Chapter 6 The Mark
His taunting voice seeps out from the darkness before his body has fully formed.
Once it has, he steps out into the gentle light created by the fire Lew had made.
My power practically quivers, the coils once smothering my skin in a protective form instantly become lax and begin to retreat. But I tense my muscles, forcing them to stay. I want him to see this, to see the control I have over this power and how it doesn’t need him.
“How long were you there?” I ask, keeping my voice clipped. This is not a casual conversation with a friend, the way he coaxed my power this morning meant nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
But the way he’s looking at me now, makes me wonder if I even asked a question.
The further he steps out of the shadows, the more his piercing eyes roam freely over me. Just like this morning, he takes his time strolling out of the darkness, all the while his gaze leisurely travels over my attire. I clench my jaw when I find my coils beginning to hum in appreciation, urging me to move forward and allow him a better view.
I refuse.
When he’s directly beside the fireplace, I catch the way the orange flames compliment his pale complexion and find myself searching for his dark markings. The only ones visible decorate the back of his hands and neck, his dark, formal suit masking the others. The ones licking his throat, above his shirt’s black collar, seem to glow every time the fire crackles.
“So, that’s tonight’s uniform?” he asks, his gaze creating a trail of crackles wherever they linger as he nods towards my dress. My power blooms at the contact, the appreciation. “It’s barely a scrap of fabric. Looking for the big tips tonight, Red?”
My eyes race back to his, noting his arrogant smirk and that stupid dimple. I want to wipe it off his face. “Got to make daddy proud, remember?”
His sudden laugh is a mixture of shock and pure excitement, he shakes his head as he rubs his jaw and murmurs, “Oh, I’m sure you do. ”
I clench my jaw and mentally reprimand the response my power is having to his voice, his laugh , but the tendrils around my arms have already begun to unfurl from their protective coils.
“How long were you there?” I repeat, keeping the same terse tone.
Instead of answering my question, he interrupts with his own, “Surely wearing that thing is a safety hazard? All it takes is one small gust of wind and who knows what destruction you’d cause.”
“I’m sorry my dress is making you feel unsafe, Enforcer, would you prefer I changed?” I address him with my phoniest smile and customer service voice.
His smirk broadens at this and I maintain my painfully fake grin as he leans against the fire place. “Unsafe? That slip of silk is making me feel many things, Red. For one, I’m thrilled you chose to wear it for me.”
My smile drops, as does the fake-politeness. “I didn’t, I—”
“Oh, but you did,” he interrupts, canting his head. “Because you knew I was coming tonight and that’s what you chose.”
My skin bristles under his insinuation. “No. I have lots of dresses just like this. I work in the Entertainment District, a club, this dress isn’t for you nor did I wear it for you. Now, can we please stop talking about a stupid dress and can you—”
“Just one more thing,” he interrupts, again, with his smirk painfully revealing the edges of his teeth. I have no doubt he can see my frustration because I can feel it rippling along my skin.
The urge to close the distance and really tell him what an irritating prick he is, is on the very tip of my tongue. I barely contain this simmering anger as I watch him slowly twirl his index finger in the air.
“Spin for me.”
I scoff. “In your dreams.”
He laughs again; his eyes alight as he watches me. “Oh, you’ll be doing so much more in my dreams, Red.”
My coils constrict around me and I chew the inside of my cheek as I take a moment to collect myself. I’m fully aware that I’m feeding into this, I’m biting, again .
I need to bring the conversation back to clearer waters and when I finally feel like I won’t be interrupted, I repeat the same question. “How long were you there?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” He arches a brow and finally moves away from the fire, towards me. “Don’t pretend you didn’t feel me. ”
I grind my teeth as he casually closes the distance. I stay glued to the spot, refusing to move, even when he’s barely an arm's length away with his icy blues fixed upon me.
“I didn’t,” I say through a tight jaw.
A pleasant humming instantly rumbles through me and I carefully watch as my coils fluctuate in vibrancy, they struggle to maintain their transparency before returning to an inky black along my skin.
My lowered gaze lands back on the smirking fae. “Well, that was a lie wasn’t it, Red? Talking about lies… Did you ask them all your questions?” He asks, hands tucked into his pant pockets, slouching slightly to meet my gaze.
“Yes,” I reply, straightening my posture, “they told me everything.”
“But I thought you already knew everything?” His smirk, if possible, becomes even more prominent, even more irritating. The sarcastic tone of his voice adds a new edge of annoyance which my power also doesn’t appreciate, now it crackles and embers flicker.
His smirk melts into a grin, his eyes dance across my features implying he can feel exactly how my power is reacting and he’s clearly enjoying it. His own power finally appears and begins to circle us.
I step back, away from it, him , and I urge my power to copy me, it tries but also flares at the distance now between us.
“I’ll play nice, I promise,” he says, gleaming eyes watching me as I take another step back. “But I do love a chase.”
I halt mid step. Retreating is doing the very opposite of what I want. Remaining quiet and appearing weak is also the very opposite.
