Marked by Darkness (The Cursed Realm Book 2), page 1
MARKED BY DARKNESS
TAYLOR FOX
Copyright © 2022 by Taylor Fox
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
All characters are adults.
Cover Design by Phoenix Design Studio
Proofreading by Cover to Cover
Created with Vellum
For my cat, Mia, who thought sleeping on my keyboard was way more important than letting me finish this book.
Treasure is stored in ruined places.
Rumi
CONTENTS
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
A Prequel Story
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
APOLLO
My chest hurts so much either Cassandra truly is my mate, or I'm having a heart attack. From the despair and utter shock on the Pup's face, I'm guessing it's the former.
"What?" he mumbles, whipping his head from one side to the other, long hair stirring to the wind. "Who were those people? Where is she?" His questions are sharp claws to my chest, ripping down, shredding me to pieces. Pain makes my knees wobble. My dragon throws his head back and releases a painful cry, a shattering sound that sinks into my bones.
I lost her. I had her, I did not mark her, and then I lost her. From all the people after her, did it have to be the Collector? The human police would have been easy to run from, to dissuade, to fucking fight. I would have destroyed cells with my fists, broken into a prison for her.
The New Council would have been harder to escape from, but I've already ruined my name for her. She's my mate, and I would have gone to hell and back for her. Even if she's a Shadow Mage.
My knees tremble, my entire body in pain at her loss, but I don't let myself fall. Ren whirls around himself, his eyes widening as he stares at me, waits for an answer. "Apollo," he insists, eyes glittering, hands quivering. "Where is she?"
She. Our mate. Both mine and his. Maybe because she's a Shadow Mage, a being not of this realm, a woman unlike any other, or maybe because Cassandra is so much more than I expected... It makes sense now. Her powers, her behavior, the fact she has more than one true mate.
I swallow hard. The Pup is breaking apart, so I have to toughen up to deal with it. That's always been me. Swallowing the pain and dealing with whatever life throws my way. First, we solve shit, then we cry over it.
"That was the Collector,” I say, my voice rasping. Ren's brows furrow as if he's already heard the name, but can't quite place where. "He likes rare creatures, and what he likes, he owns."
Ren's lips part, then he presses them into a thin line. His face pales a shade, and I know he connected the person to the myth. "I've heard about him." The voice that escapes his lips is merely a whisper, his eyes unfocusing with some memory. "My mother used to say we shouldn't go far from the pack lands alone or the Great Thief would take us."
The Great Thief. That's one of the names shifters have come to use to describe him, and a fitting one at that. I nod at him. "He has her. A Shadow Mage? We haven't had one in centuries. More than centuries, maybe."
Ren shoves a hand through his hair. "What the hell is a Shadow Mage? I know of the elemental ones. Fire, water. That sort of thing."
I nod him on. "Shadow and Light are also elements. The Chosen One fucker Cassandra killed was the first Light Mage in centuries. She's the first Shadow Mage. At least the first we’ve heard of." I press the heels of my hands to my eyes. This has to be a nightmare. This shit keeps getting worse and worse, not a moment of rest.
"So this Collector took her?" Ren waves a hand to the place we last saw Cassandra. "Through a hole in the air?"
"It's a portal. Don’t ask me how they work." I shake my head. "This is a fucking mess." I pace around the scene, going over all the clues I've ever gathered on the Collector. How he chases the ones he wants, how he keeps them. The auctions, how he reaches out to potential buyers.
Will he sell Cassandra? People will definitely be interested. That creepy vampire from earlier, for example. I shoot a glance up at the hill rising above the river, but there's no sign of Donatello or his friends. Ren steps in front of me, making me pause.
"What happened to Donatello? I thought he was on our side." The Pup flares his nostrils, sniffing the air. "I can find him. Should we chase him? Maybe he knows something about Cass."
I would chase the Ninja Turtle down just to hear the sound of his jaw breaking under my fist. He had me going for a moment, with his dedication to Cassandra and how loyal and caring he pretended to be. A charade, one I should have seen coming. I told Cassandra he was a weapon, and yet I let myself be fooled. I let myself trust him with her safety.
"He won't know of her location, but he'll definitely hunt her too. His boss wants her." I cup my jaw in a hand, returning to my pacing. "I've been looking for the Collector my entire professional life, and I never got as close as today. He lives somewhere extremely safe. Somewhere only people with an invitation can reach."
"How do we get an invitation?"
I scoff. "That will never happen. He knows we'd attack him, and his invitations won't go out in the public, or I'd already have my hands on them. No, they must be sent to specific people. Maybe only the rich or the very powerful."
Ren cocks his head. "That... doesn't sound like something we can do." And his face goes back to half-pain, half-despair as he struggles to pull air in. "You don't think we can get her back? Ever?"
