Daemons in the Mist (The Marked Ones Trilogy: Book One) (7 page)

“
How
complicated?”

“I can’t tell you…”

“Or what, you’d have to kill me?” I said jokingly.

Nualla’s eyes went wide before she looked down at the table again. “Um…yeah.”

I choked on my coffee. I had been entirely joking, but Nualla’s eyes told me she wasn’t. “What, is your dad a mob boss or something?”

Nualla had a look on her face like she was trying to teach rocket science to a fish. “Yeah…something like that.”

I leaned back in my chair, covering my mouth with my hand.
Shit
, just what exactly had I gotten myself into?

Nualla reached out a tentative hand to touch mine, and I looked up. “There’s more…” she said uneasily.

“The bad part?” I said, bracing myself for what else life could possibly feel like throwing at me this morning.

“Yeah…turns out we actually
did
get married last night.”

10

Vanishing into Dreams

Saturday, January 14th

PATRICK

A
fter a rather quick, uncomfortably silent late lunch, we headed to the airport and hopped a plane back to San Francisco. I had always thought on my first trip out of the state I would have wanted to do more sightseeing, but I hadn’t really much felt like it at the time.

None of us talked on the plane. Shawn listened to music, Nikki flipped through one of the in-flight magazines, and Nualla stared out the window nervously playing with her necklace. I flipped through all the incriminating photos we had taken the night before on my phone. If these ever made it onto Facebook, I would be a dead man for sure.

At a little after eight we finally made it out of the airport in San Francisco on our way to the parking garage. Nualla rounded the corner then leapt back pressing herself against the wall, panic stricken. Nikki, Shawn, and I stopped dead in our tracks. Nualla looked at the other two and mouthed something to them before looking up at me. I got the distinct impression that they knew
exactly
what was around that corner because they both tensed.

Nualla took a step toward me as she rummaged around in her purse. She grabbed my hand and slapped something into it. “Patrick here’s some cash, get yourself a cab.”

“Wait
what
? Is it Michael again or something?”

“No, worse,” she answered, not meeting my eyes.

I started running through the list of people that could possibly be worse than Michael. “Is it your
dad
?”

Nualla grabbed my hands and held them in hers. “No, but Patrick, you
really
have to trust me on this. Please go. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Nualla, you’re not making any sense.” I tried to look around her, but I couldn’t lean far enough to see past the wall.

“I know; I’m sorry. I’ll explain everything to you later.”

I looked back at her. “Promise?”

“Promise,” she answered, sounding extremely anxious.

“
Fine
,” I relented, closing my hand around the cash.

I looked away from her eyes trying to get up enough courage for what I was going to do next. I was afraid that if I let her go this would all vanish; that I would wake up tomorrow to find that it had all been a really strange dream.

I extended my hand toward her slowly, trying to keep it from shaking. Taking a deep breath, I let the fear go like I had on the dance floor. The tips of my fingers brushed her soft hair, and I pulled her face close to mine.

“One more thing before I go.” It was now or never, I swallowed hard and continued. “I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I saw you. And I’m not a hundred percent sure I got my chance yet, so…” And then I kissed her, for what could be the last time for all I knew.

I turned and started walking away before I could lose the calm, cool person I was currently projecting. “See you Monday before school, on the steps of the parking lot entrance, okay?”

“‘Kay,” she said in a small voice, so low it didn’t even echo off the parking garage walls.

I didn’t look back, just continued walking. I didn’t need to be home. I didn’t need to be anywhere really. Anywhere—but with her.

NUALLA

P
atrick brushed the tips of his fingers across my hair as he pulled me closer. “One more thing before I go.”

My breath caught but never escaped, his eyes were vast pools, dark mysteries pulling me into their embrace. “I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I saw you. And I’m not a hundred percent sure I got my chance yet, so…”

I was going to ask
“what?”
but I didn’t get a chance to. Patrick leaned in and kissed me, his eyes sliding closed. He kissed me deeply, passionately. His lips were so soft, softer than I imagined lips could feel. And then he pulled away and turned to leave. “See you Monday before school, on the steps of the parking lot entrance, okay?”

I was still in shock, so the only thing that popped out of my mouth was, “‘Kay,” and I said it to his retreating back.

I could feel a deep sadness following him, but I couldn’t do anything about it but watch him go. He was not ready for what was on the other side of the wall. Hell,
I
wasn’t even ready for it.

Once Patrick was nearly out of sight, I swallowed hard and rounded the corner. In the distance the curvy form of a woman leaned against Shawn’s car. When we got a few feet closer my fears were confirmed. It was Tylia, one of the Kalo Protectorate’s high ranking officers. Everything about her read sleek and deadly except for her hair, which was a pulled back ‘fro.

“So, how was Vegas?” Tylia asked, looking down at her nails.

I just stared dumbly at her. “How did you—?”

She stopped leaning against the car and took a step forward. “Nualla it’s my
job
to ensure the safety of the Chancellarius and his family. Do you really think you could leave the state without me knowing?”

I made to push past her. “Well we’re back now, so you can stop keeping tabs on us.”

