21

 

 

Call me crazy, but I’m not a big fan of bullies, especially ones that tricked me and called me stupid and weak.

My eyes moved to Ethan, who was wearing jeans and a black military-style jacket instead of the tailored suits I’d seen him in. His clothes were stained in blood. Though clean at first sight, I could see still see traces of blood on his fingers, like he’d wiped them on his jeans.

My face went slack in surprise. It lasted for a second. Then my face twisted in fury, my eyes narrowing. The pieces were all starting to fit together, but the puzzle wasn’t as simple as I had thought. I’d never seen this coming. Never. I was losing my touch as a Hunter, and I’d walked right into a trap.

Damn it all. I’d been so, so wrong.

The archdemon Lucian had never killed the half-breeds.

Rage fueled me and I glared at Ethan. “You,” I hissed, yanking out my hunting knife. “You did this. You twisted son of a bitch! You killed the half-breeds. Why? What kind of sicko angel-born are you?”

The smile Ethan gave me was nothing like the timid, soft spoken young man I’d come to know, and it terrified me. “Angel-born? Is that what you think?”

I didn’t like the way he said that. I stayed where I was, assessing them. My eyes moved from Ethan to the other four. There were two females and three males, counting Ethan. One of the young men, the largest of the three, had a shaved head with earrings, and I could see some tribal tattoos peeking from the collar of his shirt. His skin was dark and with his high cheekbones, I pegged him as having Mexican ancestry. The other guy was fair, tall, lanky and forgettable. The girls, well, one was blonde and nearly as tall as me, while the other shorter one was a brunette.

They were mostly dressed in casual clothes—jeans and t-shirts under leather jackets—except for the smaller female who wore a tight leather pant ensemble with a leather corset. Yup, the kinky kind.

They were as different as they could be, but they all had two things in common: their eyes sparkled with barely contained wrath, and they all had the same angel-born stink, the lemony, citrus scent of angels. And yet, the more I focused on them, the more I could sense something else. Something not angel-born, but still something I recognized.

Demon.

But how could that be? I looked at the skin on their necks for traces of the archangel sigils, but found none. And then I realized I’d never seen Ethan’s either.

“Who the hell are you people?” I blurted, my eyes resting back on Ethan. A sick feeling was welling in my gut. “Who are you, really?”

“Family, I suppose,” said Ethan, and the others laughed softly like this was some inside joke. He raised his arms and gestured to the others. “I guess you can say we’re your brothers and sisters.”

Worry colored my anger. “Impossible,” I said. “My mother never had—” I hesitated. “Are you saying my father had affairs with different angel-born women?” I added, looking at the others and seeing how different they were from each other.

“No, silly,” laughed Ethan. He looked me up and down, his gaze lingering on my neck before looking back at my face. “We’re just like you. We’re... Unmarked.”

I laughed bitterly. “I don’t know what you’re smoking, but you should ask for a refund, buddy. All the Unmarked are dead except for me. The Greater Demon Degamon and his pal Vedriel made it so. You’re full of shit, Ethan.”

“Are you denying that we’re angel-born?”

I grimaced. “No. You’ve got their stink, all right.” But I’d sensed something else too. Something dark... something demonic.

Ethan never stopped smiling as he lifted the collar of his shirt and showed me the skin around his neck and collar bone, where the archangel sigils of Michael and Gabriel would be. Nothing. Then he proceeded to lift the sleeves of his shirt all the way to his elbows, where the sigils of the other houses were usually covered in clothing. And again, there was nothing.

“Like I said,” continued Ethan as he pulled down his sleeves. “We’re family.”

My head spun, my heart pounded in my chest, and I swallowed. He was telling the truth. They were Unmarked, just like me.

Demon balls. Now I really wished Tyrius was here with me, at least to unscramble the lies from the truth.

“But how?” I stammered, not sure if I was excited to have others like me, or just really freaked out. “How is it that Degamon missed you? You all reek of that angel-born au de toilet. That’s hard to miss. Trust me.” But then I realized they probably had no idea who Degamon was and what I was talking about.

“Because we weren’t born yet,” said the angel born with the shaved head. “The summoning spell that bound the demon doesn’t affect us.”

Weren’t born yet? And how the hell did they know about the summoning spell that had bound Degamon to Vedriel’s will? Now I was really confused, or those candles weren’t just burning wax.

“Sure you were,” I said slowly, as though speaking to a child, my mouth dry. “You all look like you’re in your twenties at least. Give or take a few years.”

The tall young woman laughed. “She doesn’t know,” she said and gestured mockingly to the other female who shared a private smile with her.

I gave her an equally sour look. “Don’t know what?” Now I was getting pissed. I hadn’t had a really good cat fight in a very long time, and they looked like kitten meat to me. “Spit it out. I don’t have time for this twisted crap.”

