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

them. “I don’t understand why they’re so obvious about it. Wouldn’t it be more effective to follow us secretly, so we didn’t know where they were?”

“My dad doesn’t think that way.” Jacob leaned back on the couch and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. “It’s all a game to him. He wants us to feel helpless.”

“Do you?” I asked.

He raised a brow. “Do I what?”

“Feel helpless.”

“Well, they have Orion. And it’ll be pretty difficult for us to get your enchantment while those guys are breathing down our necks. Things look pretty hopeless right now.”

Sighing, I pushed the curtain back in place.

“But no, I don’t think it’s over yet,” Jacob continued. “If there’s one thing I learned growing up the way I did, it’s that once my dad believes he’s won, he gets sloppy.”

I leaned against the wall next to the window and crossed my arms. “So what do we do?”

“We free Orion.”

“From the town hall, right under the Council’s nose?” I asked. “Are you insane?”

“I’m not saying it will be easy, but it’s possible. Celia gave us everything we need to do it.”

“Should we trust her?”

“Well, our only other option is abandoning Orion,” Jacob said. “Would you prefer that?”

“No. Of course not.” I rubbed my forehead. “So, when do we do this?”

“They plan on handing him over to Raxael, but we don’t know when he’s supposed to show up. And we still have two more days before the enchantment will be ready.”

“If it’s even done on time,” I said. “Ed doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

“Well, if we wait too long, we won’t be able to help him.”

“Tomorrow night, then?” I asked. “We can break him out and send him out of town.”

“If we do that, we’ll still have to wait another day for the enchantment,” Jacob said. “And we’ll have a lot of extra eyes on us once Orion escapes.”

I played with the end of my braid, twirling it in my fingers as I thought. “So, we’ll have to get back here quickly before they realize what’s happened—make it look like we were home the whole time and couldn’t be responsible.”

Jacob was quiet for long enough that I thought he’d given up on the conversation. When he spoke again, his voice was much softer than it had been before. “This could really work, you know.”

“I sure hope so.” I sat down next to him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What made you change your mind about standing up to your dad? I mean, this kind of hurts your chances of getting a Council seat someday.”

“Nothing I do will ever earn his love or approval. If I’ll never be good enough for him, there’s no reason to bother trying.” He leaned forward. “You know the worst part, though? I still want him to be proud of me. I know I shouldn’t care, but I do.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s missing,” I said.

Jacob rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Right.”

“I’m serious,” I said. “You’re strong and resilient, and a skilled fighter. You’re someone I trust to have my back. And I’m just glad to have you here with me through all of this.”

Judging by his expression, he seemed as surprised by my admission as I was.

“I mean it. I don’t know what I’d do if I was trying to figure this all out on my own,” I said.

“Maybe it’s not so bad that we got stuck together.”

“Maybe not,” I said, smiling up at him.

***

In the darkness of the entryway, I slipped on my boots over a pair of black pants. My blade was sheathed at my hip, and my gun was holstered on my opposite thigh. I could feel Jacob beside me, shuffling around as he donned his own gear.

“Ready?” he whispered.

“Nope.”

“Yeah, me neither,” he said with a soft chuckle.

I peeked out through the curtains. The silhouette of the dark SUV stood out against the streetlight behind it. Inside, two soft blue glows suggested the men who were supposed to be guarding us were more interested in their phones.

“Doesn’t look like they’re paying much attention to the house right now,” I said. “With all the lights off, I guess they assumed we went to bed.”

“How likely do you think it is that Celia is leading us into a trap?” Jacob asked.

“I think there’s a good chance this ends poorly for us, one way or another,” I admitted. “But I don’t know what else to do. I can’t leave Orion to die. He wouldn’t leave me.”

I interlaced my fingers with Jacob’s. His palm was rough with calluses from holding his sword, but his skin was warm. Magic tingled between us as my invisibility spell cloaked us. The spell might not hold once we entered the town hall, but it would at least get us across town.

Hopefully.

I slid open my kitchen window, careful not to make too much noise, and shimmied out into my backyard.

Jacob and I crouched down low as we crept through the grass, which was still damp from the day’s rain. I paused as we passed the sidewalk to glance over my shoulder at the SUV. The interior was still lit by the glow of their phones.

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, the passenger door swung open, and I froze in place.

I was invisible, but they would still be able to hear me just fine. A single footstep could trigger their suspicion and ruin everything.

“What’re you doing out there?” a voice from inside the SUV called out.

“Stretching my legs,” his partner said with a grunt. “And I might take a leak. We’ve been trapped in that car all day. Those kids aren’t going anywhere.”

Behind me, Jacob stilled as well, and even without being able to see him, I could sense his fear.

I couldn’t afford to let any of that fear rub off on me. If I lost my hold on my emotions, I would lose my hold on the spell, too.

As the guard strolled down the sidewalk in our direction, I sucked in a breath. His heavy footsteps approached me,