by Susan Bliler
Marko
(Skin Walkers Book 16)
By
Susan A. Bliler
Copyright © 2017 by Susan A. Bliler
www.susanbliler.com
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Cover fonts, spine, and back cover done by:
Cindy Hubbard
www.cind-e-designs.com
Cover image courtesy of:
Shutterstock
Editing was done by:
Grammarly
As always thanks to my Beta reader:
Cindy Hubbard
I couldn’t do this without you.
Thanks for believing in me.
;o) ting
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidences are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Susan A. Bliler.
Dedication:
To my Stalkerz: You all are so badass, it makes me proud to call you mine! Thank you all for coming on this crazy journey with me. We are monsters of the same making, you and me. We know that there exists magic between these pages, and like behemoths of the deep, we see creatures are on a persistent hunt. Devour, my peeps. Read like motherfuckers! Dream until you’re black and blue, and never forget that when you believe in magic, magic believes in you. Seriously, I love you guys! You, my Stalkerz, are beasts of the best sort!
Ahwoooooooooooo!
Chapter 1
What in the actual fuck is going on? Heart hammering a thousand miles a minute, Thea scrambled from her truck that was currently pressed, bumper to bark, up against a mighty pine.
Snow was still floating out of the tree from the impact, and she was glad her Chevy was old enough that no airbag had deployed to smash her in the face. Lifting a shaking hand, she pressed her fingers to the throbbing spot on her forehead where she’d bounced it off the steering wheel. One thing about old trucks though, no airbags but hard-ass steering wheels.
The door groaned open with protest as she settled her feet, none too steadily, on the snow-covered ground. Closing the door, she steadied herself before lifting shaky fingers to the painful spot in the middle of her forehead. She wasn’t surprised when her fingers came back bloody. Looking down at her crimson coated fingers, her body jerked hard, and her head shot up as another explosion rocked the estate grounds. In the distance, she heard shouting and unsure whether she should race the near mile up to the main estate house, or turn and hightail it back to the guard house at the front gate, she stood frozen. Her breath chugged out of her in cloudy puffs that mimicked a freight train. Behind her voices carried on the arctic air and she turned and held her breath to listen.
She was maybe three hundred yards from the front gate, but because of the twists and turns in the thick forest where the road ribboned through, she couldn’t see anything but trees.
A male shouted, “Now, now, now!” And then there were popping noises.
An avid hunter, it took Thea all of two seconds to recognize the sound of gunfire. She hit the ground and scrambled under her truck, not caring that snow froze her stomach where her jacket had ridden up. Palms flat, eyes searching, she held her breath again, listening. It sounded like all-out war. The gunfire continued, and another explosion sounded so strongly that the snow-covered gravel in front of her face actually trembled.
“Shhhit!” she breathed, turning her head to look all around her. She was kicking herself for not having a weapon. Growing up on a farm, her father had taught her well how to use firearms, but, StoneCrow ran random inspections. No weapons of any kind were permitted on the estate. She’d always wanted to argue the point, especially since she was one of only a handful of human staff who was privy to the knowledge of Skin Walkers, but she hadn’t wanted to rock the boat. Right now, she wished she’d have sunk that motherfucker.
Another explosion had her crawling out from beneath her truck. Clearly, this attack wasn’t going to end, and her dad always told her, “If you ever find yourself in the middle of a shit storm, you get to fightin’ or get the hell outta the way.”
Right now, she had little choice. Weaponless, truckless, and clueless, she had no idea what was going on. Inside, her brain screamed for her to run, but her heart kept her body facing uphill toward the estate. She’d been on her way to work at the school, which was located on the first floor of the main estate house. The image of her students filled her head, and when a scream rent the air, her feet moved of their own volition.
Thea wasn’t a Skin Walker or a Sentry. Hell, she was nowhere near as lethal as either, but she was a hunter and had been for the better part of her life. She knew how to move quietly through the forest. She knew to stay downwind of trouble. She also knew she needed a damn weapon.
Eyes scanning her surroundings, she snatched up a branch that was thick enough to use baseball bat style. It’d have to do.
Quietly, she dashed from tree to tree, inching her way toward the estate house. She didn’t follow the road because she figured only a moron would, and she wasn’t a mor…
A twig snapped, and she whipped her head around in time to have her tree bat ripped from her hands. She sucked in a breath, but didn’t get to scream, because Marko’s hand clamped over her mouth as he pressed his body into hers, forcing her back into the tree as he whispered, “Shhhh!” His eyes scanned the area before he pulled back and looked at her.
“You okay?”
His fingers were still clamped over her mouth, so she nodded. She watched his eyes track up to the cut on her head before he winced and jerked his eyes away to scan the area again.
“We’re under attack,” he breathed at her ear. “You need to get back to your truck. Get off this damn mountain, Thea.”
She was startled that he knew her name. He’d never acknowledged her before. Hell, he’d rarely even looked at her despite the fact that she’d been crushing on him hardcore the past two years she’d been at StoneCrow. It was foolish, she knew. The vetting process to be hired on at StoneCrow was so daunting that she doubted the FBI could compete. And the first thing she was told at orientation was that any employee “fraternization” would result in immediate termination. She got it because unlike other staff, she was one of the few humans on the estate who was aware that StoneCrow wasn’t the wildlife preserve and rehabilitation facility it pretended to be. It was a refuge for Skin Walkers.
