Marked by Pain (The Marked Series Book 2)

by Cece Rose

  “I saw her do it with my own eyes; are you calling me a liar?” I ask, clenching my fists, only just keeping control over my powers.

  “No, of course I’m not. I just don't understand why she would have done that. The instructions were clear, if a student got in the way, they were to knock them out, and leave them out of the way of harm. Are you sure it was her?”

  “Does anyone else wander around in double leather and turn into a snake?” I ask incredulously.

  “I need to talk to her about this.” He shifts uncomfortably on his feet. I don’t like it. He normally acts so confident, so sure of himself. It’s unnerving to see him unsettled.

  “Whatever. Face it, you’re part of a group that condones torturing kids, and wants to cause chaos among our kind. These people are human haters! These are the kind of people who want to kill off the humans, or enslave them!” I shout.

  “No, it's not like that at all, Miss Crowe. They just support segregation between the species, to keep the blood lines purer. They believe in keeping our society separate from theirs, but no longer in hiding.”

  “Don't you mean you believe? You're a leader of this stupid group.” I lean back against the wall, as I watch his face for his reaction.

  He looks around before answering, as if he doesn't want anyone to hear this. “I'm here for different reasons than most. I don't necessarily disagree with what they stand for, but I have more motivating reasons for being here.”

  “And those are?” I ask, prompting him to continue. I need more of an answer than that.

  “You're pushing your luck, Miss Crowe.”

  “When do I not? I think you owe me an explanation; considering everything I deserve that at least,” I say, staring him down.

  “I'm here for Verity, and because of the council.”

  “What do you mean, because of the council?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

  “The council came for her when they found out she was a part of this, and our parents fought them while she escaped. They were killed, and branded traitors, just for protecting their own. All they wanted to do was save their daughter. But the council thinks they can do whatever they want,” he seethes.

  “I didn't know about that,” I say softly, placing a hand on his arm. I’m not able to stop myself, seeing the pain on his face. He shrugs me off.

  “I don't need your pity.”

  “It wasn't pity,” I mutter, and then suddenly I'm pinned to the wall. His body is pressed up against mine, as his hands hold mine above my head. I freeze, barely remembering to breathe.

  “What was it then?” he asks quietly.

  “I was comforting you. Gods only know why after what you've done, but I hate seeing you in pain,” I whisper.

  “I didn't want to hurt you,” he whispers back.

  “Then why did you?” I ask, not able to cover the cracking in my voice.

  “There are things you don't understand…things I can't explain yet.”

  “That's just shit, and you know it,” I snap, closing my eyes to escape the intensity of his stare.

  “I do. And I'm sorry, Miss Cro--Kenzie. I'm sorry, Kenzie,” he breathes. I feel his lips press over mine, and I know I shouldn't, but I kiss him back. I'm desperate for him to be closer as he releases my hands to rest his on my hips. I tangle my hands in his hair as I kiss him back furiously, letting out all of my emotions into it. The anger, the pain, everything. Sense slams into me, my eyes fly open and I call on my air mark, shoving him back and into the opposite wall.

  “I'm sorry too. That shouldn't have happened,” I say, turning on my heel and walking back to my prison cell of a room. He calls after me, but I ignore him. Increasing my pace, I practically run away.

  I can’t trust him, and I can’t trust myself around him right now.

  Chapter 5

  Mackenzie

  “Down there,” Alaric says, pointing to the plain, grey door at the end of the corridor. It has two guards standing outside, guns clipped to their belts and serious expressions marring their faces. I don’t bother saying thank you to him or even looking his way, instead choosing to just walk forward, and wait for the guards to unlock the two locks on the door.

  I’ve waited all morning for my father to come and get me, so I could see East. I tried not to replay the kiss with Mr Daniels over in my mind, or the story he told me about his parents. I understand why he’s angry with the council, but I have no idea whose side he’s truly on. His actions and words tell me two different stories.

