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

like this. But it shouldn’t be too difficult for Commander Orion to get something that will work, given his position.”

I tapped my fingers on my duffel bag as I considered that. I hadn’t counted on him needing something from us. Since he’d been suspended, Orion wouldn’t be able to bring anything to the alchemy lab without raising suspicion. Maybe he had something of his own we could use.

My tapping fingers found a hard object… one that might work. I pulled out the cloth containing the emerald and handed it to the alchemist.

“How about this?”

He took the pouch from my outstretched hand and opened it, careful not to touch the object inside. “Where did you get this?”

My only answer was a noncommittal shrug.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is the Arryn emerald. It’s been on our plane for centuries, and—”

“Will it work?”

I wasn’t interested in hearing more of his stories. I only needed to know if it would get the job done.

“It should do nicely.” Ed continued, answering my next question before I asked it. “Six months.”

“We don’t have—”

He cut off my protest with a wave of his hand, then counted on his fingers. “No, wait. Two days.”

I let out a relieved sigh.

“No, that won’t work. One week,” he said, this time with a confident nod of his head.

That was longer than I’d like, but I’d take what I could get. “And you’re sure you can do this?”

“Of course! Well, maybe. Probably.”

The harsh sound of a knock on the door made me jump. Ed shoved the emerald into a drawer and leaned forward on his table. “Who’s there?”

The door swung open, and Marcus Thorne entered the study. He stepped over a stack of journals on the floor. “I’m glad to see you here bright and early, Ed. Though, it’s a surprise to see you, Miss Collins. What brings you here today?” His voice was far too pleasant.

My mouth went dry, and words failed me.

“Riley brought a dagger for me to enchant.” Ed found one on the shelf behind him and held it up.

“I see.” Marcus took it, turning the small weapon over in his hands.

I did my best to keep my expression neutral.

“How long are you expecting it to take?” Marcus asked, handing the dagger back to the alchemist.

“The schedule is quite full,” he said. “It could be awhile.”

“I see. Well, it’s good she won’t need it any time soon, then.”

“I figured I might as well get in line now. Dr. Moran is always so busy,” I said.

“Very true.” Marcus cleared his throat, then offered me a smile that made my skin crawl. “Well, I suppose you should be on your way. I’m sure Ed will call you when your dagger is complete.”

“Right.” I forced a smile as I looked over at the alchemist. “Thank you for your help.”

I hurried out of the study. The pressure on my chest didn’t clear until I was halfway down Market Street on my way home.

I couldn’t help but wonder if Marcus really had been watching from his window, waiting to pounce. It was hard to believe that I was that important, but why else would he have shown up at the alchemy lab so early?

The sinking feeling in my gut told me he knew, or at least suspected, far too much.

And a week was starting to feel like an awfully long time to wait.

***

In the days following my visit to the alchemy lab, I checked my phone religiously for updates from Ed, but so far, there had been no news. Without work to distract us, the waiting was almost unbearable, and the serial killer documentaries Jacob forced me to sit through made it even worse. On the afternoon of the fifth day, we started watching our ninth documentary of the week.

When my finally phone rang, I jumped to my feet and raced across the room.

“Hello?”

There was a long stretch of silence on the other end until Orion let out a heavy sigh. “I got a letter from the Council today. I have to show up for trial tomorrow.”

My breath caught in my throat. “Tomorrow?”

Jacob paused the documentary and got up to join me. “What’s going on?”

I put the call on speaker phone and set the device on the table between us.

“You should come over so we can figure out what to do,” I said.

There was a rustling noise on the other end. “Not a good idea. They’ve got guys posted outside my place. Going anywhere now would raise suspicion. Is there anyone watching you?”

I pulled the curtain aside to see two black SUVs parked across from my house. “Yeah. They’re here too.”

Orion cursed under his breath. “You two have to be careful.”

“Why couldn’t they have waited just a few more days?”

“Listen, Ry,” Orion said. “You should forget about whatever enchantment Ed is making for you and take this opportunity to run.”

“What about you?” I asked.

There was another long silence.

“I can’t leave you,” I said.

“You won’t have a choice,” Orion said. “One way or another, I’m not going to survive this trial. If they don’t kill me as soon as it’s over, it will only be so they can hand me over to Raxael. But that doesn’t mean you should go down with me.”

“I won’t let that happen to you.”

“Riley,” Orion said, this time with all the authoritative force of a commander. “Promise me you’ll run before they come for you. Even if the enchantment isn’t done yet. No matter what happens, promise me you’ll leave Haygrove.”

“I promise,” I said, though I wasn’t sure I meant it.

Orion was the only family I had left, and I didn’t intend to lose him.

Chapter Nineteen

On the morning of Orion’s trial, I put on the same black dress I wore to my father’s funeral. This time, I slipped a pair of gym shorts on underneath and tied my hair back in a neat braid. If things went poorly, I didn’t want modesty or flowing hair getting in my way.

I wanted to bring along my sword, but it wasn’t exactly something