boy.”

  “Like hell you will.” This homicidal maniac from god-knows-where had some balls, I’d give her that much, but not even balls of steel could save her from my wrath. “You know what, Pricilla?” I said, schooling my features as I crossed the room. “I really wish you would. I’m just waiting for a reason to turn you into dust.”

  “Are you threatening me, Slayer?” she asked, and I couldn’t help but notice the note of excitement in her voice.

  “Why don’t you pick up that phone and find out.” I slipped my hand into my leather jacket and grabbed a hold of my knife, my body vibrating for a chance to vanquish. The fact that it would be Dominic’s Sire was just icing on the cake.

  Before I could do or say anything more, Dominic was in front of me, stilling my hand. “Angel, please.” You don’t want to do that, he added, speaking privately to my mind. Trust me. “That isn’t necessary. We’re all friends here.”

  My mouth dropped all the way open. Was he protecting me…or her? The fact that I wasn’t sure only pissed me off more. I pushed his hand off me and turned my focus back to Pricilla, waiting to see if she’d make a move.

  “I’m going to pretend that didn’t happen,” she said instead, and while her voice was soft and melodic there was an arctic depth to her eyes that made me shiver. “Just this once.”

  I huffed out a laugh. “Don’t do me any favors, Pricilla. I’m not scared of you.”

  Her eyes flared, thinning for a moment as though she were going to say something back but then decided against it. “I think I’ve had enough for the night. Domi, will you show me to my room?”

  Her room?! My glare slammed into Dominic like a head-on collision. “She’s not sleeping here.”

  “Is that any way to treat a guest?” asked Pricilla, acting as though she were flabbergasted that I wasn’t offering to lend her a pair of my pajamas. “On top of that, I just handed over prime information, and it’s the middle of the night!”

  “And?” Was I supposed to feel sorry for her? “You seem like a capable girl. I’m sure you can find your way home.”

  Her eyes darkened from a beautiful summer blue to the deepest part of a turbulent sea. Something was brewing and I knew I wasn’t going to like it. “Actually, I’m planning on staying in town for a while. I think it’s best for me to stay close until I’m sure you have a handle on this, if you know what I mean,” she added with a mocking wink.

  I clamped my teeth together and turned to Dominic again. “A little help here.”

  His stoic expression remained unmoved, completely unaffected by the horror unfolding before me. “There’s plenty of guestrooms, angel. You know that.”

  My eyes doubled. “That is so not the point,” I ground out, my teeth gnashing against each other like I had lockjaw. I didn’t care if there were four hundred rooms in this damned house. She wasn’t sleeping in a single one of them. Not while I was here. “I am not sleeping under the same roof as a vampire!”

  She snorted beside him. “Do you hear how ridiculous you sound?”

  I chose to ignore her this time, because frankly, I was only making myself look like an ass while she was coming out of this looking all shiny and mentally balanced. “Dominic. Get. Rid. Of. Her.”

  “It’s the middle of the night, angel.”

  I jerked back. “And?”

  “And she’s my Sire,” he said, raising his chin as if to stand firm on his stance. “As well as a very dear friend of mine. I won’t lob her out into the middle of the night for no good reason.”

  Pricilla smiled smugly beside him as my jaw finally unlocked and then went completely slack.

  What in the cold hell was going on?

  I pinched the bridge of my nose in an effort to contain my spiraling emotions. I couldn’t help but feel like I’d been dropped into the middle of a Twilight Zone episode. Was he seriously trying to have a sleepover with his Sire? Was he really oblivious to the fact that I was all kinds of pissed off right now, or did he just not give a damn?

  Nope. Nuh-uh. There was no way that Dominic would willfully choose to upset me over his Sire. This wasn’t like him. Something was going on. I could feel it in my gut…

  With my eyes narrowed in suspicion, I stared back at him for a moment as I tried to read through his calm façade. She had to be forcing his hand somehow. That or she had something over him and was using it against him. Either way, I had to believe that he was letting her stay because he had to, not because he wanted her too. I had to believe that because the alternative was simply impossible to swallow.

  “Is she threatening you?” I asked openly, prompting another snort from Pricilla.

  “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous,” he said and then slipped his hands into his pockets.

  “Ridiculous?” I bit down on my tongue to keep from yelling at him. “I’m ridiculous now?”

  “That’s not what I said, and you know it.” His tone was clipped like I was starting to get on his nerves.

  Wow.

  My heart plummeted into my stomach. A part of me wanted to come right out and give him an ultimatum, to make him pick—me or her—but I clamped my mouth shut and said nothing. In that moment, and maybe for the first time ever, I wasn’t so sure he’d pick me, and I couldn’t stomach hearing him say the words that I knew would gut me.

