“Shut it, you not-so-funny-fu—” An excited shriek ran through the crowd and cut me off. Supernaturals screamed and called out names.

Braxton, who was about a head taller than most here – everyone except his brothers – only had to crane his neck slightly to see. “They seem to be finding friends and family in these new arrivals.”

I wondered which prison they had been rescued from. It could be anywhere in the world.

The recently arrived supes – from those I could see – remained separate from the current residents of the sanctuary. Staying together in a group, their movements were jittery and nervous as they closed in protectively around the young in their midst. It looked like there were only three children and no babies. They were a little cleaner than the group I’d seen in Vanguard’s secret marked room, but not by a lot, their clothes old and tattered, eyes heavy and weary. If the king thought he was coming back to an army, he was in for a shock. These supes were damaged. The Four were so far up on my shit list … I didn’t even know I could feel hate this strongly.

A witch standing near us broke down into tears. The scent of her emotions floated through the crowd. She drew more of my attention when she started to murmur, “Lacey … Lacey…” over and over. Her tears increased as a witch with short, ragged black hair broke away from the new arrivals and without hesitation ran straight into her arms.

They embraced as if they had not seen each other in years, which was probably true, and I was pretty sure they were sisters, or cousins. They had the same Asian features and thick, coarse hair, though the first female was decidedly better kept.

How many dragon marked were still out there, hidden, tortured? I turned back to my pack. “I know twins are often marked, but does the mark generally run in family lines?”

Quale appeared out of thin air or something – like bam, popped in right next to me. I didn’t jump though, I have reflexes like a ninja. Okay, maybe not, but I took a moment to be thankful I managed not to squeal like a bitch.

The mystic’s voice was low. “Dragon marked are mostly in the same family line, so not always siblings, but sometimes aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins. Most marked supernaturals will have other marked family somewhere along the line of the last thousand years.”

I wondered if Mischa and I had any relatives in this group. No one had ever mentioned other marked in the Lebron line, but I should ask Dad about it one day.