EverMarked Read online

  “You can tell your friend to relax. Ain’t nothing in here to harm him. Whether he be a Marked kid or the future king of Kuros, I could care less.” Ava shrugged, and her long, thin, ash blonde hair fell over her shoulder.

  Theo’s eyes widened. The light from outside cast odd shadows throughout the tiny room, and it was dark enough our features were still hidden. But even in the subtle light, we’d be hard to recognize as Marked. That wasn’t what made her words so shocking; it was the fact that her milky eyes hadn’t seen a thing in years. Cataracts had left her blind since she was a child. Theo had noticed as soon as we walked in, and it had him on edge.

  I made my way toward the small table, which had two chairs around it, leaving Theo to his assessment. I already knew we had nothing to fear from Ava. We had met more than a year ago after one of my first fights. I had miraculously won, but I took some heavy shots, and hadn’t known I had internal bleeding. I collapsed in an alley halfway back to the DEZ and woke up a few hours later here.

  Ava wasn’t a Carbon; she was something else. Carbons had powers and abilities, but as a sign of good faith after the Peace-Making, they wore a cuff stifling that power; a silver band on each wrist they could never take off.

  But Ava had her own powers; a gift from the stars, she’d told me, and a healing ability I had come to rely on.

  “Lift up your shirt, girl,” Ava ordered. I did, revealing already black, swollen ribs. I flinched, her hands cold against my warm skin. She felt around and poked at different spots. I winced and gritted my teeth as Ava shook her head. “You’re lucky you didn’t puncture anything. This could have been much worse. You need to be more careful.”

  “I’ll try to remember that,” I said.

  Her hands hovered over the wound, and a cool, tingling sensation slid over the pain. I didn’t just feel, but heard the ribs snap back into place. I let out a heavy breath as the sharp pain subsided, and the calm healing powers of Ava poured through me.

  When she pulled her hands away, a gasp sounded from Theo still standing by the door. I glanced down to where the dark, swollen bruise once was to see the pale, smooth skin of my side again. I dropped my shirt back down and gave Theo a cocky smile.

  “Thank you, Ava,” I said and took a seat across from her. She poured me a cup of tea, and the peppermint and orange soothed my dry throat.

  She filled up her own cup again, and then moved to a third cup before she paused and glanced towards the door. “Do you plan to join us, or are you just going to gawk from over there?” Ava tilted her head to Theo.

  I hid my smile as he stumbled over, taking a small stool from beside the window with him and sitting down a little closer than necessary. He looked like a giant on the tiny stool, sitting a good foot lower than me. His knees were almost at his chest, his chin nearly resting on the table.

  Ava passed him a cup of tea, which he took without taking his eyes off the old woman. Not done with his assessment.

  He must have finally given up guessing, as he asked, “What are you?”

  “An old lady your friend here thinks to take advantage of whenever she’s hurt.” Ava sipped on her tea.

  I scoffed. “You’re the one who took me in first! You could have left me in the gutters with the sewer rats if you didn’t want me coming around.”

  Ava shrugged her shoulders as if to say, “Maybe I should have.”

  “No, I mean what are you?” Theo pressed, the grip around his small cup of tea tightening. He hadn’t taken a sip yet.

  “I’m human, if that’s what you mean,” Ava said, not in the least offended.

  I, on the other hand, gave Theo a sharp kick to the shin, silently telling him to shut up.

  He didn’t. “How can you…do what you did?”

  “Heal?” Ava said, as if she didn’t know exactly what he was asking. For an old lady, she had a lot of bite to her. “It’s my gift from the stars.”

  Theo looked between Ava and me, waiting for an explanation I wasn’t about to give.

  Ava sighed and put down her cup of tea. “Much like the Carbons, my people have gifts, given to us by the forest we were born into. The Muted Forest changed my people many years ago, and now, as descendants of The Ladies of the Muted Forest and the Mountain Men, we carry those gifts within ourselves to use as the stars bid us.” She tilted her head to me. “Or on spoiled brats who keep getting themselves into trouble.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  Theo’s eyes widened with disbelief. “You…you were a Lady of the Muted Forest?” Ava nodded. “But how? They were living legend. They don’t exist anymore. That’s…not possible.”

