Seventh Mark (Part 1 +2) (30 page)

“I like that.”
I rested my head on his chest. He smelled wonderful.

“Good.” He
sighed, taking my hand in his and tracing his thumb along the top
of mine. “I was so worried about you, and when I saw you come
charging towards me while fighting those Grollics, it terrified and
thrilled me at the same time. I still don’t fully understand what
you did, but you’re safe, and that’s all that matters.”

I smirked, then
had to stop from the soreness. “I figured you needed some help.” I
tried to hide a yawn, but it snuck out. “You needed a knight in
shiny armour and I happened to be around.”

“Sleep. You
need it. We can talk tomorrow.”

I closed my
eyes. An image of Damon’s mark flashed behind my lids, this time on
my back. “Don’t leave me, please?” I whispered.

“I’m here all
night –”

“I mean ever.
Don’t ever leave.”

He squeezed my
hand. “I’m not going anywhere. My place is by your side. Now
sleep.” He kissed the top of my head.

Early the next
morning, I woke from trying to shift my legs. I hurt all over. If
that was even possible. Every muscle and bone ached, even my skin
screamed at me to lie still. I tried to hold in a groan, but it
escaped. Michael instantly sat up with concern, which didn’t help
as his sudden movement caused me to drop from his shoulder to the
bed.

I cried out and
swore. It took a moment to catch my breath. “I’m a little sore,” I
whispered hoarsely.

Michael nodded,
his eyes full of sympathy.

“I guess being
thrown across the room and hitting a wall makes the average human a
little tender,” I joked. “I saw Caleb throw you and you got up like
nothing happened.”

“It did hurt,
but by the time I stood, any broken bones were healed. I was pretty
ticked off that night to even notice the pain.”

“Maybe I’ve
cracked a rib or two. I'm really aching.” I tried to grin and make
light of how I felt. “It could be a lot worse.”

“Don’t even go
there.” Michael shook his head. “Been one heck of a weekend, and
it’s only Sunday.”

I groaned.
“I’ve already missed a week of school.” I’m officially
eighteen
.
The thought made my shoulder burn.

Michael leaned
over and grabbed his phone from the night stand and started to
check his messages. “I wouldn’t worry too much. Grace can go
tomorrow and get the work you’ve missed.” His eyes scanned his
phone. “Caleb wants to see us.” His fingers began tapping over the
keys. “I’ll text him to wait till tomorrow.”

I lay quiet a
minute, thinking about the past few days and what Damon had said.
When Michael put his phone down I spoke my thoughts aloud. “I’d
like to find out about my past. Damon said I’m the seventh
descendent of Bentos. If the Grollics could find out about my
history, so can I.”

“I bet we can
find something online,” Michael said, lightly rubbing my arm. “And
I can ask Caleb. He’s got connections.”

“This is
something I want to do on my own. For the first time in my life,
I’m curious to know who my parents are, or if they’re still alive.
I need to do this myself, and I need to go back to Niagara Falls.”
Childish hope still filtered through my thoughts. I wanted to know
if my mother had tried to hide me, or if there was another reason
why I knew nothing. I also needed to figure out the freaky
birthmark on my back. “You know, I’d really like to know how I
landed up with the Grollic book.”

“Maybe it was
destiny, and the book found you.” Michael wrapped his long arms
around his knees and clasped his hands together. “Fate has its own
plans. I’ve learned that you don’t mess with them.”

He looked so
cute, and young sitting like that. Too young to be spouting about
destiny and fate. I forced myself to sit and brought my legs over
the side of the futon bed. I groaned as I reached for my jeans.

“Rouge, take it
easy. We’re not leaving now.”

“I know, but
now I have some questions for Caleb.”

It took a bit
of time getting dressed and trudging through the snow to the house,
but I managed. If I closed my eyes and focused on breathing through
the pain, maybe I could wish and force the soreness and bruises to
heal faster. Even though Michael offered several times to carry me,
I refused. I wanted—I needed to do this on my own.

Grace met us at
the door, with a wrinkled brow and eyes full of worry as they
flitted back and forth between us. “Everything alright?”

“Fine,” Michael
said. “We need to talk to Caleb.”

