Marked by Blood: Book 2 of The Marked Series by Ford, Rinna (top novels of all time txt) 📕

“Well, Emelia and Xander, bring your car back here and you can follow me in mine. If it feels fishy to you, feel free to leave, no questions asked and I won’t chase you. It’s all in your court. I’ll be in that truck right there.” He pointed to an old red pickup truck then looked back at us. “Are you okay with that?”

Xander nodded and led me around the side of the building toward our car. We each slid inside and Xan stuck the key in the ignition, starting it up.

“What do you think?” I asked as he headed behind the diner.

“I don’t know,” he said. “But I really hope your uncle isn’t sending us to our deaths.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Me too, honey. Me too.”

Chapter Two

We followed behind Grayson’s pickup truck for several miles out of town before turning left onto a winding dirt road. Much like the driveway that led to Xander’s house in the mountains, I would have totally missed it if our guide didn’t know where he was going. I knew that it had to have been the work of a caster to make the turn-off so hard to see.

Xan and I rode in silence, even going as far as turning off the radio so we could use our senses more sharply. Neither one of us thought we were driving into a trap, but you could never be too careful.

The winding path went on for a couple more miles before we reached a tall black wrought-iron fence with a gate that stood in our path. Grayson rolled down his window and put his hand on some kind of sensor pad, allowing him and us entrance into the compound.

Major security.

I gulped at the thought of what awaited us, but whatever it was, it was better than being possibly tortured and killed for simply being me. Xan and I were out of options. We needed to see it through.

The gate slowly swung open and Grayson stepped on the accelerator, leaving us enough time to follow behind him before it closed. We drove for another half mile or so before seeing a house off in the distance. To call it a house was putting it mildly. I had seen mansions smaller than what stood before us. It was massive.

Grayson parked his truck around in front of the house and got out, which left us to do the same. Xan parked beside him, and I immediately opened my car door. The smell of the ocean hit me first, followed by the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

“The house backs up to the ocean,” Grayson told us when he noticed what I was looking for. “You should definitely check it out while you’re here. It’s one of the best things about the place. Come on in!”

He smiled wide and began walking up the steps. He didn’t wait for us to follow, but I knew he knew we’d be right behind him. He had a cool confidence about him, and I decided if he turned out to be telling us the truth about Di, I would definitely like to have him as a friend. If he was lying, then… he’d make a tasty snack for my dragon.

I huffed out a laugh at the sardonic thought and shook my head at Xan when he raised his eyebrows in question as we climbed the stairs. We passed several supes when we walked through the front door. All of them stopped whatever they were doing and stared at us with a mixture of confusion and paranoia. They obviously weren’t used to seeing strangers in their home.

“You know where Di is?” Grayson asked one guy who was walking out of a hallway. He was holding a notepad in his hand, looking down at it and writing something. He almost ran smack into Xander, which made him fall back and hiss at my mate.

The man’s eyes turned red for a second before changing back to the muddy brown they were before. I knew in that instant he must have been a vampire, even though he wasn’t at all what I expected.

Vampires were the one supernatural group I wasn’t familiar with for obvious reasons, but I thought they’d be beautiful, if nothing else. Not that the man wasn’t attractive, but he was more cute than jaw-dropping gorgeous. And what was with the hissing? Did they all do that?

I needed to do more research on vampires, I decided.

The man stood upright and assessed Xan and me as his face went back to its neutral, bland self. “In her office,” he sneered and went on his way without another glance at any of us.

“Thanks, Jep!” Grayson called out after the vampire, then turned back around to us. “Don’t worry about him. He’s Di’s assistant, and he lets the power go to his head quite often. I would say he’s usually easier to be around, but I’d be lying. He’s a prick.”

“Okay,” I replied with raised eyebrows, because the whole interaction was weird.

Grayson smiled again and led us down the hallway Jep had just come from. We passed several doors before he stopped at one on the right and knocked softly.

“Come in,” a husky female voice called from the other side.

Grayson opened the door and let us pass by him, bringing us into a large office with a sitting room and everything. Standing near a large table and holding a tablet was the person I assumed to be Di.

She was absolutely gorgeous with her shoulder-length white blonde hair and blood red lips. She was the most put together person I had ever met in my entire life, with her silky red blouse to her high heeled shoes. I felt completely underdressed standing in the same room as her, and I didn’t like feeling inadequate. But it wasn’t just her appearance which made me feel that way, it was the way she carried herself. She was pure class, and I wondered exactly who