She put an arm out in front of me. “Not so fast,
Arius
. I would ask you
why
you were in Vegas, but I already know.” Tylia reached into her back pocket and whipped out an eCopy of my marriage license.

I rocked back on my heels and nearly fell over. With a steadying breath, I reached out and took the ePaper.

“I intercepted
that
before anyone else saw it. I suggest you tell your father before Monday, or I will have to,” Tylia advised, gesturing to the ePaper.

“Thanks, Tylia,” I said, staring down at the simple document that was causing a lot of my current problems.

“Keeping the peace is one of my job responsibilities too, you know,” Tylia said over her shoulder as she stalked off in the direction we had come—toward Patrick.

A chill ran down my spine, and I called out to Tylia. “You leave him alone, Tylia. I don’t want you hurting him. I…I like him.”

Tylia turned back to look at me, arms crossed in front of her. “Honey, as much as I might wish different, that boy is now part of your family for better or for worse. And so protecting his ass now falls on my list of responsibilities. Hurting him is the
last
thing I’m going to do. Your father, on the other hand, is a completely different story,” Tylia stated before she turned and continued in the direction she had been going.

And this time I didn’t stop her.

11

How to Ruin Your Life in 48-Hours or Less

Saturday, January 14th

NUALLA

I
opened the door quietly, and Nikki and I made for the stairs. But as I hit the first step, I heard my father Alex’s voice from the living room. “Hey kids, you’re back early.”

I turned slowly to face my parents, hiding my ring hand behind me as I did. I looked nervously at Nikki, willing myself to stay calm before answering, “Yeah, something came up.”

“Oh?” Alex said, arching an eyebrow.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I really should have thought up a lie
before
coming home.

There was a slight creaking on the stairs, and my sister Andraya pushed past me. “Nice rock,” she said with a snide smirk to her voice.

“Rock? I thought you went to Las Vegas, did you go camping instead?” My mother Loraly asked, looking a little confused.

My sister dropped down onto one of the couches and opened her book. “No, Mom, the sparkly kind you wear on your finger, not the kind you find on the ground,” she clarified as she wiggled the fingers of her left hand for effect.

“A ring?” Loraly asked, looking over at me.

I looked back at them, horrified. This was bad, at this rate they were going to figure it out before I could even tell them. And that is
never
a good thing. So I went for stupid teenager Plan B. Blurt it out quickly and hope they understand none of it.

“I got married in Vegas to a human. Please don’t kill me,” I said in a rush, throwing my hands in front of my face. Silence hung so heavily in the air I finally had to peek through my fingers at my family.

“Wait, did I seriously just hear that right? You got
married
?” Andraya asked incredulously, finally breaking the silence.

“Yeah…” I answered reluctantly in a voice so quiet it was more breath than noise.

“Since when were you even
dating
anyone?” Andraya asked, dropping her book and jumping to her feet.

“Um…” I answered uneasily as I ran my teeth over my bottom lip. I had absolutely no idea how to explain the next part. I was a terrible liar and everyone knew it.

“You
were
at least dating him for a while, right?” Andraya asked as she stared at me with a slightly horrified expression.

This wasn’t exactly going well, but it wasn’t a disaster yet either. Until that is, Nikki chimed in from next to me. “No, actually I think Nualla just met him this week.”

And that’s when all hell broke loose.

In the short time after Nikki had accidentally outed my complete lack of good judgment from the weekend in front of nearly our whole family, absolute chaos had ensued. Nikki had buried herself far into the pillows of the couch to avoid my fierce glare, and my parents were sitting in stunned silence, their mouths hanging open.

“Nualla, are you out of your
mind
?!” Andraya crossed the room and gestured dramatically. “Are you trying to
expose
us or something?” I really didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. “You never
think
, Nualla! You never think about how what you do affects all of us!” Andraya screamed at me.

Alex finally stood up and walked over to my sister. “Andraya, that’s enough,” he said, placing a hand  on her shoulder. “You know this was, and is, Nualla’s decision to make. We can have no say in the matter.”

Andraya wilted under our father’s hand. As much as she would hate to admit it, he was right.

“Nualla, did you marry this boy of your own free will?”

“Yes.” I looked up into his face, tears pricking my eyes. The moment he had placed his hand on Andraya’s shoulder in my defense I had hung my head. I hated to disappoint him, and even though he had said it was my decision to make, disappointment still shone in his eyes. “No one forced me to make this decision. It was my own fault.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Fault?” When I didn’t answer he reached out and pulled me close for a hug. Smoothing my hair, he looked down at me. “Nualla, sweetheart, choosing a life mate is not something to be ashamed of. It
is
a big decision that is only for
you
to make.” He looked over and I knew he was glaring at Andraya as he continued. “And none of us, or anyone
else
for that matter, has a right to demand explanations from you.”

I loved my dad; no matter how bleak things looked or how stupid I felt, he always made me feel better. “Really?” I asked, looking up at him.