I inhale and move forward, slightly, making sure my sight is locked on him. “Where’s the demon?”
His laughter makes my coils visibly flicker and flare out, skimming the edge of his which continues to encircle us. This time, I don’t pull back, there’s no chase here.
“You’re being awfully brave again, Red,” he states, the playful tone the only indication I’m still safe. “Asking questions, refusing orders, and blatantly lying to an enforcer, where has your self-preservation gone?”
My coils instinctively tighten, swelling slightly in response. My power may like something of theirs, but it’s still mine and it will protect me.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be here soon.” He smiles ominously, answering my previous question whilst moving passed me and towards the kitchen area. His fingers coil around the top of a stool which he drags behind him, placing it in front of the counter top. He nods his head at it. “Take a seat.”
I take a moment to consider the demand, denying his request wouldn’t benefit me, not after he’d already implied my incompetence. As I move, I keep watching him. I never take my sight away from the grinning predator, even when I sit and my neck aches from the angle.
“I’ll give you a heads-up, he’s not in the best of moods,” he explains, repositioning himself back against the sofa, just like this morning, to face me again.
“Why?” I frown.
“You know, the usual... tough day at work with all the manipulating, torturing, killing, etcetera…” His teasing tone is so natural it’d be difficult to know if he was exaggerating or telling the truth. I swallow, still feeling uneasy at how he throws those words around, especially the last two.
“Then we all sat down and had a long chat, which resulted in a vote.” His gaze practically flares as he watches me, enjoying me squirm as I attempt to understand. “I can’t remember the last time we argued like that and we still couldn’t come to a unanimous decision. Well, that just put ‘the Dark One’ in an even worse mood because he hates indecisiveness.”
Before I ask the question I know he’s urging me to say, I swallow. “What did you vote about?”
“Whether we should kill you.”
The air stills and the words cling there.
I tense, each muscle locking as my power rushes out in a thick protective barrier but Sai’s own power surges in density and keeps it contained.
“Why the fuck are you even telling me this?” I blurt in a mixture of anger and disbelief. All the while I attempt to smother my truer, more genuine, emotion of terror.
“I thought you’d want to know the results,” he smiles menacingly, not a normal expression when informing someone of their life’s verdict.
My fingers grip the wooden seat of my stool, I wet my lips. “If it was to kill me, wouldn’t I already be dead?”
He pouts, his lips pursing, and shrugs. “That’s very naive of you, Red. Maybe we still need to decide how to kill you. Maybe we’re not sure what that mark of yours will do if we try. Or maybe we’ve planned something far worse than death for you.”
My body becomes painfully cold; numb but my power flickers furiously, instantly coursing through my veins, aggressively eating away at the cold and compelling it to fade. It’s desperately trying to break through Sai’s barrier, trying to find a space it can escape and flee, but to no avail.
“Calm yourself, Red.”
My heart is racing as I desperately try to restrain myself. The immense fear running through my body now mixing with the intense heat of my power. They’re battling for dominance. I try taking subtle deep breaths, all the while never letting my sight fall from his.
My fist tightens around the tiny vial, now embedded in my palm, the one trapped there ever since Alexis left. I try to calculate if I’d have time to escape if I threw it at his arrogant face. Would it even scratch him?
My palms heat whilst I try to push through my cloud of panic and think. I need more time to think.
“ He voted to kill me, right?” I state, my tone almost flat even though my heart is pounding so hard my bones begin to ache.
“Yep, he was also the one who initiated the vote.”
I press my tongue into the edge of my teeth, hard, the pain keeping me grounded. “And you?”
“My vote was much more diplomatic,” he calmly explains, eyes slipping to my fingers for a moment, the ones currently indenting the stool.
“Go on,” I urge, hating how desperate that sounded.
His sharp gaze jumps back to mine, smirk in place. “I suggested we remove the ancient rune first… then take another vote.”
I nod as though understanding his reasoning, when internally I’m desperately screaming to rip his fucking throat open for playing with my life this way.
He can’t read my mind, I know he can’t, but the dark glint in his severe gaze somewhat indicates he can feel my sudden fury. Even in this situation, discussing the possible end of my life down to a stupid vote, my blood boils and power surges at his vile expression.
He’s enjoying this too much, watching me attempt to stay composed, trapping my true emotions deep within, pushing my power down. I’ve had exactly five years to perfect this; perfect how to cover real feelings in even the most complicated situations.
Yet, he can see everything like it’s painted over my skin.
I allow my power to feed into my anger and amplify it, the fire behind Sai flares and creates a bright orange halo around him. He doesn’t even turn around.
“Look at you, playing with your new power.” He sounds almost impressed, but his bright gaze and markings darken in a subtle warning, accompanied by his power which nips at mine. It stings.
I tighten my fist, remembering I need more time.
Again, I swallow. “And the vampire, what was his vote?”
A smile is his response, a smile that makes my power shake with need yet turns my skin cold in terror. This type of smile shouldn’t garner that reaction. But it does. For Sai.
His smile indicates it’s an answer I won’t enjoy. “I’ll let him share that with you.”
