The Sacrifice Page 7

  Riana’s jaw clenched tight. “Well, I hope she lives happily ever after. Because he’s all she’s got.”

  ***

  In the parking lot of the pub, the coroner passed with a gurney and Maggie in a body-bag. Cy’s anger threatened to take him to a dark place. He wanted to kill every feeder he got his hands on. Especially Vind.

  Miles strode to the center of the lot to meet them. “I searched the minds of everyone at or around the pub when the murder took place. I found nothing…not even a blank spot. The attacker took time to fill the blank with another memory. If that’s the case, he had no fear of getting caught.”

  “Attacker, my ass,” Kam said. “It was Vind and we all know it.”

  Miles nodded. “For Vind to be so bold as to make a kill with us right inside, he must have brought an awful lot of his people with him. We know he would never put his ass on the line like that. Asheville could be overrun with feeders.”

  “You’re probably right,” Cy said. “Vind wanted us to know he’s here. He knew this would rattle us, put us off our game. One thing’s for sure, Maggie’s murder wasn’t random. It was done for a specific purpose. We just have to figure out what it was.”

  Cy checked his cell to make sure he hadn’t missed a message. “I’m getting a little worried about Oz. I’ve tried to contact him all evening. He told me he had an errand to run, but it’s unlike him to not answer his phone.”

  The three of them split up. They started at the pub and swept the area in an outward circle, looking for anything that might reveal the presence of feeders. With their greedy nature, they’d be hunting victims to feed on. As they neared the art district, a heavy layer of fog hung low, due to the close proximity of the French Broad River. A chilled night breeze blew out of the north from across the river, and with it came the scent of fresh blood.

  A few moments later, all three had pinpointed the scent to the same spot—the French Broad River Park. Cy motioned to a row of hedges running parallel with the river.

  Each of them pulled their weapon of choice from beneath their coats. In each hand Cy had his sixteenth century Swiss pommel daggers. Miles took out his trusted seventeenth century Scottish plug bayonet. Kam preferred an AK-47 with silencer, or anything that went boom.

  Protectors were trained to approach someone without making a sound. A mouse scurrying across an open field would have made more noise than the three of them. As they moved closer, Cy knew Vind wasn’t making this kill. He would never be this unaware, or unprotected. He took an entourage of bodyguards everywhere he went.

  The feeder was on his second victim, and so high on adrenaline he didn’t even realize they were near.

  Kam cleared his throat, causing the feeder to jerk his head from the victim’s neck. As he looked up at them, a piece of flesh dangled from his teeth. Kam took swift, accurate aim and shot twice, a bullet through each eye. Immediately, Miles’ bayonet sliced through the feeder’s neck. He dissolved into a layer of fine dust. A strong gust of wind picked it up in a cloud and blew it across the river.

  They stared in silence at the scene laid out before them. The young couple looked to be in their early twenties. Bruises covered the guy’s face as if he’d tried to put up a fight. With the feeder’s advanced strength, it would’ve been the equivalent of a kitten fighting a Doberman. The boy had never stood a chance.

  Cy clinched his teeth and met his partner’s gaze. “We need to stop this useless loss of life. These two had their whole lives ahead of them. They’re probably from UNC or one of the other colleges in town.”

  Kam paced in front of the bodies. “We might need to move them out of Asheville. Three people with their throats ripped out in one night will send this town into a serial killer scare, for sure.”

  “If it would scare humans enough to stay off the streets, I’d leave them here.” Cy stared at the bodies. “But we know from past experience, that doesn’t work.”

  “There’s a place across the Tennessee line, not far from Johnson City, called Big Bald Mountain,” Kam said. “We can take them up there and plant the suggestion in a nearby human to find them in a few weeks.”

  Cy squatted beside the guy’s body and removed his wallet to check the address. “I’ll call the S.E.C. and let them know where we took them. They’ll take care of the families and authorities.” The Sivadian Extension Council had many departments, but the one that dealt with Human Affairs made sure no one discovered more than they needed to know about the Sivadians’ existence. With the feeders’ recent population explosion, the S.E.C. had their hands full covering up their messes. Maybe he needed to bring up increasing their work force at the next council meeting also.

  “Kam, I’m going to call someone to help you transport these two. Miles and I will join the other teams and continue hunting. It’ll be dawn in a few hours and the feeders will go into hiding for the day. If they’re killing more victims, we need to find them, fast.”

  Chapter 10

  Vind had sat on top of a car in plain sight, and waited for Cy and Miles to discover the dead body of the barmaid he’d drained. The ability to stand under their noses undetected, to watch and listen to every word filled him with an incredible sense of invincibility. Few things had left him with this much power. When Cy and the Hummer full of females pulled into their compound, Vind lay on top of the vehicle. An alarm sounded and the Hummer stopped.

  A guard came around to the driver’s window and looked inside. “Is everything all right?”

  “Yes,” Cy replied. “We’re bringing some girls back from town. They’ve all been scanned, so I’m not sure why the alarm went off.”

  “I’ll check it out,” the guard said, and waved them through.

