Mark of the Dagger (The Marked Series Book 1) (6 page)

Dani held her hand out to him and after only a moment’s hesitation he took it. "Not bad little girl," he said, and she kicked out but he moved too fast. He laughed and at the sound of it she couldn't help but smile back. She shook her head and looked to Joe.

Since she knew him so well she could see how badly Joe wanted to come over to her. His joy at seeing Dani win a fight, especially a fight against one of the best hunters, was palpable. He nodded and that was enough.

"Ok then," Joe called. "Who's next?" And on it went the rest of the class.

Chapter Seven

Joe was lying against his headboard listening to Nadia talk about one of her classes that day. Normally he would have been interested, but he had too much on his mind to focus on her. He had to meet with Adele soon and he couldn't stop thinking about Dani. The kid blew him away today. He knew she had been working hard, and was getting better because he's the one that has been training her.

When Samuel volunteered to play vampire Joe was leery of letting him.  Then listening to Dani smack-talk Samuel made him incredibly uneasy.  Even with the age difference between Joe and Samuel he knew the younger man deserved respect.  Samuel is unmatched in his ability and has proven himself time and time again. But he knew that Dani felt the need to prove herself to her classmates and by the determined look that took over her face, he knew she was planning to do just that.  And if fighting Samuel and winning didn’t do it then Joe didn’t know what would.

My God! She bested Samuel!  Who would have thought it?  Definitely not Joe and he felt guilty for that.

There was a tension between the two that made Joe certain he was missing something.  And though he wasn’t sure what was going on, he knew that he would need to keep an eye on the situation from now on.

It didn’t matter that Dani was almost seventeen, Joe was nowhere near ready for her to be interested in boys.  And unfortunately, he hadn’t missed the look on Samuels face after the fight while he looked at Dani, though he wished he had.  It was a manly look that made Joe want to both cringe and lay the kid out.

Seeing Dani so happy, smiling and laughing with Damien and Jan lifted Joe’s heart.  She was finally settling in and making friends.  It had been a long time since he’d seen a look other than steely determination grace his nieces face and he was happy for it.

"You are bloody awful Joe," Nadia said to him in exasperation. "You haven't listened to a word I've said, have you?"

He laughed. "I'm sorry, I was thinking about Dani."

"I heard about her demonstration. Quite a feat, that," she said and Joe nodded. "I wish I could have seen it. Do you think we can talk them into a rematch?"

"Now I'm not saying she isn't good, because she is. But I think this win had a lot to do with luck," Joe told her.

"And maybe they were a little distracted with each other too, from what I hear. But you should give credit where credit is due. And this is definitely one of those times," she said quietly giving him sidelong look.

Joe sighed, heaved himself off the bed. "I know it. She was good," he said and led them to the door so he could meet Adele.

"Are you going to ignore my other comment?"

“Shit I want to but I don’t think I can.  You didn’t see the way they looked at each other.  A mix somewhere between passion and hate and it scares the crap out of me.”  He looked over at her.  “How did you hear about it, anyway?”

"Well, everyone on campus was talking about that fight of course. But I heard from one student about the chemistry between them. I figured it was just gossip, the talk of a jealous little girl. And believe me, there will be a number of jealous little girls when that news circulates. Until you confirmed it, I didn't think much of it and since you were there I'll take your word for it. He's a good boy," she added.

"I know it," Joe sighed.

"Still, I think we should keep an eye on this situation," Nadia said thoughtfully.

"You bet your pretty little arse I will," he said. "See ya later."

Joe went down the East Trail to the gazebo where Adele was waiting for him. She lifted her hand in greeting then continued to stare out into the woods. As soon as Joe sat down beside her she got to work surrounding them in what he liked to think of was the silent bubble. If someone walked by, they wouldn't see nor hear them. It was magic that came in handy.

"I got your message Adele. What's going on?" he asked her. He could tell by her pinched expression that she was feeling a bit edgy. 