  “I’m leaving if she stays,” I warned, my words barely above a whisper, my last-ditch effort to get him to speak up, but all he did was watch me with indifference, like it didn’t matter to him how I felt. Like it didn’t matter if I stayed or left.

  I nodded, getting his message loud and clear.

  Well, fuck you too.

  Straightening my back, I turned to Pricilla. And of course, she was already wearing a victorious smile that told me she had known exactly how this was going to play out. Smug bitch. “Like I said, he was mine long before he knew you existed.”

  “I guess you’re right,” I said, unable to even look at Dominic. “Enjoy your night together. I hope you choke on it.”

  And with that, I marched out of the Manor and called myself a taxi, never once bothering to look back at him or his stupid house. It didn’t mater how much it hurt me or how much I’d hoped he would come to his senses and chase after
me. Because he didn’t, and I refused to give him the satisfaction of giving a single damn about it.

  21. PLEASURE AND PAIN

  Thick, flint clouds were roiling in the distance as the taxi weaved its way through the winding neighborhood that would take me back home—to the Blackburn Estate, that is. I hadn’t stepped foot in that house since my uncle died and while I’d vehemently avoided it from the moment I got back to town, I didn’t seem to have another option at the moment.

  As shocked and confused and gutted as I felt about what had just gone down with Dominic, I refused to let even a single tear fall down my cheek. I wouldn’t cry for him. Not for him or for anyone else.

  Coming to a stop at the top of the driveway, I paid what was owed and stepped out of the car. My mind flashed to that first day I arrived in Hollow Hills all those months ago, to my uncle waiting to greet me on the front stoop. Something tugged at my heart as I approached the walkway and gingerly walked up those same steps. It was almost as though I could feel him there with me, standing on his perch to welcome me back home.

  Honestly, the feeling unsettled me.

  Pulling out my key, I unlocked the front door and stepped inside, my back rod-straight and my nerves frayed.

  Without bothering to flick on the lights, I stood in the darkened foyer and pulled in a jagged breath. I had tried to convince myself on the drive over here that I was strong enough to come back here—to be in this house by myself—but now that I was standing there, I wondered if maybe I should’ve chosen to go to a motel instead.

  Ugh. It’s just a stupid house. It doesn’t mean a damn thing, I scolded myself and kicked the door shut behind me.

  But this house was where it all started. Where I’d discovered who I really was and what I had been destined to become. It was where I’d come to know a part of me that I never knew existed. Looking back on everything that happened, on what I’d learned tonight about the Horsemen, it kind of felt kismet that I should find myself back here.

  You know, full circle and all.

  Reaching the top landing of the stairs, I peered around the corner into what used to be my uncle’s office. Everything in the room was either packed away in boxes or covered with white linen as though the house were now occupied by nothing more than a few vagrant ghosts. I supposed in some ways that was true. It certainly wasn’t filled with life anymore.

  That part of the house had died all those months ago with my uncle.

  Backing away from his office, I continued down the hallway until I reached my own bedroom. I pushed open the door and flicked the light switch on only to find my room in a similar state to my uncle’s office. Brisk. Deserted. Filed away.

  My heart felt heavy as I remembered my first day here and how spectacularly big my room felt; how hopeful I had been about my new start. And then I thought back to the first time Trace had come up here to talk to me, and I remembered how much I’d wanted to smack him then…and kiss him.

  I glanced around the room, the memories anchored lifelessly to everything around me, light as a feather yet heavy as a weight. I kicked off my heels and rushed inside, feverishly pulling the sheets from everything, freeing the furniture and all of my memories before rolling the sheets into a ball and then tossing them outside my bedroom door.

  Much better, I thought to myself as I rubbed my palms against my thighs. My phone dinged in my pocket and I quickly pulled it out and read the text—a part of me hoping it was Dominic coming to his senses:

  Just wanted to make sure you got home safe.

  Not recognizing the number, I hit the reply button: Who is this?

  It only took a few seconds for the reply to come in: Sorry. It’s Trace. Got your number from Caleb.

  I wasn’t sure how long I stared down at his name before I finally answered: I’m fine.

  I put my phone in my pocket before pulling it out again to add: Thx for checking.

  My mind was completely spiraling by the time I crawled onto my bed and pressed my head back against the pillow. What happened with Dominic was bad enough without Trace having to make another appearance in my night from hell. But neither of them held a flame to the other thing blacking out my world; the thing that was ripping chasms through my heart: The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse, also known as The Four Thorns in My Ass.

  I wasn’t sure how much of what Pricilla had said was the truth, but I couldn’t deny that it seemed to coincide with everything the Council had told me. Something terrible was heading this way and I knew that somehow, someway, I was going to be tied to the center of it. I always fucking was.

