The Mark of Fate: Book 3 of The Marked series by Ford, Rinna (romantic love story reading .TXT) 📕

palette and ran a makeup brush over a deep gray color before covering my closed eyelids with it. “There will be twelve people at the party, all friends and supporters of Michael and the Council, so be on your guard.”

“So they won’t like me, will they?”

I chuckled at the thought. They would hate me, for sure.

“Probably not, no,” she answered for me, not understanding why I found it funny. “It’s serious, Emelia. You must treat this as life and death because it just might be.”

I opened my eyes and grabbed her forearms, halting her from applying more makeup.

“You don’t think I know that?” I asked. “Your mate wants me dead, but not before he proves to himself and the world that he’s the biggest, baddest mother fucker on the planet. I may not know everything he’s capable of, but I do know I’m in for a world of pain before this is all over. But what he doesn’t realize is that he is too.”

She let out a deep breath when she realized she had been holding it in during my little speech.

“You’re a lot braver than I am,” she finally told me and resumed making me pretty.

“I don’t know about that, but thank you anyway.”

She squeezed my arms again and rose from her chair, walking over to the closet where she retrieved a long sleeved, black ball gown. My mom turned it around so she could fully take it in and closed her eyes in pain when she saw the back. I thought it was absolutely gorgeous so I didn’t understand her worry until I saw the back too.

“Son of a bitch,” I ground out. “That fucking… he picked this out, didn’t he?”

Lucia nodded her head and lay it gently on the bed. I sighed, knowing it was either the dress or the filthy scrubs that were still laying on the bathroom floor. The gown may have been completely backless except for the snap at the neck, but it was stunning. So what, most of my mark would be on display for Ironshot and his cronies to see.

I untied the bathrobe and slipped on the dress, turning around so my mother could snap it at the collar. With the dress on, even the choker that hid away my vampire was covered. Ironshot thought of everything when he picked the dress, the fucker.

“You look beautiful, darling,” she weakly smiled and touched my arm with a shaky hand.

“Thank you.”

She nodded once more then turned to walk toward the bedroom door. She delicately knocked and waited for one of the guards to open it up. Kenny was on the other side of the door and he looked at her expectantly.

“Wait!” I called out. “Will you be at dinner too?”

She smiled gently, and nodded once before walking out into the hall, leaving me alone to wait.

Chapter Twenty-Three

It turns out, I didn’t have to wait by myself for very long. I was standing by one of the windows looking out over a bricked courtyard when I heard the door lock click. Expecting Kenny or even that caveman, Dixon, I was shocked to see my stepfather himself standing there, in a tuxedo, no less. What surprised me even more than that was how handsome and normal he actually looked.

He smiled a wide genuine smile and held out his arms. “You look beautiful, my dear,” he told me.

I stood stock still, not knowing how to react to his earnest compliment and stuck my hands in the pockets nervously. Yes, the glamorous, backless dress also had pockets. That was almost enough to make up for the fact that most of my mark would be on display for all to see.

Realizing I wasn’t going to thank him for the compliment or even the dress, he cleared his throat and held out his left elbow. My right shoulder was still very sore, so I moved to his right side and touched his elbow with my left hand instead. He gave me a puzzled look.

“Dixon was a little rough taking me out of my cell,” I admitted as we walked into the hall.

Understanding lit up his face. “Ah. He can be a little rough around the edges, but there’s no one more loyal than Dixon. Tell me, Emelia, what was in the potion that our dear Harris found in your cell?”

I shrugged and turned up one corner of my mouth. “Just something my uncle gave me. I’d been having trouble sustaining my energy because having more than one supernatural creature living within me drains me pretty quickly. He made a potion for me to use as a boost. That’s all it was. How is Harris, by the way?”

He stopped walking when we were halfway down the stairs, tugging me to stop with him. I looked up at his face. He was angry and I’d provoked him.

“I don’t believe you,” he said in a low voice.

I shrugged my shoulder again. “If you don’t believe me, then I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve been more than honest in the answers I’ve given you. I’m sorry if they’re not what you want to hear.”

Ironshot closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, calming himself down. When he opened his eyes again, his cordial smile was back in place.

He leaned down to whisper into my ear, “You better be on your best behavior, or else I’m going to have to punish you. You don’t want to test me, stepdaughter. I’m not ready to kill you yet, but that doesn’t mean you have nothing to fear from me.”

With that, he led me the rest of the way down the stairs and into the dining room. With a shaky breath, I willed myself to think about Matias instead of letting the idea of walking into that room intimidate me. Matias would tell me to control myself, to remain calm and reserved, to put on a brave face in the midst of enemies.

“Don’t ever let them see how they affect you. You