The wards were put into place around the perimeter of the school to keep the demons and anyone else who didn’t belong, out.  But just before summer break a few kids had felt like something was off and one thing Hunters know to always do was trust their instincts.  If the kids were right, then that meant someone here at the school was tampering with the wards and doing that put everyone inside in terrible danger. So Joe and Adele were sent here to keep an eye on the situation. 

Adele took a breath to steady herself. Her eyes wide and scared she said. "Have you not noticed anything? Nothing strange lately?" she asked and Joe shook his head. "Joe I've been feeling weird. I don't want to sound crazy-"

"Tell me everything from beginning to end. We can work it out together and figure out what’s important and what's not."

She nodded her head and continued. "I've been doing everything I'm supposed to. I've been
listening
in to all the conversations I can, but I haven't really heard anything about why we’re here. If someone is doing this, then I'm almost certain whoever it is, is working alone. That's a positive note. Now for someone to mess with my wards-it has to be another witch."

“Speaking of that, I just renewed them last night so we should be good on that for a few more days. Anyway, like I said, to mess with the wards it would have to be a witch. There are only two other witches that are housed here."

"Then it's one of them? Well that narrows the search down considerably," Joe said.

"That's just it Joe, I honestly don't think it is either of them. They are good people. I can feel that off of them, I get no negative energy from either. To be honest I'm so completely confused. I know it's a witch but I also know it's not one of ours."

"Could someone be working against your wards on the outside?"

"It's possible, although unlikely.  They would have to have strong magic’s. Which means if someone is, then they've gone rogue, I can only think of dark reasons to be doing this."

"Hmmm..." Joe said. He was staring off, tapping his chin as if in deep thought. "Rogue witch. Maybe one that's working for the demons. But why?"

"I have more to tell you. I've been having strange dreams, almost like visions I guess you could call them. All I see is darkness surrounding the school. Almost like a black mist or shadows."

"Sounds like vampires," he interrupted her.

"Yes well, whatever it is, it’s awful. In my visions... Oh God..." she sobbed.

"Alright, take it easy. You're alright, just breathe," Joe said wrapping an arm around her.

"Joe, the school will be attacked. I can feel it. I don't know when and I don’t by whom but I know it will happen. And if you say it's vampires that have that mist ability then that’s what it is."

"Shit," Joe said

"My sentiments exactly. What do we do? Do we warn the others?"

Joe seemed to think about that for a moment. "We will warn the council. You call and tell them everything you just told me. If they want us to tell the other staff members then we will. Until then I think we should keep it to ourselves. I wonder... Does this mean that your witch is working with the vampires? Helping them get into the school?"

"It seems likely unless we have two separate problems on our hands. But that would be too big a coincidence."

"I thought you didn't believe in coincidences," he told her with a rueful smile.

"I don't," she laughed. "That's exactly my point."

"Do you think we have someone on the inside working with either the witch or vampires or maybe both?" Joe asked her.

"Like I said it would have to be an incredibly powerful witch to tamper with the wards from the outside.  A more feasible explanation is that someone here is letting the witch onto the grounds to weaken my wards that way.  I’ve also not heard anything through 
listening
, though I'll dig deeper. I'll listen individually, see if I can pick up any thoughts," she said and he nodded. "Joe, I know I'm a grown woman and I know how to handle myself, but this attack will be awful. There will be more of them than there are of us. And truth be told I'm frightened."

"I know," he patted her shoulder. "Let's just stick to the plan for now, try to act normal. After you talk to the council let me know what they say. Tell them to send us any available Hunters. That may help.  Tell them to think up some excuse as to why they’re here, there would be plenty of room either way."

"Will do,” she said and rose to leave. She added. "Your Danielle sure has grown into a lovely young lady."

"That she has."

"Are the rumors true? Did she best young Samuel?"

"Yes, don't go saying anything to her about it. We don't want her getting a big head."

