Marked By Pain (The Marked #2)(30)

“You don’t know that, you’ve only heard it from Alaric, and no one should trust a word he says,” he tells me firmly, and stands up, looking down at the coffin which I can’t seem to look away from.

“It’s time to say goodbye and then time for you to go and get the answers from our girl,” Enzo says, holding a hand out for me. I grab his hand to stand up, and then quickly let go.

“Goodbye, Verity,” is all I can say, before calling my air mark and pushing dirt into the hole and watching it fall on Verity’s coffin with Enzo’s help.

“Are you going to see Kenzie? You’re the only one that can,” Enzo says once the hole is filled.

“I couldn’t stay away, even if I wanted to,” I tell him.

“That’s Mackenzie for you, I’ve been the same since I met her,” he says, chuckling and walking away. I pull out a small white daisy from my pocket, leaning down and putting it on top of the dirt. I call my earth mark, making the daisy grow into dozens and cover the whole grave. Even if her heart wasn’t beautiful before she died, hopefully she can have some peace now. Or that’s what I have to make myself believe to walk away.





Chapter 19





Mackenzie





I push around the carrots, peas, and the strange meat that’s on the food tray they slid under the door today. It looks like shit and I’d have to be desperate to eat it. I pick it up and slide it back under the door, before going back to my daily pacing. It’s been three days since they threw me into this room, the same one East was kept in. The sheets even still smell like him, and I know Alaric put me in here on purpose, as a reminder he had East locked up or maybe a reminder that he is hunting East. It doesn’t matter, because I have to believe he’s safe.

Jumping when I hear the sound of a key turning, I force myself to stand still as the door opens. Mr Daniels walks in slowly as I let my eyes trail over him. His clothes are wrinkled, his hair is messy and his eyes look tired, he looks nothing like he usually does, but exactly how I expected him to be. He lost his sister, and my heart hurts for him. I wish I could have been there when he found out. I wish I could change everything about that day so that his sister didn’t die the way she did.

“Shut the door and don’t disturb us,” Daniels tells the guard behind him, who nods and closes the door, as I keep my eyes focused on Mr Daniels. There’s a tense silence between us, neither of us saying a word as we just stare at each other.

“Why?” he finally asks, his voice cracking, and it breaks my heart to hear it. I’ve never seen Mr Daniels weak, or anything other than strong, and yet right now, it’s the only way to describe him.

“Why what?” I ask quietly, but my voice still seems louder than it should in the otherwise silent space.

“Why did you kill her?” he asks me, making me step back in shock, not expecting him to accuse me of that.

“You think I killed her?” I ask quietly, wondering how he could ever think that of me.

“Did you?” he asks. “I know you hated her, I know she would have gone after you first, but she was my little sister Mackenzie!” he shouts, looking away from me, “Who I just put into the cold ground. She’s dead, and—” he stops, his words just cutting off as if he can’t bear to say anymore.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble as I step closer, but he steps away from me, shaking his head and looking down at the ground.

“I need to know,” he asks so quietly, but it’s still a demand.

“Look at me,” I ask, stepping closer once more. He looks up from the ground, finally meeting my eyes. I almost want to look away when I see the hurt in them, the pain, but I don’t. He deserves for me to look at him, to be strong for him when he can’t be.

“I didn’t kill her, I tried to save her because my father told me he was going to. And he did anyway, despite how much I did try to save her and I hate myself for that,” I say, taking a deep breath. “I gave her every chance to escape, but in the end, she chose to side with my father. He killed her right in front of me,” I say, and he still doesn’t move or make a sound. I watch as a tear drops onto the floor; he wipes his hands over his face. Something clearly snaps, as he walks over to me, picking me up and slamming me into the wall. He holds his body close to mine, as he grabs my chin so I have to look at him.

“Why the fuck didn’t you call me? Let me know what was going on? I could have lost you both because you’re so stubborn,” he nearly shouts, the emotion in his eyes is hard to look away from and he won’t let me anyway. He wants me to feel this, his pain, his worry and most of all, his love. Even if he doesn’t say the words, because he can’t, I can see it. I can feel it. “You’re not alone anymore, we are here for you, and you need to be in this with us or we will lose everything. Don’t push me out, don’t rely on anyone else that doesn’t love you, because they will never protect you like I can. You can never trust them like you can trust me. I’m with you one hundred percent, Mackenzie Crowe,” he says and then he crushes his lips onto mine. Mr Daniels uses one hand to lift my ass, pulling me against him as his other hand slides into my hair, controlling the kiss. I reach down, pulling his shirt up and he breaks the kiss to let me pull it off him and my eyes widen at his sculpted chest, the little scars that I can see trailed across it, and the v shape that dips into his pants. That’s the only pause we have as we kiss again, our lips harshly battling against each other, as all the frustration we have built up pours out. Mr Daniels pulls my shirt off, pushing down my jeans and underwear in one go. He unclips my bra seconds later, breaking away from my lips as he kisses down my neck and towards my breasts. I moan when he teases me, kissing around the nub before sucking it into his mouth and moving to the next one as he puts his knee between my legs, rubbing against me. He doesn’t spend long with my breasts as I slide my hand into his trousers and pull him out, feeling how hard he is.