Marked by Blood: Book 2 of The Marked Series Read online

  This book is dedicated to Molly.

  My dog and constant companion and friend... when she’s not eating cat poop out of the litter box.

  Contents

  Glossary of Terms

  The Prophecy

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Rinna Ford

  Copyright © 2019 by Rinna Ford

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Quirah Casey of Salvation Creations

  Editing by Dani Black

  Formatting by Gina Wynn

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without express written permission from the author. Any unauthorized use of this material is prohibited.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales are completely coincidence.

  Glossary of Terms

  Supernatural - Term used to describe those other than human. Specifically casters, shifters, and vampires.

  Casters - Magic users. Casters have natural magic and can cast spells. They can also have other skills, such as premonition and telekinesis. Their extra powers range from naturally weak to naturally powerful. The males of the species find their mates when they are both at least 20 years old and are driven to find them, no matter the distance. Mates can always feel their other halves when they are close by, even if they are not fully mated. Casters, both male and female, are stronger psychically, mentally, and physically when fully mated. They have long lives and can live around 600 years, if not killed prematurely.

  Shifters - Supernaturals that transform into animals. Shifters can either be wolves, bears, dragons, horses, tigers, or sharks. They can only take one form and it is the form one of their shifter parents take. Each species of shifter has strengths and weaknesses the others don’t possess. They are the most volatile of the supernatural species. Children first shift into their beasts when they reach puberty and are able to change at will after that. Males find their mates when they are both at least 20 years old and are driven to find their mates, no matter the distance. Mates can always feel their other half when they are nearby, even if they are not fully mated. Shifters, both male and female, are stronger physically and mentally when fully mated. They have long lives and can live around 500 years, if not killed prematurely.

  Vampires - Blood-sucking supernatural creatures that are made, not born. They appear human, except for their eyes that turn red and fangs that descend when feeding or agitated. Vampires are able to go out into daylight, but prefer the night because of eye sensitivity. They feed solely on the blood of other beings, human and supernatural. Vampires possess the ability to influence others, can move very fast, and are expert hunters. They too have mates, but males only find them if/when their mates are made vampire. Males can go their entire lives without finding mates. Once a male senses his mate has been made, he is driven to find her, no matter the distance. Mates can always sense their mates whenever they are close by, even if not fully mated. Vampires are stronger mentally, physically, and psychically when fully mated. They are immortal and can live forever, if not killed.

  Supernatural Council - Ruling body of the supernatural species. It is made up of three members of each of the three species; vampires, casters, and shifters, making nine total Council members. There is one member of each of the chosen Council member groups that is made to be a Head Councilman. Vampire Council members can only rule up to 500 years since they are true immortals. Shifter and caster Council members serve until they choose to step down or until death. New Council members are chosen by the remaining Council members, not elected by the society.

  Supernatural society - Supernaturals live in secret, hiding in plain sight. Most choose to live among humans, but some live outside in community groups. Each of the supernatural species rule themselves, like states, with their Council members at the head, while the entire Council rules them all as a national government would. Each of the supernatural races can only procreate within their own species, never mixing the others. Vampires cannot give birth to children, so they are forbidden from turning other supernaturals to vampires. Mixing species will result in dilution of the races, according to the Council, and is punishable by death. Paranormal races are to remain pure and intact.

  An accursed child of earth and fire,

  bathed in blood on the darkest of nights

  will rule supreme.

  War will be waged,

  lives will be lost,

  but harmony and peace can be found

  when three destinies are one.

  Chapter One

  “Well, I guess that’s it. It could be worse, right?”

  I looked back and forth with concern between the tiny, rundown diner at the end of the quietest, most deserted street I’d ever seen and my mate, Xander, as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. He was concerned too, but not about the diner’s appearance. I quickly learned pretty much everything in the supernatural world wasn’t as it seemed, but it was something he had known his entire life because he had grown up in it.

  No, he wasn’t concerned about the way the diner and its street looked, he was concerned about the fact we were literally walking into a strange place that would more than likely be crawling with supes. We didn’t know anything about the place, other than there was possibly a woman inside who could help me.

  We did our best over the last week and a half to keep to ourselves as we took a roundabout way from Xan’s home in the Tennessee mountains to Graystone, California. We had been on the run for eight days before approaching the tiny coastal town, in hopes that my uncle’s note wouldn’t lead to a dead end, or worse. I trusted my Uncle Devlin with my life, but I didn’t know this Diane Moore lady, and my situation was precarious to say the least.

