Mr. Maker by Rayven WoodSong (read books for money .TXT) 📕

They stare at eachother and something tells me they’re having some kind of conversation. I turn around a few times, starting to feel claustrophobic. Marco and Lyna are still talking mentally so I push past the closest Marco and leave the circle.  

What is going on? I couldn’t hear you guys talking.

Marco, the one who talked to me first, has a kid that’s a Spectre Vampyre. I can see her, which is supposed to be impossible. Lyna says she ‘saw’ me being her new mom.

Mr. Masters lets out a growl and I suddenly find myself clutched to his chest. I can’t see anything, but I can easily hear the hiss the trio lets out. What now?

“Ana is mine. I don’t know why that child thinks otherwise but I created Ana. She is my responsibility and my mate. Not yours, sire.”

What the fuck? Mate? I thought Elizabeth..

“Don’t be ridiculous, Adrian. Elizabeth is your mate, not this freakish look alike.” The creepy voice is back. I fight back the shudder and pull away from Mr. Masters. He tries to pull me back, but I don’t let him. Marco called me a freak! How dare he insult me like that!

“No. Elizabeth was never mine. But Ana is. We’ve shared blood.”

“If she’s truly your mate, then why does she not wear your mark?”

“I’m not his mate!” I exclaim, cutting off whatever Mr. Masters was about to say. “I can’t even stand the asshole! The only reason I’m with him now is because I can’t survive on my own.”

Mr. Masters growls and lifts his hands. It didn’t look threatening to me, but it must have to Marco, because he hisses and tackles him.

“Just look at my neck, sire. She doesn’t have my mark because I have hers.” Really? He bears my mark? The tallest Marco, the one whose shock burned me, grips Mr. Masters hair and jerks his head back, exposing his neck on the side I bit yesterday. I move closer, so close that I’m leaning over the Marcos to get a good look. There is really is a mark on his neck. Its just teeth marks, but they’re black, making it look like a tattoo. Just seeing it invokes a weird feeling in my gut. Did I seriously do that?

Marco hisses again, but moves off of Mr. Masters and stands up. He takes a few steps back.

“I think we have a problem, brother.” Three hands are held up to reveal a tattoo that starts at the ‘third’ Marco’s wrist  and continues over ‘middle’ Marco and to the ‘second’. It’s a lightning bolt that has a heavy black outline and a different color for each Marco. Middle Marco’s is blue, ‘second’ Marco’s is green, and ‘third’ Marco’s is red. I look at them, then look up at their faces. They’re unreadable, I then turn to look at Mr. Masters. Now that I’ve known him for several days I can tell that under that seemingly apathetic exterior, he’s actually furious. I’m not exactly sure what those marks mean, I can’t have four mates. Can I?

“You’re not supposed to..”

“And it’s 2 mates. They’re all the same person.”

“THEY ARE THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE!” I exclaim, making everyone flinch. I take a deep breath. "If the three of you really are the same person then why do your marks differ from each other?" Middle Marco tilts his head to the side.

"Good point. We'll consider what you keep saying. " He looks at his brothers. “But for now, just accept me for me. And tell us which one you claim. Me, or him.” He’s speaking in just the one voice now. I’m thankful for the consideration. I look between Mr. Masters, and the Marcos. I have to choose?

"Yes, although you've managed to somehow mark both of us, you need to choose one," Marco says. He smirks. "And remember, I am king. Adrian is just one of my many subjects."

I can't choose between them. I barely know any of them. Mr. Masters made me like this, and although he's been nothing but a complete ass to me, he’s kind of grown on me.. And I just met the Marcos today...

“I can’t choose. I barely know any of you.” I look down, slightly ashamed. I’ve always been bad at making important decisions. “Sorry..”

“Don’t apologize, Anastasia. It’s completely understandable. You need to get to know me.” Middle Marco steps close and tilts my face up. “Would a month be reasonable time to get to know me?”

A month? I have to get to know all of them in a month? He notices my expression.

“Okay, two months, nothing more.” His hand cups my cheek, I turn my face slightly into it, breathing in his scent. Mr. Masters growls.  “Where are you staying?” Marco’s nostrils flare, but he otherwise ignores the other male.

“With Mr. Masters. He’s training me to be around Humans.”

He turns to Mr. Masters. “You’re her Mate, and yet she still calls you Mr. Masters. Why is that?”

Mr. Masters narrows his eyes. “He’s my English teacher. It’s a habit, Marco.”

He glances at me, but continues to look at Mr. Masters.

“She was unaware of our mate status until today. She hasn’t had any reason to call me anything else.” Mr. Masters says, sounding angry. I never realized I could call him Adrian. I just assumed he’d get mad..

