Seventh Mark (Part 1 +2) (28 page)

I snapped my fingers
and pointed in the direction of the lake. “Go! Now.” The
Grollics tore past me toward the lake. There was no sound but their
paws hitting the snow followed by the slap of water as they jumped
into the hole where Damon had disappeared into. Each splash made me
cringe and I grew colder and colder.

Michael rushed to me and caught me just as my knees
gave way. He pulled me into his arms and didn’t say anything, only
held me tight against him.

“
What the hell just happened?” Caleb
hollered.

“
Not now.” Michael’s voice came out crisp and
clear. “Rouge needs warmth or she’s going to die from hypothermia.”
Without another word, he picked me up and started walking. Seth and
Caleb followed alongside.

Exhausted, I let my head fall against the warmth of
Michael’s muscular chest. Before dropping my
lids, I caught sight of Seth’s grin as he winked at
me.

The steady bouncing of my head and body from the
rhythm of Michael’s walk made my body relax.
Michael’s safe, alive and holding
me
. I slipped deeper into
him.

I jolted awake when Michael’s walk changed and his
thighs brushed again my back. We were going up steps.
Caleb’s cabin
. The sun had begun to drop but the broken glass and
splintered door were impossible to miss. The cabin had taken a
beating, from the inside out.

Michael
gracefully stepped over the splintered wood and headed
straight for the torn, but still in one piece, couch. “Seth, get
the fire going. Caleb, is there any food here?”

“
Of course. Why wouldn –”

“
Go get something. And warm it up.”

Caleb scowled at Michael and crossed his arms over
his massive chest. He stood, staring down at me, not going to the
kitchen.

Exhausted, and my shoulder burning,
I didn’t have the strength to fight
him. “Caleb, what d’you want?”
Screw politeness.

“
I
t appears
you are a lot more useful than the typical human.”

“
Get the food!” Michael shout
ed, glaring at Caleb.

“
Fine. I’ll get it.” He returned the glare. “But
she needs to answer some questions.”

“I’ll get the wood.”
Seth stepped outside and bent down. He came back in carrying the
remains of the door. He grinned and shrugged. “No sense in keeping
this.”

He kneeled down and got to work on the fire. Michael
stayed close to my side, trying to check my shoulder. I kept
swatting his hand away. We could look at the cut later. It stung
but my arm wasn’t going to fall off.

Caleb returned with a steaming cup. He handed it to
me and tossed a bag of chocolate chip cookies on the
couch.

I took a
tentative sip. The tea was hot and tender on my cut lip, but
deliciously warm going down. I blew lightly and then took a few
longer sips and set the cup in my lap. “Are Grace and Sarah all
right?”

“They’re fine,”
Michael said. “They’re on their way here with medical
supplies.”

“
And a change of clothes?”
I wasn’t staying in these dirty Grollic-girl’s
clothes
.

“Of course.” Michael
moved slightly, letting the warmth of Seth’s fire reach me.

“Thank you.” I lifted
my tea and drank again.

“
Enough of this ridiculous tender moment.”
Caleb’s right foot began tapping against the floor, the broken
glass crackling under the pressure.

Michael glared at him until Caleb stopped tapping.
“T
ell us what happened – from
the beginning.” Michael's voice became soothing, and he took my
free hand and held it in both of his warm hands.

Where do I start?
“Yesterday.” It seemed crazy it was only
yesterday. I could have sworn I’d been apart from Michael for a lot
longer. “I-I took the Jeep to the grocery store to pick up stuff
for dinner. I talked Grace out of coming along. She insisted so
don’t be mad at her -- I honestly didn’t think I was in any
danger.” Michael raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Caleb
harrumphed.

I pulled my hand free from Michael and tucked a chunk
of hair behind my ear.
“Damon
jumped into the passenger seat and told me the Grollics had
captured Grace and Sarah. The only chance they had was if I went
along with what he wanted. He told me to drive to your cabin and
some girl met us. Damon made us exchange clothes.”