"Does that mean the other rumors are true as well?"

"Those being?" Joe asked cautiously

"Her and Samuel’s young romance. Quite a pair they would make don’t you agree?" She laughed.

“Hmm… Both hot-tempered smart mouths, sure that’s a match made in heaven.”  Joe said then released a deep breath.  “My girl is growing up, that’s for sure.  As for a romance, I really don’t know.  I will say though, that I didn’t not like the looks the two kept exchanging.”  They said their goodbyes and Adele dismantled the bubble.

Chapter Eight

Dani, Jan and Damien were heading to the library to meet one of their friends to study since Nadia decided to give her classes a pop quiz later in the week and had
accidentally
let it slip to Dani.  So of course she had to warn her friends who in turn warned theirs and before she knew it, the whole class was aware of it.  She did learn a valuable lesson throughout this whole thing though; Damien has a big mouth.

They pushed open the heavy solid wooden doors to enter the library. It was the biggest library that she had ever seen. Every surface was done in some kind of wood or another. The contrasts of dark wood against light wood with the black marble floor was amazing.

Let’s not forget about the books. Four floors worth of books and most were old and leather-bound that had that wonderful old book smell.  There was also a selection for the teen’s entertainment for when they had any downtime.

They wound their way through the maze of shelves toward the back staircase that led to the floors above them.  By the time they reached the fourth floor, Dani was glad that she was in better shape than she had been.

They found the table where Damien's friend sat. Damien quickly introduced Dani. Jan already knew him.

"Dani this Nick, Nick this is Dani." He stood up to shake her hand.

"Hey," he said. She smiled in response, all of a sudden shy. Dani still wasn't completely comfortable around new people. Still having that fear that someone would say something that would make her feel less than what she is. Even after all the work that she has done and every obstacle that she has overcome she still feels insecure at times.

"I can't believe on top of all the homework Professor Nadia gave us tonight she is still giving a pop quiz tomorrow," Damien complained as he tossed his backpack on the table and sat down.

"I don't think it's that bad. Nadia is my favorite Professor, she's actually challenging. I've learned a lot more in her class than I have from any of the others," Dani said. She looked up to see three sets of eyes on her, looking at her like she was crazy.

She shrugged her shoulders. "What? You know I like to learn new things." Jan just shook her head and turned her attention to Nick. "So Nick what's that brother of yours been up to?" To me she said, "Michael James is Nick’s brother, he is in our year."

"Probably no good. Why do you want to know?" he asked her with a smirk on his face at Jan's blushing cheeks. Dani looked at her curiously and noticed Damien poke his head out from behind his book with a curious expression and look at her as well. She decided to file that away for later but she would definitely have to talk to both of her friends about their reactions.  Soon.

For most of their time in the Library Dani listened to the three gossip and catch up. Apparently the three of them hung out a lot. Nick was genuinely kind to her and kept trying to pull her into the conversations. She decided after his fourth attempt to at least make an effort because she figured if he were good friends with Jan and Damien then she would probably be hanging out with him a lot too.

"How are your training sessions going? Are you getting the hang of it?" Nick asked her. Since her fight with Samuel was only three days ago, the win was still fresh in her mind. She couldn't help the smile that stretched her face. "Should I take that huge grin on your face as a yes?" he asked with a laugh.

"It's not bad. I do ok. I can hold my own I guess," she fumbled.

"Don't let her fool you," Jan interrupted. "Just the other day she beat Samuel."

"Yeah dude. She is one scary Mother Fu-"

"Damien!” Dani cut him off with a laugh to prevent him from finishing that statement.

With a smile he continued. "No, but seriously she is doing amazing. I'm glad she is on my side ‘cos I would hate to be on the receiving end of her wrath."

"Whatever,” Dani laughed.