“Why would him getting mad be of importance?” third Marco asks me. His eyes going dark.

I don’t reply. Something tells me that they wouldn’t like how mean Mr. Masters has been. I think of how violent he’s been... and of course of his ‘punishment’.. then how he treated me when he dragged me away from Jace...

Marco’s nostrils flare and he narrows his eyes at Mr. Masters. “He’s hurt you?” I look up at him, how? Oh right. They can read my mind...Before I have a chance to say anything to defend Mr. Masters, all three Marco’s have launched themselves at him again. That’s not a fair fight at all! Not that I want them fighting, but still. Three against one?

“Marco! Stop!” I exclaim. I get ignored. Mr. Masters is putting up a good fight, but he’s no match for the three bodies attacking him.  

I step as close to them as I can without getting hit. How can I stop this? I obviously can’t pull all three Marcos off at once.. I know! I’ll pull Mr. Masters away from them. The problem with that is he’s underneath the others...

“Marco stop!” I grab the closest arm, it belongs to ‘middle’ Marco. He glances at me, and attempts to pull his arm from me. He can’t. I’m stronger than him. He’s obviously surprised and the other Marcos turn to look at me. Mr. Masters uses their distraction to land a few punches. I pull on the arm and tug middle Marco away and push him aside. “Stay.” I command as I grab both the other Marcos and shove them towards him. I turn to Mr. Masters. His nose is bleeding, and his face is covered in bruises. It almost looks like one solid bruise. I don’t say anything to him, just hold my hand out to help him up. He blinks at it, but takes it. I pull him up and look him up and down. His clothes cover any other bruises he may have. I meet his eyes and see anger in them. He’s furious. I’m not exactly sure what he’s mad at, so I just turn to the Marcos, placing my hand on Mr. Masters’ arm.

“I’m not exactly sure why you felt the need to attack him. But I’m disappointed in you. Three against one? He didn’t stand a fucking chance! Even if you truly are one person in three bodies, it’s completely unfair to all attack at once!” I turn to Mr. Masters.

“How do we get out of here, Adrian?” He nods towards the guys. I turn and glare. There’s a flash of light again and when I can see again we’re at Mr. Masters place

Mr. Master’s knees buckle as he collapses. I easily catch him, and pick him up. I can’t tell if he’s conscious or not, but I take him to his bedroom. I lay him on the bed, and decide to look him over. He’s unconscious He’s obviously more hurt than he showed in front of Marco. I undress him, leaving only his boxers on, to see the full extent of his injuries. It’s bad. He’s a solid bruise! Obviously Marco did something other than just punch him. Maybe has some kind of power? The bits of skin that aren’t bruised look really pale. Paler than is usual. Since he was on the ground for the beating I assume there’s probably dirt all over him. I don’t think he can catch anything, but I better wash his injuries just in case. A sponge bath might hurt though, so I decide to fill the tub and bathe him.

It’s a simple task to go run the water, making it hot, because his skin is so cold, and to carry him in there. I hesitate before putting him the water. I should probably take his boxers off. But that would mean seeing his... Just the sight of his chest manages to stun me, I can’t imagine what would happen if I see his mini-me.

“Gods be damned woman just put me down and I’ll do it myself!” I drop him in surprise. He groans when he hits the floor.

“What the hell, Ana?” He starts to slowly stand up.

“I didn’t know you were awake..” I watch as he dips his finger in the water, testing it. He nods in approval before dropping his boxers and stepping into the tub. I gasp and avert my eyes. I hear him grunt and the water splash.

“Don’t just stand there! Either help me, or get out.” I look at him to see him attempting to run the washcloth over his bruises. He’s obviously in a lot of pain.

I sigh and kneel beside the tub. I take the rag and proceed to wash him, hiding my embarrassment. He leans back and sighs.

After he’s mostly clean, I run my hand over the mark on his neck. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask in a whisper. He opens his eyes and looks at me. The usual hardness has returned now that the bruises are starting to heal.

“I don’t need a Mate, Anastasia. Elizabeth thinks she’s mine and look how that turned out.”

I freeze and meet his eyes. “So you just weren’t going to tell me?” I try to hide the hurt, but he can probably sense it. He just stares at me. I look away, deciding to study the tile on the floor instead. If he didn’t want me, then why did he react the way he did about Marco? I don’t understand... And if he knows he’s my Mate then why would he be so mean..? Well I guess the meanness could be because he’s trying to hide what he really feels.. but if he doesn’t want me..

“If you don’t want me, why didn’t you just let the Marcos have me. It would have saved you from the beating..” my voice is