Marked By Pain (The Marked #2)(28)

“Oh my fucking god,” Ryan whispers in a mortified voice, and then I can hear him vomiting behind me. I really hope he didn't get it on my boots. The smoke screen clears, and a few of the rebels walk in and block the door.

Alaric walks over to us, pausing right in front of us, just out of the puddle of blood. “Now, not only are you both disappointments, but you're idiots too. You cannot escape, it is hopeless for you to even try. If you cooperate, we’re not intending to harm either of you.” He turns his eyes to me. “This is why we had to remove Verity, in order to keep you safe, Mackenzie.”

“Safe? Keeping me locked in a compound filled with blood-purity psychos isn't safe!” I growl, feeling a hand rest on my arm.

“Now isn't the right time, Kennie,” Ryan warns quietly.

“Perhaps one of you retains some sense at least,” Alaric drawls. “Put your hands out,” he says. Neither of us move. “Put your fucking hands out now, or I will knock you both out and drag you to your cells by your feet,” he says. Begrudgingly we hold our hands out. Iron cuffs are shackled onto our wrists, each with the protection mark engraved into them, as well as the magic itself used to protect others from our marks. Magic-muting cuffs. Great.

We're pulled to our feet by a couple of unfamiliar men. Well, they're unfamiliar to me. Ryan is glaring at them in a way that screams he knows them all too well.

“Throw them in separate cells, hell, separate cell blocks for that matter. I don't want any chance of them being able to coordinate another escape attempt. Are we clear?” Alaric demands, and they swiftly nod, tugging us along.

Great, how are we getting out of here now? And will Enzo and the twins be able to find me in whatever hole he has me thrown into?





Chapter 17





Logan





“Where the fuck is Kenzie?” I ask Daniels, crossing my arms over my chest. Locke is standing firmly at my side, and Enzo on the other.

“She tried to escape with East and Ryan but she failed...” he answers, trailing off as he looks away.

“Well no shit, Sherlock, we know that much already,” Enzo snaps, stepping forward towards his friend.

“Verity's dead. They've said Kenzie did it. I've contacted East and he isn't sure what happened with them after he got away. He said Verity was escaping with them and betrayed them, he also said he wasn't sure why Verity was going with them anyway. Apparently Ryan said there wasn't time to explain,” he says. His voice cracks a little as he talks about Verity dying, but he covers it quickly, carrying on as if nothing is wrong.

“None of this makes any damn sense,” I say, my mind drifts back to my conversation with Kenzie in the shower. She knew we had an escape plan. She knew we'd get her and East out, Ryan too if he wanted to leave. Which we didn't think he did before now. Something isn't right here... why would she do this and risk everything we had planned?

“So East has no idea why they were breaking him out that night? Or why Verity was going with him? I don't get why Kenzie wouldn't just wait for us,” Locke questions, as if reading my mind. I'd spilled the beans to the others about telling Kenzie the truth. They weren't happy, but I think they were all secretly happy not to have to lie to her anymore. Seeing her hurt like that had been tough for us all.

“He's as confused as the rest of us, but it seemed as if Verity was escaping too, for whatever reason,” he answers.

“So they could be lying about Kenzie killing Verity?” Enzo questions.

“Yes, they could,” Daniels answers him, but he doesn't sound convinced.

“Kenzie wouldn't have killed her unless she had to, you know that, right?” I say, stepping forward and resting a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs me off as he steps back away from us.

“She made her views on Verity clear to me before. Verity was past saving. I know she was probably right, but she was my sister, and now she's gone for good. I'll never get a chance to save her now,” he replies.

I share a look with Locke. I know I'd never stop trying to save my twin, and he'd be the same with me. Luckily we agreed on most things, like which side of a freaking war to be on. Daniels begins pacing back and forth across the other side of the room “I'm sorry about your sister, but we need to come up with a plan b,” Enzo says, but his voice doesn't sound sorry.

“Could you manage a little more tact?” I whisper, elbowing him in the gut. He rolls his dark eyes at me and then I step in front of Daniels to stop his pacing. It's annoying as fuck, and it's only stressing the rest of us out more.

“Something isn’t right about all this, and only you will be allowed to visit Kenz,” I tell him and he shakes his head. We need him to see her, find out what happened.

“I need to bury my sister, that’s all I need to do,” he says and walks out the room before any of us can stop him.

“They aren’t going to let us near her, and we need a new escape plan. Daniels is too focused on his sister. We need to plan this on our own,” I say, annoyed that Daniels isn’t even going to give Kenzie a chance to explain. His emotions are clouding his judgement and I’m hoping he will snap out of it soon.

“What the hell happened last night?” Kelly says as she slams the door open to my room, and quickly shuts it behind her.