Marked By Lies: A Reverse Harem Series (The Marked Series Book 1) by Paige Orr (best english books to read for beginners .txt) 📕

she lets out a scream that has me rooted to the spot in confusion as I scan the room for danger. Not finding anything different from a minute before, I turn back around to find her growling at the empty space beside her. What the fuck is going on now.

Chapter Seventeen

Melissa

“Jesus fucking Christ Grey, was there any need to scare the shit out of me like that. We need to find a way for you to give me a fucking warning[3] before you randomly pop up like that.”

Grey gives me a sheepish smile as he scuffs his toes along the floor, looking quite contrite as the tension his sudden appearance caused eases from my shoulders.

“Sorry boss lady, I didn’t mean to scare you, I just thought you would like to know what we found.”

I wave at him to continue as I take deep breaths to calm my still racing heartbeat. He better have something useful, at least then, it would be worth the heart attack he just gave me.

“So me and a few of the ghosts I know checked out those houses, and we all found these strange marks on the walls very similar to the ones in that old lady’s cave, but at the same time different. The feeling of dread that mark caused us, forced us to leave the houses before we could look for anything else though.”

I hold up my hand to tell him to wait before rushing across the room to Cailean and taking the notebook he still has clutched in his hand. He lets it go with a look of shock at my reaction to a conversation he can’t see, but I’m so focused on finding out if it’s the same sigil that I don’t pay him any mind as I rush back to where Grey is standing watching my every move.

I thrust the notebook in front of his face with a wave before asking.

“Is this the mark that you all saw?”

His eyes flick towards the notebook, widening when they land on the sigil that I drew earlier before he takes a step back, stuttering out his answer.

“Y-Yeah, that’s the one. B-But how do you know that?”

I let out an impatient sigh as I quickly tell him everything that happened to me earlier, the shock on his face becoming worse and worse with each thing he hears. I wish all these men would stop fucking acting like I performed a miracle, it’s more than a little disconcerting, and well I can’t help but take offense.

“Seriously! Why is it so fucking surprising that I fought a Harpy? Obviously, whoever is behind all this shit must have thought the same as all of you when they sent the bitch!”

I know that I’m just taking my anger from being attacked out on Grey, but I can’t seem to stop myself. The combination of fighting for my life and being thrown into old memories that I wish had stayed buried has left me feeling raw. I’m not saying that I’m all sunshine and roses, but I’m never usually this testy.

I never thought that I would take on a case that would push me so close to the edge so quickly, and right now my nerves are rattled. I usually don't let shit get to me like this, and I don’t like how easily I’m letting my emotions control me. God knows that I’ve learned to never let your emotions get the better of you unless you're prepared to make mistakes. While lost in these thoughts, Grey moves in front of me, waving his hand in my face to grab my attention.

“I’m sorry, Melissa. I didn’t mean to upset you. I wasn’t shocked that you managed to fight the Harpy, I was surprised you didn’t even get a scratch, I’ve seen how tenaciously Harpies fight.”

I let out a sigh and let my shoulders slump. I can see what Grey is saying, I’m just overly sensitive right now, but that’s no excuse for my behavior. Fuck, I remember how surprised I was just seeing a Harpy, never mind being told that someone fought against one.

“No, I’m sorry, Grey. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I didn’t make it out without a scratch, the guys had to come and save my ass, so I can get why you would be surprised.”

“Shit, how bad was it?”

“Pretty bad since I lost consciousness before help arrived, I’m lucky to be standing here right now. That just means that I can’t let whoever is behind this get away with it though.”

“Look, I get that this shit is personal now, but please tell me you’re not going to steamroll your way into this on your own. It may be selfish of me, but I’m rather enjoying being able to talk to someone who’s alive. Ghosts can be rather depressing you know.”

I let out a chuckle at this. I know exactly what he means. Most of the ghosts who communicate with me are morbid as fuck, not that I blame them, they are dead after all. Maybe that could help us though, if they will agree to help us, I could see if there is a way for me to help them move on. I turn back to the others, catching Cailean's and Zaphyr’s eyes.

“Do you guys think you could figure out who the next targets might be now we understand a little bit more about what these fuckers are after?”

They look between each other with grim expressions; I know that I’m asking the impossible, but if what I have planned works it could lead us to the culprit a lot quicker than trying to investigate each disappearance. Cailean nods for Zaphyr to take this question, and he lets out a huff before answering.

“We could try, but we haven’t had any luck so far. If it was as