The Mark of Fate: Book 3 of The Marked series by Ford, Rinna (romantic love story reading .TXT) 📕

from those two. They treat you like the most precious thing in the world rather than a con artist and the freak that you are.” He sighed as if totally put out by the whole situation. “I should have expected such a weak showing from someone like you. Serves me right, I guess.”

He made one and half circles around my body as I lay on my right side, stopping behind me. He scooped me up effortlessly, holding me away from his body as if I were a dead carcass. Nose scrunched in disgust, he shook his head and rolled his eyes. I tried to say something, anything, but it seemed as if my voice had left me as well. It didn’t stop me from trying to wiggle free from him.

“Stop,” he commanded and squeezed under my arms and knees, making me open my mouth in another silent scream. “You should feel lucky to even be near me. Filth.”

He then shifted my body, throwing me over his shoulder, freeing up one of his hands. I could only see his back from my current position but I heard the unmistakable pop of a portal opening.

I knew that if he took me wherever he was planning to take me I’d be a goner, so I tried to fight once more. He slapped my ass hard, making me wince.

“I told you to stop,” he snarled. “Behave, little queen.”

With that, he stepped into the portal, leaving behind my beautiful sandy beach and everyone I loved.

Chapter Sixteen

Alec stepped through the portal, taking us from the sandy beach to a pristine foyer. I was fighting the pressure of sleep that wanted to take me under, but I knew I needed to take in my surroundings as much as I could if I wanted to have any kind of knowledge as to where I was. I was able to turn my head to see the rich-looking space we were passing through. The floors were white marble with gray flecks in it, the walls were blue, and the furnishings were high end. Everything that I was able to see was well thought out and placed with a purpose, much like the rebel’s mansion.

But I knew I wasn’t with the rebellion anymore. I was in the hands of the Council. That bit of info I didn’t need to discover as I tried to stay awake. Every time my eyes blinked closed I had to fight to open them back up. I wasn’t ready to let exhaustion win over and take me.

“Hey, man!” I heard a male voice coming from the opposite side I was facing. I tried to turn my head but even that was too much. “What do you have there?” he asked my captor, gleefully.

Alec stopped and slightly turned without saying a word, although I was sure his smile was wide and full of pride. He stood still and was going to let the newcomer have a better look at my face. The man who I could only describe as weasley, with his narrow nose and beady eyes, knelt down so we were face to face. He tilted his head to the side as he looked over my facial features, but then his eyes went up, looking at the markings on my back. I was only wearing a sports bra, so much of my cursed mark was exposed.

The man stood and ran a clammy finger over one of the more prominent swirls near the bottom hem of my bra, sliding it under and pulling the fabric up. I threw myself away as much as I could when I felt his finger move down toward the side of my breast. He pulled his disgusting hand away from me and laughed.

“Nice catch!” he told Alec with a huge grin as if I were a fish and slapped me on the back hard enough to leave a handprint. I closed my eyes with a wince. “Boss will be very happy!”

I felt Alec shrug as if he didn’t care but I knew his smile was still very smug.

“Gotta take this bitch to her cell,” he said to his friend.

“Sure, man. I’ll see ya when you’re done.”

The guy’s eyebrows raised up and down suggestively and I wanted to throw up. I didn’t think Alec would try anything based on how he reacted to having to hold me, but who knew with him. He was very good at deception. He had us all fooled from the beginning. He even fooled my mates, letting them think he was interested in me for other reasons than he actually was. They thought he wanted to bed me, but he was really playing us expertly. I hated him.

Alec turned back toward the way we were originally going and opened a door, leading us down a long staircase. My body hit his with every step, making me lull further and further into sleep, but I fought it the best I could. It was one of the most difficult things I’d ever done, staying awake. Whatever he’d hit me with was potent, but I was stronger, even without being able to call on my beasts. I’d been through a lot in my life, as a supe and as a human, but I knew I couldn’t fight it indefinitely. I just hoped I was somewhere relatively safe when I couldn’t fight the exhaustion anymore.

When we reached the bottom, I immediately felt cold, letting me know what we were in a basement of some sort. After walking several more feet, he lowered his shoulder, letting me fall off and onto a chilled concrete floor. My head bounced off the floor after my legs did, making my already tired head swim. I could barely make out the sounds of heavy locks clicking into place as my eyelids became too heavy to open back up and the darkness took over.

* * *

The wind was cold as it whipped around my body and the sun was gone, leaving