  How did this become my life?

  If only things had worked out differently; if I hadn’t let my blood spill that night and unleashed Lucifer. If I hadn’t allowed the Cloaking spell to be broken. If I hadn’t moved here in the first place…

  My lids felt heavy with the weight of my broken dreams. The chill from the empty house once again seeping into my bones, searching for its home. I turned to my side and curled into myself, mooring myself back to the here and now.

  To my fate.

  To a destiny that followed me like a black cloud of smoke.

  There was no sense in crying over spilled milk or trying to undo what had already been done. That tired fight had left my body a long time ago, and I was better off without it.

  And if Dominic wanted to be with Pricilla, then I was better off without him too.

  I would go to the Council tomorrow, and I’d ready myself to fight whatever was coming. And once that was done, I’d do it all over again the next day, and the day after that until I reached the end of the line. Because I was a Slayer, and this would not break me.

  Nothing would ever break me again.

  I stirred awake sometime later, the remnants of my nightmare clinging to my skin like wet fabric. I couldn’t fully remember what I’d dreamed about; somehow it all seemed disjointed and out of order. But I remembered the fiery red steed as clear as day—the sound of his hooves smacking against the concrete as he racked passed me, his faceless rider armed with vengeance and purpose.

  We are The Four.

  The time is now.

  The rider’s strange words hissed around me like echoes from another time and place. Somehow, I knew it was prophetic. That it was more than just the ramblings of an incoherent dream I couldn’t unchain myself from.

  The horsemen were getting closer.

  A knock sounded on my balcony door, and I gasped, my hand rushing up to my chest to quell my racing heart. I glanced over at the clock and noted it was just after three o’clock in the morning.

  Who in the fresh hell was visiting me at this ungodly hour?

  Climbing off my bed, I cautiously approached the door, almost as though I were expecting the first Horseman to come waltzing in through my patio, horse and all, and then I peered through the glass.

  Okay, so it wasn’t the Horseman, but I was just as stunned to find Dominic standing on the other side. Stunned. Enraged. Same difference.

  I swung the door open and fixed him with a glare. “Can I help you?”

  He slipped his hands into his pockets and said, “We need to talk, angel.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” I smacked my hand against my chest, feigning surprise. “I’m shocked you were able to detach yourself from Pricilla’s ass long enough to make it all the way over here.”

  “Very funny.” His forehead creased as he frowned down at me. “I can explain everything if you just—”

  “Save it,” I said and then went to shut the door in his face, though he kicked his foot out in the nick of time.

  “It isn’t what you think,” he said, forcing the door to stay ajar.

  “Move your foot or I’ll sever it,” I seethed, and I wasn’t kidding either. I totally could. My dagger—if used at just the right angle with just the right amount of force—could easily cut through bone. Shoes and all.

  I’d done it before.

  “Do you remember what I told you about the Sire bond that day
at the hotel?” His eyes were dark and probing, the frown permanently etched between his brows.

  Word for word, but I wasn’t about to let him know that. “Vaguely. Something about a deep bond.”

  He pulled his foot from the door and straightened. “Well, it’s a lot more complicated than that.”

  The despondent look in his eyes made me pause. For just a small second, I dropped my protective wall and allowed our connection. I was immediately hit with pain and frustration—with stomach churning worry.

  It sent a chill straight up my spine.

  “Invite me inside, angel.” His eyes were dark as sin and guarded, like a wall that could no longer be breached.

  A single butterfly fluttered across my heart; a reminder that his invitation, once given, could never again be rescinded. I didn’t need to think it over; I took a small step back and pulled the door open with me. “Come in.”

  His eyes locked on mine as some unknown emotion flickered through them and then he stepped through the door jamb. The smell of decadent chocolate and expensive whiskey wafted over me as he passed, easing my frayed nerves as I took in a lungful of his scent.

  I watched as he glanced around the room, taking everything in, his gaze pausing briefly on my bed before returning to me. Without taking my eyes off him, I reached back and clicked the lock into place. He licked his bottom lip as I learned back against the door and lifted my brows to him.

  He had some serious explaining to do. “So, are you going to tell me why Pricilla’s at your house and I’m here?”

  Nodding, he peeled off his jacket and strung it over the back of my chair. “You might want to sit down for this,” he suggested as he pulled the chair out from under the desk.

  Whatever he was about to tell me, it was bad enough that he was worried my legs would give out. Damn. I tried not to let the fear take hold of me. “Does she have something over you?” I asked, not budging from my spot against the door. “Is she threatening you?” I needed answers, like yesterday.