Iniquitous (The Marked #3)(30)

The witchy sisters.

I knew it was them even before any introductions were made.

They were standing in a row, shoulder to shoulder—a red-head, a blond and a brunette—staring at me as if they already knew every one of my secrets…and even those I didn’t know myself.

My gaze fell to their hands. Their palms were covered in Runes, similar to the Mark of The Anakim, except theirs were black as night instead of white, and they ran from their palms to the back of their hands and all the way up their arms.

I’d studied well enough with Gabriel to know those marks.

Dark Casters.

“Come in, come in,” smiled Engel, sweeping his arm out as if to showcase the dire circumstances. “Join us.”

Dominic placed his hand on the small of my back and pushed me further into the room. My feet felt like two blocks of concrete. Concrete that I wanted to throw at Dominic’s head.

“I’d like for you to meet three very special friends of mine. The Enchanted Sisters of Roderick. This here is Arianna,” he said, pointing to the first sister, the brunette. “That’s Annabelle. And last, but certainly not least, Anita.”

Anita, the fiery red-head, was the only one to step forward and break formation. It wasn’t to shake my hand or speak to me though. She was summing me up. Obviously, there weren’t going to be any niceties or small talk with these ones. They were here for a reason, and that reason had everything to do with me.

My pulse quickened as she began circling around me, looking me up and down as though inspecting me.

“Can I help you with something?” I asked, glaring at her from the corner of my eye.

“I doubt it,” she answered without meeting my eyes.

Annabelle, the blond with the pin-straight bangs, snorted under her breath.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working for the Dark Legion?”

“We work for ourselves, sweetheart.” Anita’s blood-red lips pulled into a grin. “That or the highest bidder,” she drawled, her voice low and even.

There was something different about these three that disturbed me. They weren’t just witches—Dark Casters. There was something special about them. I could almost feel their power, the unearthly darkness radiating out from them.

It gave me the chills.

“How long?” she asked Engel.

“Nearly a fortnight.” Engel stood up and walked over to me. He cupped my right cheek, forcing me to look him in the eye. “Give me the Amulet, child,” he ordered, his pupils dilating unnaturally. I could tell he was attempting to compel me again, but it didn’t have the same effect as when Dominic did it.

“Sorry. Not today, pal.”

He tapped my cheek lightly with his palm, almost affectionately, and then returned to his seat.

Anita continued to move around me, sizing me up. She was really starting to get on my nerves.

“Can you stop that? You’re making me dizzy.”

Ignoring me, she ticked her chin to one of her sisters. Arianna, the brunette with the amber eyes, stepped forward this time and walked over to me without saying anything. Her eyes nervously paused on Dominic, almost as though she didn’t trust her proximity to him. I guess she didn’t enjoy his company as much as I did.

She stopped mere inches from where I stood.

“Do you mind?” I said, taking a step back from her. “I’d rather not smell what you had for lunch.”

She glanced back at her sister, and with a responding nod from Anita, she grabbed a hold of my wrist. Her eyes immediately rolled back in her head.

“What the hell!” I screeched as I tried to pull my hand away, but her grip was like a vise clamp.

My skin burned under her touch which only made me pull back harder. She moved right along with me, bouncing back and forth with me like a human leech. As hard as I tried to shake her, her grip never loosened.

I was about to pull my stake out from my chest and drive it through her hand when she suddenly let go. Her lids fluttered for a few beats and then her eyes returned to normal as though she’d just re-joined us from some distant Realm.

“She’s already bonded,” she said simply.

My eyes rounded out.

“Then why is the Amulet not in my hand,” asked Engel.

Her brown eyes shifted to Dominic. “Because she’s bonded to him.”

Holy shit on a hell-stick!

Engel’s men immediately jumped in behind us, grabbing Dominic’s arms and pinning them behind his back as Baldy pulled out his silver machete and pointed it to Dominic’s jugular.

We were so dead, we needed a new word for it.

“What is the meaning of this?” asked Engel. His voice was threatening and dark, but they had nothing on the pitch color his eyes had taken.

“He has feelings for her,” said Arianna. “He’s protecting her.”

Our entire plan just went to shit, taking my whole life right along with it. And it was all because of her.

I didn’t think. I just lunged at her.





14. HELL IN A HANDBAG


My body slammed into Arianna like a concrete wall, knocking her to the ground as easy as snapping a twig in two. Adrenaline and sheer rage had taken over inside of me, driving me forward without consciousness or forethought. My brain clicked off as I pounded her face with my fist, wailing on her like she was the only thing standing in the way of my freedom. And in a way she was. This was all her fault. After all the work we’d done, all the feedings and torture I endured to get to this point, it was all erased with one witchy grab of my hand.