Marked for Them Read online

  Marked for Them

  Witches of Rose Lake, book 1

  Lia Davis

  After Glows Publishing

  Marked for Them

  © Copyright 2017 Lia Davis

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  Published by After Glows Publishing

  PO Box 224

  Middleburg, FL 32050

  AfterGlowsPublishing.com

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  Cover by Covered Creatively

  Formatting by AG Formatting

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  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  AfterGlowsPublishing.com

  Contents

  Introduction

  1. Dimitri

  2. Reese

  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

  Note from Lia

  Marked by Darkness

  About the Author

  Also by Lia Davis

  Note from the Publisher

  Marked For Them

  Hiding out in a mental institution isn’t glamorous. But I call it surviving.

  I’m blissfully unaware of the world outside thanks to the hospital’s walls—and spell—that hide me. Until a ghost shows up, talking about his friends being marked by a demon. But not just any demon. The same one who marked me and wants me dead.

  My father.

  Fearful that Daddy Dearest could be my next uninvited guess, I choose to follow the ghost to his four very alive friends. To my relief, they want Salrus dead just as much as I do. What I’m not prepared for is finding out that Zane—the alpha wolf shifter—is my mate, and the demon mark links the six of us—ghost included—together on a deeper level than I ever imagined.

  Teaming up and preparing to face the demon stirs up passion and dark secrets none of us are really ready to face.

  Dimitri

  Ten years ago

  Rose Lake Coven

  “Look what I found.”

  I groaned as Wade Coleman, one of my four best friends, held up the Ouija board my mom had left out. Lifting my head from my homework, I raised a brow at Wade, who laid the game on the table and opened the box. His black hair hung in his eyes.

  Correction. A Ouija board wasn’t a game. At least, not to me.

  Ugh. I’d forgotten Mom had left that thing out. She was a hedge witch and able to communicate with the spirits. Humans called her a medium. It wasn’t far from the truth. Humans just didn’t know about her natural witchy abilities. The latter is how the magical Council preferred it. The less humans knew about how powerful witches were, the better for everyone.

  “That’s not a toy.” Zane Carter, sole heir to the wolf Alpha of the local Pack, scowled from the La-Z-Boy with a game controller in his hand. I agreed with him.

  Zane and I were the only two paras—short for paranormal beings—in our small group of friends. We were also the only two out of the five that couldn’t get drunk. Well, not as quickly as the humans anyway. Our metabolism was too fast and burned off most of the alcohol before it could linger in the system.

  Wyatt, Wade’s twin brother, stumbled to a stand, damn near spilling his beer as he walked sideways to the table where his twin was setting up the board. The fifth member of our friend circle, Trevor Reed, joined them.

  I glanced at Zane, and he shrugged. With a heavy sigh, I rattled off the rules. “No asking anything to come visit. Period. Only ask questions that can be answered through the board. Do not ask anything to visit.” I repeated the latter because they weren’t listening, or so I thought.

  Wyatt waved a hand. “We know. Come join us.”

  “Not a chance. I may only be a green witch, but I still have magic in my blood. So I’m not touching that thing.” I closed my AP English book and moved to sit next to Zane. He handed me the secondary controller. Let the humans have their fun. They were smart guys and knew the rules of magic because I reminded them almost daily.

  “What are the chances of something coming through there?” Zane asked, a hint of worry in his tone.

  “As long as they don’t invite anything over, they should be fine.”

  I hoped. The Ouija board frightened me. The main reason being that I’d seen my mother bring a demon through the thing once. I was five, and she’d been calling a client’s dead spouse over. Little did she know that the husband was possessed at the time of death and, apparently, the demon still had hold of the soul in the afterlife.

  I shuddered. Zane raised a brow at me. I waved him off and started the video game.

  The trio at the table laughed and talked loudly at each other. I glanced over periodically and was tempted to get up and take the board away.

  Zane nudged me with his elbow. “Relax, you’re going to get your anxiety up again.”

  I nodded. Zane was right. I might be worrying over nothing. The last thing I needed was a panic attack. But I wished they would put the damn board up.

  After a few moments, I put the controller down and walked to the table, set on ending the craziness of talking to spirits. I hated it when Mom did it, so I made sure I wasn’t home when she entertained clients.

  When I reached the table, the lights flickered and then shut off. The French doors to the backyard blew open, slamming into the walls and shattering the glass. In the center of the room, a dark, smoky orb hovered.

  Shit!

  I ran to my mom’s ritual cabinet tucked in the corner of the den where she kept her salt. I’d never been good at creating a circle, but I would try. Before I made it, a blast of energy slammed into me, knocking me across the room. I hit the wall and slid down to the floor. Pain shot up my spine, and my lungs burned as I gasped for air.

