Magick Marked (The DarqRealm Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

vampires, ravaging the earth. Dear… God.
    “What happened to us?” she asked softly.
    Danielle stopped pacing, brows drawn together, the pain of her memories evident in her stare. “The older vampires could control their reaction to the hunger. The young could not. They were destroyed, for the sake of the greater good.”
    Thousands of innocents, dying senselessly. Rho glanced at her covered arms, imagining all of the memorials hiding beneath the sleeves of her shirt already. She couldn’t fathom killing that many more. Her soul couldn’t take it.
    “Who performed the executions?” she asked.
    The queen’s eyes closed as she drew a deep breath, before opening them slowly. “We did, Costel and I. After we were forced to execute so many, we created a special position for that purpose.”
    The poor, delicate Queen didn’t want to get her hands dirty or her soul tarnished, so Rho was her murder maid. Fan-fucking-tastic.
    Costel gazed with compassion at his mate. “The DarqRealm United Council intervened for the welfare of all races. The most powerful magick movers on the Council had to pull their collective energy to muster enough magick to seal the dimension, and that still required… special assistance. Magick was restored to the world. Mohan was apprehended quickly and banished to a prison in Etherealis. We chose that dimension because of the strength of the magick there. Any less and we feared his escape would be only too easy.”
    Rho’s jaw swung open. He’d been banished, not killed. Why would they let him live?
    Costel shook his head. “He tied himself to the locket. If he dies, the magick will be destroyed with him. The Council couldn’t dissolve the spell he’d cast, but they did manage to twist it. They divided the locket’s magick into five separate pieces, each parcel stored in a gemstone.”
    “The Kamens?” Rho asked.
    The king nodded. “A royal family of each major race was given one Kamen to protect. The doors to Etherealis were closed permanently to keep Mohan in prison and keep our magick safe. We’ve all been trapped in this dimension since.”
    “How long have we all been stuck?”
    “A thousand years.”
    She couldn’t believe it. “A thousand years?” No wonder she’d never heard of Etherealis. No one else probably had, either. Generations had passed since the gates were closed, their existence now only a myth in fine print somewhere. Why would he give her something so important to protect?
    “We needed someone outside of the royal family to shelter the Kamen,” the queen answered, as if she could follow Rho’s thoughts. “The executioner has always been tasked with the role of guardianship. Should our rule over the vampires be compromised, the Kamen must stay protected.”
    Damn it. Frederick had told her the responsibility of protecting the Kamen fell to her in the event of his death. Obviously he’d neglected to point out the more important, protect-this-or-everyone-dies part.
    The weight of her guilt doubled, and she felt heavier in her seat. “Oh, God.” Her gaze shot up to Frederick and he met her stare. “William.” She’d been so distracted with everything going on, she’d completely forgotten about the boy she’d executed earlier. The one who relayed a cryptic message just before his quick descent into dust.
    “Who is William?” Costel asked.
    Frederick heaved a sigh. “Today in court, a man was sentenced to death for killing a female’s mate. Before he died, he said something about wheels being set in motion.”
    All sensation drained from Rho’s face. “And he said he had what he’d come here for.”
    Costel’s brows furrowed as his eyes narrowed in thought. “That’s all he said?”
    “That’s all.” Frederick shook his head. “He turned to ash before we could question him.”
    “What would someone want with all of these Kamens?” Rho asked.
    Costel’s eyes narrowed. “Each of the Kamens holds a fifth of the magick in this world. If