Seth, now leaning an elbow on the fire mantel,
interrupted, “That’s why I could
smell you in the cabin and outside. I didn’t catch her scent until
a moment before she tried to attack. Your licorice scent hid hers.”
He looked at me. “She’s dead. Not in here, but dead.”

I
swallowed;
slightly relieved not to have to see, but also curious if he’d
killed her as beast or human.
Morbid idiot.

Caleb purposely
cleared his throat.

I shot him a look. “Then Damon hiked me through the
forest to another cabin on the other side of the lake.”

“I caught your scent
and found the cabin,” Michael said.

I shrugged, grimacing from the pain that shot from my
shoulder. It lingered near my shoulder blade at the back.
“How?”

“I found strands of
your hair.”

The hair I’d absently shaken
from my hands. A trail I’d never meant to leave. “I
had no idea what he, or they, planned. I didn’t want any of you to
die.” I met each of their gazes. “He kept me imprisoned there until
morning. The other Grollics surrounded the house to stop me from
leaving or anyone from coming in.”

“
Why you?” Seth asked.

My mouth suddenly went dry. I took a small sip of tea
and then whispered, “Damon said I’m related to
Bentos
– somehow I am his grandchild or something like that.
I am so sorry.” My eyes filled, waiting for Michael to jump away
like I know I burned him.

Now he
’d hate
me, and Caleb would start cursing the day I was born. I let my head
drop, the tears escaping my eyes and running down my
cheeks.

Michael’s fingers
touched my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. His eyes were soft…
sincere. “Are you okay?”

“
You’re not mad?”
How could he be worried about me?

“
Mad?” he sounded confused. “Why would I be mad?
You think I care about who your father or grandfather or even your
great-grandfather is? I fell in love with
you
for who
you
are, not your past.
You love me unconditionally, how can you not expect the same in
return?” He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, avoiding my cut
lip.

“
Thanks,” I whispered. “You keep giving me more
reasons to love you.” I reached out and touched his face with my
fingertips.

Caleb
swore
under his breath. “What happened today?”

Did Caleb already know?
“Damon dragged me into the forest to meet his Alpha.”
I rested my elbows on my knees. “Their Alpha wanted to use me as
bait to get Michael, and he wanted to fight you. He wanted me dead,
then Caleb. The rest of you would be a bonus.” I shook my head. “I
don’t get why they want me dead. If I’m one of them… wouldn’t they
want me serving their Alpha? Damon said those who are marked can
shift when they turn eighteen. He said I’m marked, but I’m
not.”

Caleb began pacing. “Y
ou are the one weapon they can do nothing to control
or destroy. The Seventh Mark. I’ve never clearly understood its
meaning.” He stopped moving and stared directly at me. “They needed
you dead before you realized the potential of your
power.”

He was
ticked. I
didn’t get it. I wasn’t marked. Whatever happened out there had
been a fluke. I tried to explain again. “The Alpha seemed a lot
older than the pack, and while they were all browns, blacks, and
greys, he was pure white with spooky red eyes. He’s—”

“
Not very white now, more of a rust color,” Seth
joked.

“
What happened?” I looked from Caleb to Seth,
forgetting my train of thought.

“
After I finished here with the girl, I raced off
to find Michael and Caleb. Seems your white Grollic assumed I was
Caleb and tried to attack. Imagine his surprise when I fought with
him and then Caleb showed up.” Seth grinned at Caleb sheepishly.
“Sorry, but who could resist playing leader?” Seeing Caleb’s face
harden, he added, “I stepped down the minute you showed
up.”

“
Yes, and rightly so, sheep,” Caleb said. “The
Alpha was more bark than bite.”

I was confused. How could they tell who which beast
was the better in the battle? They were all scary monsters and I
definitely had no plans to meet any more. I shuddered, hating them,
and now hating myself even more.

“
What happened in the forest, Rouge?” Michael
reached for my hand again.

