Marked (3 page)

"That's
the main thing, the only thing that I can point to as being a
concrete problem, but there are a lot of unknowns. For decades there
have been rumors that there are other members of the Coun'hij who
keep their identities hidden, hybrids every bit as powerful as Agony
or Dream Stealer or Puppeteer."

"Why
would they do that? Wouldn't it make sense to present the scariest
front possible in order to make sure that the packs are too
intimidated to rise up against the Coun'hij?"

"Your
guess is as good as mine. There is a lot to be said for making sure
everyone knows exactly how big a stick you're wielding, but there is
also something to the idea of keeping your enemies guessing. The less
they know about your true capabilities the less they can do to
neutralize your advantages through superior planning. You could argue
that between Puppeteer, Agony and Dream Stealer the Coun'hij had a
plenty big enough stick to threaten the packs with."

"You're
not convinced that's the reason though."

"Not
entirely. There are rumors that some of the Coun'hij hide their names
and abilities because their gifts are so terrible that if the packs
knew about them they'd rise up in a united group and try to overthrow
the Coun'hij despite the blood bath that would almost certainly
result."

"And
if those rumors are true, then the mere fact that you're being so
successful puts us in more danger, because that's the kind of thing
that would cause the really scary members of the Coun'hij to finally
get involved."

Alec
nodded gravely. "Exactly. It's one of those things I can't plan
around because I don't have enough information, but it's there in the
back of my mind with every decision I make. It's like my own personal
boogeyman."

I'd
already wrapped my arms around Alec after turning to face him, but
now I squeezed him harder. "It's going to be okay, Alec. You're
going to find a way through this. We don't know what's coming or who
else we might be up against, but we do know that it's possible for us
to win."

"You're
putting an awful lot of trust in Shawn's gift, and he never said we
could win, just that it wasn't guaranteed that we were going to
lose."

"No,
I'm putting an awful lot of trust in you. Shawn's gift was just a
nice confirmation of what I already knew. If you really put your mind
to it there isn't anything you can't do. Your gift has fully
manifested and we have an impressive list of allies that include
Jaclyn and Grayson. You can do this, Alec, and I love that you've
chosen to stand up to the Coun'hij. You're not doing it because you
want the power; you're doing it because it's the right thing to do,
the thing that will give your people a chance to be free for the
first time since the monarchy fell."

He
looked at me in amazement and this time the smile that was tugging at
the corner of his mouth was a happy one. "You do realize that
most people don't consider living under a monarchy to be a shining
example of freedom, right?"

"Most
people don't have to deal with the complexity of shape shifter
existence. You were right all of those months ago when you told me
that shape shifters can't live by the same rules that humans live by.
Even the weakest of you are still incredibly dangerous and when you
throw in the fact that you're in the middle of three wars while
trying to keep your existence a secret from the humans, it becomes
painfully evident that your people need a stronger central authority
than would be ideal for a bunch of suburban soccer moms. Besides,
living under the rule of a Graves is the one sure way to guarantee
that you'll be treated justly."

That
earned me an eye roll. "My ancestors weren't perfect and I'm
even further away from perfection than they were."

"I
don't know, you look pretty perfect from right here."

That
broke through the last of Alec's defenses. He was always less guarded
around me than he was around most of the rest of the pack, but my
favorite times were when all of the walls came down and I saw him
without any pretenses.

There
was an incredible gentleness to Alec Graves that he kept carefully
hidden for fear that his enemies would use it against him. He wasn't
wrong to do so. Someone like Puppeteer would do anything to exploit
something he perceived as a weakness, but it wasn't a weakness, at
least not in my book.

Alec
fought so hard precisely because he cared. He would attack despite
all the odds because he couldn't bear to let someone he cared about
die if he had a chance to save them. The Coun'hij wasn't capable of
understanding that any more than Brandon had been.

Every
momentous change in our life could be traced back to that one thing
and it had caught our enemies by surprise each time. Alec had fought
Brandon to save me and triggered his power, and then he'd faced off
against Agony in order to save Jasmin and Isaac and brought his power
fully under control.

Even
his decision to try and reestablish the monarchy had resulted from
the fact that he couldn't bear to see packs being torn apart by the
likes of Dream Stealer. The smart thing would have been for Alec to
take a less confrontational approach, pretend to ally himself with
the Coun'hij and bide his time while he gathered allies. It would
have been the smart thing to do, but it wouldn't have been the right
thing to do and so he'd never even considered it.

"Adriana
Paige, I don't deserve you, but I'm very glad that you came into my
life. I never would have made it this far without you."

I
opened my mouth to tell him he wasn't giving himself enough credit,
but he didn't let me get the words out. He kissed me and there wasn't
anything hesitant about this kiss. I had a split second to be glad
I'd switched to that new, longer-lasting mouthwash and then I was
swept away in the moment.

Alec's
arms around me tightened to the point where the pressure was just
short of painful and I loved every second of it. It was like the
ultimate expression of strength and manliness. He could have crushed
me without even trying, but he wouldn't because even now Alec was in
complete control of himself. That control was sexy in ways I couldn't
even begin to explain.

I
reached up and cupped his face as I returned the kiss, shaking from
the thrill of having him close to me, giddy from the buzz of his
shape shifter energy coursing back and forth between his bare skin
and my hands, face and arms.

His
lips were perfectly firm and insistent against mine, and I wanted to
let myself go fully, but I knew I couldn't do that. I needed to tell
him about my concern and if I didn't do it now then there was a
chance that I wouldn't ever do it.

