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

Di smiled wide revealing a row of perfectly straight white teeth and laid her tablet down on the table, making her way over as she eye’d us both. Xander more than me. I mentally rolled my eyes at her audacity.

“Di, this is Emelia and Xander. Devlin Stratton sent them to the diner to find you.”

Di’s eyes snapped to Grayson at his words and she raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

“Oh? Devlin? I haven’t heard from him in a very long time. How is he?” Her attention was back on Xander, as she decided to ignore me completely.

“We don’t know,” I told her with annoyance, bringing her attention back to me.

“Well, that’s a shame,” she sighed. “How do you know Devlin? Why would he send you to me?” She seemed conceited and self-important. I hated people like that.

Xander planted his feet and crossed his arms over his chest. He was annoyed with her too. The corner of my mouth rose in a small smile. Man, I loved that dragon.

“I’ll leave you to it then,” Grayson told us and headed back toward the door to the hallway. “Xander, Emelia, hope to see you around.”

The door shut behind him leaving us in the room alone with the piranha.

“Dev is my uncle,” I informed Di, getting back on the subject. “We were attacked by casters from the Council. He stayed behind so we could get away, so he could be dead, he could be a prisoner, or he could just be hiding out, waiting for his chance to find us. But whatever happened to him, his final request of me was to find you. So you tell me, Di, why would my uncle, who has been my protector from the moment I was born, send me to find you, out of all the people in the world? What can you do to help us?”

Di’s face remained neutral for a moment, then she parted her lips and breathed out audibly, probably from surprise. She turned on her heels and walked back toward the table she was standing at when we walked in.

“I’m afraid I need more information to answer your question to satisfaction. What are you, first of all? I can’t seem to figure it out by your smell.”

“Rude,” I said quietly. Then a little louder I asked, “What are you?”

She smiled wide. “Darling, I’m a vampire.”

Now, she was exactly what I expected when I thought of vampires.

“I’m not a vampire,” I replied. “I’m a caster. And a dragon shifter.”

The last sentence came out a little softer. It seemed I wasn’t as confident when it came to telling others of my dual status.

Within a second, Di was in front of me and held onto both of my arms at the wrist. She sniffed the air in front of me and her face lit up in excitement.

Xander ripped her away, sending her flying across the room. Di landed on her back next to her desk. When she sat up, she didn’t look angry or annoyed. In fact, she looked as excited as she was before Xan threw her across the office.

“Unbelievable,” she smiled and got back up on her feet. “The prophecy…?”

Her face morphed back into cool composure, and she began smoothing down her pencil skirt and hair before walking back over to us. Xan stood partially in front of me and growled at the vampire.

“Let me guess,” she said, “you’re her mate? Her shifter mate? Does that mean she has a caster mate too?”

Xan’s growling became louder, but he didn’t answer.

“That’s none of your business,” I spoke up. “Can you help us or not?”

Di clapped her hands in front of her smiling face. “Oh, darling! I can most definitely help you! Come! Sit!”

She motioned toward the sitting area and stood next to a high-backed chair, leaving us the couch.

“I’ll call for refreshments! You must be famished, being shifters and all!”

I wasn’t sure if I liked the friendly Di. I definitely didn’t like the snooty Di, but this side of her was just as awful.

Di walked over to the desk and pushed a button on the surface.

“Jep, please bring some snacks and drinks for our guests.”

She walked back over to the chair and sat down, crossing her legs in front of her body and leaning forward.

“Tell me all about you,” she commanded, the smile still plastered on her face. “I want to know everything!”

“First, tell us why we should trust you,” Xan told her. “My mate has told you something very private and very dangerous. I don’t think we should tell you anything else until you tell us what you can do for her. For us.”

“Fair enough.”

Her smile dropped and she leaned back in her chair. Before she could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, and the snooty vampire from before came into the room carrying a large tray of sandwiches and two glasses of water. He set them down on the coffee table in front of us and left without saying a word.

“Help yourself!” Di commanded.

Neither one of us reached for the food in front of us, so Di cleared her throat uncomfortably and began telling us what we wanted to know.

“I’m sure the supernatural world hasn’t been very kind to you,” she started out. “We, as supernaturals, have been told we should remain separate. Mixing of the races is forbidden. Next to the rule that we should keep our identities secret, it’s the biggest rule we are supposed to live by. I happen to run a faction of a group that doesn’t believe that living separate is how we’re supposed to live.”

“So, you’re part of a rebellion of sorts?”

Xander was the one to ask the question.

She nodded and pursed her lips. “You could call us that, yes.”

“You’re rebels? What exactly does that mean?” I asked. Why would Dev send us to a group of rebels?

“It means we oppose the Supernatural Council and the lies they’ve been spreading to keep us in check, that’s all.”