Marked (Mortal, Book Four)

Winter

"Alec," I try to say, but the word only comes out as a gasp. I reach my hand toward him, but he's so far away.

I can't get there fast enough. I'm about to lose him.

He reaches for the Golden Coin, his gaze locked on mine. It doesn't have to be this way! Why is he doing this?

Finally, I gather some breath. "Alec!"

I'm too late, though. He touches the coin, and a moment later he's gone.

I collapse, falling to my knees on the hard platform, the wail that flies from my throat thunderous.

He's gone.

Forever.

"Winter!" Someone shakes my shoulder.

I go to swat them away, but they only shake harder. Suddenly, my eyes snap open.

I'm in the ocean!

Wait. No. I'm in the small motorboat that Alec and I searched Nova Scotia's islands with. And Damon is here, the boat bobbing in the water, the motor off.

He stops shaking my shoulder and sits back. "You were dreaming."

I sit up, the blanket falling off my chest. "I was? When did I fall asleep?"

"Maybe an hour ago." He looks like he wants to say something else but can't decide if he should or not. Instead, he just brushes a lock of dark blonde hair from his eye and looks away.

"I was dreaming about Alec." I look at my hands, my heart dropping into my stomach.

How can it be that he was with us only a few hours ago? The three of us were together, in the pocket dimension Alec and I entered to find the Golden Coin.

If I had known retrieving the coin meant that one of us would need to stay behind, I would have never gone in there. I would have found another way.

Alec was so adamant that he be the one to sacrifice himself. I tried to stop him, but it was impossible. We were in the middle of an attack, the Silver Hunters--

I gasp. "The Silver Hunters."

Damon shakes his head. "I haven't seen them. My guess? They're stuck in that place."

"But we got out," I mumble, trying to make sense of it.

He nods. "Because Alec made his sacrifice for us. Not for them. He was an amazing person. If it wasn’t for him, I would still be stuck in that place, searching for the coin to take me out of there." He comes and sits next to me. "I'm sorry, Winter."

"Thank you." Tears fill my eyes, and I stuff my hands into my pockets. My fingers brush against something hard and cold.

That's right. I have the coin.

Pulling it out, I hold it up for Damon and I both to see. "It showed up in my hand."

"Maybe because Alec wanted you to have it."

I close my fingers around the coin. It’s small, not much bigger than a quarter, but it’s extremely heavy.

And extremely powerful. The stories say that it can grant whoever wields it wishes and powers beyond what anyone else has.

Now I just need to figure out how to use the thing. It's the one chance I have to defeat the Silver Hunters that took over my school.

That "I" should be a "we." It should be me and Alec.

My heart drops again. I should be celebrating this victory with him. Instead I'm here without him, unable to stop crying.

"He wanted to do it." Damon's arm goes around my shoulder.

"I know." I sniffle. "That doesn't make it right. There could have been another way."

His sigh is a sad one. "I don't know."

I gaze into the fog. In the pocket dimension, it was spring. Back here in the real world, it's a bitter late autumn. The change in seasons is a cruel reminder of what I've lost. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down as the wind whips around us, stinging my cheeks.

But Alec is gone. And Damon is here, trying to be a friend. I don't know what I'd do without him.

"I have to figure out a plan," I say, wiping away my tears. "I need to take back the school from the Silver Hunters."

Damon nods. "Agreed. But you can't just go charging into the school. They have the numbers and the power."

I know he's right, but I don't want to admit it. "What about you and the coin?"

"What about me?"

"You went into that pocket dimension just like us, looking for it. Don't you want it?"

Damon has proven himself to me more than once. Not only did he save me and Alec in the pocket dimension, but he also helped me reach the Golden Coin when it was time.

But his search for the coin was the whole reason he ended up in that place. I can’t imagine it’s suddenly not important to him.

"No." He shakes his head. "I didn't have plans to do anything with it. I wanted to find it in honor of my dad. He spent years of his archaeological career looking for it. Seeing that it's real is victory enough. Plus, you need it."

I put it back in my pocket, where it feels a little more secure. "Yeah. I do."

"Is there anyone you can get help from?"

I think it over. Reality is sobering. "No. There isn't. Alec... he was all I had. Why do you think only the two of us showed up in the pocket dimension? Everyone else is either dead or they ran off. My parents are gone."

"But you saw your dad by the tower." His eyebrows knit together.

I suck in a quick breath. Yeah, I did. And I heard my mom's voice in the wishing well at school.

I thought she was dead. That’s what I’d always been told, that she died when I was a baby. And yet there she was, speaking to me. Somehow, I knew without a doubt that it was her voice.

My dad is supposed to be dead, too. I had a funeral for him!

I chew my bottom lip. Everything I thought I knew has been turned upside down. When it comes to my parents, though, that means I can have some hope. They could be out there, waiting for me to get to them!

Except…

Even if they're alive, I don't have the first clue where to look for them.

"That was amazing," Damon says. "When your dad astral projected." He shakes his head.

"I didn't know he could do that. I didn't know he was... whatever it is he is."

A werewolf? A vampire? A... whatever-else-there-is?

"I know one thing," Damon says. "You're powerful. The things you did in the tower... that was awesome."

"Do you have any clue what kind of..."

"Supernatural you are?" His lips twist. "I'm sorry. Your abilities are like nothing I've ever seen."

I sigh. It was worth a shot asking.

He goes on. "If anyone should use the coin, it's you. I'm sure Alec saw that as well and it was part of his decision to sacrifice himself."

I can't help it. My lower lip trembles. There's an empty hole inside my chest, and I'm close to crying again. "And what's the other part?"

He cocks his head. "Isn't it obvious? He loved you, Winter."

Here they come. The waterworks spill forth, and I drop my head and cry into my lap.

Alec and I only knew each other for a short time, and it was right after we met that the Silver Hunters attacked our school and we set off to look for the Golden Coin.

From the moment I saw him, though, I felt an inexplicable pull toward him. Like we were meant to meet. Meant to be together.

Was that just my imagination? How could I be destined to be with someone who was ripped out of my life only a couple weeks later?

Pressing my palms to my eyes, I groan. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He touches my shoulder again. "Take all the time you need. He was an awesome guy."

I drop my hands. Somehow, through my pain, I smile. "He didn't trust you. It's funny you should call him awesome."

Damon seems completely unfazed. "He didn't trust me because he was so protective. Protective of you."

"Yeah." I sniffle. "He was." I shake my head. "I don't know how to go on without him," I say. "This was our mission. We were doing this together."

"And it still is. He did his part. Now it's time to do yours."

My gaze returns to the fog, and without even thinking about it my fingers find the necklace under my sweater. Alec gave it to me when we finally had our first kiss.

Did he know something would happen to him?

Was he planning on sacrificing himself all along if it came to that?

I shake my head, clearing the thoughts. I'll drive myself crazy with all these questions, and Damon is right. Alec did his part.

Now it's time to do mine. I’m going to learn to use the coin, and then I’ll use it to defeat the Silver Hunters.

And no one can stop me.