She’d learned of Skin Walkers years before she’d ever come to StoneCrow. She’d been hired by Eden StCloud, now Eden StoneCrow, to homeschool Eden’s adopted children before Eden had met and eventually married the Skin Walker Dominant, Monroe StoneCrow. At first, Thea thought Eden was just an overprotective new parent, but odd things started happening with the children. During one visit, something had happened to Ransum. Thea knew now that it had been a partial shift, but at the time it had scared the ever-loving shit out of her. Eden had raced home and asked Thea to leave. She had, and when Eden hadn’t returned any of her calls or asked her back, Thea took the time to process what she’d seen. Her initial intention had been to never go back, but after weeks of going over and over what she’d seen, she realized Eden was living out in the mountains to hide her children. Eden needed a friend, and her children needed schooling regardless of whatever in the hell it was that was wrong with them. Thea had gone back. At first, Eden had balked, but Thea had refused to leave. Eventually, she’d been able to talk Eden into letting her continue her lessons. Eden and Thea had learned together just what the children were capable of.
When Eden moved her family to StoneCrow Estates, and ther
e’d been an opening at the estate’s school, Eden had vouched for Thea and that had been that. Still, she kept her knowledge of Skin Walkers to herself. There was no confidentiality waiver to sign that could ever protect them. No employee promise or vow could ever guarantee that they’d keep their word on the secrecy of the Skin Walker species. Worse, outing Skin Walkers meant the difference between their life and death, which meant Thea kept her lips sealed. She played ignorant and ignored many things she’d seen over the past few years. With Eden though she was free to talk about the children and how they were growing into their abilities. It was the only time she ever admitted her knowledge.
Sure, some parents knew. They had to. Thea taught the youngest children, the ones who were still learning to control their abilities, which meant frequent partial shifts, or all out changes. The parents knew she could be trusted, and the children knew it too.
Now though, staring at Marko, she wondered if he’d look at her differently if he knew that he could trust her.
“Thea!” he barked, snapping her from her thoughts. “Listen to me, woman!” He jammed his finger down the mountain. “You need to move! Get to the road!”
Move? Road? “N-no.” She shook her head and argued more firmly, “No! I need to get to the kids.”
Another explosion rocked the grounds and had Marko pulling her tight into his body as he ducked her head and covered it with his arms. “Ffffuck!” Releasing her, he stared at her then up the mountain and back again.
She knew he was itching to get up into the fight. He was a warrior, but he was unlike the other Sentries. All her snooping had revealed that he was trained in years of martial arts. Not just hand to hand combat either. He was proficient with twin katanas, and they were his weapon of choice.
My ninja!
She wanted to smirk at the thought as her eyes shot to the katanas strapped to his back. She didn’t get the chance to though as his hand shot out and grabbed hers before he was leading her up the mountain barking quietly over his shoulder, “Stay quiet! Stay close! When I say move, you move, got it?”
She nodded and fell into step behind him. It felt so surreal to have him holding her hand and leading her toward the sounds of gunfire and battle. Her mind screamed for her to stop and do as he’d originally instructed, but racing down to the road without at least trying to get to the classrooms seemed cowardly. Besides, she was just finding herself again after five years of total shit, and running now would wreck her. No way was she going back to square one. If the past five years had taught her anything, it was that she needed to face the battles as they came. Granted, she didn’t expect to be fighting battles so literally, but Marko, her sexy ninja, was with her. What’s the worst that could happen?
Chapter 2
Chest heaving and plastered to a tree, Thea tried to catch her breath as the rough bark of the mighty ponderosa pine dug into her cheek. Marko shot her a worried look, and she felt her cheeks singe. Yeah, she was a little too winded, but damn, she’d only just quit smoking a year ago and had just started back at the gym last week.
Need. More. Cardio.
A lot good her future workout plans were now though. Currently, there was little she could do other than suck in air through her nose and try to exhale it quietly from her mouth, so Marko wouldn’t think she was all fat and out of shape. Voluptuous is what Eden called her, and on more than one occasion, while Eden verbally wished for Thea’s curves, she’d wished for Eden’s willowy, lithe frame. This was another of those occasions. If Eden were out here, she’d be all Charlie’s Angel with steady hands on a pistol and breathing like a normal human being instead of chugging air like a damn freight train. Granted, Eden was former law enforcement, so that made Thea feel marginally better.
It faded though when Marko asked, “You ready?”
Hell no! Swallowing hard, she nodded. Her legs felt like Jell-O, and she was shaking. Oh, how she prayed Marko thought it was from fear and not from muscles that hadn’t been used in too long finally being forced jarringly back to life.
The mountain was steep, and as Marko squeezed her hand and pulled her behind him, she kicked herself for her thoughts earlier that morning.
***
The day had started so differently. It’d been so normal, such a stinking Tuesday, that it didn’t even warrant a blip on her radar except for the fact that she’d get to see him!
