The Sacrifice Read online

  “Someone important.” He gives me a most unpleasant grin before pushing a small brown cardboard box into my hands. He tips his hat briefly, which exposes his stubby horns. “Have a good day, ma’am.” And then he’s gone.

  I watch him leave with relief—I’ve never liked Sanchez or any satyr for that matter. They take mindless lust to a whole new level so unless you’re really into being raped, they aren’t the ideal Friday night date. Thankfully, I almost never have to see him or his kind outside supernatural gatherings. But when I do see him, he always finds a way to say something nasty or make a lewd gesture. Actually, this encounter was remarkably mild.

  “Is madam ready to close the door?” Barnes asks, reminding me that I’m standing there with the large front door open, 'air conditioning the great outdoors' as my aunt would say.

  “Uh, yes.” I clear my throat and step back, clutching the box to my chest.

  “Thank you, Ms. Krist,” he says formally and closes the door with a snick before turning to me. “May I ask again if there will be two or three for lunch?”

  I flush, remembering the state I was in last time he asked the question. “Just two, Barnes,” I say, speaking as formally as he did. “Thank you.”

  “You’re most welcome, madam.” He nods at me, perhaps a touch less frostily. “Would it please you to have lunch by the pool?”

  “Oh yes, that would be wonderful!” I’m getting excited now to show Lexy the house. It’s not like I own it but if you live in a mansion, you might as well make use of it. And having lunch by the pool sounds so perfectly la-ti-da. She’s going to love it.

  A very small smile touches Barnes’ thin lips. “Very well. I’ll set everything out for you.”

  “Thank you,” I say again, really meaning it.

  He nods and leaves me alone. I look after him until I realize I’m still gripping the mysterious box. What’s in it? I lift it to my ear and shake but I don’t hear a thing and it’s very light—almost as though it was empty. Who would send me an empty box and why? There’s no tingling in my fingertips so no magic is involved. At least, nothing overt.

  I take the box back in my room before I open it. Inside is a single slip of paper and on it, in elegant script are written these words:

  Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart. O. When may it suffice?

  And under that:

  Soon.

  I stare in confusion at the piece of paper. It seems to be some kind of a quote or warning. But by who and about what? Too long a sacrifice—is someone trying to say that a year is too long for the designated Sacrifice to serve the Sovereign? Well, what good is it going to do to tell me that? It’s not like I can change anything.

  I’m still puzzling over the box and its confusing contents when I hear the front doorbell again. This time it’s Lexy with a laundry basket full of clothes and—oh joy!—my cell phone. She even remembered the charger.

  I give her an enthusiastic hug and then she steps back to look around. “Wow, this place is swanky! But what the hell is the deal with all the glass walls?”

  “Aiden likes sunlight,” I say, with a shrug. “He says he went without it for too long and now he wants to make up for lost time.”

  “A vampire who loves sunlight.” She shakes her head. “What’ll they think of next? Well, come on—give me the grand tour.”

  I take her to the bedroom first, so I can deposit the laundry basket full of clothes. But I have forgotten about the abandoned harness, lying discarded on the bed. I’m quick to put the laundry basket on top of it, but Lexy is even quicker.

  “Oh my Goddess—what’s that thing? Do you wear that?”

  “Not all the time.” I can feel my cheeks heating and I curse myself for leaving the damn harness in plain sight. After all the trouble I went to in order to take it off and then I go and let her see it anyway! It’s mortifying.

  “So he’s into the kinky stuff, huh?” Lexy grins at me and wiggles her eyebrows. “I thought he might be after what I heard about him.”

  “What? What did you hear?” I’ve been living here with Aiden for a month now and I scarcely know more about him than I did when I first came. He’s maddeningly evasive when I ask about his past and he has an annoying habit of answering my questions with other questions.

  “Ah-ah-ah,” Lexy trills, shaking her finger at me. “I’ll tell you everything but first you have to tell me the dirty details of what it’s like to be the Sovereign’s personal sex slave.”

  “Oh come on, Lexy,” I moan but she only laughs.

  “You know how it is—you have to give some to get some. Besides, I’m dying to know. You’re the envy of every single girl in the supernatural community, you know. The last Sovereign was so old and stodgy and boring. And Aiden James is so sexy and hot and mysterious and—”

  “Lunch is served, madam.” Barnes is suddenly standing there at the doorway, giving Lexy a very disapproving look from his blind eyes.

  “Oh, thank you, Barnes,” I say, feeling embarrassed all over again. “Uh, out by the pool, right?”

  “As you requested, Ms. Krist.” He makes me a formal, sweeping bow and then stands back, indicating that we should precede him from the room.

  Out by the pool, Lexy can’t stop gushing about how fabulous everything is and honestly, I have to agree with her. Lunch is a much more elaborate affair than the simple fruit and cheese courses that Barnes usually prepares for me. There’s an elegant chilled cucumber soup to start and then tiny finger sandwiches filled with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Next a mushroom and spinach quiche followed by blackberry sage sorbet for dessert. Barnes even opens a bottle of champagne—something expensive with tiny bubbles that tickle my nose and go straight to my head. That’s not really saying much though—I’ve never been much of a drinker.

  “So tell me,” Lexy continues as we nipple and sip. “What exactly is going on here in this weird glass house?”

  “About what you’d expect,” I say, and take another sip of champagne. Honestly, I’m beginning to feel a little tipsy. I really should stop but it tastes so good. “I mean, you know, regular sex slave stuff.”

  “What?” she squeals. “What kind of sex slave stuff. Tell me, Emma!”

  It seems to me I didn’t want to tell her before, but now that I’ve had several glasses of the lovely champagne, it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

  “You know,” I say again. “I wake up in the morning and have breakfast with Aiden. Then he takes me in the bedroom and makes me wear the harness.”

  “What—that weird purple dildo thing I saw in your room?”

  “Yup,” I say and hiccup before taking another sip. “I’m not supposed to take it off but I did anyway. I thought it would be too weird to wear it with you here.”

  “You got that right.” She snickers. “So then what?”

  “He goes off to work and leaves me here. Oh, but usually I spend the whole day naked except for this.” I point to the collar I’m still wearing. “And the harness.”

  “It’s gorgeous,” Lexy says, looking more closely at the collar with its dangling pendant. “Is that a real ruby? And did you just say you spend the whole day naked?”

  “I have no idea if it’s real but knowing Aiden, it probably is,” I say. “And yes, I don’t wear clothes. He, uh, says he likes to see me. Also, he wants me to like myself better too or something like that.” I hiccup again.

  “Weird,” Lexy murmurs. “But also kind of hot.”

  “That pretty much sums up the whole situation,” I agree.

  “So what happens when he gets home?” she prompts but I shake my head.

  “Uh-uh, cuz. No more about my kinky daily routine until you spill what you know.”

  “Oh, all right,” she sighs. “But you should know I had to sleep with a lot of vampires to get this dirt.”

  “Yeah, like that was such a hardship for you,” I say dryly.

  Lexy giggles. “Actually, it’s been a lot of fun. Even if I am starting to feel l