The Sacrifice Read online

  The Sacrifice:

  Sons of Sivadia

  Book 1

  Mia McKimmy

  NOTE: This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 Mia McKimmey

  All rights reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Crucify My Heart

  About the Author

  DEDICATION

  For my wonderful husband, Rodney,

  who supports and believes in everything I do.

  Without you, my life would not be complete.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I am greatly indebted to my editor, Annie Seaton, for her excellent editorial guidance, patience, and kindness when I needed a reassuring word. I am fortunate to have a great proofreader, Susanne Bellamy, whose super power is finding those sneaky errors that love to hide in plain sight. A huge thanks goes to Noelle Pierce of Selestiele Designs for the beautiful cover and Protectors logo. You truly captured the essence of this book and its characters.

  I’m most grateful to my friends, family, and fellow writers, who critiqued and encouraged me while writing this novel, Sherrie Lea Morgan, Debbie Herbert, Angela Bissell, Melanie McGinnis, Matt Johnson, and my daughters, Melia and Heather. Your support means more than you’ll ever know.

  But my eternal gratitude goes out to you, the readers. Thank you for taking this adventure with Cy and Riana. I’m so happy you were there to witness their newfound love.

  Prince Cygan held hope for the day the war dividing his race would end,

  He held hope for the day Protectors would end the slaughtering of innocent lives.

  He held hope for the day he could keep his promise to his dying father.

  He even held hope for the day he could accept his appointed position on the throne.

  But none of these would come to pass, not until the day Cy destroyed his twin.

  Chapter 1

  “I’ve researched ways to get out of this training, and short of dying, there isn’t one.” Riana sat across the kitchen table from Elle, her best friend and roommate, enjoying the last peaceful moments she would have for four long weeks. She drained her coffee. “It’s getting late. We better finish packing. I imagine excuses for being late don’t exist either.”

  Elle rose and headed to her room. “It’s not like we have a lot to pack.”

  “True.” Riana went to her own bedroom, pulled a small suitcase from the closet and tossed it on the bed. She grabbed her most comfortable jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, and then chose something a little dressier in case they were able to go into town for dinner. A couple of outfits and a few personal items were all they could take to the training compound.

  Riana pressed a hand to her aching head. She’d been plagued with headaches since the day they received the notice ordering them to go. Her head didn’t care that every Sivadian female who’d turned twenty-five during the past year would be there taking classes in history and self-defense too. She picked up a piece of Selenite from the crystal grid beside her bed, pressed it to her head and closed her eyes. Vibrations from the white crystal sent its warm, healing energy to her throbbing head.

  She grabbed her face cleanser and toothbrush from the bathroom. The notice said everything would be provided, but those two items, she wasn’t going anywhere without.

  God, I really don’t want to do this. She released a low sigh, and then zipped her bag and headed into the living room.

  Elle bounced down the hallway with five minutes to spare. Her long, blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail that swayed from side to side as she walked, presenting a façade of child-like innocence. Elle could go from looking like a dumb, blonde bombshell to a tough as nails detective, which happened to be her chosen profession.

  Unlike Riana, Elle loved drama. Of course, her job supplied it in spades. Most Sivadians preferred occupations in the human workforce. Even though humans were a different species, Sivadians looked human and blended into their culture.

  When Riana had decided to become a doctor to help humanity, she chalked it up to feeling guilty that her race didn’t die from diseases like humans did. While Sivadians weren’t immortal and could die from anything that caused rapid blood loss, they could live a century for every decade of human life.

  The only thing she disliked about working with humans was sometimes she had to mess with their freewill. The length of this training was one of those times. In order to explain her four week absence from the hospital, she implanted in the minds of her boss and a few of the more gossipy interns that she would be on a trip with ‘Doctors without Borders.’ Donating her skills to help undeveloped countries was close to her heart, and she hated lying about it.

  Riana squinted and studied Elle’s carefree face. “Why are you so calm, when I’m freaking out?”

  “I’m not calm. I’m still mad as hell they’re forcing me to do this. I’ve known how to fight my entire life. Growing up with brothers like mine, I learned to hold my own before I could walk.”

  Riana snorted. “Like I could forget. I got pulled into more fights between you three than I care to remember.”

  “You can call yourself a pacifist all you want,” Elle said. “I know you enjoyed kicking their butts as much as I did.”

  “Well, they deserved it. Your brothers would rather pester us than eat when hungry.”

  Riana had loved being at Elle’s house; it was a home always full of love and laughter. Her own was the polar opposite, with no father, and a mother who constantly worked. Without Elle’s family, her childhood would have been unbearable.

  “At least our birthdays are close enough we’re going together,” Riana said. “Besides, I thought you’d be happy about having someone to spar with every day.”

