Marked (The Coldest Fae Book 3) by Katerina Martinez (great novels of all time .txt) 📕

It was warm, and tasty. The meat fell apart in my mouth, and the seasoning was perfect. It was hard not to enjoy it. A few moments later, I was taking deep gulps of the warm drink, too. It tasted like warm apple cider, but it wasn’t alcoholic.

“Why him?” the Alpha asked.

I finished chewing and swallowed. “Why what?”

“Why did you fall for him?”

I sighed. “We’re each other’s belore. Soulmates. I hated him when I first met him, but even I couldn’t deny the attraction. Over time, he couldn’t either. That’s why I can’t just kill him, or let anyone kill him. I need to try and help him.”

She nodded. “I understand this. I have never found my belore, but if I had, I would not want them killed, either.” She paused. “If I help you, you will have to do as I say.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Exactly as I say.”

“I promise, I will.”

“Exactly when I say it.”

Really? “You are the Alpha here. You make the decisions, you lead the ritual. We do what you say.”

“And if it does not work, and he must be killed… you will not hesitate.”

I swallowed hard. “That… I’m not sure I can promise you that.”

“You will have to. Otherwise, I will, and it will be better for him if he dies by the hand of his belore, than by that of an enemy.”

“He isn’t your enemy, Ashera. I know he isn’t.”

“That remains to be seen…” she stood abruptly. “Come, we’ll prepare.”

“Now?”

“We will perform the ritual tonight, under the light of the moon in the forest beyond the circles… stop this prophecy before it comes to pass.”

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

 

 

I watched Ashera gather a few supplies before we headed out to find the other girls. She’d picked up a bowl, some herbs, a knife, and several decorative necklaces. Finally, she wrapped her items up in a leather satchel, grabbed a wolf’s pelt cloak, and threw it over her shoulders before wordlessly leaving her tent.

Once we were outside of her tent, she stopped and turned to look at me. “Gather your friends,” she said, “Then get his highness. We will meet you on the other side of the stone circles.”

“You don’t want to come with me?”

“Must I?”

“I guess not…” I nodded, “Alright, I’ll be right behind you.”

Ashera grunted at Lora and Jaleem, who were still standing sentry outside of her tent. Wordless, they followed her through the village. They were heading toward the hill that led up to the stone circles the moon children used to travel from the forest to this place and back. This exorcism was going to happen soon. Tonight. I wasn’t sure if I was totally ready, but I was going to have to be.

I found Mira and Toross talking at the door to Mel’s tent. Their conversation stopped when they saw me, and I had to admit I stood my ground for a moment. This was the second time I’d approached that tent and felt… a little uncomfortable. Like an interloper, an intruder—a third wheel.

Obviously, none of that was true. I was making it all up in my head. But I had never been very good at shutting my own head up so I could think properly, and not let my emotions take complete control over me. I hadn’t spoken to Toross since the challenge, and what few words we had exchanged had been… a little frosty.

After an awkward, silent moment, I approached.

“Are you alright?” Mira asked, before I could talk. “We haven’t had a moment to speak.”

“I’m fine,” I said, “Somehow.”

“And the Prince?”

I glanced at Toross. “Fine. I’m sorry I didn’t mention him sooner.”

He shook his head. “No one told me,” he said, “Although I understand why. I would have had to tell Ashera.”

I nodded. “Well, it’s all out in the open now. In fact, that’s why I’m here.”

“What do you mean?” Mira asked.

“I spoke to the Alpha. She’s going to help us with the ritual.”

“Ritual?” Toross asked.

I nodded. “The Prince. He… needs an exorcism.”

I had rarely seen surprise cross my uncle’s face, but I saw it now. “An exorcism…” he said, flatly.

“Yes, I’m going to have to explain on the way, though, because we need to go.”

“Go where?” Mira asked.

“Ashera is getting everything ready for us on the other side of the circles. It’s happening tonight, Mira.”

“Are we ready for that?”

“No, but I doubt if we were ever going to be.”

Melina stepped out from behind her tent flap. “Well, we might not be ready, but we’re going to pull this off,” she said, “We’re going to get that thing out of him and everything’s going to turn out great.”

Gullie fluttered out of the tent, her little green body glowing vibrantly. “That’s a lot of enthusiasm for a fae. Are you sure you don’t have a little pixie blood in you?”

“Our blood is the same—only our size is different.”

“Our size, disposition, mannerism, warmth, ability to tell a joke and take one…”

“Don’t make me swat you.”

“Ladies,” I said, interrupting. “You need to gather whatever few things you think you’ll need to work your magic. I need to go and get the Prince and get ready to summon the Veridian. We’ll meet on the other side of the stones?”

“You do remember what I said about our magic?” Mira asked, “We don’t have much.”

“Individually, no. But between the four of us and Ashera, we may just be able to pull it off. Let’s get started.”

Toross stepped up to me. “You are giving out a lot of orders for a third,” he said, his voice low and dark.

I felt a strange kind of cold push through me, the kind of feeling that comes after being threatened by someone larger, and more imposing than you. “I’m… sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“—don’t apologize… it suits you. You remind me of her.”

“Her?”

“Your mother.”

I blushed. Hard. “That’s… not where I thought you were going.”

He angled his head to the side. “Going?”

“It’s a human expression. You really think I sounded like her?”

“It is like she’s here.”

“I wish… things might go a lot