Sacrifice Me: The Complete Season One (7 page)

He released his grip on my arms and I resisted the
urge to rub the spots where his hands had been.

“I’m sorry.” He ran his hand
through his hair and closed his eyes, taking a moment before he spoke
again. “I know you didn’t know what you were getting into
by coming here. It’s not your fault, but I really wish you had
just thrown that paper away and never walked into this place.”

I wanted to be strong and tell him to leave me
alone, but I was frozen to the spot, unable to talk back or argue
with him. I had no idea why he was so angry or why he wanted to keep
me safe, but I understood now that he honestly believed I was in some
kind of danger.

I thought about my mother and how it was exactly
three years to the day since she had disappeared from my life. I’d
convinced myself that she left of her own will. She’d never
been a real mother to me, anyway. I couldn’t remember a single
day of my childhood when she wasn’t high or drunk or completely
disconnected from life. All she’d ever wanted to do was escape,
and the day I turned eighteen and could legally take care of myself,
that’s exactly what she had done.

Escaped.

She’d left me alone without even bothering
with goodbye.

That was the real reason why those words on the
invitation haunted me. Those two words were the real reason I had
come.

Little Bird.

Standing there with Rend, I finally admitted to
myself that in some strange way, I had hoped I would find her here.
In some secret, hidden part of my heart, I had hoped those roses were
from her and that she would be here, waiting with open arms and ready
to apologize for all those years of heartache.

I should have known better. This whole thing was
stupid.

“I shouldn’t have come,” I said.
I cursed the teary sound of my voice. I was stronger than that, even
if this guy didn’t know me well enough to understand what I’d
been through. What I’d overcome to get this far.

“No,” he said. “You shouldn’t
have. You should go. Get out and forget you ever came here.”

I breathed through the threat of tears, reaching
deep down to find the strength I knew I had. I refused to let a
single tear hit my cheek.

I looked up into his eyes, no longer feeling
weak-kneed. What I felt instead was a mix of anger and regret and
disappointment.

Disappointment that the first man who had actually
made me feel something was mixed up in something dangerous and
untouchable. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t I have met
someone like him under different circumstances?

But my mother had always told me I had a
personality meant for trouble and that I was no good. Maybe that’s
why I was so attracted to him. The scent of danger rolled off him
like cologne. On one hand, I wished I’d never met him. On the
other, I wished I didn’t have to walk away and never see him
again.

“Want to get out of my way so I can leave?
Or are you planning to hold me prisoner back here in the shadows?”
My voice was strong again despite the queasiness in my stomach.

His eyes widened and that secret smile tugged at
his lips as he moved to the side.

I held his gaze for a second longer, then walked
back toward the crowd on the dance floor.

I needed to find Katy and get the hell out of this
place.

The dance floor had only become more crowded in
the past few minutes. The later it got, the more people poured into
the club, even on a Wednesday night.

I found her dancing with the same blond-haired guy
as before, and I could tell by the way their bodies were pressed
close together that she wasn’t going to be happy about me
dragging her away from him. Still, if he was a good friend of Rend's,
I was doing her a favor. Hopefully they hadn’t thought to
exchange numbers. If we were lucky, we would both be able to walk
away and forget this night ever happened.

I had to wade through the sea of people to get to
her. They didn’t part for me now that Rend wasn’t leading
the way. When I’d almost reached her, a strange sensation
pricked at my heart. I stopped cold and looked around.

This was different from earlier when I had felt
someone watching me. This was more like a familiar presence. It
reached inside my chest and squeezed my heart until it stopped
beating.

I looked up just in time to see her long black
braid and the shadowed profile of her face.

My mother.

I couldn’t breathe. She was really here.
After all this time. It was like seeing a ghost.

All of the heat in my body dissipated and I
shivered, clutching my arms close to my chest.

She was with three men I didn’t recognize.
They were dressed in long black cloaks even though it was still late
summer and warm out.