  “Demon!” I heard Trevor shout.

  Feet shuffled around me. Zane bent down beside me. “You okay?”

  I nodded and lifted my gaze to search for the others. When my sight found the demon, his black eyes narrowed on me. Death and determination oozed from him. It became hard for me to breathe. No. Not now. I couldn’t panic. I tried to take deep breaths like Mom told me to do, but I ended up gasping for air instead.

  The demon raised his hands and slowly closed them into fists. Then he uncurled his fingers, and one by one, he pointed at each of us. “I mark you and bind you to my bloodling.”

  Bloodling. Demon for offspring. Why would he bind us to him or her?

  Before I could demand answers from the demon, the inside of my wrist burned as if someone pressed a hot iron to my skin. Then he vanished.

  My parents ran into the room. They must have just arrived home from their dinner date. I wasn’t surprised. Mom had probably sensed the demon, or at least that something was about to happen. “What the fuck?” my dad barked out.

/>   Mom let out a sob and knelt in front me. Her brows were drawn and her lips pursed. She grabbed the wrist I’d been clutching. “Damn it. You’ve been marked.”

  Marked? By the demon? “What does that mean?”

  “It usually means he can come and collect on his debt at any time.” She stood and whirled around just as the demon reappeared. “Remove their marks.”

  The demon laughed. “They will do my bidding when the time comes.”

  “Why? Did they summon you? Did they ask for anything? If not, then it is against demonic law to mark them.” Mom stood her ground, glaring at the demon. I feared he’d kill her for challenging him, but I was unable to move from my position on the floor, even if I wanted to help.

  “I’m not bound by demonic law. They belong to me now.”

  Mom cut a glare to me, then stared back at the demon. “You were not invited here and are not welcome.” She thrust her hands toward him. A stream of power flowed from her fingers, hitting the demon in the chest. He laughed and dematerialized again. Unfazed by her power.

  A moment later, everything fell quiet. The buzz of dark magic was gone.

  “Mom, what’s going to happen? What did he mean?”

  She frowned and glanced around the room. “I’ll have to inform the Council. You will have your powers stripped.” When I opened my mouth to protest, she held up a hand, silencing me. “You’ll be lucky if I can stop them there.”

  My dad chimed in with, “Zane will need to let his father know that he’s marked.”

  I glanced at my wolf friend. Dread crippled me. The color drained out of Zane’s face. We knew without speaking that Zane would be forced to leave the Pack for the safety of his people.

  Wade inched toward the door. “We’re heading home.”

  On the heels of that statement, Trevor, Wyatt, and Wade left.

  Wyatt

  It’d been two weeks since the demon showed up in Dimitri’s den, and there’d been no sign of the asshat since. I took it as a sign that the jackass went back to wherever he came from. D said it wasn’t that simple. That once a demon crossed over and placed his mark, he could come and go as he pleased.

  Wade, my twin, called bullshit. I wasn’t so sure.

  But tonight, we were graduating from high school.

  I pulled up to Trevor’s house just as he opened the front door. He waved a hand and disappeared back inside. A moment later, he exited in a white, button-down shirt and black slacks. His dress shoes were new, I noted. Trev had his graduation gown draped over one arm, and his cap on his head.

  A smile lifted my lips as he approached and stopped at the passenger door of the SUV, waiting for Wade to move to the back seat.

  “Seriously?” Wade huffed and rolled his eyes before opening the door and stepping out. He leaned into Trevor. “You smell pretty.”

  It was my turn to roll my eyes. Trevor was my boyfriend, and Wade was straight and loved teasing Trevor. It was all in fun, though. We knew Wade wouldn’t do anything to hurt us. Our group—Dimitri and Zane included—were tight. We’d grown up together and were family.

  A smile curved Trev’s lips. “You’re just jealous that your twin gets to play with all of this.”

  Wade laughed. “No. I love you, but not that much.”

  My brother climbed into the back as Trevor sat in the passenger seat next to me, clipping his seatbelt. When he turned his head my way, I cupped his nape and drew him closer so I could press a quick kiss to his lips. “Happy grad night.”

  “Hmm. I say we skip the ceremony and go right to the after party.”

  Wade cleared his throat. “Can we get going?’

  Laughing, I pulled out of the driveway and headed to the school for the last time. Graduation. We’d made it. Alive.

  About a block from the building, the mark on the left side of my throat tingled, then burned. I slapped a hand over it and glanced at Trev and then Wade. They both had a look that mirrored the fear I felt.

  A moment later, the demon materialized in the back seat next to Wade and grabbed him by the throat. “Keep driving, human, or your brother dies.”

  I did as he asked and turned at the next road. There was no way I’d take the demon to the school. “What do you want?”