I stop and face him. "We will. I promise you we will. I will reach out to every person I've ever met, on my clan and on the duty, and I'll see if anyone catches a whiff of it. Not that I'm part of the Shifter Division anymore."
Ren arches an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"After what I've done? Escaping with Cassandra? Turning my phone off so no one could follow us? I'd be thrown into a cell the second I showed back up." I lift a shoulder in a dismissive. Cassandra being a Shadow Mage is shocking, and she might be even more dangerous than I anticipated. Worse, whatever is coming for us will be much bigger than what we left behind. Even so, she's captured my heart in the days we've spent together, and I don't think there's anything she could do to push me away.
"So you're going to look into it," Ren says, forcing my attention back to him. He shifts his weight between his feet, anxious, and I can almost feel the heat of his body coming off in waves, his animal ready to shift. "What do I do?"
I stop and face him. Fuck. He's so young. Ren must be Cassandra’s age, and Cassandra is so much younger than me. He's already been through shit in life, losing his pack and then his sister, when wolves don't deal well with solitude. Is he strong enough, both physically and mentally, to go through with this? To keep our mate safe?
Because, at the end of the day, I may care about him but this is about Cassandra.
"Listen, Pup," I say, keeping my voice steady, the voice I use to give bad news. "What Cassandra is... She's rare. Extremely rare. We've already been on the run because of the Chosen One thing, but it's going to get so much worse now. If the fact she's a Shadow Mage gets out, everyone is coming after her."
He shrugs. "Why is this Shadow Mage thing so special?"
"If she's the one who can control the Cursed Realm..." I shake my head, forcing myself not to imagine the sheer terror that possibility brings. "Shit would get real. Nightmare real. Hell on earth, real."
Ren licks his lips, then looks back up at the cliff. He narrows his gaze. "What are you saying, Apollo? You know I don't care if it's dangerous. She's my mate." He ends the sentence staring at me, deep into my soul, because he knows I know how it feels. The same calling inside me, the same desperate plead to go after her. He feels it too.
I step closer. "What I'm saying is that it won't be pretty. Cassandra's fate, whatever it is, is dangerous, and it might bring you more pain than you expect."
Ren's brows relax, his shoulders drooping. He studies my face for a moment, then the smallest of smiles tugs on his lips. "Does it matter? She's worth all the chaos."
His words resonate deep within me, straight to my dragon's core, igniting its fire. My heart pumps adrenaline through my veins, and I feel like fucking shifting and flying all the way back, roaring into the skies, letting everyone know she's my mate and I'm coming after her no matter what.
I nod gravely at Ren, then smile back. A sort of connection seems to tug between us now. A bond I haven't felt before. "Then we're in this together," I tell him, and he nods, his face growing serious in expectation for instructions. "Here's what we can do. I’ll find a trail back town to grab the car. With that, I'll drive back home and do my part, go after clues and news, keep an eye out. You chang
Ren bobs his head in understanding. "You can leave it to me. They must have gone to some headquarters or something, right? I'll follow them there."
"Only if you don't have to enter Hiram." That's where Donatello lives, and I bet the others too. Ren wouldn't be able to get in without a vampire's approval, and sneaking in would be too dangerous. He does look like the type who would do anything to Cassandra, including putting his life on the line when it's not even needed.
His brows lower. "Why not? I can get into Hiram. My wolf can be sneaky."
"No matter how sneaky you think your wolf is, it won't be sneaky enough to avoid a city-worth of vampires wanting to suck you dry. Remember, once you're across the border, you're free game. Follow them for a couple of days, let’s see if they take us to the Collector. Then you meet me back at my clan lands." His scowl deepens and he's almost sulking now. Unfortunately, we don't have the time for this argument. I tilt my head to the way the river flows. "Come on. Let's follow the river back and see if it takes us anywhere."
Ren shoots another glance up at the cliffs. I don't see anyone. The vampires must have seen the disastrous meeting with the Collector and bailed off to tell their daddy what happened. Rage simmers in my stomach, turning the acid to lava. The mere memory of Donatello trying to attack Cassandra makes me nauseous.
The Pup releases a sigh as we start to walk, our wet clothes clinging close and dripping onto the stones. "I can't believe Donatello really did this."
"Better believe it, Pup. He isn't safe to be around Cassandra. But first, we save her. Then we think of vengeance."
Ren shoots me a surprised look as if that wasn't on his mind. It's on mine, anyway. Not going to let that betrayal slide. While developing plans for Donatello's belated torture in my head, I lead the way into a trail up the side of the cliff. Ren and I separate, and the Pup is hopeful as he shifts into his animal. I wait by the shadows of the trees, but the town has hidden away, knowing of what was to come. It's simple to reach the car, and I release a sigh of relief when the engine turns on. Not even the soggy way the seat feels underneath me dampens the mood.
