Born Magic (Chronicles of the Marked Book 1)

by S Lawrence

  “Brothers, will you join me? I would like to show Reyna why none of us would ever keep her here against her will. Why we would never chain her to us, enslave her, or any other horrible idea that might be running through her pretty head.” He stops in front of me, only a few feet separating us, and the other line up at his side.

  He looks down the row of them, and I realize each of their faces is tight with tension. What the hell is going on? They nod one at a time and then turn, giving me their backs.

  I open my mouth, the word ‘what’ forming, but just as my lips open, they let their shirts fall to the floor. My hand comes up to muffle my outraged cry.

  Scars on top of scars cover the skin of their backs. Whipped, flesh flayed and then healed, over and over. They are silvery in color, old, and I feel tears sliding down my cheeks as I imagine the little boys that had endured hell.

  I don’t know when I stood but I find myself right behind them. Each is stiff with emotion as I reach out slowly. My fingers feather over the rigid skin of Wilder’s back first, and he flinches at the first whispered touch. Lash is next to him, and his muscles ripple under my tear-dampened fingers. I say nothing as I do the same to Cyder and Hagen. Cyder’s pale skin makes his pink scars stand out the most, for they are the most vivid. Hagen doesn’t move or flinch, and his breath slides in and out of his lungs calmly.

  Finally, I walk to the other end of this line of brave, damaged men and stop right behind Fallon. His shoulders are rising and falling as his breath saws in and out of his lungs. This time, I place both of my hands firmly against his skin. The jagged edges of the scars are raised and rough, and I can feel the brutality those strokes had in them.

  He remains frozen under my slow exploration.

  Do I want to stay with these men? Everything in me screams yes. I glance back at the chest. The chest meant for me that I only found because I found him. Because I found them.

  I’ve only looked at the letter. Read the words that are now burned into my mind.

  ‘I’m sorry for the fate you are destined for. It means death and hardship, loss and danger, but if you have found this, it means the wait is finally over. It means the world will be saved.

  You have the power to do that, or at least you will. I was there the day the Gods went to war. It was women just like you that saved those of us that lived. It was a god that has kept me safe for a very long time since, waiting and hoping to see this day.

  It is he that hid this chest so that only the one born to wield the magic could find it. She is you. He has said you will have help. That it will take you all to reach what calls to you. Trust your instincts and the paintings.

  Remy~Your great-something-grandfather’

  I don’t know what to think. I have no power. Maybe the chest wasn’t hidden as well as they thought.

  “Reyna?” Lash steps back, shrugging his shirt back on as he turns to me.

  I realize I had been standing with my hands on Fallon for many minutes. “Sorry. I’m so sorry for everything.”

  Stepping backwards until my knees bump the couch, I catch myself with my hand on the arm as I lose my balance. They all turn and like Lash, put their shirts back on. Surprisingly, it is Lash that comes forward, dropping to his knees in front of me.

  He is gentle as he takes my hand in his. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” I’m even more surprised by his remorseful tone. “I’m… They are from a long time ago.”

  “Still, I shouldn’t judge you from the stories I’ve heard.” I look at each of them, trying to apologize.

  “Well, of course you should. We aren’t like the others, and the others are all people know.” Wilder comes closer as he speaks, and the others nod in agreement. “You have every right to be cautious.”

  Fallon still stands where he was. I’ve hurt him. Hagen touches the others on the shoulders. Lash rises, and as a unit, they move toward the door, each touching Fallon as he passes. A deferral. They are brothers, but there is a hierarchy, I’m certain of it.

  Fallon is their leader. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t been their entire lives.

  “I need to talk to them. I’ll be back.” He doesn’t look at me, and his words are strangled as he tries to hold his anger at bay.

  I watch as he bends, picking up the shirt that still lays at his feet, but unlike the others, he puts it on slowly. I’m fascinated by the movement of the scars while being revolted by what caused them. Once he is covered, he starts walking to the door.