Thea pulled her old Chevy off the side of the road, careful of the piled up bank of snow and the shoulder. Once her truck had safely stopped, she flipped down the visor to check her make-up in the mirror. It was Tuesday, and Tuesdays were her favorite days because on Tuesdays he manned the front gate.
The sound of her heater purring to warm the interior of her truck was muted only by her giddy humming. She took in the brightness of her blue eyes and creamy complexion. She pinched her cheeks to get some color circulating like they did in old movies and fingered the fringe of golden bangs that stuck out from beneath her knit cap. Sweeping her bangs out of her eyes, she pulled on a long curl at the side and frowned at it wondering again if she should dye her hair. Maybe it’d be a good conversation starter, and she could do more than merely smile like a goon at her favorite Sentry while he checked her credentials and inspected her vehicle.
Puffing out her cheeks, she slapped the visor back up and exhaled loudly before putting the truck in gear and pulling slowly back onto the recently plowed road.
It was early November, which meant it was cold in Montana. Actually, it being November didn’t really matter. It was usually cold in Montana. Squeezing her gloved fingers on the steering wheel, Thea felt butterflies flit to life as she rounded a curve that led to the main gate. She could just make out the stone pillars on either side of the drive and nervousness seized her. Craning her neck to see if she could spot him, her lips lifted into a grin when her eyes snagged on his lithe form as he stepped from the gatehouse. It was him! Marko. Marko Storm. Even just his name was enough to unleash something molten low in her belly.
Excitement churned as she drove closer.
Marko was clad in his typical all-white BDU’s. It was odd because all the other Sentries wore black all the time, but not him. The light color was a stark contrast to his deep tan skin and the satiny mop of blue-black hair that was short but hung a little into his eyes. And what beautiful eyes they were. Dark and almond shaped, they always seemed to pierce Thea with such intensity, as if he didn’t miss a thing.
She pulled her truck to a stop just at the gate and even though he’d seen her every Tuesday for the past three months, he stepped up to driver’s side window as she rolled it down and demanded all matter-of-fact, “Employee badge.”
She held her badge out the window, and he scanned it, checking the screen on his e-pad before nodding to the Sentries behind him who came out and searched her vehicle, both inside and out, before using mirrors to check the undercarriage.
As he always did, Marko stood stoically beside her truck and watched the men work.
She tried to start a conversation, “N-nice day today.”
Wordlessly, Marko turned and looked at her with hard eyes before turning his attention back to the other Sentries and their work.
O-kay. Thea racked her brain for something else to say, and just as she opened her mouth, he turned to her and gave a curt nod before pointing at the gate. “All clear, ma’am.”
She stared at him a moment longer before sighing and flashing a forced grin before rolling up her window and pulling through the gate.
Strike twelve!
As she drove, she couldn’t help the wave of disappointment that crashed over her as she wonder if something was wrong with her. It was the same thing she’d thought for the past five years.
The thought had started the day she’d walked in on her husband in their bed with another woman. The thought had been playing on a reel ever since. After ten years of what she thought was a happy marriage, she’d come home early from work and SNAP! Her world ended. In the blink of an eye, in the s
pace of one breath, everything had been irrevocably diminished. In horror, she’d stood frozen in the doorway of her bedroom. Time stilled as she watched her husband give the strange woman beneath him that look. It was the look that was supposed to be reserved for her and her alone, a look that conveyed so much love and adoration. A look that up to that moment, she was certain she’d been the only one to receive.
Before she even made a noise, that look told her all she needed to know. It was over. They were over. He was gone.
What followed were years of too much drinking, too much self-loathing, too much retrospection. Her husband’s mistress hadn’t even been pretty, and she was certain that if the woman had been a stunner that at least, there’d be some small form of understanding. There wasn’t. Worse, Thea knew she’d been an ideal wife. Often told she was beautiful, she’d done all the cooking, the cleaning, and the laundry. She’d paid more than her share of the bills, she’d been experimental and enthusiastic in bed. Hell, she’d even taken up hunting and fishing just to spend more time with him. In the end, it hadn’t been enough. She hadn’t been enough, and that thought had sent her down another path, one that led to too many men and sexual encounters. It’s like she’d been searching for a man to validate her worth and goddamn if none of them stayed either. So, that lone plaguing thought kept coming right back to crush her under that giant wheel of doubt. Something must be wrong with me.
Pulling away from the gate, she eyed Marko in the rearview mirror. His casual indifference made her feel invisible and certainly didn’t help her self-esteem any. Leaning over, the view in the mirror changed until she was looking at her own reflection. Doesn’t anyone see me?
She spent her nights fantasizing about Marko and her mornings were consumed with thoughts of the moment their fingers would brush as she handed him her work badge. With a mere touch, she tried to convey all her pent-up emotion. Her wants, her needs, and her desires were poured into the polished pink tips of slender fingers as she held her employee badge out to him. She always watched his hands. Strong fingers, blunt nails, her eyes caught on the nicks and scars that she was sure held wondrous tales. She always wondered what it’d be like to have her hand wrapped in one so lethal.