  Ava quirked a smile, her milky eyes resting on Theo, even though she couldn’t possibly see him. “Then you must be talking to a ghost, boy.”

  “But I thought…” He stopped short of saying anything else stupid.

  “You, like everyone else, thought the stories ended in victory and peace, and we all just moved on and forgot what happened. But you’re wrong. We’re still here, the Ladies and Watchers, too. We still exist, and we watch the shadows.” Ava leaned in close enough to him that he froze. “The shadows are where evil beings still exist. It never left—the darkness. It’s just been hiding.”

  A chill went down my spine at the tone in Ava’s voice.

  Before the Peace-Making, a symbolic end to the war between the humans and the Carbons a hundred and fifty years ago, Watchers protected us. Elite humans trained to kill and destroy Carbons. But why would we still need them? Wasn’t there peace?

  We were silent for a moment before I slurped back the last of my tea and stood. “Well, as fun as this conversation is, I think we’d better get going. Don’t want anyone to notice we’re gone for too long.” I pulled Theo to his feet, his eyes still studying Ava for a second longer, before he shook himself out of his stare.

  “Always a pleasure to see you, Sienna.” Ava tipped her cup my way with a bite of sarcasm. “Next time, why don’t you try visiting without a wound to heal?”

  “I make no promises,” I joked. “But I’ll try.” I bent down and gave Ava a soft kiss on the forehead before turning back to our exit.

  As I reached for the doorknob, Ava said, “You’d be wise to stick together in the coming months. It’s not safe out there on your own, especially at night. Who knows what other dark things await you in the shadows?”

  I glanced up to Theo, his brow was low as he frowned. But I nodded. “Of course, Ava. We’ll stick together.”

  As the door shut behind us and we stalked quickly through the halls and out to the busy streets, I couldn’t help but watch the shadows a little closer and wonder what might be hiding there.

  Chapter 3

  Sienna

  The DEZ had a depressing façade, both inside and out. No matter how far away from the downtown core it was, the large cement building couldn’t hide from sight, even placed discreetly on the far end of the city. It was still an eyesore for anyone who passed. It had no windows or view from the inside. Technically, no way in besides the main doors guarded day and night, but Vic had helped me find a few ways.

  A cool breeze swept through the open street we walked down, the lights no longer dancing in the sky far away from the city center.

  A few blocks before we reached the DEZ, we moved towards the underground water canals flowing through the city. We were careful no one saw us. The grate we stood next to, above the sound of rushing water, was easy to lift. The water itself was only waist deep, not hard to move through, and relatively clean…at least that’s what I told myself.

  I hissed through my teeth as I dropped into the cold water. Theo did the same behind me before reaching up and pulling the grate back into place. We let the water move us forward, closer to the depressing grey building looming in the moonlight through the narrow slits of the grates lined up every few yards.

  “How long have you known Ava?” Theo asked. He’d been quiet most of the way back, but I could see his mind working the entire time. Calculating everythi
ng she’d said to us.

  “About a year.”

  “And you trust her?”

  “With my life,” I said. And I meant it. She had saved me more than a few times when I got myself in over my head during a fight, once on my way home when I hadn’t been cautious enough to stay out of sight of a few drunk idiots looking to pick a fight with the genetic freak.

  “She’s a bit…odd.” Theo chose his words strategically.

  “She’s different, but she can be trusted,” I said. “Don’t think too hard about what she said; she’s always going off on some weird tangent about the stars and fate. I don’t put much weight into how much of it is truth. All I know is she’s protected me, kept my secret, and saved me more than once.”

  Theo nodded. Though it didn’t stop the wheels in his head from turning, it kept him silent the rest of the way.

  When we finally reached the cement walls of home, I sucked in a deep breath and dove under the water, moving with the current under the thick cement walls through the narrow pipe. It was a good distance to the other side, but I had trained myself to hold my breath for a long time.

