Read Cold Mark for Free Online Page B

comforting. The feeling was mutual. "Where's Jax?" I needed him.
    They fell silent as both now stared out their windows. Their shoulders relaxed, and they appeared to not have any inclination of answering me. As if I was not even sitting across from them.
    That was not going to cut it. My voice rose. "Where is Jax?"
    Still, no response. They acted like they had not heard me.
    It was then it occurred to me. Pluma Creo had been interested in him. "He's with them ."
    Leo's golden eyes were piercing in their intensity. "Because you are our Soul, we obviously received first pick with the Humans—you." A cruel smile tilted his lips, a merciless gleam of satisfaction. "Pluma Creo and Pluma Moir chose your friend next. So yes, he is now with our enemy in the city Vlymun."
    A rush of despair so grand that I could not breathe, blasted through my entire frame. It took everything I had not to bawl right there. I tucked my chin down, blinking repeatedly to squelch any tears that wanted to fall. Stiffly, I placed my hands on my lap and said nothing more, now alone on this alien planet without my dearest friend. Heartache could not even describe it. The agony of losing him to the other leaders of the Mian was a steady punch to my heart with every bounce of our vehicle.
    While I waded in my desolation, the only luxury I found in our, now silent, trek to Belvar was that Malik and Leo continued to readjust on their seat, appearing to never find a comfortable position.

I stood staring out the vast windows of my new bedroom. We had made it to Belvar. The city was truly a fortress. My eyes took in the sites from the fifth floor of the palace that was now my home. In the far distance, I could make out the deadly metal of the wall that circled the perimeter of the city. That wall had frightened me when it first came into view. It was at least a hundred stories high and deeply grooved with spikes and lasers throughout it, appearing impenetrable. The city inside the wall was now visibly vacant of any Mian since the sun was shining brightly on the city. All the Mian were now sleeping, but before it had been bustling with raucous activity when we had first arrived. Mian had been roaming the streets, traveling to their homes in the suburbs or to their condos inside the city.
    There were so many more Mian just inside Belvar than there were Humans on Joyal.
    All in one place.
    It had been an overload to the senses, scaring the crap out of me to the point I had wanted to hunker down on the floor of the vehicle as we drove through the winding streets. There were enormous concrete skyscrapers and brutally curved glass buildings circling the palace, which was so fortified with guards that it made me feel claustrophobic. That was before we had even exited the car. Once inside the palace, I had become even more uncomfortable as Malik and Leo stood on either side of me while they showed me my new home ... and all the guards inside who had stared with disgust and curiosity.
    And this was where I would live.
    I turned away from the floor to ceiling windows, peering into my new bedroom. It was bare except for a bed and a chest of drawers that had no clothing inside of it. Malik and Leo's bedroom was adjoined through the door on my right. They said this was a room made specifically for their Soul if I wished to sleep outside of their room. They had created it many years ago, but it was for me to design the interior.
    I sighed quietly and walked to the door that led to their room, the oversized white nightgown I had been gifted swishing around my bare feet. I placed my hand on the doorknob, gazing at it. Leo and Malik had been correct. When I was not directly next to them ... I could feel them. The oddest part about it was, it felt natural, just a simple pull to be near them. Though earlier it had not been. I had literally walked out of my bedroom and came face to face with six guards standing outside my door when Malik and Leo had gone to tend to business. There