“No. It wasn’t the same sensation. The creature that attacked us here was cold and calculated. The other felt like unfiltered power released in a show of strength. It wanted me to understand it could kill me and that it enjoyed taunting me. It was playing with me, like I was its prey,” I admitted. “I have never felt that fragile or powerless in my life. I’ve never lost a fight, and I got my ass handed to me.”
“Sounds like it,” Noah muttered. “The question is, why mark you and not end your life? What is it gaining by marking you?”
“It would depend on the breed of the person or creature that left it,” Cole pointed out, nodding at me. “You’ll need to keep a close eye on it.” His gaze traveled to my side as he studied the inky substance.
“What I need to do is get back to work, and tend to the guild.” I wrapped the gown around my backside and started forward, but Noah stopped me.
His soft gray eyes held mine before he spoke. “It’s bad, Xari. Outside this room, it’s chaos. You should prepare yourself for what you’re about to walk through.”
“I can handle it,” I promised.
But I wasn’t prepared for what was beyond the door to my room. On gurneys, people lay lifelessly staring up at the ceiling. My gaze skimmed over body after body until it landed on a familiar form. My heart dropped, and tears burned my eyes.
“No,” I whispered so softly I wasn’t sure it was heard over the crying of the hunters gathered in the infirmary. Micah, my ex-fiancée, sat against the wall, holding my former best friend, Meredith, in his arms. Meredith and I had grown up together, best friends since we’d met, up until she slept with Micah, days before our wedding. Tears slowly rolled down my cheeks as he lifted his head, staring directly at me.
“She died an hour ago,” Noah replied, slowly urging me to keep moving as more eyes lifted to watch me. “There’s nothing you can do here, Xari.”
“We have to find out who did this and make them pay, Noah. They have to pay for this. It cannot go unanswered.”
“We will,” he promised. “Go get cleaned up and prepared to speak with the other guilds. You’re in charge now, and you can’t do your job in a hospital garment with blood caked to your face. So move,” he urged, forcing me to walk away from the scene unfolding around us.
Chapter Three
Showered and dressed in clean sweatpants and a tank top, I stared at the swirling ink that adorned one side of my abdomen which had spread across my stomach. I’d seen nothing like it, not even close. It pulsed as if it were alive inside of my flesh. I brushed my fingers over the tendrils of the wispy black spot, watching it move toward my fingertips.
“It’s attracted to your touch,” Enzo snorted, leaning against the doorframe. “Interesting that someone would attack you and mark you.”
“You’re here?” I whispered, fighting the emotion that burned my throat and nose. “They took him, Enzo. They took my father.”
Enzo and his brother Ezekiel were twin incubus demons. They co-owned a strip club, doubling as the headquarters for their order, which they ran beneath it. They were part of an old guard that had agreed to watch over portions of the world, ensuring the families and bloodlines of their offspring continued to grow. The brothers helped us hunt down the really bad guys, so out of respect, I hadn’t interrogated them to learn more about their background.
Enzo smiled sadly, nodding as he closed the distance between us, pulling me in for a tight hug. I whined from the pressure, and he relinquished his hold on me. Frowning, he withdrew a vial from his pocket containing an amber liquid.
“Drink. It will heal your wounds. They may still be tender, but the tonic will assist your tissue by expediting the healing process.”
I popped the cork and sniffed it, turning my nose up at the obnoxious odor released from the bottle. He winced, watching as I tipped it up, emptying it without complaint. It tasted like ass, but then so did most homebrews offered by Enzo and Ezekiel.
“Rhys filled us in on what happened, and we came the moment we heard the guild was attacked and your father was taken. I’m sorry, Xari. We should have been more watchful when the supes began acting up.”
“My father mentioned that, too. Care to fill me in on why you guys think that has anything to do with what happened here?” I asked pointedly, watching Enzo’s broad shoulders shrug in reply.
“Don’t know what has them spooked or making them think they’re invincible. I can only tell you we’ve been out hunting down all those that have gone rogue instead of handling our issues at home. About a week ago, the supes started attacking humans at an alarming rate. It was like they no longer feared the repercussions of their actions,” he explained. “Caught some of the little bastards alive, but all they said was that judgment day was coming for those who trespassed against their own.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I wondered out loud.
Shrugging again, Enzo exhaled. “No bloody clue. There’s crap happening that I don’t have answers to, either. One informant that you protected was allowing creatures to feed on humans inside his club openly. Your father issued a warning to the supes that this behavior wouldn’t be tolerated, and normally that would have calmed them down, or at least made them hesitant to fuck around. It didn’t, though, and that’s when Xavier call us in to help hunt them down. It’s been a shit show for two weeks, Xari.”
Swallowing, I nodded my head as my thoughts went back to the infirmary, seeing someone I had once been close to lying lifeless in the arms of my ex. I didn’t need that image stuck in my mind while trying to piece together what had happened.
“Did we recover the camera feeds?” I asked, knowing I had to snap out of it and get myself under control.
“Yeah, they’re working on getting them cleaned up and on the monitors downstairs. We’re all waiting for you,” Enzo stated, smiling as his blue eyes slowly slid down to my belly. “That’s a powerful mark, Xariana. I can sense it pulsing when you are close to me. Whatever placed this on you wants to feel you and to warn others away from you. It’s almost like a symbol of claiming, but stronger.”
“That’s just what I fucking need,” I complained, exhausted from hunting days on end without eating, and then being attacked had drained the remainder of my strength.
“How long were you out?” Enzo asked, noticing the sheer willpower it was taking to remain upright.
“A little over two weeks of hunting, and I did so with minimal sleep. That wolf left eleven bodies out in the open. I didn’t have time to rest for long or eat while it killed without a care of being discovered.”
“You end it?”
“No, but the thing that marked me ripped the werewolf in half as if it were a piece of paper,” I admitted, chewing my lip while recalling the events. “It was terrifying, Enzo. I was nothing against that creature, and it wanted me to know that I was weak and feeble. It threw me around like I was a rag doll. I’ve never felt that kind of fear or helplessness against an enemy before.”
“You’re not alone,” Enzo declared, and voices agreeing with his sentiment sounded from across the hall. “Your father helped a lot of people, Xari. You’re an extension of him. We’re here for you, to fight this battle with you.”