Chapter 15

Markus had disappeared after the conversation with his mother, only being found after Kore was walking past an upstairs room after going to the restroom. A door opened and she was grabbed and then shoved against the closed door.

She had a hand on the person's shoulder, flamed with Magic before she realised it was just Markus.

"Shit, dude, don't do that!" she said, shoving him away and stopping her Magic. "I could have injured you."

"No, you wouldn't have," he smiled.

"If I didn't know it was you, I would have,"

"Subconsciously, you knew it was me,"

"I might have," she said. "Why did you drag me into this room?"

He took a moment to look at her before asking, "What was that between you and Sloane Walters? Why did my father want to speak to you?"

"Nothing." He gave her a look. "Fine. She worked with my mum and that means she was also working with Black Magic. Your dad just asked about the situation with the new Blood Witch."

He nodded, "You don't like Sloane Walters, do you? Why?"

"Can I not like someone without a reason?" she asked.

"Yes," Markus frowned. "But you do not simply get angry when they're near without cause. You're not an angry person, Kore, but I could feel it rolling off of you. Why?"

"Because I want her dead like her parents!" Kore snapped. "I've had enough of people today. That Tani boy thinks he can force me into marriage and get away with touching me? Then Sloane Walters thinks she can mention my mother without some sort of reason? I could have killed Ko Tani but I didn't."

He watched her pace, the fury on her face that just made her beauty stand out. He would have preferred her to be calm, happy, and feisty as she was naturally, but he didn't mind the anger. It just showed him that she had correct instincts for things but her anger made him seeth unneededly and go on edge.

He wasn't seething because she was angry, it was more because he knew why she was angry and knew he could have done something to stop it.

It seemed his instincts wanted things his conscious mind didn't think of yet.

"You could have killed him, why didn't you?"

"Because I respect you, Markus. Even if most of the Arcanes don't actually realise, you are the one in charge and I'm not going against you in front of them." Kore admitted. "Sensing Sloane Walters's Magic just made me even angrier than usual. Ko Tani trying to use his gift on me certainly didn't help."

His nostrils flared in displeasure as he watched her shoulders sag in exhaustion. Kore picked at her cuticles as she sighed after admitting. Markus grabbed both of her hands, stopping her picking and making her look up.

There were tiny, unshed tears in her eyes.

"My mother's a fucking traitor and I believed she was a good person," Kore said, refusing to cry. "I can't cry. Ruining my makeup is not worth it."

"If you need to cry, cry," Markus said. "I'll have Annaliese bring up her makeup kit to fix it up later."

Kore smiled through it, unshed tears threatening to break. "I can fix it with Magic. But is it really worth it? If I cry, you'll just think I'm weak."

"Crying is not being weak," Markus said softly. "It just meant you have been too strong for too long. Cry, Kore. Take your anger, take your Magic and just cry it out."

Kore had to snatch her hands out of Markus's as more tears filled her eyes. "If I allow myself to cry, I will do damage. I will create a storm because the other Crowns are right, I'm not ready to rule. I'm a kid who wasn't allowed a childhood."

"You were forced to grow up too soon."

"I'm not allowed to put myself first," Kore kept a sad smile on her lips, tears sticking to her eyelashes as she hugged herself around the waist. "I have to put a whole country before myself."

Even without windows, there was an upsweep of wind in the room. It started to circle around the room, circling them as they stood in the middle.

"The only reason my mother saved me was because she needed me as an Heir," Kore wiped away the tiny tears which spilt over her waterline. "I had two sisters in the womb, they were dead before they were born. I came out weak and pale, my Magic didn't surface until I was seven. Thinking back, my mother thought I was cursed and so she gave me to my father! My mother didn't want me until I could do Magic!"

The wind gathered more in the room, clouds appearing at the ceiling as Kore finally allowed the tears to drip freely. Both of their outfits were flowing in the wind of the soon-coming storm.

"I've had enough of Magic defining who I am! I've had enough of people thinking Magic is all I am!" Kore's makeup didn't move from where it was as tears ran down with their own accord with each blink.

"Who thought Magic defined you?"

"You, the Chamber, the Order, Orion. Your own parents only care because I have Magic." She laughed even with tears. "You all think Magic is what I am, what makes me useful, what makes me powerful and sought after!" Kore couldn't keep the laughter off her mind anymore. "I can give my Magic up with a simple snap of my fingers and then everyone would leave me the fuck alone. Give up my Magic and I'm no longer useful, no longer sought out to do someone's bidding or fix a society that's crumbling."

"Why don't you then?" Markus challenged. "If you are so sick of being a Witch, then snap your fingers and give your Magic away."

"Because I have people relying on me!" Kore almost screamed, the storm raging on around them. "I can't give up. I can't be selfish and let my people suffer because I want to be free. Magic corrupts those who are not brought up with it as their responsibility. Look at my mother as an example. She turned to the Black Arts so she could rule alone. She wanted power and Magic, but she didn't want me until I had Magic that was stronger than hers..."

Her knees seemed to give up on her as tears started to finish and dry up. She dropped to her knees before she just sat in the middle of the storm, dark clouds of anger and despair encasing them both.

Markus kneeled before her, bringing her closer to him as he hugged her and she finished her tears.

