All Chapters of Marked and Cast Out, She Came Back Untouchable : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Sable's POV The bowl slipped out of my hands a full second before Reva's palm caught my cheek.It hit the floor first, shattering against the stone in a spray of white pieces. Then the sting came, sharp and sudden, my ear ringing loud enough to drown out whatever she said next."....costs more than you'll ever earn in this house," Reva finished, and I realized I'd missed the first half of it."I'll clean it up," I said, already crouching."You'll clean it up, and then you'll explain to me how a set that survived twenty years in this family didn't survive one night in your hands.""It was an accident." I said "Everything with you is an accident." She stepped back so the hem of her dress wouldn't touch the broken pieces. "Ten years, Sable. Ten years I've kept a roof over your head, put food in front of you, and this is the gratitude I get. A shattered bowl the night before the Ceremony."I kept my eyes on the floor and my hands busy, gathering shards into my palm. Talking back never e

Sable's POVThe chanting got louder, and the torches burned brighter with every word, until the light around the platform turned almost white.I didn't know the old tongue. Nobody outside the Elders did anymore. But I understood the shape of it, the rhythm, the way it built toward something final."What's happening?" I asked, and this time my voice actually shook.Alaric didn't answer me. He was looking past me now, at the Elder chanting behind him, like he needed to focus on anything except my face.The burn started in my collarbone, right where the bond had first hit me, a sharp line of heat that spread fast enough to steal my breath. I grabbed at my chest without meaning to. My knees buckled, and I would've hit the ground if Corwin hadn't caught my arm."Easy," he muttered, but his jaw was tight, like the word cost him something to say."Make it stop," I gasped."It's almost done."The crowd had gone dead silent except for the chanting and my own ragged breathing. Then, all at once

Sable's POVI ran.Branches tore at my arms, my dress catching on something and ripping loose without me stopping to check what. Ivy was ahead of me, weaving through the trees like she'd memorized every root and rock out here, throwing glances back to make sure I hadn't fallen behind."Don't look back," she said. "Looking back slows you down."I looked back anyway.Two shapes broke through the tree line behind us, low and fast, eyes catching the moonlight the same way the first rogue's had. Then a third joined them, further off but closing the gap fast."Ivy…""I see them." She didn't slow down. "There's a ridge up ahead. We get past it, we're close enough to the Hollow that they'll send more than just me.""And if we don't get past it?""Then you better hope you can fight."I didn't have an answer for that. I never fought anything in my life. I spent ten years learning how to duck, how to go quiet, how to disappear into a room so nobody had a reason to hit me. None of that was going

Sable's POV "What do you mean, warned you about?" I asked. Bram's grip on my wrist didn't loosen. If anything it got tighter, like he was trying to keep me from disappearing before he finished saying whatever was stuck in his throat. "Bram." Rook's voice cut in, sharp. "Let go of her arm." "She's got the mark," Bram said, ignoring him. "The one everybody's been talking about since the rogues hit the east ridge. They said Ironclaw's Alpha used the Words on some girl." "That's enough," Rook said. "You're in shock. You're not thinking straight." "I'm thinking fine." Bram's eyes finally left my collarbone and found my face instead. "Who told you to come here?" "Nobody told me anything," I said. "I ran. Ivy found me." He didn't look convinced, but the fight seemed to drain out of him along with whatever adrenaline had kept him talking. His hand slipped off my wrist, and his eyes rolled back before closing completely. "He's out," Ivy said, checking his pulse. "But he's breathing ste

Sable's POVI fell asleep faster than I expected that night, worn out from the walk around camp and everything Ivy had told me about the tent full of rogue gear. My body just gave out somewhere in the middle of turning it all over in my head.The dream came fast and clear, clearer than dreams usually get.I was back in Reva's kitchen, standing over the sink with a bowl in my hands, except the bowl kept filling with water no matter how many times I tipped it out. Water spilled over the edges, ran across my fingers, pooled on the floor around my bare feet. I tried to stop it. I turned the bowl upside down, shook it, set it as far away from the tap as I could reach.It kept filling anyway.The water climbed higher, past my ankles, past my knees, cold enough that my whole body ached with it. I called out for someone, though I couldn't say who, and nobody answered. The water kept rising until it covered my chest, until it reached the mark on my collarbone, and the second it touched the bra