All I caught was that flash of her before she
opened a door and disappeared through it. The men followed her, then
closed the door behind them.

I couldn’t move at first. I couldn’t
think. Part of me wanted to grab Katy and run away, like Rend had
told me to. My mother never cared about me, so why did I even want to
see her? It had taken me a long time to get over the heartbreak of
her disappearance. Did I really want to relive that?

But another part of me—a stronger part—knew
I couldn’t walk away.

I had to follow her. Even if just to get the
chance to tell her how much I hated her. How much she had broken me.

I pushed my way through the throng and sprinted
for the door.

With both hands, I pushed it open and felt the
humid night air wash over me. It led into another back alley. I
stepped out and the door slammed shut behind me, the music now
muffled and distant.

There were no lights out here and I struggled to
see in the darkness. I thought I saw a pair of red eyes turn toward
me, then giant black wings rose up into the sky. I fell back in
surprise, shielding my face with my hand, and when I looked up again,
the bird was flying off overhead. It looked to be a normal size, and
I wondered if my eyes had been playing tricks on me.

I caught my breath, then looked again for my
mother.

But she wasn’t out there.

Instead, the three men who had followed her were
standing side-by-side, their eyes locked on me. Hungry smiles marred
their faces.

“Well, well, what have we here?” the
tallest one said. He moved one step closer to me.

I reached back and tugged on the door handle to
get back inside, but it was locked.

“A juicy little treat,” another one
said. There was laughter in his tone. “Perhaps the night is not
lost after all.”

The third one, a man with broad shoulders and pale
skin, moved toward me so fast, his body was a blur of shadows.

I gasped as he ran a jagged fingernail across my
cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned forward to smell my hair. I
pulled away, but his hand darted out to grab me. He held on so
tightly, I whimpered in pain. That was going to leave a bruise.

“Do you smell that?” he asked. “It’s
been a long time since I tasted one so powerful and pure.”

The tall one rubbed his hands together and took a
few more steps toward me.

Bile rose into the back of my throat, tasting
faintly of cinnamon and scotch.

What did he mean by taste?

I didn’t want to stay here and find out, but
there were three of them and only one of me. It didn’t look
good, but I wasn’t going down without a fight.

“I don’t know what you guys think
you’re doing, but you’d better get your freaking hands
off me.”

I lifted my knee and stomped the heel of my shoe
down on the guy’s foot as hard as I could. He loosened his grip
for a split second, and I wrenched my arm away.

I darted around him and ran toward the lights of
the main street, but before I could get more than a few steps, the
tall one was in front of me. It was as if he’d just
materialized out of thin air.

He made a clicking noise with his tongue. “Bad
little witch,” he said. “Don’t make this any harder
than it has to be or we’ll make this a very unpleasant
experience for you.”

“As if you ever had any intention of making
it pleasant,” I muttered, clenching my jaw and backing away.

He smiled and my stomach turned.

Two large fangs protruded from his mouth.

I shook my head and stared at those fangs, unable
to believe what I was seeing.

Vampires weren't real, yet I could swear that's
exactly what I saw standing in front of me. I screamed and turned to
run the other way, but it was no use. The three of them had me
surrounded now.

And all three of them had fangs.

Suddenly the word taste took on a whole new
meaning.

“We’re going to be the strongest
demons in this world after this meal,” the pale one said.

He opened his mouth and reached for me. In my
panic, I must have summoned up some kind of superhuman strength
because I kicked him in the chest so hard, he nearly flew back
several feet until his back hit the brick wall behind him.

Shock registered on his face, followed by an
insane fury that literally turned his eyes red with hatred.

A hand gripped my shoulder, and I threw my elbow
back with all my might, hitting the tall one in the gut. He let go of
me and doubled over with a grunt.

I spun around toward the smaller one, my body
buzzing with adrenaline.

