Love Mark Fantasy Book 3: Mark of Love

THE TENTH REAPING

I clapped my hands over my ears as another scream echoed down the hall, this one louder and closer than the last. It sounded like Mama.

When the cry stopped abruptly, I gave a thick swallow, tucked my knees up to my chest, then squeezed my eyes shut, rocking myself slowly back and forth.

I guess Mama was gone now. Just like Grandpa, Grandma, Daddy, my brother Quatro, and a handful of cousins.

I had just seen them all die.

I’d never witnessed murder before.

And I didn’t want to ever again.

Huddled in the dirt behind the main staircase, I swiped the back of my hand across my upper lip when the slow trickle of something wet slid from my nose. My hand came away red and sticky.

Blood.

Bleeding made sense. A hailstorm of debris had hit me when Grandpa’s brother’s family had invaded the great dining hall by blowing out one of the sidewalls I’d been sitting near.

My palm trembled as I prodded my hair, checking for more wounds, and rubble dust fell from the ratted strands, landing on the frayed and grimy hem of my dress. As if they were lethal, I kicked the chunks of wall away with a bare, scraped toe before I tucked my leg back under my skirt and returned myself to the fetal position, hugging my knees and rocking again.

Distant bellows and shrieks began to fade further away. I hummed to myself—just inside my mind though, so no one else could hear it—to block out the rest of the world.

But that didn’t help. Jolting when a shout sounded from nearby, I sucked in an involuntary gasp. Boots pounded closer. I tensed, fearing I’d been discovered. But the clanging of metal and swords slamming together told me the runner had been fleeing from someone else, and they weren’t coming for me.

I had no idea who was fighting this time. Honestly, it no longer mattered. As soon as my grandfather’s brother Orick and his family had invaded, everyone had turned on everyone else. It was impossible to know who to trust anymore. To know who was good.

One minute, Grandpa Obediah had been raising his goblet with a toast and smiling to celebrate Grandma’s birthday, then a loud boom made my ears ring. Dust clogged my vision, and the next thing I knew, Grandpa’s head had landed on the floor, no longer connected to his body.

Utter madness followed. Brother turned against sister, husband against wife, mother against son.

I’d been so stunned watching my cousins Queen and Quote stabbing each other to death, I hadn’t even noticed my own brother Quatro charging toward me with a raised dagger until Mama screamed a warning. I’d turned just in time to see her thrust a sword into the center of his back to stop him.

Frozen, I gaped as the blade emerged through the front of his chest and blood bloomed across the cloth of his tunic. My mother had murdered one of my brothers. To save me.

A whimper filled my throat. My entire family had gone insane. It could only mean one thing.

Another reaping had begun.

Grandpa had taught us all about the reapings. He’d survived one already, back when he was twenty-nine, he claimed, before he’d met Grandma or the rest of us were born. Before even Daddy was born.

With the curse that had plagued our family for centuries, the bloodlust for power and magic would sometimes seize a member of House Graykey until they could no longer control the insatiable thirst for more, and they attacked the rest of the family, intent to consume their abilities and take them for themselves.

From the moment that first strike in a reaping came, a struggle for dominance and control took hold of the rest of us until only the strongest survived. Just a rare few Graykey members were able to avoid that unquenchable hunger for more power whenever a reaping began. Grandpa Obediah claimed to be immune. He was still a carrier, though, so he had passed the curse down through the generations to the rest of us.

I slowly twisted my wrist until I exposed the smooth, hairless inside of my forearm where a light blue vein ran through the center of the tattoo I bore. I’d been born with the pentagram with the letter G in the center, a mark that signified I came from the Graykey line, and therefore I carried the Graykey curse.

Meaning I should be filled with bloodlust right now, too, murdering the rest of my family like everyone else.

But I didn’t feel like killing anyone. Especially anyone in my own family, who had raised me and protected me and nurtured me my entire life. The idea actually turned my stomach sour.

Did this mean I was immune to the bloodlust too? Just like Grandpa Obediah had been in the last reaping?

I hoped so. I didn’t want to become feral.

I knew his voice. Daddy’s middle brother, Uncle Palmer, had always kind of scared me.

After seeing the way he’d cut down my father only minutes ago, that fear wasn’t going to fade anytime soon either.

“You first,” a woman answered, straining and panting from the effort she must be putting into fighting him off.

