Skulls and Bones

Chapter nine

Marc's hand was in mine when we appeared in our location. I didn't recognize where we appeared and I couldn't concentrate since my focus was on his warm hand on mine. He was tense since his hold was tight and his eyes were focused in front of him. His jaw was clenched. We followed quietly and quickly behind Zain who was wearing the same expression as Marc. Whatever happened, it was definitely bad.

We turned into a deserted street but after a hard look I could see that the shadows were people. I tightened my grip on Marc at the sight of them and that seemed to break Marc out of his trance.

"It's alright Amelia," he said softly. "I told you other Skulls were going to be here."

I frowned. "Can you trust them?"

"I have to." Marc sighed and his grip on my hand loosened. "I'm not exactly sure what's going on but the way Zain describe the scene, its unlike anything we've ever encountered. If he's right, then somehow a Bone must have escaped the Underworld and came here."

My eyes widened. "What?"

Marc didn't get to answer since we finally arrived at our destination. Even if he did answer, I probably wouldn't have listened to him. The scene before me captured my full attention.

We were back in an alleyway like when Rick took me a couple days ago but in the middle wasn't a girl fighting for her life. It still was a girl, but she was strapped to the wall by glowing blue ropes. Black veins showed through her pale skin but that wasn't the worst of it. Her eyes, which were completely white, were open and looking right at me. Her mouth was closed as if sewed that way. Seeing her brought a shiver to my spine and fear ran through me. It was like she was waiting for me here.

Something was urging me toward her but I ignored the feeling. I was too creeped out and getting closer seemed like a bad idea. Plus, Marc was still holding my hand preventing any movement.

"Glad to see you've finally joined the party." Rick emerged from the large group of Skulls with a smirk on his face. His eyes looked down at our conjoined hands and his smirk disappeared. "I see you two have gotten pretty close."

Marc ignored his comment. "What part of this is a party?"

"You see the bad in things," Rick said and I frowned. I didn't think that was Marc at all but what did I know? "Whoever did this was certainly celebrating something."

"What are those things around her wrist and ankles?" I asked referring to the glowing ropes.

"Binding." Marc didn't look at me as he answered my question. He was focused on Rick. "Who did she belong to?"

Belong. That simple word caused something deep inside of me to churn. This woman wasn't an object to just be claimed and yet they were talking about her as if she was nothing. I could feel anger consuming me and I let go of Marc's hand. Marc looked at me with a questioning gaze before turning back to Rick. Rick's smirk was back but I didn't care. That one word couldn't stop replaying in my head. I looked at the girl one more time and felt sympathy for her. She didn't deserve any of this. No one did.

"Me," Rick answered and crossed his arms. His expression darkened. "She belonged to me."

"So why did Zain tell me about this?" Marc asked and crossed his own arms.

Rick looked extremely irritated. "Well I'm sorry your Highness." I could see the anger blazing in his eyes and I started to question their relationship. What happened between them? "I thought I should stay here and check out the crime scene while you spend your time on a stupid play date. I wanted to see if anyone came back and I did the job you were suppose to do by asking some of the Skulls questions. Next time I'll remember to just drop everything so I won't hurt your feelings by not telling you directly."