  “I will wait for you, we need to talk, Mackenzie,” Alaric says from behind me in a cold tone. I turn and give him a single nod wondering why he looks so happy. As much as I hate the man, my father, I’m thankful he’s letting me see East. The guard opens the door and I walk in, looking at the small bed, toilet, and sink in the otherwise empty, white-painted room. East is lying on the bed, a thin, scratchy-looking blanket covering him. He sits up slowly as the door is shut behind me. All the air leaves my body when East’s hazel eyes lock with mine.

  “What the hell did they do?” I exclaim, looking at the range of blue and black bruises all over East’s face. His lip is cut, his hair is messy, and yet he still smiles at me like he doesn’t have a care in the world. The blanket falls to his lap as I stare in shock at the state he’s in. Why did they do this? Why didn’t they heal him?

  “Come here.” He opens his arms, and then flinches in pain, moving his hand to hold his ribs as he coughs. I run over, sliding onto the bed and putting my hand on his face. There’s dried blood on the side of his head, and I reach up to see the deep cut.

  “I’m okay,” he says, coughing, even as he lies to me.

  “That’s a load of shit, East. I’m not blind,” I mutter, wiping a tear away that I didn’t notice had fallen. I’m guessing East doesn’t have the healing mark, so he can’t fix himself, but I know I can try. Even if I’m not as good as Kelly at this. Where’s Kelly when I need her?

  “I can heal you,” I say, already calling my healing mark. I feel my power flow through my hand in a crashing wave of energy, as I feel how badly he’s hurt. My hand burns hotter and hotter, as I feel all the pain he is in, the way it hurts him to breathe, and it makes tears fall down from my eyes harder. I can’t believe that anyone would hurt him this bad. It takes a while to heal all the marks on his face and the deep cut on his head, before I can gently push him back on the bed and slide his shirt up. I have to hold in a flinch when I see the shape his chest is in from the damage. I can actually see two of his ribs, pushing against his skin, and there are actually shaped bruises where someone must have kicked and punched him. They didn’t just use marked powers, this was more than that. They wanted him in pain and alive, but why?

  “You aren’t strong enough to heal all of me, I’m just glad to see you’re okay Kenz,” East murmurs, and I shake my head disbelievingly. “I was so worried,” he adds.

  “I’m going to heal you, and then I’m going to have a chat with my father. I have a feeling he won’t like our chat, because the bastard must have had something to do with this. Now stay still,” I tell East, who laughs.

  “When did you get so bossy? I remember when you couldn’t speak to me without bright red cheeks and looking at the ground,” he chuckles as I press my hands on his ribs and calling my healing mark again. We sit silently, sweat dripping off my forehead as I struggle to heal the four broken ribs, and flinching every time one of them clicks back into place.

  “I was shy around you, because every time you spoke I couldn’t focus. You’re sexy East, with the panty-melting voice,” I tell him honestly, while avoiding looking at his face, making him laugh as my cheeks flush.

  “I always thought you were beautiful, even when I knew I shouldn’t have been looking. But you were so shy, I never realised how smart, kind and brilliant you are,” he says, and I look up.

  “Really?” I ask in a whisper, not believing he really saw me as anything other than the annoying sister of his best friend.

  “Real
ly,” he smirks and I look down with a smile, concentrating on healing the last one of his ribs.

  “Stop,” East says, pulling my hands away suddenly, and reaching up to wipe a finger under my nose. His hand moves away, and I see the blood that must be dripping from my nose smudged across his finger. East passes me a tissue as he looks at me with concern.

  “Who did this?” I ask, placing my hand on his cheek.

  “I don’t know who they were, three of them came into my cell this morning wearing masks. They were all marked, but they didn’t use their powers,” he spits out, “I didn’t stand a chance against them all, and my powers wouldn’t work. I tried to call every one of my seven marks and they wouldn’t respond,” he says.

  “I’m going to kill them for it,” I promise and he leans forward, lightly brushing his lips against my own.