I let a breath fall from my lips, the vial feels hotter in my hand, almost vibrating.
“So, my advice for tonight is this: do not piss him off.” He steps forward, fingers interlocked except his index which he points straight at me. “Just because we voted, doesn’t mean any of us will keep our word—especially him .”
I shift, pull my closed fist up into my lap, turning cold when his eyes catch the movement.
“And how do I not ‘piss him off’?” I quickly ask, bringing his sight back to me. Good, let’s keep it there. “He seems irritated by my very presence.”
I scowl, my anger is still brimming about their ‘vote’ regarding my life, like I’m simply a game they’re not sure how to finish. My power begins snapping back at the one still circling us.
His eyes flash bright again, his markings pulse as he moves closer. “That’s because he’s an impatient, controlling, apathetic perfectionist and you are an indecisive, unbound, avoidance-skilled empath.”
I try to ignore the way my power blooms at his compliments, even if they are backhanded. Our gazes settle on one another, mine is still narrowed in frustration I can’t seem to shake.
“Basically, I just need to shut up, stay quiet, and do whatever he says? ”
Sai’s bright eyes sparkle as his fingers fully interlock. “Exactly, especially when I remove your rune and he’ll be the only one who can stop what is released.”
“What the hell does that mean?” My question falls and disintegrates into the air.
The moment, the very second, he enters, the entire room slips into a deep and uncomfortable silence. Even the fire begins to splutter and fade, like he’s consumed its very essence.
The shadows caress him and gently glide away as he ignores us, moving towards the window and glancing out. My power seems to be in shock, it’s still, no longer biting to escape from Sai’s invisible hold. This is certainly not the time to abandon me.
I bite my tongue, hard enough to taste blood, and my power instantly flickers to life. Jumping out of Sai’s barrier and directly towards him .
Fuck no.
I stand, the stool scrapes, my hand slams into the air and I barely manage to grab the tendril diving directly towards the most dangerous creature in the room. Teeth bared, I tighten my grip, feeling it halt and strain under my hold. I notice Sai’s power has decided to linger back and watch the chaos unfold.
I feel his eyes on me, but I stay focused upon the black coil. My power feels his gaze, strains under my grip; it’s intrigued, it wants to see more, wants to feel more.
No. No. No .
A small chuckle emits from behind me, a tiny distraction which makes my power loosen. I snap my fingers back, into a tight fist, nails burying into my palm until the tendril eventually snaps. Everyone watches it break down into tiny pieces. It fades into fine wisps which float up in the air, before floating down and slipping back into my skin.
I fall onto the stool, eyes shut, breathing erratic, swallowing the mix of saliva and blood as I continue coaxing my power into submitting. It vibrates in displeasure, refusing to stay completely in its tight confinement but lingering somewhere in between.
“Bad move,” Sai whispers, now beside me. I don’t even need to open my eyes; I can clearly picture his gleaming eyes and painful smirk.
“Let’s get this over with.” When he speaks, my eyes instantly open.
Another bad move, he’s stood where Sai was. Directly before me. His dark obsidian eyes holding no amusement, no emotion, completely impassive as they stare into me. I can almost see my reflection in the abyss. My skin feels cold.
My power, however, is thrilled. Rattling against its hold now eager to escape once more.
I struggle to contain my utter terror at the realisation. I feel my chest rising, hear my breath becoming heavy. He scrutinises me, his gaze piercing as he stares into my expression, an expression barely hiding my real feeling of despair.
His eyes narrow, searching again for something like the first time we met. I grit my teeth and lock my power down once more. A muscle in his jaw ticks, dark eyes fixed as they stare at me with pure distaste and… loathing. I can feel it. His hatred rolling off his composed form and sinking into me.
This is it. He’s going to kill me.
My power bursts out, surrounding me automatically, feeding and growing. Simultaneously, my fingers tighten around the vial, ready to fling it and run. I glance at the window behind the demon, wondering if I could survive seven floors, the highest I’ve jumped is four.
But there’s no time to assess. His brow arches as I begin to move my hand, just a fraction.
My muscles tense, power flaring, heart thudding loudly in my ears.
Towering before me, Sai blocks my view. His hand is held open, his eyes flicking from my fist back up to my terrified gaze. I freeze.
He doesn’t speak; he doesn’t need to. I feel his power slither across my arm, down and around my shaking hand, prizing tense fingers away, one by one, until the vial is revealed.
I want to cry. I want to scream.
I slam my eyes shut and wince as I feel the bottle begin slipping away. This can’t be happening. I didn’t even fight. I hesitated.
I open my eyes again, feeling Sai’s power skimming my palm as it curls around the vial and removes it and I painfully watch it slide up into the sleeve of his blazer. When it’s gone, my stool inches forward and Sai moves to stand behind me.
I feel the demon’s intense gaze before I peer at him again. He’s still there, just sat there, no change in his stoic form.
I try to assess his reaction to what just happened, but nothing has changed. His expression, stance, gaze: still all indifferent.
Did Sai just… help me ?