Marked for Vengeance (30 page)

 Alyx shook her
head. “You amaze me, you know that?”

“The answer was so
obvious!” she trilled, her voice raising a decibel in sync with her enthusiasm,
“it was the ultimate forbidden love scenario. Which you’ll have to explain to
me, Alyx, because seriously… your
Marked
?”

The way Cindra
emphasized the word “Marked” made it sound like she accused her of incest.
Perhaps the concept was just as disgusting to someone who didn’t understand.

 “You really are
the most intuitive person I know,” Alyx said with a sigh, brushing off her
nearly insulting tone, “to the point of annoyance sometimes.”

 Cindra stuck
out her tongue. “You’re stuck with me anyways.”

 “But, I am
confused about something. Why did you say Isaac was
your
Marked?”

 Her nose
crinkled. “What? I didn’t!”

 “Yes you did! I
don’t understand how you came to that conclusion if he was your Marked. He
couldn’t be both of ours.”

“Oh, good
grief!” she said and flicked the side of her head. “Do I have to spell it out?
His son Micah, he’s my Marked.”

What?!
Alyx fell
backward from the shock and her arms shot to the ground for an anchor. When the
words finally sank into every nook of her conscience, a smile swept across her
face, elated that his disappearance wasn’t because of her carelessness. Isaac would
be reunited with his son and know that he was safe after all. If he were awake
now, they were possibly having their very own reunion this minute. “So he was
with you all along?”

“Yes! As soon as
I changed form I went and snatched him up.”

Alyx’s hand
cupped her forehead. “Wow, I don’t know what to say, Isaac will be
so
happy. You know, we both thought he’d been…
Wait a minute
, she thought.
Why
didn’t
they tell Isaac that they were leaving
? She smacked her
friend across the shoulder.

“Ow!” Cindra
howled and held her arm.

“Why didn’t you
guys tell him? Isaac thought his kid was dead!”

Cindra swatted
back. “We
tried
to, but he wouldn’t wake up. He was asleep in the bathtub.
We tried
everything
– smacking him, cold water to the face. Nothing
worked.”

“You could have
left a note, at least.”

“We did. I left
it on the table!”

Alyx patted her
leg with an apologetic smile. “Never mind, then. You’re off the hook.”

 It’s not my
fault he didn’t see it,” she grumbled as she rubbed her shoulder.

Alyx wrapped her
arm around her friend’s back, pulling her into her side. “I
said
you’re
off the hook. And why didn’t you tell me all of that back then,” she asked,
wondering why she had abandoned her, “that you knew about Isaac, and you were
the same as me? I could have used your friendship.”

“Well, this is
what I
didn’t
want to tell you,” she said, picking another blade of
grass, “one of our Elders visited me shortly after I left your place. He told
me to keep away from you; they said you were being followed and didn’t want me
to become mixed up in it. So I had to quit Bachman and Yorkshire and move out
of my apartment.”

Alyx tucked her
hair behind her ears from where the wind playfully whipped it in her face. “I
see.”

“They didn’t
want me in jeopardy of being followed too, and as far as they knew, whoever it
was, wasn’t following me yet.”

Alyx swallowed
hard. “They were right to tell you that.”

 “What? Tell
me.”

“I guess it’s
my
turn to be honest now,” she said and took a deep breath. “I completely screwed
things up back there.”

“What happened?
”

“Remember the
man in the black suit? The creepy man in the elevator at work?”

“Yes! He made my
scar tingle!”

“Yes, mine too,
but apparently it was
me
he was after because he kept popping up at
random times. And apparently he was associated with those beasts that we had to
protect our Marked from.”

Cindra’s eyes
widened. “Whoa, no wonder the Elders warned me.”

“They were
absolutely right for doing that, because the beasts must have followed me to
Benjamin’s apartment and-

Alyx threw her
hands up to cover her face. This part would be the hardest. Cindra had only met
Benjamin a handful of times, but this news would hit her hard, as well.

“Tell me already!”
Cindra pled as she tugged on her arm.

 She tried to
swallow again before continuing, but the lump was too large.

“
Tell me!
” 

She cleared her
throat and let her hands fall, forcing her voice to stay even. “As you know,
someone had been following me, and they followed me everywhere, including
Benjamin’s apartment. Whoever he was, he was connected to those beasts somehow,
and they got to Benjamin.”

Cindra’s chin
dropped. “No…”

“Yes,” she said,
and her steady voice finally cracked, “it was awful. I saw first hand what
those beasts are capable of before we were even summoned.”

Cindra wrapped
her arms around her and rested her head on her shoulder. “Certainly you don’t
believe that was your fault.”

“Of
course
I do,” she wept. “Because of what I am and what was following me -- I
led
them to him.”

“No, Alyx. That
was NOT your fault. How were you to know that would have happened?”

Her shaking hands wiped
her tears. “I can’t help but feel deep down that it was my fault. If I could
have lived the rest of this life single like all the other times before, and
not drug him into anything, he wouldn’t have been slashed to pieces.” 

“Nobody ever told us to
be single, Alyx. To blend in like they wanted us to, you have to do normal
things. Dating was a normal thing.”     

“That’s the
exact
rationale that I used, but then why didn’t
you
date?”     

Her friend didn’t have
an immediate reply and appeared stumped for once as she stared at the ground as
though it could provide her with the right words to say. Alyx guessed it was
because Cindra’s better instincts told her not to date, and she just couldn’t
bring herself to say that. All along Alyx thought that Cindra was the one who
had been naïve about love and dating, and yet,
she
was the one whose
intuition had failed her. Miserably so.