  “Have you seen Ryan?” East asks as he leans back on the bed.

  “Yes, have you?”

  “No. I knew he had a slight problem with us being together, but I thought I knew him. He was my best friend and he hid this from me,” East says.

  “He’s my brother, and I didn’t have a clue,” I say commiseratively.

  “We can’t have that much time left and I wanted to tell you something—” East goes to say, but the door is banged three times before we hear the sound of a key unlocking.

  “Don’t do anything I can’t protect you from. Please don’t be reckless here, they need you alive, but they will lock you up if you do anything. But trust Mr Daniels. Promise me you will trust him,” East pleads with me and I lean back, processing his words over and over in my mind. Did he just ask me to trust Mr Daniels? The man he hates, the one who did this to us?

  “What? Are you crazy? He’s one of the leaders here!” I whisper harshly, just as the doors are opened. I turn to see a guard pushing the door open and waiting.

  “Trust him,” East tells me once more, and I look back at him with confusion. East leans forward, sliding his hand roughly into my hair and pulling me to him. He kisses me harshly, demanding, and utterly irresistible as his lips devour my own.

  “What was that for?” I ask breathlessly, as he pulls away and keeps our forehead pressed together.

  “I’m done wasting a single second with you, Kenz,” he says, kissing my forehead as I lean into him.

  “Come, Mackenzie,” I hear Alaric say from the door and I stand up, turning away from East to look at my father. He looks just like me, the same tanned skin and the same dark hair. I even notice that we have the same shaped eyes, but none of the similarities we share mean that we are anything alike. All I feel is a burning anger as I walk out the room, following him. My father walks away, towards the other door we came in, like he hasn’t got a care in the world. Like he didn’t let some of his people beat up East. I call my air power, pulling my hand back and slamming a wave of air at my father’s back. He flies across the room, slamming into the wall by the door with a loud grunt.

  “Stop!” I hear a guard shout behind me and I turn, calling my protection mark, making a wall between us and the guards before they can get to me. One of them runs straight into it, bouncing off the ward and onto the floor. Let’s hope they don’t have the protection mark.

  “What are you doing?” my father roars as he stands up and I turn, putting my hand out in front of me, and calling my fire mark.

  “My mum used to tell me stories about you,” I start off, moving one step closer, “Do you even think about your wife? The mother of your children?” I ask but I don’t need him to actually answer. I know he doesn’t, he couldn’t really care if he let her believe he was dead, even for a day. You don’t let someone you love think you’re dead, not when it destroyed my mum like it did.

  “Every day, but my responsibility to the world and the resistance has to come first. Put the fire down, and tell me what has you so upset,” my father tries to reason with me, speaking to me like I’m a damn child. It’s almost funny enough to make me laugh. The time for acting like a parent is well past, and I have three dads who did that. Not this pretender. I chuckle, putting my other hand in the air and calling another fire ball.

  “Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night?” I shake my head. “Mum once told me how weak you are to fire, because you never got the water mark. You can’t put the fire out,” I smirk, making the balls in my hands grow.

  “Mackenzie…” he says, edging his way backwards towards the door.

  “Did you honestly think I would let you get away with hurting East?” I shout, and he shakes his head. I throw one of the balls of fire at him, and he jumps to the side, and it burns the wall instead.

  “I have no idea what you are talking about,” he shouts, getting up.

  “Don’t lie to me!” I screech, calling another fire ball and ignoring the wave of dizziness that I feel when I do. The door opens behind my father, and Mr Daniels walks in.

  “What’s going on?” he asks, looking between us. My father simply smiles, an evil smile that tells me he thinks he’s just won. I don’t believe a word he says about not knowing that they hurt East, his face says it all. I wonder if he did this to test Mr Daniels, to see if he will side with him or me. It’s no coincidence that he happened to just come in here right now. This whole thing had to be a plan by my father.

