The Sacrifice (39 page)

Riana stepped lightly into the
stairwell to prevent the echo of her boots. As she reached the bottom, it
opened into a small room with a desk. She released a shuddering breath,
relieved no guard was around. Four hallways led in different direction from the
room. She entered the one with the heaviest scent of fresh blood. At the sixth
cell her relief turned to panic.

Cy
’
s
body lay on the cold, stone floor beneath the manacles. He was curled into a
fetal position, his face still unrecognizable from massive swelling. “Cy,” she
whispered. He didn
’
t move or open his eyes.

Riana
’
s
heart twisted into a hard knot and tears burned her eyes.

Oh
God, please let him be okay.
She laid the mallet down on the
floor and fumbled for the key cards in her pocket.

With
around twenty electronic cards on the chain, she started the tedious task of
eliminating one card at a time. This would take time, the one thing she didn
’
t
have. But it was the only way to open the cell. Her need to get to Cy blocked
out logical thought. Her hands shook so badly the keys fell to the floor. As
she bent to pick them up, she caught movement from the corner of her eye.

Riana
froze, and slowly turned her head. Vind
’
s second-in-command,
Soren, stood at the end of the hall, wearing the bitterly cruel expression that
never left his hideous face. He disgusted her on a level matched only by her
hatred of Vind. Soren was so large he looked like a Mac truck blocking the
hallway. Riana stiffened her back, preparing for the inevitable.

He
might be big, and he
’
s definitely ugly, but I will not back down. He
’
ll have to kill me to keep me from getting inside that cell.

Soren
’
s
threatening gaze fixed on her. “My, my,” he said, his tone vicious. “What have
we here? When Dirk went after a snack, I didn
’
t realize it would be
so fresh and appealing.”

As
Soren stalked toward her, a surge of adrenaline kicked Riana
’
s
heart into high gear. She grabbed the mallet and fell into a fighting stance.

Malevolent laughter echoed through the
empty cells. Soren stopped a few feet away. “Do you really think
you
can fight me?”

 She
lifted her chin and stared straight into his glassy, black eyes. “You
’
re
damn right, I do.”

“You
have no idea how deep in this shit-pit you are, do you girlie?” Soren
’
s
head tilted to one side as if considering his next move. “This is good. I love
to play with my food. Escalating fear adds to the flavor.” His cruel lips
quirked into a half-smile.

“
You can
’
t harm me,
” Riana said, sounding more confident than she felt. “If you do,
your psychotic boss will be mad, since I now carry his heir. You know someone
usually ends up dead whenever he
’
s mad.”

“I
’
ll
have to remind myself not to drain you completely, then. Although, it
is
something I
’
ve dreamed of, since you let the child escape. She
belonged to me,” he yelled, his anger mounting to the point veins bulged in his
bald head.

“You disgusting bastard.” Riana
screamed. She shuddered at the thought of what such a vile creature would do to
an innocent child like Lily. “You will never lay a finger on her. I made sure
of that,” she goaded.

Soren
’
s
smile turned cold and wicked. “That may be true. However, the day will come
when you
’
ve served your purpose. Vind will hand you over to
me to play with, as he does with all the others. You are nothing more than a
vessel for his child, and a means to inflict revenge on his brother. When that
day comes, I
’
m going to keep you alive for a long time, torture
you in every way imaginable.” He laughed, delighting in the image.

Coiled and ready, Riana pinned him
with a deadly stare. “Not if I kill you first you pedophile, piece of shit.”
Hoping to catch him off-guard, she leapt the distance between them and kicked
straight out with her foot. She aimed for his eye with the heel of her boot,
but he jerked back just enough that she missed. The ball of her foot connected
firmly with his chin, jacking his head back. She twisted in the air and landed
in a low crouch.

Fire
flashed in Soren
’
s eyes.

Riana pulled from the knowledge Cy had
drilled into her during their nightly sparring sessions. As Soren neared, she
pivoted around and slashed out with her foot, making contact with his chest.
The force of the blow reverberated up her leg, but did little to slow him down.
He lunged for her and missed as she hit the floor, rolled to the side and came
out behind him. He was stronger and a far more experienced fighter. Her best
hope was to land a few lucky kicks and cause as much damage as possible. Since
she had nowhere to run, getting away was out of the question.

I
am so dead.

As Soren turned, she whirled around on
the floor, braced her back against the wall for momentum and kicked out with
both feet. The blow made contact with the side of his knee. Flesh and bone gave
away under the power of her kick.

Soren
screamed in frustration and pain and hit the floor. He grabbed Riana
’
s
foot and jerked her toward him, twisting her ankle with each drag. Still
holding the mallet, she swung it through the air, attempting to connect with
any body part she could. Soren blocked her swing and sent her only weapon
skidding across the floor.

