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

I shook my head, declining his offer and lowered my eyes as I walked around the island toward the fridge where the blood was kept. I pulled out a couple of bags and lay them on the counter before reaching into a cabinet for a glass.

When I turned back around, my grandfather was leaning against the counter, watching me intently. He brought the beer to his lips and drank down some of the bitter liquid, his eyes never leaving me.

“Is there something you wanted?” I asked him. He and I weren’t friends, hell I didn’t even consider him an acquaintance. I didn’t owe him anything, not even a polite attitude with the shit he pulled.

“You don’t look at all like your dad, but you definitely act like him,” he smiled wistfully.

“I look a lot like my mom and uncle,” I replied.

I didn’t know why I said anything at all. I should have just ignored him, but deep down I knew he was still my family. Growing up in foster care made me long for family, no matter how shitty they were and the relationship I had with Amos was the definition of a shitty relationship. Granted, he had only just found out who I was to him when the whole thing went down, so I was sure he was conflicted, but it was still awful for him to be a part of it.

“I thought it was odd Eric kept you two away, even if your mom wasn’t his mate, because I had always wanted a grandchild. But when I heard of your father’s...death, I was told of the secrets he was keeping. I wish he trusted me enough to tell me. I mean, I would have supported him no matter what. Don’t get me wrong, I would have been angry at first for him putting himself and you in that kind of danger, but I would have loved you and took care of you. I could have…”

His words trailed off as a wave of sadness crossed his features. It had been fifteen years, and it still moved him to the point of unwavering sadness. He must have had an incredible bond with my dad.

“I didn’t even know he was my dad until my uncle Devlin found me,” I told him. Amos’ eyes popped up to look at me. “I always thought he was my mom’s friend Eric. I loved him and he was always there helping us and spending time with us, but I never saw my parents together as a couple and I never called him ‘Dad’, not until I met him in my dreams.”

I put my glass of blood down and turned my palm up, calling for my stack of photographs Devlin gave me. When they appeared, I pushed them toward Amos to look at. The one I showed Amos when I first met him was on top. He took them from me carefully and began leafing through them.

“Wow, you really do look like your mom,” he chuckled. He studied the picture a little harder then furrowed his eyebrows. “I feel like I should know her.”

“You probably know who she is since she’s Michael Ironshot’s bonded mate.” I shrugged my shoulders and turned to pour another bag of blood into my glass.

“What? Lucia Ironshot is your mother?” Anger and betrayal crossed his features and I understood it completely.

“She is.”

“Why do I have such a hard time believing the same woman who your father loved would mate with a caster like Ironshot?”

“Well, she did. She agreed to it after watching the Council execute my father. She had just cursed me to forget everything and suppressed my growing powers and gave me to Devlin to hide away. She claims she did it to protect me, but I have moments of doubt about that.” I took a gulp from my glass and kept talking. “Dad believes she did it for me, though.”

“I would give anything to talk with Eric again,” Amos sighed.

“How does it work, exactly? The dreamscape thing. Xan told me you can communicate with your ancestors, but would it be possible to talk with anyone from your family who has passed away?”

“I wish that were the case, but no. I talk with my grandmother and father mostly, but I’ll never get to speak with Eric because he’s my son. That is, I won’t be able to talk with him until I pass into the afterlife too. I have too much left to do. Too much revenge to exact.”

“You know he wouldn’t want you to do that,” I said.

“Yeah, I know. But they took him away from me because he loved someone he shouldn’t, and together they made you. I didn’t realize how special that was until recently, but I believed they took my granddaughter away from me too, until just a few days ago. Now I’m learning it was your mother who was the one to do that. I have a whole lot of anger inside me, Emelia, and I don’t know what else to do with it, except dole out my revenge for what they did to him, and to you.”

“Amos, I don’t need you to defend me,” I shot back. “I’m the ultimate supernatural being now, remember?” My retort was sarcastic and a bit of a jab at what he helped do to me.

“You’re still vulnerable, Emelia. I’ve already told you I’m sorry for how it all happened, but I know it was destined. You are meant to be exactly who you are. I won’t apologize for my part, but I will apologize a million times, if I have to, for how it happened. It was cruel and unjust. We’re not the Council! We should have done better.” He balled his right hand into a fist as it transformed into a black dragon claw and slammed it down on the counter, making everything on top shake.

I didn’t know what to say to that, even though I agreed with him about