  “You will be safe here.” I knew that before he spoke. I felt it since he woke. I will be safe with him and I hate that I didn’t trust my instincts.

  I start to tell him that, but he steps through the open door, turning back and looking at me as I sit up straighter. Then, eyes locked on mine, he closes the door, and I hear a lock slide into place.

  I’m so damn stupid. I fell for the show and tell, and my instincts are broken. I’m going to kill him.

  Chapter 13

  FALLON

  The door vibrates as something breaks against it, and I grin as the others turn ready to fight.

  “I locked her in.” Wilder shakes his head as I start to laugh.

  “Didn’t we just tell her we wouldn’t hold her captive? Didn’t you make me bare myself to prove that?” Lash steps forward, brows drawn in irritation.

  “Yes , but I need to speak to you all, and we are pretty sure he had friends in our crews.” I jerk my head at the body still lying on the deck. Once they all look at him once more, I shout out my order. “Get this traitor off my ship. Throw him to the sharks.”

  A few of the men scramble to comply, being extremely rough with the body as they move it to the rail. There will be no honor for him.

  I ignore them as I make my way to the gangplank, cross to the Black Wolf, and head straight to the captain’s quarters. They follow me through the door and Hagen closes his door.

  “They killed her entire family. Hell, her entire village is gone, and they took the boys.” They all stiffen at the last part. I know, like me, they play the memory of the day they were taken through their minds. I no longer can remember my mother’s face but sometimes I wake to the sound of her voice. “I don’t know if they were searching for me or for something else.”

  “We’ve heard the whispers. What we all search for isn’t even in this area. We know it is in the north, where it is still frozen.” Cyder joins me by the desk and points to the vast areas of ice on the map I’m looking down at.

  “I know that, but she’s…” I shake my head. “I should have left when I first woke but I couldn’t.”

  “What do you mean?” Wilder draws closer watching me as I struggle to make them understand.

  “Tell me about the story the old crew member told you. The one he used to whisper in the dark.” Wilder’s eyes widen at my reminder.

  “You remember that?” I nod. “I only told you that story once, long ago when we were on that island. Why bring it up now?”

  He knows why, but I answer him anyway so the others can hear. “Because I couldn’t leave her. Do you, any of you, feel it? The pull? The desire?”

  “Of course, she’s beautiful and brave,” Lash answers, his head turning toward my ship as he pictures her in his mind.

  “I think it’s more. Wilder, tell them the story.”

  He draws a deep breath and then he does just that. By the end, they are all staring at him and me in denial, and yet, hope and excitement are sparkling in their eyes.

  Hope that we could stop those that terrorize the world, and excitement because it would mean we will find the treasure. We will gain the power and the magic of the gods.

  She could be the key.

  It’s Hagen who speaks first, ever the skeptic. “She could just be a beautiful girl who we all find desirable. We might all just like the idea of having her for ourselves. I know I’ve already played many scenarios through my mind.”

  He pins each of us with a knowing look. Waiting.

  “Okay, sure,
I thought it,” Lash grumbles, and we all laugh. “What?”

  “Of course you had... You think of sex every time you see a woman,” Wilder replies.

  “Maybe it’s because I don’t see them very goddamn often,” Lash argues. It’s one we’ve heard many times, each time he found a woman to spend his time with on a trip to land.

  “We know, we know.” Cyder looks over at me. “We all decided no women. It would be too hard to protect them from the crews, and we don’t have room for a woman for everyone, and none of us are willing to keep one or even a few to be used by the crew.”

  “Jesus, I know, okay? I just meant we all thought it.” Lash paces away in frustration.

  “What I meant is…” Hagen draws our attention again. “There is no magic, hasn’t been for at least hundreds of years, if you believe the stories of the gods’ war. No magic period if you don’t, so the fact that some geezer told Wilder a story of five men that help a woman who finds a magical stone doesn’t mean that we are the five and she is the one.”