"I can believe it," Nick said with a nervous smile. "You still run the track every morning?" Dani looked at him in surprise not sure why he would have even noticed her routine. At her confused expression he continued, not wanting her to think he was stalking her. "I go to the weight room every morning and pass by the track. I've seen you out there."

She shrugged her shoulders and nodded. "Yeah, I do. Running helps me deal with everything. Helps drown out the whispers and the stares." He nodded like he understood what Dani was talking about and she was sure he did. There was no way that he hadn't heard all the crazy rumors and whispers going about her. Every student has and even some of the teachers.

"You mind if I run with you? It would be nice to get off the treadmill every once in a while."

"Free country," she laughed. "In fact I think all of you should get out there with me."

"Not me, I need my beauty sleep," Damien scoffed from behind the book he was reading. Dani leaned over to read the name. It was one of the ‘Anita Blake’ books.

"Damien you should be studying about real vampires, not reading about fictional ones,” she laughed when he peeked over the top of the book and winked. She shook her head and turned to Jan. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I'll go with you," Jan replied and laughed when she saw Dani's shocked face. "What? I like to run, I just know that you use that time to clear your head and didn't want to bother you."

"Jan I love you. You can't bother me. Besides, I think it will be fun."

"So we will meet at four thirty tomorrow morning?" Nick asked. They nodded in return.

"Crap, it's dinner time already, and we haven't studied at all,” Dani started freaking out.

"Calm down, let’s go eat then we will go back to your dorm and use one of the study rooms," Damien said with a smile and reached to pull Dani out of her chair.

Together they exited the library and walked down the hall to the staircase that would lead them to the cafeteria. They passed by the door to the auditorium and Dani shivered. She still hadn't been in the room that her father died trying to protect. The room where her father took his last breath.

"You know you need to go in there eventually and face it head on like you have faced everything else since coming here, don’t you?" Jan whispered in her ear. "I'll even go with you if you want."

Dani gave her best friend a grateful smile and nodded. "We will go soon. Just not today, I'm not ready." Dani told her friends about her father the other night when they wanted to sneak in. Why they wanted to go in there, she had no clue. All she knew was that she couldn't step foot in there. Not yet.

Dani missed her dad greatly all the time.  Some days were harder than others, when the memories were stronger like they were now.  She didn’t know if it was because she stood so near to the place he took his last breath or what but she could feel him here.  Like if she were to only open that door and peek in she would see him again.  She would be able to delight in his laughter, a sound that has been absent and desperately missed for thirteen long years.

Dani needed to shake off the melancholy that enveloped her.  Every time she thought of her dad she would withdraw and get sad, so she gave Jan a conspiratorial look and took off running to jump on Damien's back. With a laugh he spun them around in a circle. Half a second later she saw Jan do the same to Nick and the boys were trotting down the hall with the girls hanging on for the ride.

"Giddy up Horsey," Dani sang.

"Oh, hey put me down. I forgot my phone in my room. My mom is supposed to call tonight and I don't want to miss it." Damien let her slide down his back as soon as they reached the Cafe. "Want us to come with?"

"No you go ahead. I'll just run up and grab it. I'll meet you in the cafeteria," she said and ran back down the hall.

Dani stopped half way to her dorm and looked up at the night sky. It was so black, the stars looked like diamonds shining bright. Winter had approached and it smelled like snow. She wished it would snow. She remembered when she was smaller, her and her mom making snow men and snow angels in their back yard. They would use her dad's hats and scarfs to dress them up. She remembered one time in particular when her dad came out to see the finished product.

"Dani, why don't you use one of your own scarfs?" her dad asked her.

"Because Daddy, mine won’t fit him and you’re bigger. We got to make sure he stays warm, you know." Her dad smiled at her and ruffled her hair. That was the winter before he died. She remembered snow ball fights with her and her mom against her uncle Joe. Thinking back now, she found it odd that she should remember times like those, yet she didn’t remember anything about her dad being a hunter. Did she somehow block those memories out?

