“What are you looking so animated about?” Mischa asked, examining my face.
Jacob and Tyson both chuckled. “That’s her happy-violence face,” the wizard said. “If that face is ever directed toward you, I suggest you run.”
“Shut it, you not-so-funny-fu—” An excited shriek ran through the crowd and cut me off. Supernaturals screamed and called out names.
Braxton, who was about a head taller than most here – everyone except his brothers – only had to crane his neck slightly to see. “They seem to be finding friends and family in these new arrivals.”
I wondered which prison they had been rescued from. It could be anywhere in the world.
The recently arrived supes – from those I could see – remained separate from the current residents of the sanctuary. Staying together in a group, their movements were jittery and nervous as they closed in protectively around the young in their midst. It looked like there were only three children and no babies. They were a little cleaner than the group I’d seen in Vanguard’s secret marked room, but not by a lot, their clothes old and tattered, eyes heavy and weary. If the king thought he was coming back to an army, he was in for a shock. These supes were damaged. The Four were so far up on my shit list … I didn’t even know I could feel hate this strongly.
A witch standing near us broke down into tears. The scent of her emotions floated through the crowd. She drew more of my attention when she started to murmur, “Lacey … Lacey…” over and over. Her tears increased as a witch with short, ragged black hair broke away from the new arrivals and without hesitation ran straight into her arms.
They embraced as if they had not seen each other in years, which was probably true, and I was pretty sure they were sisters, or cousins. They had the same Asian features and thick, coarse hair, though the first female was decidedly better kept.
How many dragon marked were still out there, hidden, tortured? I turned back to my pack. “I know twins are often marked, but does the mark generally run in family lines?”
Quale appeared out of thin air or something – like bam, popped in right next to me. I didn’t jump though, I have reflexes like a ninja. Okay, maybe not, but I took a moment to be thankful I managed not to squeal like a bitch.
The mystic’s voice was low. “Dragon marked are mostly in the same family line, so not always siblings, but sometimes aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins. Most marked supernaturals will have other marked family somewhere along the line of the last thousand years.”
I wondered if Mischa and I had any relatives in this group. No one had ever mentioned other marked in the Lebron line, but I should ask Dad about it one day.
My heart clenched then. I missed my father … even my mother, although she hadn’t been in my life for long, so it wasn’t that strange to not have her around. But Jonathon, well, we were a team, and I was missing the heck out of him. I knew he would be worried about Mischa and me too. I hoped Louis was keeping him updated.
Louis. That damn sorcerer.
He was moving us around like chess pieces and it pissed me right off that half the board was hidden. It meant I had no idea when I was about to become a pawn.
I was no one’s pawn.
It was time to start demanding answers. “Is Louis coming here?”
Quale looked uncomfortable, shifting on the spot from one foot to the other. “I’m actually unable to contact him right now. We spoke yesterday, but since your arrival, no response.”
That better mean he was currently twenty thousand feet in the air flying himself and my parents to Romania. I knew he could step through one of his portal things, but I wasn’t sure he had enough power to move three supernaturals this sort of distance. He’d most probably be on a plane.
“I’m sure he is on his way here,” Quale said, following my train of thought. “It will be very strange to meet him after all these years of simply being pen pals of a sort.”
My mind flashed to the tall, powerful presence of the violet-eyed sorcerer. He was nothing like the semi-timid Quale. I wondered why the mystics had inferred that Quale was a badass who listened to no one. Heck no! He was more like a nerdy airhead who wandered off and got lost a lot. Either that or he was hiding his true self from us, and doing a damn good job at it.
My eye caught on Maximus. I sidled closer to the vampire. “You need to feed.” His fangs were partially extended. Normally, I couldn’t see them unless he wanted me to.
He brushed aside my concern. “It’s fine. I’ll find out soon enough what the vamps do for blood here.”
I swung around, my gaze hard on Quale. “Where is your feeding zone?”