“
Damon dragged me down to the lake. Oh, I forgot
to tell you I tricked him into drinking whiskey. I read in the book
that rye could prevent a Grollic from shifting. It won’t stop them
forever, just until the alcohol has cleared their body. He got
pretty mad at me in the cabin when he realized I had tricked him.
Anyway, it didn’t last long enough. Damon jumped to attack me at
the lake, and I ducked. He flew over me and landed on the ice. He
must have landed on a thin part…it cracked an-and h-he went under.”
The image burned like an old movie in my mind.

“
What do you mean about
rye?
”
Caleb demanded.

“
It seemed silly at the time, but in the book it
mentioned rye would act as an inhibitor. I wasn’t sure if it had to
be in natural form or if it didn’t matter. I picked up two mini
shot bottles of whiskey-rye at the grocery store and thought I
might just keep them in my purse, you know, in case I might need
them. It sounded really silly to me at the time, so I hadn’t
mentioned it to Michael, or any of you.” I squeezed Michael’s hand,
and he returned the same pressure.

“
Do Grollics know about this weakness?” Caleb
continued to press me.

“
Damon didn’t seem to know.
He was pretty ticked off when he tried to change
and suddenly couldn’t.” I touched my face, feeling the puffiness
and wondered how bad I looked. “He thought I’d done some voodoo
thing, like I could say something and stop him from changing.” I
shrugged but didn’t miss the exchanged look between Michael and
Seth. “He definitely didn’t know alcohol was a possibility. He
didn’t drink much, so I wasn’t sure if it would work or for how
long … it was more of a guess on my part.”

“
An experiment,” Seth corrected,
smiling.

“A gut instinct,”
Michael added, a little more serious.

“
Sure, whatever. I really didn’t think it would
work, but it was worth a shot as I figured I’d be dead by the end
of the day.”

Michael pulled me tight against him. He buried his
face in my hair and inhaled deeply. He whispered in my ear, “No,
very much alive.”

“
I was terrified Damon was going to bite me and
turn me into a Grollic. I didn’t know it’s a blood-line thing.
Nobody told me.” I turned purposely to Caleb and began tapping my
foot.

“
Point noted, we’ll tell you everything we know
about
Grollics next time.”
Caleb snorted. “If you don’t already know it all. Now, would you
please tell us what you did to the Grollics and why you bothered to
not inform us of your ability?”

I straightened and blinked.
“I don’t know what I did.” I couldn't keep the
frustration out of my voice and directed it towards Caleb. “Don’t
you think I’d have told you if I knew? I’m living under your roof,
in love with your understudy, best friends with his twin,
and
YOU THINK I WOULD KEEP
THIS A SECRET
?
” I stood indignantly. I
pushed Michael’s reaching hands away and marched up to Caleb. Shame
I was so short compared to him, I still had to look up to
him.

He glared down at me
but said nothing.

“
Don’t you think
I’d have preferred to avoid this entire situation and would’ve
turned those beasts into pulp if I knew I could? I got the crap
beaten out of me – that is something any
human
would try to avoid!” I was yelling, now beyond rage.
Everything that had built up over the past few days was being
unleashed on Caleb, and I didn’t care. “You, Mr. Higher Coven, have
NO answer to what or who I am. You might think you know, but you
haven’t got a clue.” I poked him in the chest, hurting my finger
with the pressure. Caleb didn’t even flinch. It pissed me off more.
“I’ve spent my entire life as a nothing. Not knowing who my parents
were, why no one wanted me, or what I’d done to fate to deserve all
this misery. I meet Grace and Michael and, for the first time in my
life, feel like I have a reason to live. And you want to tell me I
planned this?”

“Rouge,” Michael
warned.

I ignored him. “I don’t know how that stupid book
ended up in my hands – maybe it was fate, maybe luck. I don’t
freakin’ know! I don’t ever want to open it or read it again. If I
never see another Grollic again, it’ll be too soon!! I’m glad
they’re all freakin’ gone!” My chest heaved, but I refused to let
my gaze leave Caleb’s face.