  Turning away from them, I run my fingers through my hair. It is her chest, but they should know about it, about how it was found. I argue with myself.

  “What do you know, Fallon?” My eyelids fall closed as Wilder speaks. Of course, he would see my struggle.

  I pace for a minute more before facing them. “She had hidden me in a cave, halfway up a cliff. It has crystals in the walls that gleamed in the candle light. I woke, feeling eyes on me, and it was that beast of hers. There was a hidden room in that cave. I saw her disappear into it. Watched her simply vanish, there one moment, gone the next. She stepped out of that room after a while with a chest. She said it had been left for her.” I look at their faces. “There was magic in that cave.”

  “What’s in the chest?” Hagen always asks the important questions, always right to the point.

  “I don’t know. She didn’t trust me enough to show me.” I shake my head.

  “So why didn’t you take it?” Cyder raises a brow.

  Wilder looks at him with disappointment stamped across every inch of his face. “So we can be like the ones we fight? Taking what we want?”

  “Well, what do we do now? The king and the others search for us, day and night. How long do you think we will be able to stay ahead of every pirate on the water?” Hagen crosses his arms, waiting for any of us to disagree with his assessment. “Not to mention, we now have to find the other traitors on our ships.”

  I just shake my head. I don’t know how to proceed but I know I don’t want to let her go.

  “Seduce her,” Lash says the words like they are obvious, and also an easy task.

  “She’s no fool and from what I’ve seen, she’s having none of you, so how do you suggest we do that?” The others turn their heads, hiding their grins.

  “First, I can win her if I wish. Second, I didn’t mean sexually, asshole. I meant to us, our way of life. To the sea. Show her the beauty.” I glance at Wilder and he nods.

  “And?” Cyder grouses.

  “And later, take her to bed.” Lash grins, total confidence radiating from him, and our laughter fills the air.

  “I, for one, can’t wait to watch this.” Cyder slaps Lash on the shoulder as he moves by him toward the door. “I’ll be on my ship… hunting.”

  All laughter has left his voice and face as he opens the door.

  “We need to get underway. We’ve been anchored too long,” Hagen calls out as he follows Cyder through the door.

  Lash follows, leaving Wilder with me in Hagen’s room. “Keep her with you for now. She knows you, and the traitor has been removed from the Bloody Rose.” I nod and follow him out then cross to the rail. The plank has been removed, so I grab the rope. “Good Luck.”

  I look back to see he has a rope in his hand, and we each swing across to our ships. When my feet hit the deck, I turn and call out to Hagen, “Happy hunting,” reminding all those that listen that we will find them.

  Hagen’s face is that of a predator as he grins at me, one hand on the wheel.

  “Raise the anchor.” The call goes out across all five ships. I watch as the sails drop and I nod to my First Mate, trusting him to take us out to deep water.

  Sighing, I cross to my door, running my fingers over the carving that took me ages to complete, one of the few memories I still have of my mother running through my mind.

  The sun was shining on her dark hair as she stood surrounded by her flowers, the blooms filled the air with sweetness. She smiled at me, laughing as butterflies flitted from one rose to another. It was only a few days later that those flowers were covered in blood. Her blood. Squeezing my eyes shut, I block out the sound of her cries that had filled the night before they spilled her blood. My last image of her is her hand reaching out from the leaves of those bushes, reaching for me as they dragged me to the boat.

  The next morning, I woke in a room with other boys whose faces were also stained with our dried tears.

  Our lives were not our own from that day forward.

  Chapter 14

  REYNA

  I’ve moved back to the couch after I broke a few more of his things. I was more angry at being locked out of whatever they are discussing than being locked in the room.

  They made a point to convince me that I am safe with them, revealing more than just their scars. I know the locking was to keep me safe but I will be making sure they understand I won’t live like this, tucked away in a gilded cage.