He blocked my way toward the main street, but I
knew I needed to get past him fast before his two friends recovered
and came back for vengeance.

I ran toward him, a strange energy gathering in my
fist. I reared back and punched him in the face as hard as I could. A
horrible crack echoed in the alley and blood splattered through the
air. I didn’t even take the time to wonder how the hell I’d
been strong enough to do that. I just ran, kicking off my heels as I
went.

But it wasn’t enough. Again, the biggest of
the three materialized in front of me, this time not bothering to
smile or make some snide remark about how tasty I smelled.

Instead, he grabbed the front of my white shirt
and twisted, lifting me off the ground so that my bare feet dangled
in the air.

I screamed again, terror pumping through my veins.
I kicked and scratched, but soon his buddies joined him, holding my
arms.

There were no smiles. Just blood-thirsty
vengeance.

“You’re going to pay for that, witch.”

The pale one pulled me to him, his fangs shining
white as he opened his mouth wide toward my neck.

I closed my eyes.

“Put her down.”

The vampire’s fangs brushed against the bare
skin of my neck. I felt the pressure of his bite against my flesh,
but he froze at the sound of the voice behind me.

My eyes snapped open as he pulled away. He did
not, however, put me down.

I turned my head, but couldn’t see the
newcomer. I recognized his voice, though. That rough, deep bass
sounded different without the thumping of the music to cover it, but
I knew it was Rend.

I wanted to tell him to go back inside. That these
guys were too strong. Too dangerous. Too completely unbelievable to
be real.

But considering the fact that his presence had
just saved my life for the moment, I kept my damned mouth shut.

“I said put her down. Don’t make me
ask a third time, or you’ll wish you’d never set eyes on
this girl.” He chuckled. “From the looks of it she
already put up a good fight on her own.”

I couldn’t see the other two, but my eyes
had adjusted enough to the darkness to see the pale, broad-shouldered
vampire in front of me. He looked pissed, to say the least.

I expected him to tell Rend to get lost, but
instead, like some miracle, he opened his fist. I fell to the
pavement like some ragdoll. Both of my hands went down on instinct to
protect my fall, and I ended up scraping the hell out of both palms
and my elbow as I hit. I felt the blood trickle against my skin.

Rend cursed and all four men in the alley reached
for me.

Luckily, Rend got to me first. Even though he was
the farthest away, he somehow got to my side and lifted me into his
arms. He backed toward the door to the club.

“Don’t you dare lay one finger on
her,” he said.

The smallest of the three vampires dropped to his
knees and licked the pavement where my blood had spilled. The tall
one kicked him aside so hard he went flying into a dumpster.

“You took it all, you asshole,” he
yelled.

The two of them began to fight until the pale man
lifted his fist. “Shut up, both of you.”

Everyone grew still. The only sounds were the
distant thumping of music and the occasional car passing on the main
street at the end of the alley.

Rend set me down gently, then brought his arm out
in front of me, shielding me from the other three.

“She one of your girls?” the guy
asked. He brought one hand to his side where I’d elbowed him,
and I wondered if I’d really managed to hurt him. “I've
never seen her here before.”

“Yes, she’s mine,” he said.

I opened my mouth to protest, but a side-glance
from Rend shut me up real quick.

“She’s not wearing one of your shirts.
She doesn’t have the mark,” the tall one protested. “How
were we supposed to know?”

That’s when I realized that these guys
weren’t just listening to Rend. They were afraid of him.

“We didn’t mean any harm,” the
broad-shouldered vampire said. “We were outside the club. We
didn’t break any rules here.”

The three of them waited, barely moving a muscle.
What exactly were they scared he was going to do to them? I mean, I
could tell he was built, but what were muscles against mythical
beings of the night?

Unless Rend wasn't exactly human himself.

“I’ll give the three of you a pass
this one time,” Rend said. “But only because she’s
new and isn’t in uniform. I haven’t had a chance to mark
her yet.”