Page 14 of The Marked and the Broken
A staff materializes in the air and drops in front of Enoch. He snags it mid-fall and stares at the weapon in his hand, his eyes filled with awe and his smile proud.
“Fucking show off,”fills my head, and I chuckle and look at Sabin. I give him a nod, letting him know I heard him, before my eyes move around the rest of the group.
Slowly knives appear and then disappear just as fast. Knox lets out a shout of excitement when a long sword appears in his hand, and he’s holding the hilt instead of the blade. Kallan looks shocked as fuck when a whip appears in his hand, and it makes me do a double take, too. I guess that’s what the rune on the side of my hand does. I quickly run through my memory to see if Kallan had any other runes besides that one, but I can’t remember if he did or not. I only remember him showing me that one.
An image of Valen pressing into me on a bed pops into my mind. His knee moves up between my spread thighs, and he rubs against the sweet spot at the apex. I moan and grind down against his thigh, chasing the sensations that the delicious friction causes. Valen leans over me and kisses me, his tongue teasing mine, stoking my need even more. I moan into his mouth, and he pinches a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. And then just as quickly as it appeared, the image disappears, and I’m left hollow and unsatisfied.
My head snaps to Valen, and I find his gaze hooded and his head tilted to the side as he drinks me in with a molten look. “Just a small reminder of some things that need to be done before we rush off to kill bad guys,” he shouts across the field. I give an awkward nod, letting him know that his image and words came through loud and clear.
I swallow hard as an echo of his mouth on mine, his fingers pumping in and out of me as strikes of purple magic push us both into an orgasm, rises up from my memories. As turned on as I am, I also realize just how right he is. I need to make sure all of my Chosen are as strong as possible.Must find time to fuck Valen, Sabin, and Torrez,I tell myself and then try not to giggle like a fucking idiot at myTo Dolist.By the moons, Vinna, get it together. Wasn’t I just droning on about how all of this is life and death shit, and here I am having naughty daydreams about when and where I can seal the deal with my Chosen.
I shake away my distracted thoughts and spend the next four hours walking everyone through calling on the runes that they have, until it starts to appear like it’s second nature to them. The satisfaction that’s bubbling up inside of me fizzles when Kallan yelps in pain and grabs onto his bleeding palm with his other hand. Ryker is there in seconds, knitting up the wound.
“Thank you,” Kallan offers absently as he wipes the remaining blood on the leg of his jeans. I’m trying to figure out what the hell sliced up his hand, since I didn’t think he had runes for any of my swords or… And that’s when it hits me.
I burst into laughter, not able to help it. Kallan’s serious face when he’s in Drill Instructor mode flashes through my mind, and it sends me deeper into a howling fit of giggles. Everyone is staring at me like I’ve lost my mind, and I work hard to calm down long enough to explain what the fuck is wrong with me.
“Kallan?” I ask on a choked laugh. “What other runes do you have?”
Kallan narrows his eyes at me, and I lose it again, tears dripping down my face.
“You got the ass daggers, didn’t you?” I question, my voice a high-pitched squeal of pure delight.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he tells me through gritted teeth.
Our collective audience starts to chuckle as the source of my amusement is finally revealed.
“Let me see,” I beg him, and he gives me an affronted glare.
“No,” he argues and drops both of his hands to cover himself like I can see right through his black workout pants. That makes me laugh even harder. I stare at his bubble butt and try to picture what the runes look like on the bottom of his ass cheeks.
“Quit being a perv,” he demands, and he pivots so I can only see his front. I can tell he’s trying hard not to crack up now too, and I wipe the laugh tears from my face.
“Oh my stars, I fucking needed that,” I admit and give Kallan a grateful smile. “All ass dagger jokes aside, it’s one of the most useful weapons I have,” I reassure him, and he puffs up a little prouder and drops his hands from where they’re hiding his sweet cheek runes.
Bastien pulls his phone from his pocket and swipes it open. “Silva says lunch is ready.” The words aren’t even out of Bastien’s mouth before he and Knox start outright sprinting toward the middle house. I laugh again before the thought of eating a meal with Silva sobers me. “Who wants to volunteer to check mine for poison first?” I ask, only half joking.
“Ours too,” Nash announces as he glares after Bastien and Knox.
I give him a small smile, and before any of my Chosen can interfere, Nash asks, “Can we talk?” The look on his face is so earnest and worried. I instantly feel like shit for not seeking him and his coven out sooner and making sure they were okay. There are just too many egos to stroke and too many guys to keep happy. I can’t keep track of fuck-all at this point.
“Of course,” I tell him and then shoot Valen and the others a pointed look. Valen seems hesitant to leave me alone, so I motion for Nash, Enoch, and Kallan to follow me, and I walk away from the other four who are dawdling instead of leaving to go fuel up on whatever’s been prepared for lunch. I don’t spare a backwards glance as I move closer to the tree line, Nash and the others close on my heels. I get far enough away that none of the others should be able to hear, unless some of them have figured out the runes on their ears already.
“How are you guys holding up? I’m sorry I haven’t asked before now. There’s a lot of crap going down, but that was shitty of me.”
Kallan leans against the trunk of a large pine tree and gives me a forgiving smile. Nash just nods his head in understanding, and Enoch watches me intensely, his feet spread and his arms crossed. No one seems eager to say anything, and I can’t help but feel squirmy under Enoch’s gaze.
“Bro, blink, you’re creeping me out,” I mumble, and Enoch and Kallan both snort out a laugh. “Anyone heard from Becket?” I ask, not able to help myself. I haven’t spent as much time worrying about him as I probably should have, given that I played a part in his current messed up situation, but staring at Becket’s coven, minus him, is weird.
“He’s not answering any of our calls. My dad said he’s being cooperative and that they don’t think Becket was involved or aware of anything that his dad had been up to,” Enoch tells me, and a small weight of uncertainty falls away from my chest. “Speaking of, my dad gave me a play by play of what happened that night. Are you okay?”
I shrug, not sure how to answer Enoch’s question. “Killing has never really stuck with me the way it maybe should. I mean, I kill in self-defense or the defense of others, so I always felt justified. But this is the first time I’ve spent any time thinking about the families or loved ones of those I’ve ended. I don’t feel bad about what I did, but I feel for Becket, and it sucks that something I did hurt him.”
“His dad made the choices he did, and he’s the one to blame for what Becket is going through. Not you, Vinna. You did what needed to be done, and Becket will see that when everything comes to light.” Enoch steps forward and pulls me into a side hug. I give him a weak smile, wishing his words could chase away the guilt that’s been gnawing at me.
“Unless you want to lose an arm, you should probably take a step away from her,” Nash advises.
Enoch lets out a frustrated growl but listens to his coven mate. “They’re being ridiculous, and when we figure out how we got marked and exactly what it means, they’re going to have to just suck it up,” Enoch grumbles.