  A deep, husky, and evil laugh filled the SUV. “You will do my bidding. I’m searching for a witch. A female. Blond hair and violet eyes. You will kill her.”

  “Like fuck we will,” Wade said and started fighting to get out of the demon’s grasp.

  I glanced between the road and the rearview mirror, heart hammering. “Wade, stop.”

  Since we were marked, I could sense the others as if we were connected on a psychic level. With my twin, that connection went even deeper. I could physically feel his pain. The demon squeezed Wade’s neck tighter. Both of us started coughing.

  “Stop. We’ll do it.”

  I felt the demon’s eyes fix on me and didn’t dare look at him in the mirror. “If you don’t, I’ll kill each of you. One by one. Slowly and painfully.”

  “We’ll do it. Do you have the witch’s name?”

  “You don’t need it. She is marked so you will be able to find her.” Dark power rippled through the SUV, making my skin crawl. “Just in case you aren’t taking my warning seriously, I’ll start with this one.”

  Dread slammed into my gut. When I open my mouth to warn Wade, the demon slammed his head into the window. I screamed, jerked the wheel harder than I intended, and plowed into a tree. Trevor hit the dash and went unconscious. The airbag jetting out of the steering wheel smashed into my face. The horn blared, and steam rolled from under the crushed hood.

  “Wade?” It came out as a whisper. Words were hard to form. He was fading. Tears ran down my cheeks. I couldn’t lose my twin.

  Reaching out, I grabbed Trevor’s hand. Through our connection due to the marks, I picked up on his heartbeat. Letting go of his wrist, I picked up my phone and dialed Dimitri’s cell.

  D answered on the first ring. “What happened?”

  “Accident. Demon. Wade’s dead.” I couldn’t speak anymore. Crippling grief settled into my soul. I dropped the phone and cried fat, ugly tears. I’d made a deal with a demon, and my brother died anyway.

  I’d spend my life figuring out how to kill that damn fiend.

  Reese

  Present Day

  I was stuck in the same dream that had haunted me since I was ten.

  The demon appeared in my bedroom, lip curled and his crimson gaze locked on me. Dark, heavy magic flowed around him, reaching out to me. When I screamed for Mom, the demon threw his hand out. My scream was cut off, and the bedroom door locked on its own.

  A moment later, my right hip burned as if it were touched by hot metal or fire. Then the demon vanished.

  Gasping, I sat up in bed and fought to breathe. I shouldn’t have gone off my meds. As soon as the haze of la la land lifted, the dreams returned and the spirits showed. Like the one pacing my room at the Happy Rose Mental Health Hospital.

  I ignored him, hoping he’d just go away. They usually did after a while.

  He started muttering to himself. Great, a crazy one. Well, I was in a loony bin. Just go away already.

  After another five minutes of listening to him debating whether or not to come back later, I released a heavy sigh and faced him.

  That got his attention.

  “Oh, hi.”

  I studied him and fought the urge to flinch. One would think I’d be used to seeing the dead after my twenty years of living. Being born a hedge witch gave me the ability to see and communicate with the dead. They knew it, too. Always coming to me to give loved ones messages, and on occasion, wanting me to solve their murder.

  However, I couldn’t shut off my empathy for those who died violently. This one appeared as if he’d been in a car accident by the large gash on his forehead and the seatbelt marks on his neck. Or at least I hoped those were seatbelt burns. He couldn’t be more than seventeen. Poor kid.

  He sta
red back at me, his mouth opening and closing. Finally, he hardened his gaze and said, “I need your help.”

  “I don’t help solve murders.”

  He drew his brows together, and his mouth dipped into a frown. Oh, hell. Sitting up in the hard-ass twin bed, I settled my bare feet on the cold floor and winced. “Look, kid, if you haven’t noticed, I’m in a mental hospital and can’t help you.”

  “You can help me if you break out.”

  “And why would I want to do that?”

  He glanced down at my arm and stared at the scar that ran from my wrist to disappear under the sleeve of my nightgown. What he couldn’t see was that the old wound ended at my collarbone. A jagged, thick line left by a demon who thought I owed him something.

  I’d been eighteen when he gave me that reminder. The bastard tried to kill me. Which was odd since he marked me at the age of ten—the first time he found me.

  Annoyed, I grabbed my long-sleeve robe from the post at the foot of the bed. The hospital staff found my scar disturbing, even though they never said anything. Their facial expressions and the pity that rolled off them each time one of them noticed it was hard to ignore. So, I wore a thin, long-sleeve robe on the few days I left my room.

  “Why haven’t you crossed over yet?” I studied him. He was more bothered by me covering my arm than the scar itself. Interesting.

  “You were marked by the demon.”