Marked (44 page)

Outwardly
everyone was exactly the same as I remembered, but beneath the
surface I could see that things had changed. Kristin had the same
kind of darkness lurking behind her eyes that I now saw so often when
I looked at Alec, but that was hardly surprising given what she'd
been through before Alec and I had finally managed to kill Taggart.

Ben
was still unconscious and Jasmin had an air of hopelessness to her
that was completely at odds with her usual quiet confidence. Nearly
as shocking was the fact that she'd arrived accompanied by a vampire
named Geoffrey.

Alec
had apparently been aware of Jasmin's unorthodox choice in traveling
companions, but nobody had thought to warn James. I thought for a
second that he and Jasmin were going to come to blows, but in the end
James backed down despite obviously being unhappy about it. There was
a new order inside of the pack now and Jasmin was unarguably dominant
to James.

Only
we weren't really a pack anymore because Jasmin had her own pack—a
ragtag batch of submissives, but they were undeniably ready to back
her play when it came to protecting Geoffrey, even if it brought them
into conflict with James.

Isaac
was a pack leader now too, which was shocking on a number of levels.
He'd never wanted to be the one in charge and was obviously still
getting used to the idea. The fact that he seemed to be paired up
with Ash's sister was likewise unexpected, but the biggest change was
the way that Isaac held himself and the way that everyone treated
him.

Gentle,
controlled Isaac was now an object of fear. Whatever had happened in
New Orleans had left its mark on Isaac, because nobody seemed more
worried about him losing control than he was. I tried to ask Alec
what had happened, but all he told me was that Isaac had manifested a
power.

It
was yet another impossible event. Mallory had looked Isaac over when
he'd been born and declared that he had no possibility of developing
an ability, but it was no more impossible than Jasmin manifesting a
hybrid form after all these years. I was starting to realize that
we'd never really understood the rules the world ran under.

I
caught Alec and Isaac off by themselves a little while after the
pizza we'd ordered arrived. They seemed comfortable with each other
in a way that hadn't been the case since before Alec had first
manifested his power.

Alec
accepted the slice of pizza I brought him and then stared off into
the distance for several seconds before turning to Isaac. "Andrew
is okay. He's had a rough time of things, but he made it through the
last round of fighting unscathed."

"Thank
you, I've been meaning to ask how that went."

"It
was bad—really, really bad. Donovan will be here and able to
fill us in in a few minutes, but we're going to need you now more
than ever. Your ability may be our only chance of taking Puppeteer
down."

"Isn't
there another way?"

"Not
that I see. If there is then I'll take it. What I can promise you is
that I won't let you lose control."

Isaac
nodded slowly. "I appreciate that. To be honest I've thought
about little else since the fight in New Orleans. I came here ready
to swear fealty to you if that was what it was going to take for you
to agree to control me."

"You
don't need me to control you, Isaac. Out of all the people who could
have manifested your power, you're the only one I trust to keep it
under control on your own. You don't need me, but I will serve as a
safeguard for you if that's what you want. Fealty or no—I'll
still do it. I owe you at least that. I'm sorry I couldn't be there
when you needed me."

Isaac
shrugged. "You had valid reasons. It's hard to believe that
we're coming to the end of the war. It's only a matter of time now
until we find Puppeteer and then it's just a matter of mopping up a
few enforcers."

The
shadows were back in Alec's eyes. "I wish that were the case,
but now more than ever I'm convinced that we're only at the start of
the fighting."

—The Story
Continues
—

Curious how all of the pieces of the Reflection Universe fit
together? Check out
the
Reflections Reading Order Diagram
on
my blog.

Publisher's Note:

If you've enjoyed this book, please consider signing up for the
author's
mailing list
.
By signing up you'll receive $10.00 worth of
free books. We'll be offering a special discount to existing fans for
the first week each new book is live, so signing up for his mailing list
will mean that you'll always know about new releases with plenty of
time to take advantage of the new release discount.

Author's Note:

I hope you've enjoyed Marked—it's been a long, but very
enjoyable journey getting to this point and I'm very excited that
there are so many more exciting things still to come in the
Reflections Universe, things that I've only hinted at so far.

If you could take a moment and leave a review or two wherever it
is you usually buy books, I'd very much appreciate it. Reviews of
Broken, Bound, and the Greater Darkness are all especially critical
as they are the entry points into the series and your honest review
can be incredibly helpful to people on the fence about embarking on
the path you're enjoying so much right now.

Thanks,

Dean

Acknowledgments:

Publishing a novel is a much smaller undertaking than filming a
movie, but there is still a tremendous amount of work that goes into
the undertaking and it's only right that those individuals who helped
make Marked a reality be recognized.

My wife Katie usually gets named last, but the truth is that she's
the first one to help out and her help continues on until long after
the publish button is pressed on the last retailer. The only reason
I'm able to put in such long hours writing is because Katie puts in
even longer hours taking care of everything else in our lives. That
by itself would be more than I could rightfully expect, but she goes
even further by serving as my very first reader, my sounding board
and my cover designer.

Most spouses would have pulled the plug on this endeavor a long
time ago, but Katie keeps looking for ways to make it work, for
avenues that will let us keep going just a little bit longer so we
can get a few more books out. Thank you, Katie.

Once Katie got done with the manuscript for Marked it then went to
my editors RJ and Amy, who—as they always do—performed
small miracles getting this book into a state where it was fit for
human consumption. Thank you both for you amazing work and for both
being willing to tackle each new book as I write it.