  I glance at the pile of broken items by the door and grimace. My parents have told me for years that I too often let my anger get the best of me. The proof is laying there by the door. A rush of regret spirals through my body. I hope nothing laying there was truly important to him.

  Looking out at the horizon, I watch as the other ships sail alongside the Bloody Rose. I watch as the crew members scurry from place to place, each doing their jobs with smiles on their faces. Nothing like what I pictured pirates to be.

  My eyes are drawn to Hagen, for his ship is closest. He is standing near the rear of the deck. His blonde hair shining in the sun has curls in it, and when he whispered in my ear, my fingers had longed to ruffle them. Who am I kidding? I wanted to bury them in it.

  Chewing at my lip, I watch as he works, hoisting a sail along with his crew. Muscles roll beneath the dark fabric of his shirt. Suddenly, he looks directly at me, a smile on his face. I shrink down into the cushions. Can he see me? No way. But he knew someone was watching, knew I was looking. Shit.

  I don’t understand this attraction. I mean, any woman would notice them, as they are gorgeous and dangerous. I’ve read books about women who fell for what they used to call bad boys, and any one of these ‘brothers’ could be listed under a description of that. Maybe that’s it -- I’m drawn to the danger of them.

  I crave the safety and the excitement they offer.

  I look down and realize my fingers have been caressing over the carvings of the box. It is a sad replacement for what they really want to be touching. Shaking my head, I curl them around the edges but just as I go to try to open it, I hear the key turning.

  I raise my head and turn it to look at the door. He opens it slowly, smart man. I just smile, and he grows even more cautious. He has had dealings with women, I see. Good, let him be worried.

  The pile of broken glass clinks together as the doors pushes into it, drawing his eyes. He looks back at me with an eyebrow raised, and I shrug.

  “I hope they weren’t your favorites.” My voice drips with sweetness.

  “I don’t have favorites.” He looks around the room trying to figure out which items are gone. “They are all my treasures, and I love them all for very specific reasons, but they are just things.”

  Shit, that makes me feel bad. I don’t regret it but I feel bad just the same.

  “I was…” I hold my hand up, and he pauses.

  “I know -- just trying to keep me safe. I understand, I do. You can’t lock me up to keep me safe though. You do unde
rstand that, right?” I push up, standing straight and shoulders back. “If you want me to stay here, I have to have freedom. Either I’m safe or I’m not.”

  I let the box fall to the couch, and his eyes follow it. So that’s what they had been discussing.

  “Do you want me or what might be in the chest?” His eyes flare at my words, filling with heat, and my body responds.

  “Both.” His reply rings with honesty.

  “And your brothers?” The heat flares brighter at my question, and my core clenches.

  Never have I felt like this, not even when I snuck away with Caleb. He was sweet, but there was no wildfire of desire sweeping through like now. Not ever. Thinking of Caleb makes me sad, and so for now, I push the memory away, refocusing on Fallon instead.

  “Where did you go?” His voice is low.

  “To the past.” I watch as he shuts the door and starts forward, coming closer. “I need to let it go.”

  “It won’t be easy.” He stops just inches away.

  I want to weep, the anguish and anger threatening to take over as he watches me. Before I can change my mind, I raise up and press my lips to his, counting on him to let me forget for a least a little while.

  The small amount of pressure unleashes something he has held tightly under control. His hands are on me in a second, one at my waist pulling me closer and one at the back of my head pressing me tighter against his mouth.

  His lips part and I feel the wet heat of his tongue as it slides over my lips, teasing at the seam. Demanding entrance. I open on a sigh, and he devours my very breath.

  The kiss deepens as his fingers curl into my hair, tightening slightly, and I feel moisture coat my folds, dampening my underwear. The kiss goes on as I run my hands over his chest and finally up to his neck. It’s my turn to pull him closer.

  Finally, he breaks away and only the sound of our heavy breaths fill the room.