Riana
ignored the pain shooting from her ankle to her hip. She kicked wildly with her
free leg, attempting to loosen his vise-like grip. Panic took over, causing her
kicks to be ineffective. She took a deep breath, and Cy
’
s
voice came to mind from their time in the gym over the past few weeks.

Eyes,
throat, groin.
Riana
pulled her free leg all the way to her chest and concentrated on Soren
’
s
right eye. With her mule-like strength, she aimed the stiletto heel at her
target and released.
Bulls-eye!

Soren
roared, turned her loose and covered his eye with a large hand. Blood gushed
from the socket like a flood through a drain pipe. As a doctor, Riana knew she
’
d
just destroyed his lacrimal artery and optic nerve. Still on the floor
screaming, Soren blindly grabbed for her.

Riana scooted back, looked for the mallet
and spotted it inside one of the locked cells. As she attempted to stand, pain
shot through her ankle and it gave way. She scampered on hands and knees over
to the cell and flattened her body against the floor. She stretched her arm
through the bars, but her finger tips only brushed the handle. Her head jerked
toward movement behind her. Soren was getting up. Riana crammed her shoulder
beneath the lowest bar and her fingers inched the mallet close enough to grip.
She jerked it to her.

A loud thud echoed through the cells.
Riana spun around and drew the mallet back, ready to attack.

Soren had gotten up, but slipped in
the blood and fell. Blood from his injured eye flowed into the other. He
blindly swung his arms through the air, attempting to grab her.

Riana
glared at his bloody pants. She
’
d already busted one of his knees. She needed to
ensure he remained immobile. Riana eased closer. With all her might, she
brought the mallet across the shin of Soren
’
s good leg.

He bellowed, and his beefy hand gripped
onto her arm like a vice.

Panic
shot through Riana. With her free hand, she swung the mallet and struck Soren
’s temple. Hard.

“I
’
m
going to kill you, bitch!” Soren fell back and yanked her on top of him.

Riana
gripped the mallet tighter and played a game of ‘whack-a-mole
’
on
Soren
’
s face. Bones crunched with every downward swing.

Fear
mixed with rage took Riana to a place she
’
d never been. She
didn
’
t care that his face had turned into a flattened,
bloody mass of tissue. She didn
’
t care that he no longer gripped her arm. She didn
’
t
care about anything but destroying the monster beneath her.

Through
a red haze of fury, Riana heard a distant voice call her name. Gentle hands
squeezed her shoulders. She flipped around, the bloody mallet drew back ready
to strike, and looked straight into her father
’
s eyes. Riana froze,
dropped her weapon and threw her arms around his neck.

Oz
lifted her and held her tight. “It
’
s okay, honey. I
’
m
here. You
’
re safe.”

Riana pulled a ragged gasp of air into
her lungs as Oz held her in his arms like a small child.

“We
thought we
’
d lost you,” he whispered, his voice full of
emotion.

Tears
rolled down Riana
’
s cheeks as she clung to her father
’
s
strength. It felt wonderful, and safer than she had ever imagined.

“Cy,” she said, between gasps.

Oz pulled back and looked at her. “Are
you all right?”

“Yes, I will be, but Cy is in bad
shape.”

“Where is he?”

“There,” she pointed toward the cell.
“Hurry, Dad. I was trying to get inside when Soren attacked me.”

Oz
’
s
eyes softened and Riana realized she
’
d called him Dad for
the first time.

He rose and pulled her to her feet.
Riana staggered and grabbed the wall for support.

Oz
’
s
brows shot together. “You
’
re hurt?
”

“I
’
m
fine, it
’
s just my leg.” She pointed toward the key-cards.
“Please hurry and get that door open.” Riana
’
s head spun to the
point of nausea and her vision darkened. She rubbed her eyes, determined to
stay conscious long enough to help Cy.

A
pop came from Soren
’
s body as it combusted into a fine dust. Riana
stared at his remains.

I
should feel some type of remorse for taking a life. All I feel is relief that
he can
’
t hurt anyone else.

She glanced at Oz working on the door.
“How did you know we were down here?”

“Alpheus heard us outside taking out
the guards. He came out of the house yelling about you and Cy being in
trouble.”

“Who else is with you?”

“Miles,
Kam, Kyra and Elle are securing the house. We have around forty Protectors
searching the grounds with more on the way. Thanks to the info from Alpheus, I
sent Declan
’
s team to the airport to apprehend Vind. Iggy
’
s
flying around outside somewhere, on lookout for more of Vind
’
s
troops.”