Ethan took a step forward and my tension spiked. “We are made from you. From your blood. We all share it. All of us.” He snickered. “Like I said, we’re family.”

My mouth dropped open as I recalled the conversation I’d had with Lisbeth about choosing already pregnant angel-born women to infuse with my blood the dark witch Evanora Crow had stolen from me. But that had been more than seven months ago. Only seven months ago...

I took a shaking breath. “But... but that makes no sense. You can’t be. You’re fully grown people. Even if it were true, how is this even possible? You’d be like... seven-month-old babies.” I raised a brow. “You’re very big for your age.” My gaze flicked back to the other Unmarked. Had the demon energy I’d sensed on them been like my own?

“Dark magic.” Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets, seemingly pleased at the distraught look on my face. “It took lots of dark magic to... help along our birth mothers.”

I paled. “Evanora,” I hissed, knowing she was behind this freak show. Oh, God. This was bad.

“Yes,” said Ethan, looking delighted. “Her magic helped to speed up the process. We were all born within a month of conception. And then, another two months later...”

“You were full-grown freaks,” I guessed. “I think I just puked a little in my mouth.” I frowned. “I should have killed that old witch long ago.”

Ethan licked his lips. “Perhaps. But it’s too late now.” His face darkened, and it was harder to read what I saw there, his features twisting into something ugly. “We have your blood in us, but we also have something you don’t—that you’ll never have.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Slightly larger breasts?”

“We have magic. Dark magic.” Ethan paused to give a more dramatic effect to what he was about to say next. “Power,” he added. “The witch gave us all a little parting gift. A bit of dark magic.”

Pulse racing, I tightened the grip on my knife. Okay there were five of them and one of me, but they were newbies, freshly grown, I could still kick their ass. Magic or not.

“Okay, so you might or might not have magic. Whoop-de-freaking-do,” I mocked and cocked my hip. “I don’t care what you are. It still doesn’t explain why you’d go through the trouble of killing half-breeds? And why did you have to carve my name? Why add me to this freak show?”

When he didn’t answer, I pressed, “There are rules, you know. Which side are you on?” Lisbeth’s, no doubt. But I had to ask.

Ethan looked to the other Unmarked and laughed. “There’s only one side, Rowyn,” he said as his eyes met mine. “The side without half-breeds. When we’re finally rid of them. Half-breeds are a threat to us. To our very existence. And we will rid our world of them.”

I held his gaze, heart thrashing as I saw past the man to the monster. Frightening ideas churned behind his eyes, shining with a promise of violence.

I took a deep breath, my stomach knotting. “You’re insane,” I spat, wishing I could stab him right here right now. “You are all insane.”

“No. We’re just better than you.”

“News flash, dumbass,” I growled, shaking even more now as a hot wave of rage entered my body. “If it’s really my blood you have, you have demon blood.” No point in saying it was archdemon. “You all have demon blood in you. Just like the half-breeds. You’re basically just another version of them—a distant cousin twice removed. You’re killing your own kind.”

“Spoken like a true half-breed lover,” he mocked, and I seriously resisted the urge to spit in his face. “Your love of the half-breeds was always going to be your undoing.”

My jaw tightened. “You are one sick bastard, Ethan.”

“See? That’s exactly why we can’t have you around,” said Ethan, his face in shadow making it look gaunt. “Lisbeth ordered us not to kill you,” he said. “She says she needs you. I just don’t see it. We’re better. Stronger. We’re loyal to the cause.”

“The cause?” I laughed, but inside I was raging. “What is this? A revolution? Listen to yourselves. This is crazy. Do yourselves a favor and stop this. It’s not going to end well.” Because you’ll have my knife in your throat.

Ethan pulled a blade from a pocket inside his jacket, the silver blade and handle glinting like it was illuminated from the inside. Damn. A soul blade. He caught me looking and gave me a smile. “What better way to get rid of you than to pin these murders on you—and then kill you because it’ll be fun.”

My rage came swarming up again. “Not if I kill you first, you degenerate clone douche.”

Ethan paused, eyes fixed to mine. “It’s time you take the blame for what you’ve done, Rowyn.” He pointed to the dead half-breed who could have been another vampire, witch, or werewolf for all I knew.

I shifted, lips parted as I looked at him. “You don’t scare me, you seven-month-old man-baby. You’ll be back in diapers when I’m done with you.” Yes, they had the numbers, but I had the experience.

Ethan’s smile was terrifying. “Oh... but you should be scared. Really scared.” At that, the Unmarked all laughed, Ethan laughing the loudest and hardest of them all.

Yup. I was in knee-deep in doo-doo. My gaze darted to the two guys as soul blades appeared in their hands. The women lowered themselves into fighting stances, the glint from their soul blades flickering with the savage sparks in their eyes.

So, this was a fight, eh? I loved fights. Especially with bullies.

I grinned. “Bring it on, bitches.”

And then they did.