I sucked in a breath, also recognizing her voice. Uncle Palmer’s wife, Taiki, was my favorite aunt. She always took the time to pause whatever she was doing to teach me something new and interesting. And she smiled and laughed when she did it, as if she truly enjoyed my company. Usually, I just annoyed everyone with my relentless questions and curiosity. But Aunt Taiki called me refreshing.

I bolted upright when she cried out after a particularly loud thump.

If Aunt Taiki died, who would be left?

Only the frightening murderers, that’s who. Certainly no one who’d walk down to the stream with me and try to spot minnows and crawlers in the water. Certainly no one who’d snuggle close to me in front of a warm fire when it was storming outside and tell me funny stories to keep me from being scared. Certainly no one who enjoyed my questions and called me refreshing or could make an entire room seem as if the sun had just come out from behind a cloud whenever they smiled.

Aunt Taiki couldn’t die, too. She just couldn’t.

Since she had married into the family and wasn’t a blood-born Graykey, I knew she wasn’t held under the thrall of bloodlust. Like Mama, she was probably only fighting right now to either defend herself or someone else.

My entire body began to shake. I knew she needed help. But I was so scared. I couldn’t seem to make myself move. If I left my hiding spot, I’d surely die. But if I lost Aunt Taiki on top of Mama, and Daddy, and Grandma, and Grandpa, and Quatro, how could I live, anyway?

Realizing I physically could not handle losing anyone else today, I found the will to move and shoved my way to my feet before darting out from under the stone stairwell.

Uncle Palmer had Aunt Taiki backed into a wall. Her sword lay nearly ten feet away, and blood seeped from a wound on the side of her face as she slipped down to sit on the ground and was barely able to lift one limp arm to defend herself. She looked defeated. Done.

With a sneer of triumph, Uncle Palmer lifted his own sword and reared it back to deliver her death blow. “I’ve wanted to do this from the moment I met you,” he announced.

“No!” I screamed.

Lifting both hands, I spread my fingers wide and—palms aimed in his direction—I pushed the air at him, compelling it to blow until it rushed right into him and shoved him off his feet and away from his wife.

Surrendering to my gift of persuasion, the air made a mighty, roaring wall, flowing up and separating him from Aunt Taiki so he couldn’t reach her again after he regained his footing, no matter how much he hollered and fought against it, trying to break through.

In return, Aunt Taiki scrambled from the floor and snatched up her fallen sword with both hands. Screaming a warrior’s cry, she summoned all the strength she could muster and swung the weapon, spinning her body in a full circle before she let go of her hold and threw the blade forward.

The sword sailed through my wall of air and caught Uncle Palmer right in the chest. He choked out his surprise and clutched the metal before tipping over backward, plummeting to the ground, dead.

“Aunt Taiki!” Letting go of my hold on the air, I rushed to her, needing someone to hold me and take care of me before I fell to pieces.

“I—I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I sobbed, gripping the back of her dress and holding on for dear life. “I didn’t mean to kill him.”

Voice trembling, I pulled my face away from her to glance toward Uncle Palmer’s body. He gaped up at the ceiling of the corridor with his mouth hanging open wide and eyes fixed and glassy with the death stare.

My stomach revolted.

A shudder worked through me. “But I-I helped,” I argued, feeling wheezy. “I held him back so you could—”

I blinked. “Well, n-no.”

“Taiki!”

Aunt Taiki spun toward the call, and a sob rose from her throat. “Lain,” she breathed, her eyes filling with tears. “Thank God.”

Letting go of my hand, she dashed toward the other woman with the long, flaming red hair who was racing toward her, and they met in the middle, hugging and sobbing and then kissing, gripping each other’s cheeks as their lips clung with a panicked but also relieved kind of urgency.

I blinked, dumbfounded, as Aunt Taiki continued to kiss Aunt Melaina. On the mouth. Passionately. When Aunt Melaina pulled away, she swiped her thumb over the cut on Aunt Taiki’s cheek to find that it had been healed.

My mouth fell open in shock, realizing they were soulmates.

Uncle Palmer had put a spell on Aunt Taiki that would kill her if she ever tried to abandon him, and Uncle Pallo had done the same, plus used dark, forbidden magic to suppress good emotions like compassion, empathy, and kindness from Aunt Melaina’s soul until she just couldn’t be nice. It caused her great pain when she did manage to feel something sweet and kind.

Which was probably why tears of blood poured down her face when she pulled away from Aunt Taiki. “I thought I’d lost you. I thought—”

“Shh,” Aunt Taiki assured with a gentle smile as she wiped the blood from Aunt Melaina’s eyes with her thumbs. “I’m right here. I’m fine. Now, stop this, my love, before you hurt yourself.”