“He’s in his
office with Seth.” Grace continued to stand in the doorway. She
must have realized she was blocking us out as she suddenly jumped
back. “Sorry.”

Michael nodded
and with his arm tucked tightly against my waist, he helped me to
the office. He rapped on the wood once and pushed the door
open.

“Rouge!” Seth
stood leaned against a case of books but jumped and rushed toward
us. He leaned in to hug me, but Michael put a strong hand on his
chest and simply shook his head once.

Embarrassed, I
stuttered, “I-I’m a bit s-sore.”

“We were just
talking about you.” Seth straightened and chuckled. “Have you
figured out more about your Bentos book?”

All three men
looked at me, particularly Caleb. He sat rod straight at his desk,
hands spread on the wood with the tips of his fingers white from
pressing against it.

“No. I haven’t
really thought about much since yesterday.”
Only yesterday?
It felt like a lifetime ago now.

Caleb slapped a
hand down on top of the desk. “There’s word some beasts have headed
east. I believe they are either a part of this pack or related
somehow.” He stared at Michael as if he expected him to say
something. Michael didn’t.

Seth clapped
his hands. “Enough hunting for one weekend, don’t you think Caleb?”
He glanced at his watch. “And I need to get back to my understudy.
The Higher Coven will meet again in a few weeks. We can then
discuss any new matters that have come to our attention. Take a
break, Caleb.”

Caleb glowered
at Seth. I never knew what the word actually meant, but seeing
Caleb’s eyes narrow and the anger on his face gave the word more
meaning than any dictionary ever could.

“You’re going?”
I said to Seth.
I’m gonna miss your humor.
It sure worked
nicely with the serious one.

“Come and visit
anytime… with Michael, of course.” He winked and gave a sideways
nod in Michael’s direction. He turned to Caleb and touched two
fingers to his eyebrow in a small salute, then disappeared out of
the room before I could even turn my head to follow.

Silence filled
the room as all three of us watched the closed door. I inhaled a
slow, deep breath and tried to focus my thoughts. What should I ask
Caleb? How much do I share? Or how much does he already know? I
exhaled and stepped in front of the desk.

Standing in
front of his large leather chair, Caleb crossed his arms over his
chest. Still a massive figure, it was intimidating to look up. He
stared at Michael and then at me, his eyes hiding something behind
their blue color. “Why haven’t you been reading your book?”

“Pardon?” He
didn’t have the decency to ask how I felt? I’d flippin’ saved his
understudy! He could show me a tidbit amount of respect.

“My concern is
that yesterday’s outburst may stop you from being able to read the
book. We don’t want to hinder your gift.”

“I’ll look when
I’m ready,” I snapped. “Why are you so concerned about the book?” A
weird sense of protectiveness surrounded my thoughts toward the
journal. It was mine, not anyone else’s. Especially not his.

He tsked. “That
book could be the key to stopping their race. Make them instinct.
Why wouldn’t I be anxious?”

Michael shifted
beside me and walked over to a case of books. He took the same
position Seth had earlier when we’d walked in. A thought crossed my
mind.
He’s the referee
.

I huffed. “Is
it the book, or me, Caleb? What’s got you so pissed?” My heart
thundered at the accusation but, somehow, I knew it was right.

Caleb’s eyes
grew wide then hardened. “Both,” he spat. “The book for its
history. And you… you for your damn ability. You’ve suddenly become
a very important asset.” He sighed and dropped into his chair, his
facial features softening. “You’re an asset to this family. I-I’m
glad Michael took you under his wing.”

Michael stepped
forward. “I didn’t take her—”

Caleb waved his
fingers. “Irrelevant.”

Hands on my
hips, I stiffened. “Whatever you think, Caleb, I don’t really care.
That’s
irrelevant.” I forgot about my body’s discomfort.
“There are a few things I want to know. I need to find out about my
past. I’m heading back to Niagara Falls. I’m going to find out who
I really am.” I shot a glance at Michael when he uttered in
surprise. This time I held my hand up to stop him from saying
anything. “Damon said the Grollics knew about me when I knew
nothing about myself. How can that be?”

