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

On my way out, I closed the door. I didn’t know what would happen when Raxael arrived, but if nothing else went our way, I hoped he wouldn’t find Ayla. She’d been trying to escape a life she didn’t want, and I dragged her right back in. She didn’t deserve to die here with the rest of us.

“She’ll be fine in there,” Orion said as we returned to the lower level.

“I’d feel a lot better if we had something big enough to barricade the doorway,” I said.

“She’ll be fine,” he said again. “And so will we. We have a solid plan. If all goes well, this should be over quickly.”

I wasn’t sure I believed him that everything would be fine, but I could at least agree that, one way or the other, it would be over fast.

“Celia, wait over by Maki. When the fighting starts, cut him loose. Either he’ll help us fight, or he’ll create a distraction as he runs away,” Orion said.

“If he wants to defeat Raxael as badly as he says, I’m sure he’ll fight with us.” I shot him a pointed look.

“I hope you all know what you’re doing,” Maki said. He leaned back against the car and closed his eyes.

“Riley, wrap some of that rope around my wrists,” Orion continued. “Keep it loose, but make sure it looks convincing. If we want him to think you’re handing over prisoners, we have to sell it. As soon as you activate that amulet, I’ll break free and join the fight.”

“And if it doesn’t work?” Celia asked.

“We’ll just have to hope it does,” Orion said.

After tying his wrists behind his back with enough give that he could slip his hands out, I put the amulet around my neck. It was much heavier than I’d expected, an unpleasant weight that pulled down on my neck. The metal that encased the emerald was cool against my skin as I tucked it under my tank top.

“Is everyone ready?” I asked.

“As ready as we’re going to be,” Celia said.

Orion responded with a grim nod.

I held my hand above my chest and closed my eyes. Fear crept in as I tried to calm my erratic breathing, and even the exercises I used to channel my suppression magic did nothing to help.

Realistically, we had almost no chance of succeeding. I was putting all of our lives in danger for a task we could never hope to accomplish. But if we didn’t try, how many more people would the Council allow to die as they worked for the demon lords?

“Riley?” Orion’s soft voice interrupted the downward spiraling of my thoughts. “We don’t have to do this. It’s not too late to walk away.”

“No.” I took a weighty breath. Pulling my shirt down, I touched my shaking hand to the base of my neck where the demon lord marked me.

Nothing happened. After a few long seconds, I opened my eyes, half expecting to see him standing in front of me.

“Are you doing it right?” Orion asked.

“I don’t know. Raxael said—”

As soon as I said his name, the invisible mark on my chest burned bright through my skin. I cried out as it snaked across every inch of my body with electric energy. Agony unlike anything I’d ever felt surged through my veins and knocked me to my knees.

Somewhere in the distance, I could hear Orion calling out my name.

I dug my fingers into the dirt that covered the warehouse floor, grabbing desperately for something—anything—to tether myself to the world around me.

Glowing circles surrounded by demonic runes radiated on the ground beneath my hands. I drew in shallow breaths as red light flooded the dark warehouse and a rush of air swirled around us.

Orion stood with his legs spread apart, his feet planted firmly to brace himself against the rush of air, while Celia held onto a car for support.

As the world calmed, Raxael stood before me. His wicked green eyes glowed as he looked down at me, and a smile slithered across his face.

“After Marcus Thorne contacted me, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you again,” he said.

I fought the impulse to reach for the amulet.

Not yet.

“He told me you were one of his prisoners. He seemed to believe that you had no intention of bringing me Alexander Orion and Jay Maki.” Raxael stopped behind me, his presence a dark weight at the corner of my vision. He pulled my hair, forcing my head back to stare up at him. “Why would he think something like that?”

“Marcus Thorne is a liar,” I managed.

Raxael released me. “That’s true enough.”

“Look for yourself.” I gestured to Orion, and then to Maki. “After I escaped Marcus’s men, I captured both.”

Raxael dragged his gaze across the warehouse, pausing on Orion, then Maki, and finally settling on Celia. “And the woman from the Arbiters’ Council?”

“She helped me capture them.”

“After all the disappointments this week, I’m surprised,” he said. “I may have underestimated you.”

I couldn’t help the smirk that twitched at my lips, so I was grateful when Raxael turned away from me. Hopefully, he would keep underestimating me.

Raxael shifted in front of Maki and brushed his hand against his cheek, like the caress of a lover. “You thought you would steal the power from souls that belonged to me. I always knew you would betray me. And getting rid of the brand on your chest—clever trick.”

Maki tilted his head away, but there was no escaping the demon lord’s touch.

With Raxael distracted, I reached into my shirt for the amulet.

He disappeared again, and this time, he popped up in front of Orion. “You were supposed to be one of the Arbiters’ most impressive commanders. I expected better from you.”

My fingertips brushed against the emerald as I searched for the mechanism Ed showed me. The energy burned my skin, just as it had in the alchemy lab, but I couldn’t stop. I had to activate it before Raxael noticed.

I found the metal piece that activated