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

“Tell us why you’re doing this,” I said. “I want to know.”

He cocked his head to the side and looked at me. “It’s Riley, isn’t it? Riley Collins?”

“You have no right to speak to her after what you did to Owen,” Orion snarled.

Maki ignored him and continued to approach me. “You’ve noticed that something doesn’t feel right about the Arbiters. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? It’s why you broke the rules to dig deeper. Just like your father. And your mother.”

Who do you think killed her?

I wanted to be furious with this man. I knew I shouldn’t listen to anything he had to say. Orion said he was a liar, that he was the one who killed my dad.

But I was here because of his note. I needed the answers I came to Omaha to find.

“What do you know about my parents? What happened to them?”

“The Council wants you to believe that I killed your father, and a pack of demons killed your mother,” Maki said. “But the same Council sent Commander Orion here to help an Oathbreaker perform a human sacrifice ritual. Why do you think that is?”

Every instinct I had screamed that it was time to attack, that listening to him was a waste of time. My sword hand twitched eagerly, but I remained silent, waiting for him to finish.

“This sacrifice was going to happen whether Orion and I were involved or not.” He paced in front of the ruined pews, running his fingers along the wood. “If it wasn’t us, there would have been someone else standing here because Raxael demanded it of the Arbiters. My people and I just did the dirty work.”

“You’re saying the Council is behind this?” I couldn’t hold in the laugh that broke my words.

“My people gathered the victims for slaughter. But the Council—they made the arrangements for this. They found this church for us and covered up the disappearances. And when those girls stole the emerald, the Arbiters recovered it and returned it to me.”

“That’s absurd.”

“Is it?” Maki asked. “This is bigger than one night and one ritual. This is centuries of the Arbiters of Shadow serving at the command of the demon lords.”

“The Arbiters don’t serve demons,” Jacob said. “We kill them.”

“The lesser demons, yes,” Maki agreed. “You’re the cleanup crew. You take care of the mess when the trash becomes too much of a problem. But the greater demons—the demon lords? The entire purpose of the Arbiters is to serve them. Just ask your commander. He’s not denying any of this.”

I looked over at Orion, waiting for his denial. For him to confirm that this was all as insane as it sounded.

But he’d said the same thing outside, hadn’t he? He handed the emerald back to Maki, and he said he was following the Council’s orders.

He stared forward at Maki, refusing to meet my gaze. “It’s more complicated than that.”

“Complicated.” I breathed out the word as I tried to force it to make sense. If what Maki was saying was true, we were working for demons. Powerful ones, from the sound of it. What exactly was complicated about that?

“We have no other choice,” Orion said. “If we didn’t meet the demon lords’ demands, they would destroy everything and everyone just to spite us.”

“So the Council says.” Maki wiped his hands on his robe, leaving behind a trail of dirt and dust from the pews on the black silk. “But I’ve been in Raxael’s presence. He is powerful, but he’s far from the god they claim he is. The same must be true of the others.”

“My dad wouldn’t do what you’re saying,” Jacob said. “You’re lying.”

“If the Council is cooperating with demons, why doesn’t anyone else know about it?” I asked.

“That’s the beauty of what the Arbiters of Shadow do. They don’t tell their hunters the truth. Not until you’re in too deep to protest without living the rest of your life on the run as an Oathbreaker.” Maki gestured to himself with a wide, sweeping motion.

“So, you’re saying you’re doing all this so you can take down the demon lords yourself, since the Arbiters won’t?” I matched my strides to his as he paced around the front of the church.

“Yes. This is why I broke my oath and left. My solution may not be a pretty one, but the Arbiters of Shadow have already killed countless innocents to appease the demon lords. What difference will a few more make?”

“We can’t just let those people die,” I said, looking again to Orion for help.

“I’ve tried everything else,” Maki said. “I don’t want them to die any more than you do, but their fates were decided as soon as Raxael demanded this ritual. If I take the power for myself instead of giving it to a demon lord, at least their deaths can mean something. I can stop this from ever happening again.”

“You don’t know what that kind of power will do to you, Jay,” Orion said.

“That’s a risk I have to take.”

“Stand down. I won’t ask again.” Orion shifted into a defensive stance.

I freed my sword from its sheath, and beside me, Jacob did the same. I didn’t know what to believe, but I wouldn’t stand aside and watch these people die.

“I was hoping you would understand,” Maki said. There was a deep sorrow in his eyes as he spoke, but he recovered from it quickly and steeled himself. Without giving us any warning, he raised his palm, and a burst of energy shot forward.

Putting up a quick ward, I crossed my arms in front of my head to shield my face from the dust and debris that flew up around me.

“Stop the Arbiters!” Maki’s voice boomed through the sanctuary.

Five cultists dressed in robes just like his leaped out of the shadows and surrounded us. The one closest to me lunged for me before I had time to react and caught me around the waist. As we fell to the ground together, he