Marked (The Coldest Fae Book 3) by Katerina Martinez (novel24 .txt) 📗

walking through a camp where, all around, people had looks on their faces like they wanted to do more than pinch me. The moon children still hadn’t accepted me, despite the week of grueling training Toross had put me through.

Toross had explained to me that each member of the pack had to find their place by challenging another. It was a rite of passage for young moon children who wanted to figure out where they fit. I wasn’t about to go challenging anyone, and that meant I would remain an outsider to these people for a while.

A smattering of giggles trickled out of Mel’s tent as I approached. I was about to pull the flap open and go in, when I decided to stop and make myself known first.

“Hey,” I called out.

“Hey Dee,” Melina replied from inside, “Come in. It’s just us two.”

Stepping into the tent I found Mel and Gullie sitting on opposite sides of a large, wooden hoop. There were colored marbles scattered throughout the hoop, as well as obstacles in the form of lead chunks. Two lines of white fabric—one near Mel, and one near Gullie—acted like goals, it looked like.

Mel had a marble in her hand, and with her eyeline low to the ground, she was lining up a shot. “I’m gonna get it this time,” she said.

“What’s this?” I asked, stepping around the hoop and sitting on a bed. “A game?”

“Marbles!” Gullie said, “They play with marbles, too!”

“Wow, I haven’t played with marbles since I was a child,” I said.

Mel shushed us. “Silence, both of you. I can’t let her beat me again.”

“Two to nothing for me so far,” Gullie said, grinning, “Show me what you’ve got.”

With a screwed-up face, Mel flicked her marble right between two leaden pillars. It smacked another marble, which then hit another. That last marble rolled over to the white line, but it didn’t quite cross. Mel cursed.

“Almost!” she hissed.

“Close, but no cigar,” Gullie said. “You’re really bad at this game. How are you so bad at it?”

“You’re using magic, you have an unfair advantage.”

Gullie stretched both her hands out toward a marble sitting near her. Compared to her size, lifting it must’ve been like me trying to lift a boulder. There was no way she would’ve been able to pick one up with her own hands, let alone throw it. But somehow, the marble was moving—and quickly. It came up, following the path set by Gullie’s hand movements.

The pixie paused, considered the field, then hurled the marble into the space, but it didn’t hit another marble—this one struck one of the pieces of lead and bounced off. “Dammit!” Gullie yelped.

Mel shot upright and jabbed a finger at the pixie. “Ha! Disqualified! That’s two to one, now.”

“Dahlia threw me off. Let me go again.”

“Nope. If I have to follow the rules, so do you.”

“Alright, fine, but let’s take a break. Telekinesis takes it out of me.”

Mel nodded, walked over to a small table, and picked up two pieces of fruit. She then sat on the bed next to me and offered one. “Hungry?” she asked.

“No, I just ate,” I said. Then I glanced around the tent. “No Mira tonight?”

A grin spread across Mel’s lips. She cocked an eyebrow. “You know where she is.”

I groaned. “There’s literally nothing I can do to keep those two apart.”

“As well you shouldn’t. Just let it run its course. Maybe they’ll hate each other.”

“Or maybe they won’t, and then what?”

Mel shrugged. “I didn’t see her trying to get between you and Colin.”

“I doubt all the King’s horses could come between those two now,” Gullie said, fluttering over to us.

My cheeks instantly flushed. “It’s different,” I said, mounting a flimsy defense.

“Is it? Just because you’re supposed to be soulmates or something. How do you know they aren’t soulmates? They come in all shapes and sizes.” She paused, glanced at Mel, then floated back over to the table with all the food on it. “Or, you know, so I’m told.”

I shook my head. “I really don’t want to talk about Mira being on a date with my uncle right now. How are we on the whole storm problem?”

“Actually, I think we may have had a breakthrough,” Mel said.

“Really?”

“Well, yeah, that’s why we were playing marbles.”

I brushed my hair behind my ears. “Okay, so, what did you find out?”

“It’s kind of Gull’s theory, but it makes sense to me.”

Gullie turned around. “I might be wrong,” she said.

“Okay?” I asked, “Lay it out.”

She flew over to me and sat on my shoulder, so she could keep her voice down. “So, none of us know when Radulf happened. Not even he does, right?”

“He’s pretty sketchy on the details, yes.”

“It’s possible Radulf has been part of him for a while, though he may have been dormant for a long time; influencing his decisions subtly while not totally taking control of him. If that’s true, then I think I know when exactly Radulf gained enough power to fully manifest.”

“When?”

“That day in the forest, remember? With the Wenlow.”

“I remember. You were there, too,” I said to Melina.

She nodded. “I remember you, though I was way more focused on trying to find orbs that day. When the storm started getting heavy, I headed back to the court… you were still deep in the woods at that point. I never saw the Wenlow.”

“The Wenlow didn’t arrive on its own,” Gullie said, “It came with the storm. Remember that lightning strike? I’m sure that’s how it came to be in those woods. I’m also sure that being so close to the storm is what woke Radulf up or gave him enough power to take hold of the Prince. He’s been getting stronger ever since.”

“How does this help us?”

“This is all just pure theory, but hear me out. The Veridian has come close to the castle before, but every time that’s happened, Windhelm’s sorcerers have been able to fight it back. That’s what Mel and Mira have told me. This time, it didn’t come close enough to