  I was a half-breed, an abomination according to the supernatural society I was born into and hidden from for my protection; half caster and half dragon shifter. My mother, who was also a caster, cursed me when I was twelve years old to forget about my life in the supernatural world and suppress my growing powers. The curse had not only changed my identity, but it physically manifested itself as a large tattoo-like mark that grew the first night of every new moon for fifteen years, and now covered the entire span of my back.

  When the mark had completed itself, my powers returned to me along with not one, but two mates. Xander Liu was my shifter mate, not to mention my childhood best friend. We grew up together until I was stolen away, but he found me again when my dragon was returned to me.

  My other mate was Ronan Young, a Scottish caster who worked for the very Council I was running from. He had ambition to spare as a staunch supporter of the government, so I wasn’t exactly sure where his loyaltie
s lay when it came to me. I knew he wanted me as much as I wanted him, but it became tricky when you involved your life’s ambition in the mix.

  For that very reason, I hadn’t accepted Ronan as my mate, and I wasn’t sure I ever would. Well, because of that and the fact Xan wasn’t exactly the sharing type of guy. No one has ever had more than one mate, but then again, no one has ever been a mixture of two supernatural races before. You could just imagine how excited he was with the idea of it.

  I didn’t blame him, really I didn’t, but it didn’t quench the longing I felt for Ronan. Not even a little bit.

  Xan turned off the ignition to the car and turned to face me.

  “Promise me,” he demanded, his sable-colored eyes blazing into mine.

  He wanted me to teleport out of the diner at the first hint of danger, with or without him, and I had yet to agree to it. To say he was protective of me would be an understatement. He was a dragon after all.

  I rolled my eyes and exited the car without answering his ridiculous request, because there was no way I’d ever leave him behind. I had lost too many people in my life, and I wasn’t about to leave the most important person to me behind. Ever.

  I began walking around the side of the building to the front door and Xan caught up to me within only a few steps, taking my hand in his. He stepped in front and pulled on the door handle, swinging it wide and letting me pass through first.

  Xan was a gentleman, but I knew he wouldn’t have let me go first if he hadn’t scanned the room before I walked inside. There were only a few patrons in the diner, along with a waitress in a pinky-peach colored uniform. Everyone looked up when we walked in and tracked our movements as we walked across the scratched checkered floor. They were all definitely otherworldly, and it was obvious they could sense we were too.

  I sat down at one of the stools at the counter and Xan took one beside me, turning his body to face me so he could see both the dining room and the space behind the counter.

  “Can I help you, sugar?” the waitress asked me. She didn’t address Xander, not that he would have answered her anyway. He was focused on keeping us safe.

  “Sure,” I smiled and looked at her nametag. “Susan, can we please get a couple of iced teas?”

  She nodded her head with a friendly grin and turned to pour our drinks. When she turned around, she carefully placed each cup in front of us with two straws and looked at me expectantly.

  “Is there anything else?” Her eyebrows were drawn up in question.

  “Yeah,” I drawled out. “There is one more thing. Do you know someone named Di? A friend told me I could find her here.”

  Xander tightened his hand on my thigh when Susan stood upright and stiffened at my question. Her smile faded away and a look of paranoia crossed her face.

  “Di? I’m not sure I know who you’re talking about,” she mumbled and began inching toward the kitchen door.

  “Really? That’s a shame. I was really hoping I could find her,” I insisted.

  Before she could reply to that, a giant of a man came lumbering out of the kitchen and stood beside her. Susan scurried away to the kitchen and the big man took her place in front of us.

  Xan turned his head fully toward the man, showing him that he wasn’t intimidated.

  “What business do you have with Di?” the man asked in a deep, gravelly voice.

  “Well, that’s between Di and me, don’t you think?” I asked, challenging the newcomer. Xan squeezed my thigh again, but I could tell even though this man’s was huge, he wasn’t planning on hurting us. He wasn’t aggressive in the slightest. I could also tell he was more like someone we had to get through to get to the woman in question. He was just protecting his interest.

  He cracked a smile and shook his head. “You’re right, sweet thing, but you see, anyone who comes in here and asks for Diane has to go through me first. So, it is actually my business. Ya understand?”

  I looked at him thoughtfully for a second before deciding to answer him.

