Marked By Pain (The Marked #2)(32)

“Kenzie, leave!” Enzo shouts as he runs forward to join the twins. I'm not leaving any of them behind, I go to follow him when hands grab my waist and pick me up with ease. He turns with me in his grip and sets me down facing the direction I was previously headed in. I turn around and glare at Mr Daniels.

“I'm not leaving them,” I say, already trying to edge past him.

“Don't be stupid. Either you leave now, or I will throw you over my fucking shoulder and make you. Go, I will make sure the others follow.” I bite my lip, looking between him and the others. “Go! It's you they need, it's you we need to get away from them, so listen for once in your life and fucking go!” he snaps. I look into his green eyes, feeling hurt at how he spoke to me, but I can see the determination in them. The determination is to keep me safe, and I can't be mad at him for that. I sigh and nod, turning and heading for the tunnel entrance.

I reach the metal cellar doors that lean against the back of the building. I try to pull them open, but they're locked. Shit. I can hear so much shouting from around the building as I call on my fire mark, melting the lock. As I pull open the metal doors, I pause, debating whether to go or not, but I know that if I don't, all of this has been for nothing.

I walk down the steep, stone steps, and call on my fire mark again, picturing a fireball hovering harmlessly in the air to light the dark space. The fireball appears and I look around, looking for the trap door Ryan told me about, the one that leads to the tunnels. The musty smell of the cellar makes me want to sneeze as I look for something that stands out on the floor. Spotting a brown rug on the far side of the room, I sprint across and pull the dusty rug out of the way. Clearly this wasn't a way used often, considering all the dust. Sure enough, under the rug is the trap door. Pulling it open, this time I don't hesitate, gripping onto the cold metal bars as I make my way down. I call my fireball to follow me, as I don't like the idea of heading down here in the dark alone.

I hear footsteps above me, people are coming into the basement. I go to step down onto the next bar, but my foot hits the ground instead. I step back and look up, watching to see if it's friend or foe that has followed me. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Locke's face grinning down at me. I lean back against the wall waiting for him to climb down. As soon as he reaches the ground he pulls me to him, pressing his lips to mine. I kiss him back, but it's over all too quickly as he pulls away.

“I'm so glad you're okay,” he says, and then Logan drops down next. He's quickly followed by Enzo, and then I stare up, looking for the others, but there's no sign of Kelly, Ryan, or Mr Daniels.

“Come on, which way is it?” Logan asks, sliding his hand into mine.

“South, but where are the—”

“There's no time, come on. Ryan said we had to make you leave,” Enzo says, heading left. Logan follows him, pulling me along after him. Locke brings up the rear, keeping close to me.

We run at first, but to a fast walk after a while. We must nearly be at the exit when I hear another set of footsteps following us. I wait until we turn the next corner before slowing.

“Guys,” I whisper, tugging Logan's hand to get his attention. He comes to a halt, and so do I. Locke stumbles right into me.

“Why are we stopping?” he groans, clearly unhappy.

“What are you idiots doing?” Enzo says, walking back to us. I pull a face at how loudly he is speaking, hoping that whoever is behind us didn't hear him. He'd been ahead of us the whole time, but he never let us fall too far behind.

“Listen,” I say quietly, and they all seem to tense up as they hear the footsteps. Only one set.

Locke moves to stand in front of me, and Enzo moves closer as we wait for whoever it is to turn the corner. I can feel the tension coming from all of them, and silently pray it’s the others coming, and not rebels. The twins’ shoulders relax, and they step out of the way so I can see who it is.

“You made it,” I say, stepping past the twins to fall into Mr Daniels’ arms. He presses a kiss to my forehead, and I step back and peer around him, looking for sign of Ryan and Kelly. “Where are they?” I ask him, feeling worried.

“They... I couldn't get back to Ryan. They'd pushed me and Kelly right back. She wouldn't leave without him. She told me to go, to make sure you got out,” Mr Daniels says.

“You left my brother and my best friend there?” I ask incredulously, as I try to step past him. I need to go back.

“Don't be stupid, we've had this conversation. We need to get you out of here,” he replies, grabbing my shoulders and not letting me get past. I try and wriggle out of his grip, but it's no use. The others all close in too, none of them are chancing me making a break for it to go back.

“Please, guys,” I plead, but they all stand firm.

“Come on, we need to keep moving,” Enzo says in a cold voice. The twins at least have the decency to look guilty about leaving Kelly and Ryan, but even they don't say anything as I'm practically herded the rest of the way through the tunnels.





Chapter 21





Mackenzie





Staring out the car window, I shrug off Locke's arm when he tries to throw it over my shoulders for the second time. He sighs and moves over to the other side of the backseat. Daniels is driving and Logan called shotgun, and I've been sitting back here ignoring all of them since we left, after meeting one of Mr Daniels' council contacts.