It
was one of the harder things I'd ever done up to that point, but I
pulled back from Alec and rather than keeping me there like some guys
would have, he immediately relaxed his arms. He didn't let go of me
completely, but he gave me the option of breaking free if that was
what I wanted.

"As
much as I would love to stay like that forever, there is something we
need to talk about."

The
old Alec would have become at least a little guarded after a lead-in
like that, but all he did now was raise one eyebrow in a questioning
manner. I took a deep breath and then forced the words out.

"What
if I'm being attacked by Dream Stealer?"

"No,
that's not possible…"

I
cut him off before he could finish. "Alec, you have to be
rational about this. I was thrashing around and screaming. I feel
like I didn't get a wink of sleep, and I have no recollection of what
I was dreaming about so I can't vouch for the fact that I wasn't
being tortured."

He
looked like he wanted to interject something, but I gave him a stern
look and just kept on speaking.

"You
said that Dream Stealer likes to target the weakest individuals in a
given pack, especially if they have access to important stuff. In
case you haven't been keeping score, that's basically a perfect
description of me. You need to start cutting me out of some of the
planning. I probably already know too much, but at least if you start
keeping me in the dark now you'll be able to limit the amount of
damage I do when he breaks me."

Alec
shook his head at me. "Are you done?"

"Yeah,
I guess so."

"Thank
goodness. I was half expecting you to say something about locking you
in the bathroom until we could make arrangements to ship you off to
some kind of makeshift prison four states over."

I
shrugged. "Now that you mention it, that's not a bad idea. I
would have eventually suggested something like that—I just
hadn't thought things out completely yet."

"I
guess I should just be grateful that distancing yourself from me
wasn't the
first
thing that you thought of."

His
light, joking tone brought a smile to my face despite my best
efforts, which just made me want to punch him in the arm.

"This
is serious, Alec."

He
sighed. "I agree, but I don't think there is a need to do
anything drastic right now. Dream Stealer is something of an enigma,
but while we don't know very much about him as an individual, the
packs—even the sympathizer packs—have been keeping as
close an eye on his activities as possible for the last couple
hundred years. There's never been any kind of evidence of him working
on two people at one time.

"There
have been about a dozen times where he took a pack apart by breaking
two of its members and even a few instances where he turned three
people in order to accomplish his goals, but he always attacked them
one at a time, even when he appeared to be working under some kind of
a time limit."

"So
as long as he's still trying to break Kristin that means I'm safe."

"Yes,
which means that your nightmare was just that—a normal,
subconscious-acting-up nightmare. Ash will keep a very close eye on
Kristin and as soon as there are any signs that Dream Stealer has
either succeeded or given up trying to break her, we'll get a call
letting us know that we need to start keeping a closer eye on
everyone else."

I
closed my eyes for a second as I tried to think through all of the
ramifications of what he'd just told me.

"I
suddenly feel like an even bigger jerk than I did a few seconds ago.
Kristin is suffering unspeakable things just so I can be safe. It
doesn't make any sense. Out of all of the possible options, why
choose her? It makes more sense to go after me."

"That's
not true, Adri. It actually makes a lot of sense to get Kristin out
of the picture. In a lot of ways her visions make her the ultimate
wild card. As long as she's in play and on our side there's no way
for the Coun'hij to guarantee that she won't ruin their plans by
telling us something that we couldn't possibly know."

"But
her visions are so unpredictable…"

"Yeah,
but even so they could make all of the difference. If Dream Stealer
hadn't locked her into some kind of feedback loop she would have been
able to warn us of the attack against the estate. If we'd known that
was coming even just ten minutes before the werewolves actually
arrived, we could have changed the outcome there in a big way."

"You're
right. If we'd been close together and waiting for them we wouldn't
have lost most of the people who died that night."

My
words came out rough, but that wasn't a surprise, not considering the
way that my throat seemed to be trying to close itself off. Alec
pulled me close again, but this time there wasn't any passion to his
embrace, just the comfort that I so desperately needed.

"I'm
so sorry, Adri. I know how much Carson meant to you. I wish I'd been
there to help him."

I
shook my head. "It's not your fault. If things had gone even a
little bit differently your mom would be dead. Besides, Carson died
the way that he lived—protecting someone who couldn't protect
themselves. He wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

"I'm
not sure it was a worthwhile trade. I'm not sure even now that Mother
really understands that Rachel is gone."

Part
of me wanted to pull back in shock, but I understood why Alec had
said it. It wasn't that he didn't love his mother; he was just
struggling with losing so many people.

"She's
still there somewhere, Alec. You just need to give her more time to
come back from that kind of a loss."

Alec
sighed, but he finally met my eyes again. "How can you be so
sure when I'm plagued with doubts? Tactically speaking, going after
my mother was the worst decision I could have made."

"I'm
sure because you couldn't have made any other decision and still have
been the man I love. I'm sure because I knew Carson much better than
you did and I know that he hated the fact that his life had been
spent pursuing violence. The only thing that made his choices
bearable was the fact that he was able to use his skills to protect
people who were weaker than him. He never would have agreed to let
your mother die in exchange for saving his own life.

"More
than that, I have a pretty good idea just how devastated I would be
in your mother's position. It was all I could do to keep on going
when I left you and that was
my
decision. It would be a hundred times worse if you were
taken
from me. She's retreated inside of herself because she's trying to
protect what's left of the woman who must have been head over heels
for your father. That's good though because it means there's
something there to protect, some fragment worth trying to preserve.
I'm not sure I could have done as much in her place. I would have
just gone catatonic."

Alec
kissed my forehead, a chaste brief kiss, but one that still left my
skin feeling like it was on fire, a pleasant, energizing fire.
"You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, you
know."