  “My friend, Devlin Stratton, told me I needed to come to this diner in this town and ask for Di. That she could help us. So, if she can, could you please point us in the right direction? If she can’t help us, or if Devlin was just playing a trick on me, then tell me now so we can pay for our drinks and leave. If you don’t mind.”

  The man threw his head back and laughed heartily.

  “I like you,” he grinned. “Devlin Stratton, you say?” I nodded my head. “I haven’t heard that name in a while. How do you know him?”

  “He was a friend of mine.”

  I closed my lips tightly, not wanting to tell him anything else about it.

  He turned his head to the side and took a big whiff of the air. Xander and I both stiffened on our stools and the big man put his hands on the counter in front of us and leaned forward.

  “You look an awful lot like Devlin, but you don’t smell like a caster, so you can’t be related to him. I can’t figure it out. Him?” He pointed toward Xan with his head. “I know he’s a big, bad dragon shifter, but you? I don’t know, and that troubles me. You say you know Devlin. I need a little more proof before I take you to see Di.”

  Xan growled, stood up, and mirrored the man’s posture by leaning over the counter toward him.

  “She told you she knows him,” Xan said between clenched teeth.

  The guy stood up and backed himself against the far wall, crossing his arms across his massive chest and shrugged.

  “I need to know for a fact you two are friends and not foes.”

  Who was this Di person that she needed her own security? What did Dev get us into? I broke eye contact with the man and looked toward Xan. I sighed, defeated because I knew what I needed to do. When Xan caught on, he shook his head sternly.

  “Don’t. We don’t know if we can trust them,” he quietly told me.

  “Honey, we don’t have a choice. Dev sent us here and I know he wouldn’t steer us wrong. You know it too.”

  Without taking my eyes off of Xander, I turned my left hand up and waited for my spellbook to appear in it. I set it on the counter in front of me and began flipping through the pages. I knew that to the man, the pages would look completely blank because only casters from my family line could see the spells, but he should know a spellbook when he saw one.

  “So you are a caster,” the man said and took a step toward me, looking down onto the pages of the book.

  “Yup,” I told him. I found the page I was looking for and memorized the spell I needed. I closed the book before sending it away, back to my backpack in the trunk of our stolen car. I stood up and leaned over the counter, indicating for the man to lean forward so I could whisper in his ear. “Mento menilla,” I whispered, and sat back in my seat.

  He backed up and looked at me with wide eyes. “What did you do?” he asked, his jaw slack.

  “I gave you the ability to see what I truly am, but only for a little while,” I replied.

  He squinted and shook his head, but then leaned forward again to look a little closer.

  “Is, is that your aura?” he asked.

  I nodded my head. The spell spoken aloud gave the person hearing it the ability to see people as they were, without any pretenses. You could not only see what kind of person they were, but if they were a supernatural, you could see the breed in the aura surrounding them. It was a temporary spell, but effective for what I needed. I was thankful to come across it in Dev’s spellbook.

  The man looked from me to Xander to the other supernaturals in the diner, then back to me.

  “That’s impossible,” he muttered to himself. “You’re a…”

  “Keep it to yourself,” Xan gritted through his teeth.

  The man blinked and wiped his hand across his face, then nodded his head in agreement.

  “Yeah, okay.” He rounded the counter and walked toward us, taking a deep, calming breath. “Di will definitely want to meet you,” he told me. Xan put his hand on my waist, staking his claim.
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  “So, she can help?” I asked, trying to ignore Xan’s closeness. We needed some answers.

  “Yeah,” he smiled. “I know for a fact that she can.”

  He still didn’t give off a murderer vibe, but his smile made me nervous. I could tell I wasn’t the only one to feel that way either by the way Xan’s hand tightened around mine.

  The man must have picked up on our cautiousness. He turned toward the others in the restaurant and nodded for them to leave. One by one, they left their drinks and food on their tables and filed out the front door and down the street so the three of us were the only ones left in the diner.

  “My name is Grayson,” he said and held out his hand for Xander to take.

  Xan hesitated, but then took his hand and shook it. Grayson released Xan and held it out for me to shake. After he shook my hand, he dropped it and continued.

  “Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I also know Di can help. It’s what she does. So now you two have a choice. You can take a leap of faith and follow me out of here and I can take you to my boss, who has the abilities and the means to help, or you can get in your car and leave, but you’ll never have the answers you’re looking for. It’s up to you.”

  I looked up at Xander, trying to see what he was thinking.

  “Lead the way,” my mate told Grayson and moved aside so he could pass by us toward the door.