  The chasm opened into the basement mechanical room. Taking only a second to catch my breath, I quickly pulled myself out of the water and ducked behind the large furnace. Oil fumes filled the air, tickling my throat. The space was loud enough we didn’t have to worry about being quiet.

  A towel had been left for me by Vic, probably hours ago, as I had returned much later than planned. But I could always count on her to have my back. Under the towel was a small bag filled with dry clothes for me to change into.

  Theo hopped out behind me, shaking out his wet hair. Once I was dry, I tossed him the damp towel.

  “Thanks.” He glared at it, holding it out between pinched fingers.

  “You should have planned ahead before you decided to follow me,” I teased, turning my back to him as I sloughed off my soaking wet top. The hairs on the back of my neck tingled a familiar warning sign, telling me I was being watched. When I glanced over my shoulder, Theo quickly turned his gaze away.

  My wet pants suctioned to my legs as I pulled them off, tossing them in a pile before replacing them with the dry, warm ones Vic had left me. Dark red pants clung tight to my still sticky, damp legs, and the long-sleeved black shirt covered all thirteen strikes on my arm.

  I had more than the customary two marks on my wrist we were given as children—the ones differentiating the Marked from the Pur, genetic kids that were like us, only their parents kept them, and they had no marks classifying them as different. They were still made perfect in appearance, like us, only we were someone’s leftover garbage. The kids in the DEZ were unwanted, impure, and marked to make that clear.

  I was marked with thirteen lines so far, a testament to the amount of times I’d done something wrong, said the wrong thing, or been the wrong thing. Our instructors, if you can even call them that—more like prison guards—didn’t take kindly to those who stood up for themselves or questioned their ways. And I was always questioning.

  When I turned back around, Theo had removed his shirt and was wringing out the water as best he could. It was impossible not to stare at his bare chest. Ripped with muscles covering his smooth, tan skin, he was stunning. The only imperfection on him was the two thick, black lines marked on his wrist.

  But that was how we were all made—perfect. All genetic kids had the gift, and curse, of being flawless, even the Marked. Created from the DNA of only the best parts of Carbon and human parents, we were molded into something to be revered. Only we were hidden while the Pur lived in the lap of luxury. They were the lucky ones. We were the rejects, the ones marked with a flaw, and shoved away in this hovel.

  “So how am I supposed to get back to my quad soaking wet?” Theo asked, rubbing the towel through his wet black hair, making it stick up all over the place.

  I chuckled as I patted down the stray pieces as best I could. “That’s for you to figure out, not me. That will teach you for following me.”

  Theo grabbed my wrist as I went to pull away, keeping his gaze locked on mine. I tensed under his stare and the fire in his eyes. “You need to be more careful, Sienna. If I followed you there, that means anyone else could have.”

  I pulled my hand out of his grip and crossed my arms. “I don’t need you to protect me or tell me to be more careful. I can take care of myself.”

  He tilted his head to the side. “Sure you can.” He didn’t believe me, but he let it go, kicking off his shoes and dumping the water out with a sigh.

  I turned to leave, set on letting him figure a way out on his own, but guilt stopped me. I tossed him my bag of wet clothes. “Take everything off but your boxers and put them in the bag. Vic will pick them up tomorrow morning and make sure everything’s dry.”

  Theo did as he was told, and again I turned my back to him as he removed his pants. He shoved everything, including his shoes, in the bag, and I slid it all under the large, steel furnace we hid behind. I placed a finger to my lips and began leading the way.

  My footsteps matched the cadence of the machinery, a constant rhythm I settled into. Slithering between equipment, I paused at each corner, waiting four seconds as the camera bots circled above in a constant pattern. Theo followed my lead with a bit more difficulty than me. He was a lot bigger after all. When we reached the doors leading out of the mechanical room into the basement of the DEZ, I pointed to the two camera bots circling the large room and motioned with my fingers the four-second intervals we had to time our movements by.

  I waited for the first to pass before I slid under the railing of the staircase and cracked the door open. Glancing down the empty hallway, I opened the door a bit wider and squeezed through, pressing myself against the wall so Theo had room to get through, too. He arrived four seconds later, undetected. The door closed silently behind us, and we breathed a small sigh of relief.