With my jaw clenched, I drive back to clan lands and abandon the car amid the trees. No one will find it here. Finally, I let my dragon take over. With so much happening, the meeting of my mate, being hunted down, Cass being kidnapped, I haven't had the chance to really connect with him. To feel his fire warming me from the inside out, to stretch my wings and take to the skies.
Tonight, that's what I do. I watch my scales glinting under the moonlight and I roar into the heavens, watching fire burn the cool air in front of me. I flap my wings, hard beats against the night sky, and I make my way to the shadiest part of the biggest supernatural town this side of the States. If there is someplace I can catch news about the Collector's auction, it's there.
And I'll fucking give anything to find my mate. They better not touch a hair on her pretty head.
CHAPTER 2
CASSANDRA
The woman dragging me is strong as shit, but she won't take me without a fight. And I do fight. Every. Single. Step.
"Fuck," she hisses when I connect my hard skull to her chin. A grin spreads across my face. I've always been told I was hard-headed, and I knew this would come to be a good thing. The grin doesn't last long, though. Her elbow connects so perfectly with my ribs, the precise spot I fell on when Donatello dropped me, that I'd be surprised she wasn't watching us. As if watching me blow out all the air in my lungs isn't enough, she kicks me hard on the back of the knees, and I do my best not to drop face-first while she holds both of my hands behind my back.
"Ouch, you bitch!" I steel my spine and even when I collapse on my knees, I keep my chin up. "You're in a bad mood, aren't you? Not getting enough dick these days?"
This is something I would never, ever say on my usual days. I mean, girls can be mean and be in sour moods and that can be unrelated to sex. Besides, having dick doesn't mean you're happy with said dick. But I've been dragged away from my mates into a dark, cold tunnel, then out of it, nausea taking over as I'm forced to walk with my hands behind my back. Donatello betrayed me, I was kidnapped, and life is not looking up.
I am in a bad mood, and it's not even for lack of a good fuck. I had one of those, and it was amazing.
The Collector — whose name I will, from now on, use as a low insult — leads the way with his overcoat swishing behind his back like we're window shopping together. It almost doesn't feel like I have a knife to my throat, but that's a filthy lie.
"What's your plan now?" I spit his way, having a hard time getting to my feet without using my arms. The harder I try not to look pathetic, the worse it gets. "Keep me in a tiny cage? Throw me some scraps or food, or maybe I'll have a ration every day in a tin plate, just like in prison."
The irony isn't lost on me. Everything we went through was so I could escape prison. And here I am, about to get into another sort of cell, as unmotivated as I was in the beginning. Worse; whatever rules prisons have, this one looks like it ignores them completely.
After we crossed that weird swirling purple portal, a long, dark corridor waited for us. I was too busy trying not to lose my teeth, so I didn't give two shits about the decoration in the dim light. Once we take a turn and a huge hall opens in front of me, it's impossible not to stop and stare. My jaw hangs, and I won't even pretend I'm not awestruck.
The Collector whirls around to face me. A smile lights up his face, and he opens his arms, motioning for the surrounding halls. "Welcome! Welcome to my beautiful Menagerie!"
Menagerie. Fancy word. French. It sounds suspiciously close to ménage. Ménages I approve of. This Menagerie? Not quite sure.
The woman behind me slows down to keep her pace with the Collector. Lights slowly come to life near the ground, soft greens and blues illuminating tall glass containers. Aquariums, maybe. Some are empty. We pass one with some weird fish. Another with what I think is a plant, but then it moves, rising from the ground and creasing its surface like it's studying me back.
I'm afraid to ask. I do it anyway. "What's a Menagerie?" My voice trembles now. It trembles more with every step I take. I do my best to keep my chin up, my shoulders pulled back, but my voice is so hard to control right now. So hard to control when the lights come on and I can see exactly what this is.
Though some of the glass containers are filled with water, not all are aquariums. They're cages. Glass cages, big enough for large animals, big enough for... Me.
"A Menagerie, darling," he stops in front of a cage, bending on the waist to examine its inhabitants, "is a zoo. But not any zoo. It's a zoo that keeps the rarest, most special creatures on this planet. For safety, you see." He smiles at me, and the devious glint in his eyes is enough of a sign that I don't need to use my sixth sense. He's lying. It's not for anyone's safety, but his comfort. His amusement.
My body tenses. A Collector. He collects whatever rare creature passes his way, and, apparently, I'm this Shadow Mage thing, and he wants me. It's so simple it hurts.
If it wasn't for that bastard Chosen One. If he hadn't cheated, my seal would never have been broken, and I would never have been found out. My fingers curl into fists. If he came back to life, I wouldn't mind sending him to the Underworld again.
The Collector taps the glass. Something inside winces and squirms away. My spine steels, all fear washing away, only rage left behind. I bare my teeth. "Leave them in peace, at least. They're already in this awful place with no way out. Give them some peace of mind."