"What are you looking at?" a soft voice asked and startled Dani out of her memories. She turned to see Samuel standing behind her, his hands shoved into the pockets of his coat.

"I was looking at the stars and thinking of my dad," she told him honestly.

"I lost my father during the attack here too. I was five. It's hard sometimes to walk these grounds knowing this was the last place he was before he died. It makes the memories seem that much more real. More potent. Even when you want to get away from the pain of losing them, you can't. Because everywhere you go, around every turn you take, you wonder if he saw the same things as you, thought the same things. They're always there."

"I know what you mean. I still haven't gone to the auditorium. Jan was just saying that I needed to. She thinks that if I face it, I can move on. But I don't think this is something you can just move on from. And I'm sorry about your dad, I didn't know. Are you close with your mom?"

Dani asked him, to keep him talking, she didn’t want this moment to end. She and Samuel haven't really had the chance to talk like this. She knew hardly anything about him at all. When they did talk it seemed that they fought, more than anything else.

She knew that her attraction to him was not normal. No one ever just sees a person, and it’s like BAM! At least not in real life.  Yet with him, from the first moment she saw him she was drawn to him. Like a moth to a flame. Every time she looks at him, or catches him looking at her, she gets butterflies. Her feelings, no matter how fast it happened, are real and intense. And the feeling is amazing and scary all at the same time.

It seemed as if he were debating whether he was going to answer her. She took that time to study him. His blonde hair was peeking out from under his knit hat, his blue eyes were the color of ice, and a scarf wrapped around his neck reached the bottom of his chin. His lean legs were showcased in a pair of tight denim jeans and his black boots looked freshly polished. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen. When she looked back at his face she noticed he was watching her with an amused expression. Knowing she was busted for checking him out she felt her face blaze.

He nodded his head in the direction of a bench just off the sidewalk. She let out a breath she was unaware that she was holding and followed him to sit. She stayed silent in hopes that he would answer her question, not ready for him to end their time together. After a while, he looked up at the stars, he finally did.

"I never knew my mom. She died during childbirth.  Sometimes I think I can feel her. I know that sounds weird but..." he trailed off shrugged.

"I don't think so. Over the past few months I've learned not to dismiss anything. Everything that I thought was fact and fiction was turned upside down. So if you think you feel her, I'm sure you do. I'm sure she's here with you. I'm sorry about your mom," she whispered. "I like to think my dad is here with me. That he sees how hard I'm working and is proud."

"Joe's proud of you."

"I know," she smiled. They sat in silence for a while. Dani wondered if he stayed here because he felt more connected to his dad. She decided to just ask him.

"That's part of it. After my dad died, I went to live with my grandparents. It was hard for them to raise a five year old. They were retired and planning on traveling the world, but had to put everything on hold for me. I felt like I was a burden to them." Dani felt so bad for that five year old little boy. She was lucky that she had her mom to lean on when she lost her dad.  She couldn't help but reach over and take his hand into hers.

Samuel interlaced their fingers as if it were the most natural thing to do and continued his story. "I stay here so they can finally have the life they wanted. They were great to me, they gave me everything I needed and most of what I wanted, even though I didn't deserve it; I raised a lot of trouble after my dad died. My grandpa taught me everything he could, and I learned to respect him and be grateful for him again. They deserve to be able to see the world."

"Do you get to visit them often?"

"When they are in the states they always come see me at least for a day or two before they head off again."

"That's nice. Why don't you go out there and be a Hunter?"

"Honestly? I don't know if that's what I want to do," he said shyly.

"Why not? They say you are the best Hunter of this generation. Why wouldn't you be out there?" she asks in disbelief.

"That's the same reaction I always get, but I don't have an answer.  There has just always been something missing and until I find out what that is, I can’t make a decision on what to do with my life past the here and now." He took a deep breath and looked at the stars again. "I've never talked to anyone about my past before."