  “I do love a good fight, almost as much as I hate being told what to do. God forbid that we refuse the queen’s direct order.” A sly smile lifted Elle’s lips. “Didn’t you once say you’d like to meet her?”

  Riana grabbed her bag and headed for the door. “Yeah, but someone dragging me before her majesty in handcuffs was not what I had in mind.” She waited on the porch and took in the serene surroundings of their home. Acres of forest circled the house, keeping them well isolated on top of a small mountain. She had an urge to go back inside, and then realized Elle hadn’t followed her out. Riana stuck her head inside and
yelled. “Am I going to have to light a fire under your butt, or what?”

  Elle came through the door laughing. “All right, Riana! You’re really psyching yourself up to go kick some ass. Come on. Let’s go.”

  Riana rolled her eyes at her friend’s teasing sarcasm. Elle knew she didn’t have a tough bone in her body. For some reason she couldn’t identify, she had an uneasy feeling about the whole training thing. Oh well, might as well buck up and get it over with.

  She removed the compound’s coordinates from her pocket, seared them to her memory, and handed the paper to Elle. Riana released a slow breath as they hooked arms and concentrated on their destination. The air around them shimmered, and their bodies dissolved into a concentrated vapor. Once their vision cleared, they transported from their house to the training compound that would be home for the next four weeks.

  Moments later, they materialized in a courtyard outside the compound’s entrance. Mouths agape, they stood motionless, taking in their surroundings.

  “Man, this is so not what I expected,” Riana said. “When you hear the word compound, you picture drab military barracks. This place looks like a mountain resort.”

  “Don’t get too excited,” Elle grumbled. “We’ve not made it inside those huge gates yet. For all we know, there’s a prison inside those walls.”

  Riana shrugged off Elle’s pessimistic remark. During transport she convinced herself everything would be fine. If only the butterflies in her stomach had gotten the message.

  Anxious to see more of the courtyard, Riana ventured through the gardens. Massive flowerbeds, separated by cobblestone walkways formed the Protector’s crest. The aroma of fall chrysanthemums in vivid shades of purple, red, and gold permeated the area. Benches sat inside several arched, wrought iron tunnels covered in greenery. The tranquility of the gardens and surrounding mountains eased a little of the tension from Riana’s muscles.

  They paused in front of a large, marbled statue of a male wearing a golden crown.

  “I wonder if that’s a statue of Prince Cygan,” Elle said.

  Riana studied the tall structure. Long robes flowed from his shoulders leaving only the front garments visible, so she couldn’t place the era. “I don’t think this is the prince. My mom said that because his twin brother leads the feeders, only a few people know the prince’s true identity. It won’t become public knowledge until he becomes king.”

  “My parents never spoke about the royals. Did your mom say why he never took the throne?”

  “I don’t think anyone knows.” Riana continued to stare at the impressive statue. “This must be his father. During the escape from Sivadia, the king died at the hands of the Haagons.”

  Riana and Elle moved to the edge of the courtyard and stopped in front of a set of steel gates where two guards were positioned. They wore black pants and shirts made from a shiny material that clung to every well-defined muscle.

  “Those two look like they stepped off the page of a body builder magazine,” Riana whispered.

  A hint of mischief danced in Elle’s blue eyes. “I hope there are more like them inside those gates. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.”

  Riana smiled and shook her head. “Are you planning to pursue a Sivadian male?”

  Elle dropped her gaze to the ground, and Riana instantly regretted her comment. After Elle was attacked by a feeder at fifteen, she swore off anyone stronger than her. Since Sivadian men were the stronger sex of their race, it left only humans to date.

  “At least you have a sex life,” Riana said. “I’m finally getting a break from the long hours at the hospital, and now I’m forced to stay at a compound where the only members of the opposite sex are Protectors. If I went near one of them, my mother’s lecture would play a constant loop in my head. ‘Protectors are not life-mate material, Riana, and they never will be. All they care about is killing feeders. Whatever you do, stay away from them,’” she said in a high mocking tone. “That mantra has been drilled into my head for as long as I can remember.”

  “Why does she hate Protectors so much?” Elle asked.

  “Who knows? I asked once and she avoided the question, and then proceeded to point out more of their faults.”

  Riana dug through her bag for her Sivadian identification card, and then stepped up to the gate. One guard took her ID, scanned it, and then handed it back. The other guard motioned for her to stand inside a circle painted on the pavement. He held a strange gun at his side. Before she could move, he raised the gun, pointed it at her and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter 2

  “Would you just pick a ball and hit the damn thing!”

  Prince Cygan’s fingers scrubbed across the day’s growth of stubble on his jaw line. “If you fought like you play pool, I’d give some serious thought to switching you to another fighting team.”