Caleb now
averted my gaze. “Sometimes the past should remain buried.
Sometimes it is not our right to dig into it.”

“Whatever,” I
snapped, watching Michael’s head twist in my direction, his mouth
dropping open in surprise. “Michael’s coming with me.”

Caleb
stiffened. “He cannot leave now! After what has happened, and the
Coven gathering shortly, he cannot be absent.”

“I’m going.”
Michael strode in front of the desk, taking my hand in his. “You
don’t need me here. There is no way I’d let Rouge go on her
own.”

“Now is not the
time to go on a treasure hunt.” Caleb glared at me. “You’re a
liability.”

“I thought I
was an asset.” I sighed. Whatever I’d hoped Caleb might know he
either wasn’t going to share it with me or simply didn’t know.
Fighting him wasn’t going to get me any closer to the truth.

“Have you
memorized the book? Are there more words you can command or
speak?”

He was never
going to let up on the damn journal. “No. I haven’t touched it
since yesterday. Trying to deal with all this crap seems enough on
my plate at the moment. I’m not sure if this ability isn’t more of
a curse.”

Caleb leaned
forward, resting his large hands on the desk to get closer. “It is
a gift and you need to develop it. If you truly love Michael, you
will see that it’s a way to protect him, to protect all of us.”

“Caleb!”
Michael warned.

“Michael,
please,” Caleb said. “You wanted this girl and brought her here.
You had us hunt to save her. This gift is meant to be used
for
us, not against.”

Caleb’s
right
. I loved Michael, and if I could protect him in any way,
I would do whatever I could. “I need to find out about my past, and
I want to find out about this
thing
I can do.” I refused to
call it a gift. I had no idea what it was and until I learned more,
I somehow didn’t trust it.

“If Rouge wants
to go, I’m going with her.” Michael pointed a finger at Caleb. “If
she wanted to study the Grollic book, there will be no pushing from
you or the Coven. She is
not
one of us. We give her the
freedom to do as she pleases. No pressure. I will not allow her to
be used as a pawn for your games.” He gently pulled my fingers,
still interlaced in his hand toward him.

Without another
word, we walked out of the office. Michael nodded at Grace as we
walked by her in the living room, continuing through the kitchen
and out the door to the cottage. We walked in silence till we got
inside the pool house. I never thought about one ounce of pain as
we moved.

Michael closed
the door and stood inches from me. “I’m so sorry I spoke for you,
but I cannot let you become a pawn in Caleb’s games. I know he’s
already making plans to use you, and I refuse to let that happen.
The Coven would jump at his suggestions if he tells them of the
potential power you have. I promise you, I will not let that
happen. We will leave before I allow that. No matter what I agreed
to before I met you.”

Before?
I pushed the question out of my mind and put my hand on his warm
cheek. “You can’t run from what you have spent a lifetime building.
You were part of this Coven, long before you knew me.”

Michael rested
his head on the wall and sighed. “Let’s travel that road when, or
if, we ever reach it.” He chewed his lip for a moment, and then
straightened. “I still have a birthday present to give you.”

I’d completely
forgotten.

“Go sit on the
futon.” Michael walked over to the stand on the side I slept on and
opened the top drawer. He came around and kneeled down so we were
almost at the same height. He held his hand palm up towards me. On
his hand rested a very pretty, small, sparkly, garnet-red wrapped
rectangular box.

I looked at his
face to see if it would give anything away. His expression betrayed
nothing, even his eyes remained a cool blue. With both hands, I
gently lifted the box from his and lifted the lid. A small chain
slid to the side. I glanced up.

His eyes darted
from my hands to my eyes and back down again. Worry created small
lines between his eyebrows. Dropping my gaze, the inside of the box
stole my breath away.

Inside laid his
Siorghra on the black velvet. The beautiful Celtic silver design
glistened off the red inside it. Slowly and with shaking hands, I
removed it from the box and, without saying a word, held it out to
him. I turned and lifted my hair out of the way so he could put it
around my neck.

From the
mirror’s reflection I saw the doubt he’d had the moment before was
gone, replaced with a tender smile. His eyes changed to a lighter
shade of blue, and he leaned forward to hang the necklace around my
neck.