Marked By Lies: A Reverse Harem Series (The Marked Series Book 1) by Paige Orr (best english books to read for beginners .txt) 📕

“Ah, yeah, I can’t do that. Before you go all me man you woman bullshit though, do you mind helping me get this asshole back into the cave. He’s the leader of the cult.”

He looks down at Marcus’s body with a shrug, but when he grabs him and gets a closer look at his face, a growl rumbles its way out of him as his eyes flick to me.

“Isn’t this that douchebag client that we saw at your office?”

Rubbing my hand down my face, I wince at the pain it causes. I really don't want to have to explain to him what I know now and see the hate in his eyes just yet. So avoiding his eyes, I tell him.

“Yeah, I’ll explain everything I found out once we’re with the others.. I’m sure we still have a lot of work to do to get the Fae in their home to their families.”

He studies me for another minute, his gaze burning a hole in the side of my head, obviously reluctant to let it go. Knowing there’s not much else that I can do, I turn back to him, pleading with him with my eyes to let it go for now. IT’s probably pity at how pathetic I look, exhaustion weighing me down, covered in my own blood, that finally makes his mind up for him.

He grabs Marcus under his arms and goes to drag him on his own. Reaching my hand out and placing it on his arm, I stop him from moving, leaning down to grab his legs. This mess is partly my fault, so It should be my job to help clear it up. As Marcus jostles in our arms, that damned fucking necklace pops out from under his shirt, making me grit my teeth.

“Should we take that back before he regains consciousness?”

Morpheus stops, turning back to Marcus, noticing where my eyes have landed. He balances the body with one arm, reaching forwards and ripping the necklace from his neck, drawing blood in the process. I don't even feel bad for him, it’s the least he deserves for everything he has done. He doesn’t say a word to me, causing my heart to sink as I avert my eyes from him.

I know that I’ve seriously fucked up, but surely he doesn’t think I would help the cult if I knew that’s what I was doing. I know that we haven’t known each other for long, but I thought that I’d shown him that I’m not a bad person. I’ve done absolutely everything I can to stop this shit, and once I found out the part I played, I tried to put it right.

We continue on in silence, the others finally noticing us as we come through the mouth of the tunnel. They all rush over to us, Elias gently moving me out of the way and taking my place, making me feel even worse. I know that I have to tell them about my connection to this all, but I can’t help the dread that fills my stomach.

I don’t know what they’re going to think of me after this, but it sure as shit isn’t going to be good. I walk away from them, not ready for the questions that I’m sure they’ll have when Morpheus and Zaphyr fill them in on Marcus being my client. Making my way towards the captives, I busy myself by freeing them from their restraints, taking my time so that I don’t hurt them anymore than they already have been.

I start with the two children, feeling like shit when they rush towards me, wrapping their tiny arms around my neck. I try my best to comfort them with the first friendly touch they have probably had in a while. I’m a horrible person for my part in their pain, and I don’t think I can ever forgive myself. My eyes fill with tears as I grip them tighter.

Morpheus catches my eye over their shoulder, and I can see a battle in them while he tries to figure out if I can be trusted, which just twists the knife in deeper. I bury my head into the kid's shoulders, as sobs take over me. How could anyone forgive me for this?

Chapter Thirty-Four

Cailean

I watch Melissa closely as the tears stream down her face, the tiny bodies of the children she has helped to free enveloped in her arms. Something tells me that she isn’t crying with the relief of managing to stop the cult on time though. My gaze flicks towards Morpheus, trying to read the thunderous expression on his face, hoping for some clue as to why the atmosphere between him and Melissa is so strained.

He hasn’t got rid of the puppy dog eyes since he met her, and yet now he’s acting like he doesn’t know if he should trust her. Maybe it’s because we saw her using magic, but we knew she wasn’t fully human, even if we haven’t heard of anyone with her abilities.

I have a lot of work to do to clean up this mess though, so turning away from the both of them, and look at the body laying at my feet. Waiting for him to regain consciousness. I’m glad that Melissa managed to stop the leader from getting away, because if he had succeeded then it would just mean him starting up another fucking group of radicalists.

I try my best to think about if I remember him from any past dealings with the cult, but I keep drawing a blank, not that I’m all that surprised. This man was probably a baby the last time that we had any involvement with the cult, so who has been influencing him all of these years.

Zaphyr begins to make his way towards me after checking on Annika and her