“A demon?”
“Dark Mage.”
My blood ran cold. “And he’s the only one who could get the Moraine to leave?”
Madsen nodded, but with hesitation. “Sitri, and whoever may bear his mark.”
“His mark?”
“It’s said to be something of tradition. The emblem is used to herald someone as his mate.”
You’re marked. That’s what Brittany had said.
The hooded stranger in the parking lot.
He had runes. Runes that my own had responded to.
I could feel Reese’s eyes burning a hole through my profile.
“Have you ever seen this before?” asked Reese, his voice crackling over the words. He handed over his phone with the image of the scorched symbol burned into the boiler room wall.
Madsen swallowed hard. “That’s it. That’s the mark.” He dragged a hand over his face. “Has anything else happened? Anything out of the ordinary? Increased demonic activity? Any other spectral figures?”
My chest tightened the moment Reese opened his mouth. Would he tell him? Could we really trust Madsen?
“An entire bus of students disappeared a few weeks back. One of those students was killed a couple nights ago, and two more kids were turned into Hellhounds. We don’t know what happened to the rest.” Reese swiped to the other photo I’d forwarded from Adam. “And this was left at yet another murder.”
“It’s a sacrificial ceremony of some sort. A summoning like this would only be used to break one of Hell’s seals. I can’t make out the inscriptions though.” Madsen’s entire body shuddered at the mere image. “If Sitri’s mark is topside, then it means he already is as well. Whatever his plan is, this is only the beginning. More creatures like the Moraine will come.”
“What do you mean a ‘seal’?” asked Reese.
“Unholy power resides in Hell. The only way to bring it here would be to break the spell binding it there. Every seal has a specific code that needs to be unlocked for it to work.” Madsen studied the picture all the more. “Given the Moraine’s unfortunate appearance, it’s safe to say that Sitri performed that ceremony to bring that beast here.”
“Who is he?” I finally managed to ask, feeling my insides constricting tighter and tighter. “Sitri, I mean.”
The doctor began to speak, but abruptly stopped. A glimmer of understanding flickered in his eyes as he studied me. Studied the fear that even my strongest mask could not conceal. “May I see your arm?”
I didn’t move. Couldn’t move.
“Please.” There was an inexplicable sense of earnestness in his gaze. He knew what it was like to be hunted. He knew what it was like to live in constant fear. He knew what I was. Madsen rounded the table, kneeling in front of me.
“Kat…” Reese’s voice was barely audible.
Despite my apprehension, I gave Madsen my arm. His fingers caressed my wrist, steadying the slight tremble that rattled through the limb as he pushed up my sleeve with his other hand. His eyes became pensive as he rotated my arm, taking in every symbol.
His lips tightened, his face going taut at the sight. He wasn’t afraid. He was…concerned. Concerned for me. For a stranger.
A single tear escaped down my cheek. “What are they?”
“They’re Enochian runes.”
Reese pinched his eyes shut.
“It’s the language of the Fallen. Of the angels banished from paradise. I recognize several of their etchings. Like this one.” His fingers traveled over the upside-down Y. “It’s Naudiz.”
I just looked at him blankly.
“The omen rune. It reacts to impending distress.” Madsen finally held my gaze. “You weren’t born a Mage, were you?”
I shook my head, feeling that foreign energy pulsating beneath my skin. Beneath his mark.
“Hey.” Madsen gently tipped my chin up, as if reading the thought right inside my eyes. “You may have been marked by darkness, but you still have humanity in you. You haven’t been claimed.”
“Claimed?”
“Bitten,” answered Reese. “You haven’t been infected with the demonic virus.”
“Exactly.” Madsen tugged my sleeve back down. “Sitri may have imprinted on you, but he chose not to turn you. Not yet anyway. It may be a mercy, but it’s a highly feeble one. The moment he finds it suitable, he’ll come for you.”
“Is there a way to stop him?”
“Apart from killing him, probably not. And that won’t be easy, especially considering that no one knows what he even looks like. But he appears to be working on a schedule of some sort if he didn’t wish to claim you when he had the chance. If you put a damper on his plans, it might buy you more time to find out who he is.”