He smiled down at me. “Really.” He released me and took a step back. “Now since he is a Neodaemon, he will have to register at The Embassy and will no doubt have lots of questions.”

I looked down at my shoes. “Yeah, about that…he’s human.”

“Yes Nualla, you mentioned that, that is why he will…” Alex stopped talking when he saw me start shaking my head.

“No I mean he’s
still
human.”

“
What
?” Alex said, completely taken aback.

“Way to go, Nualla, you even managed to screw
that
up,” Andraya said from across the room.

“Andraya dear, you really aren’t helping,” Loraly said with a sigh.

“But you married him?” Alex asked, looking confused and concerned at the same time.

“Most definitely. We had fake ID’s, but I’m pretty sure we spoke the oath so—”

“What do you mean by ‘pretty sure’?” Alex asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Well…you see we were…” I looked at the floor and braced for the reaction to what I was about to say. “Well all three, I mean all four of us were um…really drunk.”

Silence hung in the air, someone coughed but I couldn’t tell who since I was still staring at the floor. The silence drifted on till it became unbearable. Finally, I just had to look up. Alex was staring at me in complete disbelief. “You got married to a boy you barely knew while you were
drunk
?!”

“Basically,” I admitted reluctantly.

“Nualla, are you completely
insane
?!” Andraya shouted, but Alex put up his hand, and she didn’t continue.

Alex looked at me, and I could see barely restrained anger behind his eyes. I had only seen it on occasion since he was a really kind person but still, it was frightening. He had only questioned my judgment a few times while I was growing up. However, he never had cause to question Andraya’s.

“As I said, Nualla has made her decision, and we have no right to question it. Though I would have hoped she would have had enough common sense to at least make it with a clear head. What’s done is done—there is no going back. What I don’t understand, however, is why he’s still human?”

My voice was tight and only came out barely audible. “Well we didn’t…”

“You didn’t
what
?” Alex looked hopelessly confused, and I was hoping to avoid having to give him play-by-play.

Fortunately for once in her life, Andraya opened her big mouth to actually come to my aid as opposed to her normal stance of kicking me while I’m down. “Don’t you see, she married him. She just didn’t
sleep
with him,” she said, a wide smirk spreading across her face.

Our parents’ eyebrows shot up. “
Oh
!”

Alex held up a finger and opened his mouth to say something, but then clamped it shut again. He began pacing back and forth across the floor deep in concentration before stopping and bolting out of the room and up the stairs.

I slumped into the nearest chair and hung my head back. Why wouldn’t this nightmare of a weekend just end? Seriously, had I really ever done anything so bad as to deserve
this
?

A few minutes later Alex came bounding down the stairs again, a large old book in his hand. I didn’t really have to look at it for more than a second to know it was
The Kalo Book of Law
. “The good news is we don’t have to kill him,” he announced loudly after entering the room.

I shot to my feet. “
Excuse me
?!”

“If you had told him our secrets without marrying him, the Grand Council would have had no choice but to order his execution. Since you
did
marry him, he is in no danger there. But…”

“What’s the bad news?” I asked with a grimace.

“You have to turn him within the year, or they
will
have to execute him.”

“Great, so I have to tell him his options are death, delayed death, or possible death,” I said sarcastically.

Alex’s pleasant mood hardened. “You didn’t tell him the consequences of becoming a daemon yet?”

“No. Hell, I’m not even sure I told him what we are in the first place, let alone that turning him might
kill
him.”

Alex placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Nualla, there are only a few ways this can turn out. Either you turn him and he may possibly die, or you give him to the Council to be executed, or you annul the marriage through human means and spend the rest of your life alone until he dies.” He took both my shoulders and looked at me sadly. “I wish there were more options honey, but there aren’t. But whatever you choose we can have no say in it.”

“Well I don’t want him to be executed, so option two is out. And I cannot say with complete certainty that I didn’t let any of our secrets slip, so option three is out. So I guess all that’s left is option one,” I said, sighing. “I’m just not looking forward to explaining everything to him.”

Loraly, who had been watching us all with wide shocked eyes, finally moved closer and put an arm around me. “Nualla, honey, is he at least a nice boy?”

I thought back over the week; Patrick was more than nice really. I mean he hadn’t put up any resistance to the crazy things we had dragged him off to—most would have at least put up a
slight
protest. A smile crossed my lips as I looked at her. “Yes, very.”

“What is his name?” she asked, with a reassuring smile.

“Patrick.”

“What’s his
last
name?” Andraya asked, with a smirk.

I just stood there for a second racking my brain, I knew he had told me, now what was it?

“You married a boy and you don’t even know his last name?!” Alex had his head in his hand again, but more out of loving frustration than anger.

“I do know it—I
swear
—I just can’t remember it at the moment,” I said quickly.

“It’s Connolly, Patrick Connolly,” Nikki said, coming to my rescue.

“Are you sure, Nikkalla?” Alex asked, turning to her.

“Yeah. He goes to our school—actually he’s even in some of our classes. He’s wicked smart. Well, at least
most
of the time anyway.”

“Well that’s a relief,” Alex said with a slight smile.