Glancing past Aunt Melaina, I realized more had arrived with her. Two of her children—Quailen and Questa—stepped from behind her and tugged on her arm. “Someone could catch us out here any second; we have to go.”

“Quilla,” Aunt Taiki called, turning to me suddenly and waving me forward. “Come.”

“Quilla?” Aunt Melaina repeated in confusion before she spotted me scurrying toward them. Immediately, her eyes narrowed. “No!” Grabbing Aunt Taiki, she yanked her protectively away. Then she lifted her hands toward me, prepared to dispel magic. And probably not the good kind that could make my hair pretty and eyes extra shiny, either.

I squeaked and skidded to a stop. Uncle Palmer might’ve always scared me, but Aunt Melaina downright terrified me.

“Get back!” the red-haired woman ordered.

“No. Stop!” Aunt Taiki leaped forward, dodging in front of me as she grasped Aunt Melaina’s arm and pushed it down. “She’s harmless. Just look. The girl’s immune.”

Aunt Melaina shrugged her off, sniffing. “Impossible.” Her disgusted gaze focused on me yet again as she pushed red curls out of her face. “Two of mine are already immune.”

“Then there are three,” Aunt Taiki reasoned desperately. “Because I’m telling you, Quilla is innocent.” She tugged the other woman back another foot. “Melaina, please. She’s just a child.”

“She just saved my life,” Aunt Taiki insisted, causing Melaina to pause and finally turn her critical glare from me so she could glance at the other woman, one eyebrow lifted.

“Did she?”

“Impossible,” Aunt Melaina scoffed. “She can’t come with us.”

“She is,” Aunt Taiki countered and grasped my fingers. “Now come on.” And she took off jogging down the hall toward the back exit of the manor, towing me along with her.

Aunt Melaina dogged our heels. “The hell if she’s going anywhere with me! I don’t trust the brat. There’s no room for her, anyway. We only have four amulets on us to complete the ritual. That leaves her shit out of luck.”

Behind us, something crashed to the floor and shattered.

Both Aunt Melaina and Aunt Taiki slowed to a stop before glancing around to where Questa had tripped and fallen to her knees. A broken amber crystal lay scattered in pieces on the ground in front of her. With her face paling and eyes widening, she looked up and winced. “Oops.”

“Got it.” Questa rushed to gratefully slip the new necklace into place.

Tightening her fingers around my hand, Aunt Taiki hurried after them as Aunt Melaina led the way outside.

A scattering of servants took off running when they saw us, but otherwise, no one else was about.

“It’s settled, then,” Aunt Taiki announced, sounding logical. “We can all still go through the portal. So, we’ll give an amulet to the three children, and you and I will just have to come back through when the bridge closes.”

“Fine, then,” Aunt Taiki bit out. “You stay there with Questa and Quailen. Quilla and I will come back at the end of the transference.”

Tears glistened on Aunt Taiki’s cheeks as she tenderly cupped Aunt Melaina’s face in her hands. “I don’t know what else to do.”

Aunt Taiki sputtered out a tortured laugh and pressed her brow to Aunt Melaina’s. “God, I’m going to miss your awful sense of humor.”

“I wasn’t joking.” Aunt Melaina squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “I can’t do this without you. I just can’t. There has to be another way.”

“I’ll still be with you,” Aunt Taiki assured, her voice quieting to a whisper. “Right up to the very end when Quilla and I are pulled back to the Outer Realms, I’ll be right by your side.”

Aunt Melaina sniffed and wiped blood from her cheeks. “Promise?”

“Always and always. Now, go. We need to hurry.” She urged Aunt Melaina to enter the stable ahead of her, then she turned back to check on me.

“Because she’s an innocent child, and it’s the right thing to do,” Aunt Taiki reasoned. Then she ruffled my hair affectionately, as if to soothe the sting of the other woman’s bitter words. “Besides, I like her.”

“Hopefully it’ll be destroyed,” Aunt Melaina muttered under her breath. “Like it deserves.”

“Lain,” Aunt Taiki said, her voice full of warning. “Behave.”

“Why?” Aunt Melaina shot back. “Tell me, what has anyone here done to help either of us, except stand aside and gawk while we were captured by the fucking Graykeys, and then turn a blind eye while we were held prisoner, forced to marry, and tortured for the past sixteen years?”

Aunt Taiki didn’t have a reply for that. Her inner brightness seemed to dim and wither as stark grief filled her expression.