  Since he had set off alarms, Vind decided to stay and do some investigating while the Protectors were busy in town. To make sure they came up empty-handed, he’d called his men and ordered them to return home.

  Vind strolled through the compound, took his time and familiarized himself with each building. He located the main office and slipped inside. According to the familiar scent, it belonged to Oz. He’d spent the first eighteen years of his life around Oz. Respected him as a warrior, but had never liked him.

  He started to boot the computer but hesitated as heavy footsteps trampled down the hall. Two guards burst through the door with guns drawn. Vind stood in plain sight as the guards scanned the office. After they detected nothing out of the ordinary, they left mumbling something about a glitch in the security system. Vind smiled.

  Idiots. I’m the glitch in your system.

  Vind searched their files and discovered the locations of every group of Protectors inside the United States. He glanced at a clock on the wall.

  Damn. He had only thirty minutes left on his invisibility formula. He’d have to leave before researching the locations of the European chapters. Which he was most interested in since his home was located there.

  He couldn’t transport home without going back through security. He’d have to find some way to keep that from happening every time, or they would become suspicious. For now, he wanted to get home and plan his next move while everyone was still oblivious he could come and go at will.

  Vind didn’t have to wait long before the gates opened for some compound staff. He scooted through the gates with them, and then transported to his castle located in the Apennine Mountains of central Italy. He loved it like no place he’d ever lived on this planet. He’d built it in 1750AD, twenty years after the war began. He modeled it after the palace on Sivadia where he’d lived as a child. Over time, he’d acquired some of the Sivadian treasures originally brought to Earth, which made it feel even more like home.

  He had built vast underground barracks for his army, located within a mile of the castle. He regretted few things in life, but draining that village of witches came close. They hadn’t realized a witch’s mind could not be controlled, until some of them escaped and invoked the curse that left them all intolerant to the sun and their females infer
tile. The witches didn’t know Sivadians existed who didn’t kill for blood. If not for that curse, Vind’s army would have multiplied quickly enough to overthrow his mother and Cy long ago. This world and the human cattle that populate it would have belonged to him and his followers. The way it should have been all along.

  Vind materialized inside his study, picked up the phone and called Soren, his second in command.

  Soren answered on the first ring. “Yes, my Lord.”

  “I need you to come to my office immediately.”

  Soren was loyal and had been with him over two hundred years. The only person Vind had ever liked enough to give his own personal residence located directly behind his castle.

  “Enter.”

  “My lord,” Soren greeted, as he stopped in front of the desk.

  Vind motioned to one of two leather wing backed chairs across from him. “Have a seat.”

  Soren dropped his large frame into the chair.

  Vind leaned back in his plush office chair and propped his elbows on its arms. “I’ve had quite a successful evening,” he boasted. “I found my brother, along with his compound, which happens to be full of fertility-age females.”

  A smile played at the corners of Soren’s mouth, pulling at the scar tracking around one side of his face. “My Lord, you should have called. I would have accompanied you.”

  “I was never in danger. Besides, I needed you here to keep everything under control.” As much as he trusted Soren, he didn’t trust anyone enough to share his secret of invisibility.

  “I not only found their compound, I also acquired the locations of every compound within the borders of the United States and Canada. There are six U.S chapters and four Canadian.” Vind handed the list to Soren. “Here are the locations, along with the names of every Protector stationed at each. Before long, I will have locations for the European chapters.”

  “You have been hard at work, my Lord.”

  “You will notify our top twenty generals, and allot them one hundred soldiers each. When I have the rest of the information we’ll plan our attack and hit them all at once. I want no Protectors left alive when I make my move to take the throne. Finally, we are close to winning this war.”

  Vind rose from his chair and strode to the open bar. He poured himself a brandy from the decanter and swished it around the snifter. He inhaled the amber liquid, reveling in the slight scent of cherry. “Once the battle is over and I control every Sivadian, we will keep the females’ blood supply pure in order to populate our race. Then we can begin the process of farming humans for our personal blood needs. This is what we’ve always envisioned as a perfect existence on Earth, and now, it is within our reach.”

  “My Lord, you are the ultimate warrior. I have no doubt, we will reach our goal.”

  “As usual, your loyalty will be greatly rewarded.”

  A cruel smile crossed Soren’s face. “My pick of the captured females is great incentive to work swiftly. Everything will be ready for our victory.”

  Soren turned to leave, but stopped when he reached the door. “I almost forgot to tell you. I had a security breach at my home.”

  Vind rubbed his brow. A breach in security was the last thing he needed.

  “A couple of young shape-shifters,” Soren said. “Although I’m not exactly sure what kind they were. I suspected something was stealing food from my pantry. The one I killed was a ferret. The other got away, but not before he shifted into several different forms in a pitiful attempt to save the one already dead. I have set traps to catch him. Rest assured, my Lord, he’s as good as dead.”

  “Take care of it quickly, Soren. Once we make our move, this fortress needs to be secured.”

  When Soren left, Vind went to his room, took a shower, and lowered the shutters. Since it was daylight in North Carolina, he planned to sleep until he could return.