“I appreciate your
comforts, girl, I do. But I just can’t forgive myself,” Alyx said, and her
weeping broke into a full blown sob. She covered her face again, and tears squeezed
through her tightly pressed eyes. This was the first time she’d had a moment to
grieve Benjamin’s death.

“Did you even
get to see him before he died?” Cindra sniffled as she rubbed her back, her
voice breaking.

 Alyx shook her
head. Her friend didn’t need to know about their heated break up that morning,
nor did Alyx want to relive it.

“Hold on,”
Cindra said as she stood, and scurried to a nearby bush with white flowers
whose wide, curved petals reminded Alyx of magnolias. Cindra picked the loveliest
one and knelt beside her. “Let me see your hand.”

She straightened
her wet fingers, and Cindra placed it in her palm. “Let’s say something in remembrance.”

“I don’t think I
can,” she choked out.

Cindra nodded
solemnly and cupped her hand over the flower. “Benjamin… a beautiful, caring
soul who loved my Alyx with all of his heart. The world was a better place
because he was in it. May our friend be surrounded by the same joy he gave to
everyone else.” She uncovered the flower and pushed Alyx’s hand high in the
air.

A strong gust of
wind came through right in time, as if it knew that its services were needed,
and carried the flower into the air and over the ocean. The white petals soared
over the water and past the rocks, spinning and fluttering as the wind tossed them
about.

Alyx smiled
through the tears and released a small sigh, touched that her friend thought of
a kind way to remember his life, especially because he wouldn’t get a proper
burial. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said and stood to join her.
Their arms wrapped behind each other’s backs, and they watched as the flower
descended into the water, landing daintily atop the ripples.

The sun only
lacked a short leap before meeting the ocean, and the pale pink and orange
stripes in the sky served as a warning that their time was almost up,
unfortunately. Alyx couldn’t avoid the inevitable forever and would have to
face the others eventually. They had no doubt been gossiping about her since she
left with Cindra. Before they returned, Alyx knew that she needed to tell her
about ‘the kiss’. Her friend already knew that she liked him, but it was
another thing to actually cross the line as severely as she did, but she would
be damned if Cindra heard it from their judgmental mouths before she heard it
from her.

“While we’re on
the topic of confessions,” Alyx said, tugging on her arm to sit again, “there’s
something else that I need to tell you.”

“Oh no, what
now?”

Alyx wiped her
tears and held her hair behind her neck. The growing wind insisted that the
strands stick to her damp cheeks. “You know I was spying on Isaac now and how I
feel. But there’s more to it.”

“Uh oh.”

“It’s hard to
explain, but I have a connection to him. Not like the typical kind you have
with your Marked, it’s stronger, intense. I want to
be
with him, but of
course you know that isn’t possible.”

“Alyx,” she said
with a blend of disbelief and disappointment.

“It’s torture,
believe me, but it’s nothing I can completely control. I know I should have
stayed away. I had no business there, spying on him, but it was the closest I
could get and not feel like I was technically breaking any rules.”

“Keep going,”
she sighed.

“On the way here
we had plenty of time to talk, and between me already desiring him and him
confessing that he felt that way too, it’s like I forgot everything we were
ordered.”

“Alyx, tell me
you didn’t!” she said as her hand met her cheek, preparing for what words might
come next.

“I wish I could
say that, but before I sent him through the gateway, I kissed him – not knowing
the others could see.”

“Shit, Alyx!”

“I know, but
that’s why the others looked at me like that. I can only imagine the wrath
that’s waiting on me back there,” she said as she pointed behind her. “And on
top of that, he caught me spying on him and confronted me, twice. It’s a huge
mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Elders sent me away tonight.”

Cindra clutched
the top of Alyx’s hand. “I have a confession now too,” she said. “PLEASE don’t
hate me for this.

Her friend’s
sudden change of subject raised a hundred red flags. Alyx’s head snapped in her
direction to see her hazel eyes heavy with regret. She had fully expected her
to go off on a tangent about how stupid and reckless and indulgent that was of
her to kiss Isaac. But judgment didn’t fill her words, only guilt.

“I wanted to
tell you
so
bad at the time, but I was there at the office on my last
day when he came looking for you. Isaac wanted to find you, bad.”

“Why would I
hate you for that?”

“Frederick
wouldn’t give him your information, but on Isaac’s way back down the elevator I
rode with him and told him what block you lived on.”

“Jesus, Cindra!
Why would you do that? Do you have any idea-”

“Listen,” she
said, squeezing her hand to interrupt her, “I thought about it pretty hard, and
I didn’t tell him
exactly
where you lived. I thought that if it was
meant to be, you would run into each other. I’m sorry, though. That probably
wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.”

Meant to be
, Alyx pondered,
and her irritation subsided. Had fate had a hand in designing the direction of
their paths? It did seem as though every time she had resolved to let him go
their paths crossed. Was someone trying to tell her something? Was there a
certain rightness to everything she thought was wrong? Forbidden? Maybe
Cindra’s attempt at an indulgent experiment proved something after all. Or
maybe fate was just an evil temptress who enjoyed toying with their emotions.

“It doesn’t
matter,” Alyx said as she patted her wrist with her other hand. “I’d already seen
him twice before that anyhow. I can’t be mad at you.”

Cindra exhaled
with relief. “Good, because I would lose it if you ever were, and I don’t see
the Elders crucifying you for any of that. You got him here after all.”

“Yeah, barely
alive,” she mumbled.

“We do need to
get going though,” Cindra said, and they rocked to their feet, still holding
hands. “I’ll be right here, by your side. And by the way,” she said as she
bumped her with her hip. “What took you so long to get here?”