  “I’m sorting out a big problem, it’s best you get the hell out of my way, Mr Daniels,” I say and throw the fireball in my left hand at my father. A wall of water appears in front of him as he runs away towards the door, the water stopping the fire ball with a hiss. Steam blocks my view of them both. And then, the water shoots out towards me. I gasp for breath as the water rushes over me, shoving me back up against the wall. I feel like I’m drowning, but as quickly as it came, it goes away. The water pulls back, and I glare at Mr Daniels as he steps through the water. It drips down his hair and shirt, and I hate that he’s so much more attractive wet. Why can’t he look like a wet dog or something? I probably look like a drowned rat.

  “Why did you attack him? I thought you could behave for one day. I should have known better,” he asks, wiping his face of the water. I look away from Mr Daniels, through the water wall, and I see my father running away out the door. That’s all my father is good at apparently, running. I look back at Mr Daniels, who silently watches me, assessing me for something as I ring the excess water from my hair. I realise that the water couldn’t drown me, not with my water mark, but I’m still pissed he would use his powers against me.

  “You chose to side with him and not me. You don’t trust me, and I don’t trust you anymore either. Stay the hell away from me,” I say, feeling like my heart crushes even more with every word. I never should have trusted him, I shouldn’t have fallen for him. I don’t care what East might say, that I might be making the wrong decision, but I know he doesn’t trust me. He chose to side with my father over me, and I can’t forget that.

  “I do trust you, Miss Crowe, but you do not understand the bigger picture here. Just know that I’m on your side. You know how I feel about you, I won’t give up what we have together; it is worth fucking fighting for!” he says, making my heart pound against my chest.

  “Then you have a big fight on your hands, Mr Daniels, and it’s not one you’re going to win,” I reply coldly, walking around him and straight to the wall of water.

  “We will see, Miss Crowe,” the bastard shouts, just before I go through the water and I wish I didn’t hear him. He doesn’t stop me, the cold water is a welcome relief as it hits me, mixing with the tears that fall from my eyes so that no one will see them.

  No one stops me as I walk down the corridors, keeping my eyes low and dripping water onto the shiny floors with every step until I get to my room. I step in, slamming the door behind me and fall to my knees, tears streaming down my face.

  I never should have trusted him. What’s worse, is that I have no idea who I can trust anymore.

  Chapter 6

  Mackenzie

  “Training
? You want me to train?” I scoff at Alaric.

  “Yes, Mackenzie; I think it would be best for you to train with our recruits. I know you’ll come around eventually, and I do not see the point in segregating you now with that in mind,” he replies. I look at him like he’s mad. I think he really might be, but how does he convince everyone else that he’s normal?

  “I’m not doing it,” I say flatly, as I sit back down on my bed. I don’t take my eyes off him though, I don’t trust him not to attack.

  “Just come and watch the training then, you don’t have to take part,” he suggests, his tone light. His face, however, is calculating as it watches me. What is he planning? “What else are you going to do? Sit here and mope all day?” That was my plan, actually. Mope, mope, and mope some more.

  “I’m not sure, what do kidnap victims normally do for fun?” I ask.

  “You’re my child, it’s not really kidnapping, is it? More like you’ve been grounded, don’t you think?” he muses.

  “Fuck you. You’re not my father; I have three dads, and you are nothing compared to any of them,” I snap. I haven’t spoken to them since being taken, it’s so hard losing all contact with the parents I’m so close with. I don’t need to listen to him pretending to be a parent. He’s nothing more than a donor to me.

  “You cannot deny what’s in your blood, Mackenzie Crowe,” he says smoothly, not seeming at all affected by my words. “Now stop being childish, and come at least to watch the training. I will have men drag you in there if I must, but I’d rather not. We don’t need to make a scene.” He steps back out the door, as if he just expects me to follow.

  I want to stay put, to kick and scream the whole way if they try and make me go. But I know it’ll do no good, only tire me out. An opportunity to escape could come at any time, I can’t waste my energy. Sighing, I stand back up and follow him out of the room.