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

He glared at Jacob, who was still on the floor. “You, too.”

As soon as we stepped out into the alleyway and he closed the door behind us, I smacked his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

“Riley—“

He reached for me again, but I stepped back. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him after what I’d seen in there, but I needed answers. From him, and from Maki.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked.

He stood still with his eyes closed, taking deep breaths as he tried to regain his composure.

“You are so far out of line right now.” His voice was laced with enough warning to make my blood run cold. “What in the infernal hells are the two of you doing here? Did you follow me all the way from Haygrove?”

“No,” I said. “I was following up on a lead. It had nothing to do with you.”

“How did you—” Orion stopped himself with a curt shake of his head. “Never mind. We can discuss that later. If you two listen perfectly to everything I say, maybe I’ll be able to work out some way the Council doesn’t punish both of you for severe insubordination. Hell, they’re probably going to punish me, too. You have no idea what a mess this is.”

My mouth fell open. “Punish us? You’re the one working with an Oathbreaker.”

The skin around his mouth tightened as he masked his expression.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t call headquarters right now and tell them what you’re doing here.”

“Because they sent me here,” he said. “I’m following the Council’s orders.”

“If you’re trying to stop this, then why—“

“That’s not your damn business,” Orion snapped.

I shrank away from him as though he’d struck me. Orion never raised his voice like that with me. Not even when he walked in on me using dark magic.

“There are rules in place to protect you,” he said. “And the two of you breaking those rules just put all three of our lives in danger.”

“Then, cover for us. Say you brought us along for backup—I don’t know.”

“I need you both to understand something. Having me as your commander doesn’t make you untouchable. Neither does having a relative on the Council,” he said, shooting Jacob a glare. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“Then how does it work?” Heat rose in my cheeks. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re trying to help Maki, not stop him.”

Orion pulled back the hood of his sweatshirt to run a hand through his sandy brown hair. “Right now, I need you to trust that I’m doing what needs to be done. That’s the only way I can keep you two alive.”

I took a deep breath. “If we’re going to trust you, we need answers about the people in the basement.”

He closed his eyes. “What about them?”

“Do you know what Maki plans to do with the emerald you gave him?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re not going to stop it?”

“Riley—”

“Are you going to stop it?”

“No. I’m following my orders and doing what I have to do.”

“I don’t understand,” Jacob said. “You’re telling me the Council wants these people dead? They want this guy to do a ritual to make himself more powerful?”

Orion’s eyebrows arched in a look of genuine surprise. “Where did you hear that?”

“We came back to Omaha to find the other cultist girl from the warehouse,” I said.

“Riley tried to call you, but you didn’t answer.”

“And that girl told you Maki is trying to gain power for himself?” Orion asked. “Are you absolutely sure that’s what she said?”

“Yes,” I said. “She said something about Maki ascending to take the place of a demon lord. Does that mean anything to you?”

The color drained from Orion’s face. “That changes things.”

“What—“

“I promise, I’ll explain everything after. For now, just trust me when I say that if we don’t stop him now, we’ll never have another chance.”

Inside, we found the Oathbreaker waiting for us in front of the altar, looking out at the overgrown church. Earlier, I hadn’t been able to see the rest of the sanctuary through the crack in the door, but now that we were inside, I took a better look at it. Judging by the disturbed carpet of ivy and moss that coated the ground, the pews piled in the center of the sanctuary had been moved there very recently. Above them, an opening in the ceiling let in the soft evening light from outside.

“If you told me ahead of time that you were bringing guests along, I would have saved them a seat,” Maki said.

“This is over, Jay. Give the emerald back to me.” Orion approached Maki with his sword drawn at his side. He held out his hand expectantly.

Maki remained where he was and arched an eyebrow. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Because you lied to me, and I won’t let you get away with what you’re planning to do tonight.”

“Is that so?” Maki asked. “What exactly do you think I’ve lied about?”

“Do you really think you can challenge a demon lord?” Orion asked.

Maki’s self-assured smile faltered. “It sounds like you had quite a discussion out there.”

“Whatever power you think you’ll get from this isn’t worth it. It will destroy you.” Orion lifted his blade, holding the tip inches away from Maki’s chest. “Stand. Down.”

“I’m doing this because no one else will.” Even at the end of Orion’s blade, Maki didn’t flinch.

“No one else will do what?” I still wanted to understand.

“Kill a demon lord.” He slipped around Orion’s outstretched sword and moved in close to him, lowering his voice to a whisper I could hardly hear. “You know what the Arbiters do is wrong, but you aren’t willing to do anything about it. You’re complicit, Orion.”

“Try to justify it however you want, but this is nothing more than a power grab to feed your ego. Turning yourself into a demon lord? That’s not justice.” Orion shoved Maki away but didn’t take the opportunity to attack him. “Do you even hear yourself,