  ***

  Cy and Miles ended their search at dawn. Their night of hunting ramped up their appetites enough to stop by the local greasy spoon for breakfast. They’d found no more feeders, or Vind, or dead humans. Past experience told Cy that didn’t mean they’d all left the area.

  Once back at the compound, Cy stood in his shower, the pulsating jets of hot water releasing some of the tension in his tight muscles. Although he wouldn’t be able to relax enough to sleep until he visited his mother and got answers to his questions about life-mates.

  When his mother had brought up the subject of life-mates after his father’s death, Cy was consumed with terrible grief, and a fear his mother would die also. Many Sivadians didn’t survive losing their mate. Then after the war started, his life became too dangerous to be involved with a female. With a brother who wanted him dead, it still was. If he had any decency, he’d put Riana out of his mind. He just didn’t know how. He’d lived his entire life without experiencing these feelings. But from the moment he met Riana, his life had forever changed.

  Cy dressed and transported to his mother’s palace located deep inside a mountain in the Swiss Alps. He materialized at the security entrance and greeted the guards. Everyone knew him, but he still went through every security check, since he shared DNA with his depraved twin. The risk was too great that Vind might try to pose as him and assassinate the queen.

  His mother’s personal assistant greeted him at the door and escorted him to her study. She sat at her eighteenth century, hand-carved mahogany desk. Although the desk was beautiful, it couldn’t come close to his mother’s stunning elegance. At three hundred and seventy, she appeared the age of a thirty-five year old human.

  Since his father’s death, she had ruled their people with grace, determination, and a resilience that would buckle most men. Cy admired her more than anyone. Between her and his father, he would have a lot to live up to when he became ruler.

  She rose from her desk and greeted him with a warm smile. “Cygan, sweetheart, what a wonderful surprise. What brings this pleasure?” Her heavy Sivadian accent was like a salve to his soul, soothing and a reminder of happier times.

  Cy hugged her and kissed her cheek. “I needed a little motherly advice. I hope I’ve not interrupted you.”

  “It would not matter if you had, darling. I always have time to spend with you. Nothing in this world makes me happier. Come, let us sit.” She glided across the room and sat on the sofa.

  Cy sat next to her, his large frame dwarfing her petite one. He took a deep breath and exhaled. “You always told me one day I’d meet my etamlous.”

  Her face brightened and she leaned closer. “Did you meet her?”

  “I’m not sure, but I believe so. A trainee from the compound named Riana. Something strange happened when we met. I’ve refrained from asking you questions in the past, but hoped you could shed some light about these off-the-chart reactions I’m having to her.

  She took his hand in hers. “Did an indescribable feeling come over you the moment your eyes met? And did it feel as if you suddenly couldn’t breathe?”

  “Yes, but the strangest part was when I touched her hand and electricity passed between us. At least, I think she felt it. Did she…feel the same thing?”

  “Yes, sweetheart. If she is truly your life-mate she felt it as strongly as you. Embedded within our DNA is the ability to recognize our other half. You feel it throughout your entire body from the first moment, and touch. It’s our body’s way of telling us we have touched our destiny. Each time you’re together, the attraction becomes more intense than the last. Until it becomes impossible to resist, no matter how hard you try. It is truly a tremendous gift among our race.”

  Cy shook his head. “Everything in me reacted from the moment I laid eyes on her. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, with these amazing green eyes. When I look into them, they’re somehow familiar, although I know we’ve never met.”

  “They are familiar, sweetheart. She has been your mate throughout many lifetimes. The two of you may not look the same, but throughout eternity, you both will retain the abil
ity to recognize each other’s soul. Knowing I will be with your father again one day, is the only thing that’s kept me going. He once told me, because we are of royal blood our ability to recognize our etamlous, and them us, is accelerated. More so than among average Sivadians.”

  “I had no idea the life-mate connection ran so deep,” Cy said.

  “There is something even more remarkable,” she added. “This part is true for our entire race. The first time you make love there will be an uncontrollable urge to take each other’s blood. While taking blood from human lovers is strictly prohibited, between Sivadians it’s not uncommon to take a small amount during passion. With someone who doesn’t share a part of your soul, the urge is not there, but between life-mates you will be unable to resist. This is your souls calling out to be joined, to once more become complete. After the blood exchange takes place, you will be bound to each other physically and mentally. Each time this happens, parts of each other’s life are revealed, and your connection grows very strong, very quickly. If one of you were emotionally upset or in pain, the other would know.”

  Cy’s face paled. “What?”

  “Oh, sweetheart, let me explain. You will not be able to control each other the way we do humans. You cannot hear each other’s thoughts. You merely have a strong sense, a connection you have never experienced with another.”

  “Why have I never heard about this?”

  She hesitated a moment. “It’s not like I’ve kept it from you, darling. You’ve never shown serious interest in a female before. You always became distant whenever I spoke of life-mates.”

  “I didn’t want to remind you of losing father. The last thing I wanted was to cause you more pain.”

  Her eyes softened. “You could never cause me pain, Cygan. It’s not in your nature. Your compassion for others is the reason your father and I knew you would make a great king.”