Marked For Death: A Dark Urban Fantasy Novel by Becca Blake (english novels to improve english .txt) 📕

once you’re out of the waiting period. Emotions are more volatile in a time of upheaval. When you’re grieving, your barriers are weak. You have to work to rebuild them. You hadn’t healed yet from losing Ayla.”

“She was my friend. How am I supposed to move on like nothing happened?”

“You don’t have to forget her,” Orion said softly. “But you do have to accept that she’s gone. And you have to stop blaming yourself for it. That’s the only way you can get your emotions back under control.”

“I don’t know if I can do that,” I said.

“You have to. If you don’t, you’ll continue to indulge those emotions and give in to dark magic. And in the end, it will destroy you.”

I watched in silence as he walked away, leaving me alone in the warehouse. It was a long time before I followed him out.

Chapter Seven

I parked the Cavalier behind Orion’s truck in the community lot. Given how tired I was, it surprised me that I managed to survive the trip home. I wanted to stay the night in Omaha, but Orion insisted we needed to return to Haygrove to get medical attention immediately. There’d been no time to stop and get a good night’s rest.

He wasn’t at all moved by my argument that my need for medical attention would be even more urgent if I ended up in a ditch after falling asleep at the wheel.

The soft pink light of dawn broke over the buildings in Haygrove. It wouldn’t be long before the streets were filled with people rushing to work, but for now, a serene quiet settled over the town.

I leaned back against the headrest and closed my eyes, imagining myself spending the day cuddled in my own bed under a pile of soft blankets, maybe indulging in a cup of hot chocolate while watching some TV.

A girl could dream.

Orion knocked on my window, pulling me away from my thoughts of a peaceful afternoon. I got out of my car and leaned against the door.

Jacob stepped out of the back seat of Orion’s car. He already looked much better than he had at the warehouse, where he’d barely been able to stay conscious. He probably even got a few hours of sleep during the drive.

Lucky bastard.

“Go to the clinic with Jacob so the two of you can get checked out,” Orion said. “When you’re feeling up for it, you should stop by the alchemy lab to see if Ed has enchanted your sword yet.”

“What about you?” I asked.

“I have a report to write up. I’ll try to catch up with you at dinnertime.” Orion started off for HQ, leaving me alone with Jacob.

“You look like you took a beating,” he said as he looked me over.

That was putting it kindly. I was covered in dirt and grime from rolling all over the warehouse floor during the fight. My blood had soaked through Orion’s previously white shirt, and tearing the crusty thing away from my skin later was going to suck. The lower half of my own shirt was still torn to shreds, and I wished I’d taken the time to change into one of the fresh sets of clothes I kept in the trunk.

“You don’t look so great either,” I shot back, though it wasn’t true. Other than the cloth wrapped around his head to cover his wound, he looked perfectly fine, which only pissed me off more. “You almost got us both killed. Why didn’t you listen to me?”

Jacob shrugged. “What do you want me to say?”

“That you’re sorry? That I’m right? That things would have gone much more smoothly if we hadn’t rushed in like that and maybe, I don’t know, worked together?”

“I already got this lecture from Commander Orion while we were driving home. I don’t need to hear it again.” He shoved past me and started walking toward the clinic.

“You’re lucky Orion came to back us up,” I said, following close behind him. “If he didn’t, we’d both be dead.”

Jacob didn’t seem to have a snide response ready for that.

I wanted so badly to tell him the truth, that I had been the one who defeated Casey, without help from him or Orion. That even after his stupid mistake, I’d saved his ass.

Again.

Nothing good would come from that admission, though, so I kept my mouth shut. We walked the rest of the way to the clinic in a sullen silence.

Thankfully, it wasn’t far. The clinic was often the first stop for wounded hunters returning from a mission, so it was close to the community lot. Haygrove’s doctors were trained in both mundane medical programs and alchemical healing, and the unique blend of modern and magical treatments meant they handled most injuries with ease.

I stifled a groan as we entered the clinic to find Jane listed as the head nurse on duty that morning. She stood behind the counter, scribbling something furiously onto a clipboard. Her sharp, hawkish eyes were so focused on her work that she didn’t acknowledge us as we approached.

“Riley Collins and Jacob Thorne. Checking in from a hunt,” I said.

“Follow me,” she said curtly. She smoothed out her navy blue scrubs as she stood up. “I’ll take you upstairs. We’re very busy with more urgent patients right now, so you’ll be waiting a while.”

Only Nurse Jane could make me feel guilty for getting injured on a hunt. She’d never been one to bother with a good bedside manner.

On our way upstairs to the rooms that were reserved for less serious injuries, we passed through the emergency floor on the building’s ground level. As soon as we walked into the ER, my gut clenched at the stench of infection and illness that lingered beneath the heavy use of soaps and cleaners.

It seemed like every bed was occupied, and no one even bothered to close privacy curtains as the nurses hurried from patient to patient.

In all the times I’d come to the clinic after hunts, I had never seen it so chaotic. Usually,