  Kam glanced up from lining his shot; a characteristic smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “Then who’d save your royal ass every time you get in a tight?”

  Miles looked at Cy, and his brows pulled together. “I could’ve sworn it was Kam we pulled from beneath those feeders the other night.”

  “Yeah, he has short-term memory loss, one too many kicks to the head. Guess we better cut him some slack,” Cy looked around the pub for a waitress. Not a one in sight. “I’m going to grab a beer. Finish that game so we can get on with our rounds.”

  Cy opened the door leading out of the game room and entered the main part of the pub. Alcohol, sweat, and lust filled the air. Ladies night. Scantily clad women lined the walls like trophies waiting to be taken home by whomever they deemed most worthy.

  Lust bombarded Cy as a slew of eyes with heavy liner focused on him. He waved his hand through the air and the lust stopped—at least the wanting directed at him. The ability to control a human’s mind had its advantages, but could be a dark and murky place. It definitely was not somewhere he wanted to hang around for long.

  Maggie, a large busted human with flaming red hair, owned the pub and was bartending tonight. Heavy lines on her face were proof of far too many years in this line of work.

  “Hi, handsome. What’ll it be?”

  “Just give me a house draft, please.”

  She grabbed a frosted mug and pulled the tap.

  “Things been calm around here, tonight?”

  “It’s all good, long as you and your boys come around occasionally to help keep these yahoos in line.”

  Cy took his beer and handed her a twenty.

  Maggie patted a nine millimeter pistol holstered on her right hip and grinned. “Between y’all and Bessie here, I don’t get much trouble.” Her southern drawl was slow, characteristic to people who had lived their entire lives in the Appalachian Mountains surrounding Asheville, North Carolina.

  Cy’s cell vibrated against his hip. He dug the phone from his pocket. It was Oz, probably calling to give him their nightly assignment.

  “Hey man, what’s up?

  “One of our scouts spotted two feeders downtown.” Oz’s deep voice boomed in Cy’s ear. “The feeders transported to several sites around town before the scout lost them.”

  “Shit. That’s not good.” Cy lowered himself onto a bar stool. “Do you think they know we have a class of females coming in tonight?”

  “If they’ve located our compound, I’d bet my life on it. I hope none of the girls came in early to sight-see.”

  “Where was the last place the feeders were seen?”

  “On South Spruce Street, but I’ve already sent four teams of Protectors to cover that area. Take your team and start on the west end of Patton, and work your way toward them. I’ll send more guys your way. And Cy, just in case Vind’s in town, watch your back.”

  “Will do.” Cy rolled his shoulders against the tight muscles in his neck. Damn my brother! It’s past time to bring this war to an end. Three centuries of fighting Vind’s army is enough.

  Cy had enjoyed living in Asheville, but if Vind had found this compound, t
hey would have to change locations again. If feeders got their hands on a compound full of trainees, their once bright futures would become nothing more than misery and eventual death.

  As Cy approached Miles and Kam, a blonde with long hair strolled toward them; her black leather mini-skirt and cowboy boots revealing a pair of long, shapely legs. Kam’s eyes tracked her as she sashayed up beside him.

  “Don’t even think about it, Kam,” Cy warned.

  The blonde looked up at Kam, batting her lashes. “Hello,” she purred. “Would you like to play pool with me?”

  Kam’s arm circled the girl’s waist and pulled her body against his. “Oh, honey, I really want to play with you, but pool has nothing to do with it.”

  The girl beamed a smile as if she’d sunk the 8-ball.

  Dang, that boy’s libido will be the death of us all. Cy slipped into the girl’s mind and willed her to forget they were there.

  As she peeled herself off Kam and walked away, he glared at Miles. “What did you do that for?”

  “I didn’t do it,” Miles said, “but I should have. We have things to do tonight. None of which includes you whoring your way through every female in the place.”

  Kam frowned at Cy. “Come on, you knew it was ladies night, and my all night buffet is open!”

  “Well, I just shut it down.” Cy pointed to their usual table in the back. “Oz just called. I need to fill you two in.” At the table, he turned his chair around and straddled it. He killed half his mug as Kam stomped toward the table.

  “Boy, you need to practice a little patience and self-control,” Miles said as they took a seat.

  A sarcastic burst of laughter escaped Kam. “It’s not my fault you’re too old to play all night.”

  Miles shook his head. “No, I’m choosey. I realized long ago I don’t need to nail everything on two legs to be happy.”

  “Cut the crap, ladies. You can argue about whose dick is largest, later.” Cy put a stop to their banter, or else they would be at it all night. “Right now, we have a problem.”