  The rest of the way back to our quads was much easier. The hallways only had camera bots at the crossroads, and they were less attentive given the fact that seeing us walk down the hallways wasn’t a crime. But we still avoided them as best we could. A few too many questions to answer, given Theo’s current attire…or lack thereof. Plus, we weren’t technically supposed to be wandering the hallways after lights out.

  We were only a few more turns away from our quads when footsteps sounded in the distance, coming closer. We turned on our heels, scrambling for a way out, but the camera bot was hovering on the route back. The route forward took us face-to-face with the person behind the footsteps.

  The hallway was dim, but not dark enough to hide in plain sight. Silently, we wrestled with each other, fear and excitement coursing through my veins. I pushed him forward, and he spun out of my hands and tried to do the same. We grappled and clawed, trying to grab hold of the other to shove them in the way of those footsteps and the person taking them towards us.

  Who was going to take the fall? I knew if it was me, I’d have less explaining to do, though I’d likely get another strike. If it wasn’t for Theo, though, I’d already be in my quad. Narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms over my chest, my eyes silently told him just that.

  Sighing, Theo tilted his head back, mouthing the words, “Fine, but you owe me big time,” before he shoved me into the alcove of a doorway and took a few steps towards whoever was coming.

  “Theo?” The voice of Instructor Yarik echoed through the hallway. “Care to explain what exactly you’re doing out of your quad in…those?”

  I had to cover my mouth to stop from bursting with laughter.

  “Uh, I just went to get a drink from the kitchen. Couldn’t sleep. Guess I forgot to put on pants,” Theo said. I could hear the humiliation in his voice.

  I clutched my stomach, clamping my mouth tight as I tried desperately not to laugh. One glimpse of his expression would’ve pushed me over the edge. I knew the look on our stern instructor’s face would have been extremely un-amused. Instructor Yarik was anything but u
nderstanding, and she was the last person I’d expect to crack a smile at the sight of Theo in only his boxers.

  “Well, I would advise you to take more care next time you choose to leave your quad in the middle of the night. This could be a strike against you, if I were so inclined,” Instructor Yarik chided, and I swallowed back the guilt. I was used to getting in trouble, the thirteen strikes on my forearm were a testament to that, but not Theo. He rarely stepped out of line.

  “I’m sorry, Instructor. It won’t happen again,” Theo said, his usual smooth voice filled with confidence. I could almost feel the boyish charm he tried to lay on her.

  To my surprise, it worked. “Fine. Just get back to your quad. Now,” Yarik said, and the two began heading down the hallway, away from me.

  I glanced around the corner of the doorway I hid behind as Theo and Yarik rounded the corner. Theo’s eyes caught mine before he swept out of view, his mouth a thin line as he glared at me. I gave him a sweet smile and a little wave of my fingers.

  Quiet as a mouse, I padded down the hallway, taking the opposite corner Theo had as I slipped toward my quad. The round familiar steel door came into view a few steps away. I pressed my hand against the panel on the wall, and the lock clicked open. I pulled at the heavy door until it was open enough for me to squeeze through and crept in, sealing it shut behind me.

  The bed under me shifted, and a light flicked on. Vic’s tired eyes squinted through the bright space. “What took you so long?” she asked, yawning.

  “I had a stowaway holding me up.” I gently pushed her over a bit, making room for me on the tiny bed.

  We’d always shared a room, even when we were old enough to have our own. I couldn’t sleep if she wasn’t beside me, and I think even though she could sleep alone, she knew I needed her. So she stayed. The rooms, which we called quads, were only meant for one person. A single hard bed covered the entire space. Two small shelves by the head of the bed kept a clock and a small notepad. We shared the single compartment recessed into the wall housing our clothes. And a single, incredibly bright, and way too harsh, light was overhead. If I were claustrophobic, this room would be my worst nightmare. But despite the cold space and constant smell of dirt and a musky, smoky scent, it was home.