The Girl He Marked by Laila Callaway novel Chapter 2

A few minutes later, Aria calls me.

'Fancy going to the beach today' She offers and I close my eyes at the wonderful thought.

'You have the most amazing timing, yes!'

An hour later, Aria has picked me up and we're heading to the coast.

'My friend was telling me about this beautiful little cove between the territories, it's practically deserted because not many people know about it, I thought we could check it out,' she suggests.

'Are you sure it's not part of someone's territory'

'No it's no man's land, it'll be fine,' she shrugs and parks up at the border of our territory.

'We'll have to walk from here, it's only a mile,' Aria tells me as we get out and grab our bags. I'm grateful that I chose my trainers as we hike through the forest, true to her word, a mile later, a stunning blue sea appears through the trees.

'Oh my god,' I gasp as the forest leaf litter underfoot turns to sand. The small cove is enclosed either side by large hills, sheltering a perfect little beach with shimmering sapphire waters.

'I told you!' She squeals, getting out her phone to take some photos.

No one is around, so we quickly slip off our clothes, having worn our bikinis underneath, and eagerly enter the water.

'It's a bit chilly,' she comments, but we stick it out and acclimatize to the temperature. The sun comes out and shines down on us.

'I'm going to sunbathe for a bit,' I tell her, heading back to shore. I lay out my towel and lie down, grateful for the sun drying me off. Not long after, Aria joins me and I close my eyes, nodding off.

'What was that' I jolt awake and sit up, rubbing my eyes. Aria is stood up next to me, worry etched on her face.

'What was what' I ask again, and we both jump as a loud bang echoes out. Hairs raise on the back of my neck and Aria looks around, her eyes wild with panic.

'That was a gunshot,' I whisper, anxiously glancing behind me into the trees.

'Grab your shit, let's get out of here,' she hurriedly throws her towel in her bag. Neither of us bothers with our clothes. I shove my feet in my trainers, and we began running through the forest. We don't say a word to each other, our feet almost silent as we weave between the trees in the direction of the car.

Another shot sounds out and we both come to a halt, I listen intently, hearing only our rapid breathing. But my eyes catch a movement through the tree trunks, I step forward for a closer look and see a blur of black clothing.

'What are you doing' Aria hisses quietly and I wave her forward, we crouch down and move closer. When I look around a tree, my breath catches in my throat.

'Shadow soldiers,' Aria whispers and my heart stop.

Tied up in a circle are a group of people, sat on the ground, surrounded by soldiers pointing guns at them, dressed in black. The same uniform Rixon wore last night. The nearest soldier lifts his head and sniffs; I hold my breath as he looks in our direction.

'He's caught our scent, let's go,' I tell Aria and we quickly backtrack to our route. I hear footsteps behind us and act on instinct. I shove Aria behind a large group of rocks.

'Stay here, I'll distract them,' I say, she grabs my hand, but I shake her off, giving her a look that tells her to do as I ask. I leave my bag with her and hurry through the trees, my heart hammering as I hear footsteps closing in on me. If they catch me, I can use Rixon's name to make them let me go, I don't want Aria in any danger, and she doesn't need to know about Rixon.

'Lex,' his voice calls out and I instantly stop, turning around to see Rixon coming towards me, his face full of concern.

'What are you doing here' He asks, reaching out to me and pulling me in for a hug, 'Dressed like this' He growls, gesturing at my bikini.

'We were at the beach, Aria's here, we were just leaving,' I explain, and he nods, biting his lip as he runs his finger down my cleavage.

'I like this,' he says huskily, and I bat his hand away.

'Not the time,' I roll my eyes and he frowns.

'You're right, I'll see you later, you'd better go,' he kisses my forehead and then steps aside.

I turn on my heel and head back to Aria.

'You okay' I ask as I near where she's hiding, she comes out and hugs me tightly.

'God, I was worried! Yeah I'm fine, how did you get away from him' She asks and I bite my lip nervously.

'I climbed a tree,' I lie, jumping as shouts echo out nearby. Against my better judgment, I move towards the clearing, wanting to know what's going on.

'What are you doing Let's go!' Aria urges, but I ignore her and peak around the tree.

A man has escaped and is running towards the tree line. A large soldier, I presume the leader, calls out.

'Beta!' He shouts, I watch in horror as Rixon nods, lifts his gun, aims, and shoots the escapee in the back of the head. He falls to the ground, lifeless. Rixon doesn't bat an eyelid as he lowers his gun and heads over to the body.

I flinch as Aria shakes me.

'Come on, let's go!' This time I don't fight her and head back with her, my mind reeling with what I've just seen.

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