"She didn't want me until I was useful," She muttered, eyes glazed over. "They didn't want me. I'll be tossed aside when my usefulness has gone. I'm only—" she broke into heart-wrenching sobs as she accepted Markus's hug of comfort. One arm tucked around her back to bring her close while the other hand held the back of her neck, his thumb tracing down the side of it in comfort.

Markus let her cling to him, his arms keeping her close as he reminded himself that he could now keep her safe, safer than she would otherwise be. Something told him he would do the unspeakable to do that, to keep her safe and happy instead of the broken mess she was now.

He would piece together every single bit of her, returning her to her full state of being.

Would she love him if he killed someone for her?

He wouldn't know but he suspected he already knew the answer.

His own mother fucking knew.

Markus clung to Kore just as she was clinging to him, both sitting in the middle of the raging storm but it didn't disturb them. They were alright with where they were. Eventually, Kore had cried herself to sleep in his arms and so he asked for the car to be brought around.

Ruel sat across from Markus. The Vampire sat on one end while Kore was using his lap as a pillow. She hadn't woken up when she was moved, nor did she when the car started.

Markus just ran his fingers through the now loose hair, the bun having been taken carefully out by Ruel for her comfort. While his mistress slept, Tsar was tucked between her arms, laying his head on Markus's lap too.

"You better not hurt her," Ruel glared. "In any form."

"I don't ever want to,"

"Unless you need to,"

"Not even then would I bring harm to her and those she cares about."

Tsar yawned, believing and knowing the truth Markus told.

)()()(

When they got back to her dorm, Kore toed off her heels and yawned.

"You need to eat something before you go to sleep," Markus said.

She rubbed at her face, letting the glamours she had put on it to disappear and let her natural skin and face show. Kore closed her eyes as she stood barefoot in her dorm room, feeling the wards she had put up before making a displeased sound at Markus's suggestion.

"No."

"You've exhausted a lot of your Magic, you need to replenish it as you sleep,"

"Just get me out of this dress,"

Markus heard the exhausted tone in her voice, one that stated that even now she wouldn't give in.

He strode over, taking his coat off and loosening the small ribbon he wore as a tie to tuck them over her desk chair for the moment.

Markus hadn't realised his ribbon tie matched her dress.

He undid the top portion of her dress, standing behind her as he did so and allowed the front to fall into Kore's hand. She held them up a little to contain a sense of modesty as she felt the tiniest touches of his skin against hers.

Her tense muscles loosened with each touch, and he noticed, trailing his fingers down her skin until it hit the lightning scar. It was surprisingly smooth, not feeling like an actual scar and more like discolouration of the skin. With a single caress, he felt the warmth of her blood and the tang of her electricity through his fingers.

Markus suddenly craved to have his mouth on the skin of her shoulders, trailing it up until it hit her neck. He didn't want to simply bite down and take, no, he wanted to savour, to pleasure, to please. He wanted her blood as much as a Fallen wanted any, to show her that not all bites would hurt or be like nothing, that they could be soft, chaste and yet hold the pleasures and fury of hell.

"Markus, you okay?"

Her voice made him snap out of it. He turned his gaze to her eyes, now dryer than before with a slight tinge of red from crying.

"Of course," he smiled softly at her concern. "Why wouldn't I?"

"You froze and, at the minute, I can't check your blood or anything," she admitted, turning her eyes forward again as she clutched the front of her dress to her chest. "I can't do large amounts of Magic at the moment. Can you undo the zipper please?"

He undid it, watching as she allowed the whole dress to fall to the ground as she covered her chest with an arm. He lifted a hand which she took with her empty one to get out of the dress without stepping on it. They both knew she could have gotten out of it without help.

Tsar had grabbed a loose shirt for Kore to sleep in, it was a maroon button-down that she quickly slipped on and buttoned a single button in the middle so it would stay a little close.

"I'ma gonna have a cuppa tea before I go sleep," Kore muttered, a little bit of English slang coming into her voice as she was tired. She yawned and rubbed an eye.

He stopped her from walking by gently grabbing her wrist, his grip soft on her skin. "I'll get you a cup. Go to bed. I'll bring it up."

Markus had observed exactly how Richard had made the tea for her, memorising it and making it perfect before bringing it up to her room with a tray of soft dough treats too.

She was still awake when he came up, now sitting below the dark purple sheets. Her sleep shirt was loose and since it had only one button done, it showed off the middle of her chest.

It showed off a clean line of skin from her throat, down the centre of her collarbones, down her sternum until the shirt closed a couple of inches below the underswell of her breasts. The necklace he had given her had now become a part of her daily wearing, which meant she didn't take it off unless needed. The silver chain hung down as the black arrowhead crystal dangled between her breasts as she yawned and took the offered cup of steaming tea.

She sipped at it, relishing in the warmth. "Thank you."

Markus was surprised by how quickly she finished the small platter of treats and tea. He shook his head as she fell asleep with the finished cup still in her grip and half of the duvet actually on her.

He moved them until they laid over her shoulders.

He hesitated when he leaned forward, craving the taste of her blood but he settled for the taste of her skin. He left her with a single peck on the cheek.

When he left, Kore smiled and snuggled into her pillow as Tsar lay in her arms.