Marked By Pain (The Marked #2)(42)

“Damn I forget how big he gets,” I comment, as the polar bear with glowing blue eyes is five times the size of a normal one, and could swallow a human whole.

“Kenzie said my brother is big, but I think—”

“I didn’t mean that,” I cut him off as I shake my head, and he grins.

“I know, I thought a bit of humour might help the situation,” he says as we watch Locke swipe his massive paw, and throw three rebel guards into the water.

“How the hell do you shift into a panther and your twin into a god damn gigantic polar bear?” I ask, but he doesn’t get to answer me as I spot Mr Daniels in the crowd.

“This way,” I grab Logan’s shoulder, pointing at Mr Daniels near the entrance. We run over, hearing Locke following us, his giant paws smacking across the ground. I pick up a rebel with red hair with my air mark, slamming her into the wall and then stop when I see what Mr Daniels has done. He has opened a massive hole in the dock, and made a whirlpool in the hole that he is throwing the rebels in to. I watch in admiration as he combines his air and fire mark into a flamethrower in the shape of a dragon’s head, and rounds the rest of the rebels into a circle, before pushing them into the hole right behind them.

“Inside,” Mr Daniels says when he is done, and pauses a bit at the sight of the giant polar bear by my side, despite the fact he knows it’s Locke.

“Locke, stay out here and don’t let anyone in, it’s too small for you in there,” he tells him, and Locke lowers his head before turning around. We run in, and just stop, staring at the empty warehouse. There are some boxes in the corner and one small chair in the middle of the room. I run over with the others, and I’m the only one that can read out loud what the note on the chair says.

“You lose,” I whisper, shaking my head because I can’t believe we have been tricked. Kenzie only has East with her. We need to get to her, protect her. They can’t have her.

“Fuck no,” Logan says, stepping back.

“Where are they?” Kenzie’s dads say behind us, snapping us all out of it as we see them running to us.

“They must be with Kenzie at the academy, this is a distraction,” Mr Daniels growls, sending the chair flying across the room with his air mark. The floor shakes with a loud bang, and I look over at Mr Daniels in horror as the ceiling collapses and the floor falls through, sending us all crashing into the cold water before any of us can call our marks.





Chapter 28





Mackenzie





“I always knew you liked Easton Black,” my mum chuckles as she eats her bacon sandwich. She pointedly looks over at East as he’s walking out, going back to the cabin to get my phone for me. I left it behind this morning after actually putting it on charge for once. I want it close in case any of the guys or one of my dads call to say they have Ryan and Kelly.

I can’t stop thinking about how Kelly could still be hurt, or wondering where the hell Ryan is, as I can’t believe he would let anyone hurt Kelly. I might have been mad about them being together at the start, but only because they kept it from me. I know they love each other more than anything. Either one of them would be destroyed if the other was hurt, so it doesn’t make a bit of sense that Ryan would let it happen.

“Really?” I ask, forcing a smile, and she laughs. She looks happy, despite the fact her eyes show me the world of worry she’s trying to hide from me. My mum usually looks so in control, so carefree, but hasn’t recently, not that I can blame her. I can’t say anything about my mum’s messy hair and crinkled clothes, when I know I haven’t looked in a mirror for too long.

“You used to look at him like he was everything, way before he realised what was in front of him. I watched for years, and I knew when you started here, that he would finally notice you,” she says, making me realise how smart my mum really is.

“I didn't look at him like that..." I trail off when she bursts into laughter and puts her hand on mine. I try not to blush, but knowing your mum knew about your childhood crush the whole time is a little embarrassing.

"Kennie, I just knew when your brother told us about you two getting together, that it was meant to be. Whatever happens, I know he will look after you. Much like that teacher, the twins, and even the one with the dark eyes, whose name I keep forgetting," she says.

"Enzo," I fill in the name for her and she nods, looking away from me, over the empty cafeteria to the windows. It’s pouring down rain outside, the dark clouds making it look worse out there than I thought it was. You can hear the lightning shooting across the sky every now and then, and I suddenly feel a little guilty for letting East go get my phone in this weather. He only went to make sure I wouldn’t go through the woods alone. I pick up my coke can, sipping from it as my mum continues talking.

"Enzo has the bad boy look going on, I half expected to see him driving a motorcycle through the academy, like Mike did when we were here," she says, making me nearly choke on my coke as I put it down next to my empty plate.

"Dad M did what?" I ask with wide eyes. I never heard about that story growing up.

"Mike was quite the bad boy back in those days, even worse than Alaric," she says, going quiet as she trails off with a sad look floating over her face. I can’t imagine what she is feeling, when the hate disappears, and the realisation she doesn’t have to mourn Alaric anymore. He betrayed her in the worst way, and if one my guys did that to me, I don’t know if I could be as strong as she is now. I don’t think I’ve ever looked up to my mum as much as I do right now. She is the strongest woman I know.