I didn’t think Aunt Melaina should’ve said that to her. Wanting to comfort her, I squeezed her hand. Aunt Taiki smiled sadly at me and squeezed back.

“Where are we going?” I asked to distract her and because none of what she and Aunt Melaina had been saying made any sense to me.

“We’re going to take a little trip,” Aunt Taiki explained as we followed Aunt Melaina into an empty stall where Questa and Quailen were waiting nervously. “And then you and I will come back while Melaina, Questa, and Quailen stay behind. Okay?”

“But—”

“Shh.” She smoothed down my hair. “Trust me, baby. We’ll be safe there; I promise.” Then she winked and let go of my hand.

I watched as she stepped toward Aunt Melaina.

Together, the two women stood side by side and lifted their arms toward the back wall of the stable stall. In unison, they began to chant in the magical tongue, and as they spoke foreign words that sounded dark and ominous, the outline of a round tunnel began to appear before us with crackling, electric white light rimming the entrance. They didn’t stop repeating the incantation until the entire portal was lit up.

Then, the five of us just stood there before it, staring in awe, until Quailen murmured an awestruck, “Whoa.”

“You first,” Aunt Melaina murmured, nudging Aunt Taiki forward. “I’ll go last and make sure to close the breach behind us.”

Aunt Taiki nodded in compliance before handing her own amulet over to Aunt Melaina. Then she glanced down at me as if to say goodbye, and she stepped toward the glowing portal.

“Wait.” Aunt Melaina grabbed her arm.

Aunt Taiki paused and turned back.

“Be careful,” Aunt Melaina ordered. “I’ll see you in a minute.”

Aunt Taiki smiled at her. “I love you, you crazy heifer.” She leaned forward and pressed her mouth to Aunt Melaina’s.

Aunt Melaina kissed her back before she pulled away, whispering, “I love you, too. You’ll be a better mother to them than I ever was.”

Aunt Taiki’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What—?” she started, but she didn’t get a chance to finish the question.

Aunt Melaina slipped the amulet back into the pocket of Aunt Taiki’s cloak and shoved her through the portal.

“Mom!” Questa gasped, rushing forward. “What have you done?”

“But—”

“Just go!” Aunt Melaina shoved her through the doorway as well. “You’re insane if you think I’m leaving this world without securing the safety of the people who mean the most to me.”

Then she grabbed Quailen and pushed him into the glowing, crackling portal as well.

After all three were gone, she blew out a long breath and slowly turned to glare at me.

I shrank a step back.

“I guess that leaves just you and me now, brat.”

I gulped. “You’re going to make me stay behind, aren’t you?”

With an amused smirk, she sniffed. “I wish.” Then she took my arm roughly. “But Taiki would murder me if I showed up without you in tow, so you better come with me, huh?”

I nodded, feeling stupid and scared. Stalling, though I wasn’t sure why—I guess because I still had no idea where we were going—I peered up at her.

“Did—was Qualmer not immune, then?” I asked of her middle son that I hadn’t seen since the reaping had begun.

Her eyes narrowed before she smirked. “Of course not. Who do you think killed your mother?”

My skin went cold.

Aunt Melaina stepped toward me, looming darkly. “Let’s get one thing straight, kid. Don’t cause problems for Taiki or either of my children, or I’ll end you, just like my son ended your dear, sweet mama. Got it?”

I nodded, suddenly unsure if I should go with her or not. “G-got it.”

“Great.” She tightened her grip on my arm. “Then let’s go.”

Behind us, a voice roared, “There you are!”

I glanced back to find Qualmer peering over the door of the stall.

He finally flung the door open and stalked into the stall with us.

Reacting on instinct, I pushed him back with a propulsion of air, just as I had with Uncle Palmer. And beside me, Melaina produced a dagger from her cloak before she threw it at him. When she caught him right in the eye, he screamed and fell to his knees, clutching the protruding handle.

My eyes widened as blood gushed down his cheek. “Is he going to die?”

“I doubt it.” Aunt Melaina’s punishing grip jerked me backward toward the portal. “But let’s not wait around to find out, either.”

With that, she swirled her hand, and the crackling edges began to darken and shrink, closing rapidly. Before the portal had completely compressed into nothing, she jumped into the dwindling gap and took me with her, leaving her enraged son behind.

In front of us, a black hole loomed. We were sucked into it with a rush of wind. A pulling sensation gripped my skin, and it felt as if I were falling.

Screaming, Aunt Melaina and I held on to each other for dear life as we left the Outer Realms behind and entered the unknown.