From there, Marked went to a very special group of four ladies who
are some of my absolutely most dedicated fans. Heather, Janelle,
Jenine and Mei serve as my very first group of advance readers these
days, taking the book once it's through the editing process and
providing additional feedback and editing catches. This group often
turns a manuscript around in just a few days and each one they touch
turns out better as a result of their efforts. I'm profoundly
grateful to all four of them for their help in making Marked a
reality.

Next comes my broader group of advance readers and bloggers, many
of whom have been with me since the beginning, all of whom are
appreciated for their feedback and help, reviews and support. Mom,
Dad, Matthew, Shalese, Lachele, Mark, Mimi, Kim, and Merissa, thank
you all for your support and help!

Lastly, I want to give a big shout out to my readers. When you
tell a friend about the series or leave a review of one of my books
it helps make it so that I can continue writing full-time so that we
can all find out what is going to happen next for Alec, Adri and the
rest of the Sanctuary Pack.

Thank you all,

Dean

About the Author:

Dean Murray discovered the joys of reading at a young age and
unknowingly ingested unhealthy doses of romance along with his
science fiction and fantasy. By the time he realized what had
happened it was too late to reverse the process and he spent
his formative years (while his peers were still convinced that
girls had cooties) trying to convince one specific girl to be
his girlfriend to no avail.

As fate would have it, he's incredibly grateful that he
failed in his attempts in second grade because it meant that
he was able to eventually find his real happily ever after
with his wife Katie to whom he's been happily married for
more than six years.

Dean is the author of seventeen published novels (and a
host of short stories), which collectively have more than
480,000 copies in circulation, and he's currently writing
six books a year in an effort to create the perfect, larger
than life romance story—which he's pretty sure involves either
vampire, werewolves, fairies or shape shifters.

You can find a complete list of Dean's work and keep
up to speed on his current projects
at
DeanWrites.com
. If
you want to interact with readers who love the series as
much as you do, please consider checking out
the
Reflections Facebook page
or
Dean's Forum
.

Something powerful is stirring in the darkness. Something so ancient that even
creatures who've been alive for hundreds of years have long since discounted this new
threat as nothing more than myth.

Normal humans will be caught in the crossfire, but then that's always the way of
things. Geoffrey has no memory of his past life or any idea how to survive in the
violent, dangerous world in which he's trapped. Despite his best efforts, he's about to
find himself in the middle of a conflict that threatens to sweep away everything,
and everyone he's been fighting so hard to protect.

The only thing worse than having no family at all, is having a family that is out to hurt you. That would all be bad enough for a normal 17-year-old, but it's even worse for Alec Graves. A shape shifter's pack, his family, is the only thing stopping the other preternatural creatures out there from killing them.

Alec's pack isn't just neglectful, he's pretty sure that his father wants him dead. Alec is about to be sent to the front lines of a war between his people and everything else that goes bump in the night. His only chance of survival is to convince everyone around him that he's the perfect soldier, but there are lines that Alec won't cross, not for any price.

Publisher's Note:
Dean Murray's ongoing Reflection Series has been a stunning success with hundreds of thousands of copies in circulation, and a rich, complex world where choices—right or wrong—have real, profound consequences. Unsatisfied with the restrictions imposed on him by writing inside of the conventional series structure, Dean has returned to Sanctuary and the characters so many fans have fallen in love with.

Bound is the first in Dean's new Dark Reflections novels, an alternate timeline set in the same world and featuring many of the same characters, but with a profoundly different backstory.

Dean finally answers many of the questions that his most dedicated readers have been asking themselves for years. What would have happened if Alec's father hadn't been murdered by the Coun'hij, how would Adri's life have changed if her family hadn't been shattered in a horrific accident?

The answers may surprise you, but one thing is for sure; you'll see new sides of familiar faces and when all is said and done, you'll never be able to look at some of them the same.

Readers new to Dean Murray's writing can start with Bound in the Dark Reflections Series or Broken in the Reflections Series.

The invitation to join the secretive Guadel should have been the fulfillment of dreams Va'del didn't even realize he had. When his sponsors are killed in an ambush a short time later, he instead finds his probationary status revoked, and becomes a pawn between various factions inside the Guadel ruling body.

Jain's never known any life but that of a Guadel in training. She'd thought herself reconciled to the idea of a loveless marriage for the good of her people, but meeting Va'del changes everything. Their growing attraction flies against hundreds of years of precedent, but as wide-spread attacks threaten their world, the Guadel have no choice but to use even Jain and Va'del in their fight for survival.

Meet Charles Tucker, he has spent nearly 30 years living in
denial, trying desperately to hide from his past and the events
that shattered his heart beyond any possibility of healing. He
can't let anyone close, for doing so would open him up to being
hurt again, and there's no way he could survive another wounding.

Meet the Saunders family, new to the neighborhood and
teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Mark, the father, talks
a good story but is that all he is? His plan could hold the key
to reversing his family's financial misfortunes, or it could
wipe out everyone involved.

Meet Chet, a battered old '64 Chevy pickup that was there on
the night Charles' life imploded. For nearly three decades,
he has been locked away in an old barn, safely out of sight
if not completely out of mind. For 29 years Charles has
blamed the old pickup for the destruction of his life,
now he's about to find that the vehicle that destroyed his
life might be the key to his healing and a journey of
unexpected miracles.