The Sacrifice Read online

  I also try to make peace with the past. I go to visit my mom’s grave and tell her how sorry I am. Sometimes I can almost feel her presence and when I look in the mirror, I see her staring back at me. I know what Lexy says is right—she loved me and forgave me. The question is, will I ever be able to forgive myself?

  But the thing that hurts me the most, even more than learning the traumatic truth about my mom, is Aiden’s abandonment. I thought he cared for me, that he wanted to keep me by his side. I guess I was wrong. But then…what about the way he claimed me? The way he insisted I was his and only his? Did he only say those things in the heat of the moment, because we were having such passionate, intense sex? Lexy assures me that’s what guys do—they make all kinds of promises, swear eternal love and devotion, say whatever it is they think you want to hear—but none of it means anything.

  It’s hard for me to believe that about Aiden—I thought he was different. But as Lexy points out, even if he’s a centuries old vampire, he’s still a guy. And guys are fundamentally untrustworthy—at least according to her.

  I keep waiting for him to call, hoping he’ll prove her wrong. Even if he’d just pick up the phone for a minute to make sure I’m okay, I’d be so happy…but he doesn’t. He doesn’t call and he doesn’t come into the shop on the days that I work. For all intents and purposes, he seems to have completely disappeared.

  Sometimes I wonder if he doesn’t like my new look. After all, he always claimed to like me just the way I was and my magic did a complete makeover when it finally manifested. I think it’s a big improvement—aside from the fact that I’m still plus sized—but maybe he doesn’t see it that way. I hate to think that Aiden would be that shallow, but maybe now that I look so different, he’s lost interest.

  I think about going to his house and talking to him but that reeks too much of desperation. After all, he released me from my service to him, what excuse could I give for showing up? I can’t even say I left my things at his place. The day after the incident with the Vampire Council, a big cardboard box arrived for me with all my clothing folded neatly inside. He’d even sent my cell phone and charger—everything was accounted for. I must have hunted through the box for an hour, turning every damn piece of clothing inside out but there wasn’t so much as a note. It hurt so much I sat down and cried afterward. And then I nearly set fire to the shower curtain when I tried to take a hot shower and relax.

  All in all, not a good day.

  Things are looking up a little now, though. I have my powers mostly under control and I’m finally moving back to my own place. Lexy wanted me to stay with her longer but I decided it was time to get back to my normal routine—whatever that is. I’ve been living such a strange, surreal existence for so long now, I don’t know if I’d recognize normal if it bit me on the ass.

  When I finally step in the door of my little second story loft in Ybor City, my first thought is that it’s good to be home. My second is that everything is dusty with disuse—it’s been months since I lived here.

  I don’t love to clean house but I get to work anyway, trying to put my place back in order…trying to put my life back in order. To go back to the way things were before Aiden picked me out of the crowd and claimed me…then tossed me aside like a broken toy he didn’t want anymore.

  Thinking of my vampire master makes me sad and blue. After my cleaning spree, I decide to take a hot bath, drink a glass of wine, and go to bed early. I have to be to the shop tomorrow at seven, anyway. We’re training a new person to run it since my aunt declared that letting power like mine go to waste behind a counter is a crime against the Goddess. So I’d better get an early night.

  As I snuggle into bed between fresh sheets, I close my eyes and send a silent prayer to the Goddess for deep sleep with no dreams. I’ve been having nightmares lately, dreams of blue witch-fire turning into hungry, golden flames that leap from my fingertips and consume everything in their path. I always wake up panting and covered in sweat but they seem to be your garden variety nightmares.

  I’ve only had The Dream once since I went home with Lexy. It presaged my period, as usual, only this time I had a normal cycle. Meaning the cramps were bearable and my period lasted about a week instead of one hideous day from hell. It seems that my blocked magic was also to blame for the terrible stabbing agony I used to get. Now that it’s unblocked, it can flow freely, normalizing my menstrual cycle, which is inextricably tied to it.

  Tired of thinking about The Dream and my other nightmares, I close my eyes and count sheep. Around sheep number two hundred, I finally drift off…only to find myself looking right at my mother.

  “Emma?” She steps toward me, her arms held out.

  My heart jumps. If this is a dream, I don’t want it to end. “Mom!” I rush to her arms and she holds me, our ebony hair mingling around our shoulders. To my surprise I realize that I’m taller than she is now. Well, of course I am. The last time I saw her I was only eight and…and…

  “Mom,” I say in a rush. “Mom, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—I never meant to start that fire. I thought I was helping you. I didn’t know…”

  “Hush, sweetheart.” She puts a finger to my lips and then hugs me again. “I know all that. I’m not angry—I love you. I’ll always love you, no matter what.”

  “Oh, Mom…” Tears sting my eyes. “Then you forgive me?”

  “There’s nothing to forgive,” she says firmly. “It was an accident. Any child can burn down a house if you leave the matches lying around where they can get them. It just so happens your matches were inside you, if that makes any sense.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” I take a deep, trembling breath.

  “I’m just glad you’re safe,” she says softly, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes. “Thank the Goddess the vampire came when I called him. No one else could have gotten to us in time, no one else could have saved you from the house and protected you from the satyr.” She pats my cheek. “He loves you, you know. Very much.”

  “I don’t think so,” I whisper. I feel tears rising to my eyes and try to wipe them away. “He hasn’t called or come to see me since he released me from his service. I think he’s completely forgotten about me.”

  “Of course he hasn’t.” My mother sounds indignant. “He—” Suddenly her face changes. Her eyes grow large and her cheeks grow pale. “Emma, darling, I love you and I forgive you but now you have to wake up.”

  “What?” I look around and see that the edges of this little reality we’re in are melting away. “No, please,” I beg. “I don’t want to wake up, Mom. I want to stay here with you.”

  “You can’t.” She gives me a grim look. “You’re in danger. Wake up, Emma! Wake—”

  "—up, you little bitch. Wake up.”

  I gasp as my mother’s frightened face fades completely away. My eyes fly open to see the dark face of Emilio Sanchez leaning over me. His thick, goaty smell is suffocating in the small space of my bedroom. I open my mouth to scream but he grabs me by the throat, choking off the sound before it can even start.

  “Told you I’d make you pay,” he growls, grinning fiercely at me, his slotted yellow eyes burning in the darkness. “I’ve waiting to get to you for fourteen years, girlie, but now your number’s up. I’m gonna kill you nice and slow but first I’m gonna fuck you, just like I promised.”

  “No!” I try to shout but he’s choking off my air and it comes out as a desperate whisper instead. I think of kicking the walls to wake up my neighbors, but the condos on either side of me are empty. In fact, there’s only one other person in the whole building, an eccentric musician named Seth, and I’m pretty sure he’s on tour with his band right now. I’m literally all alone with no hope of escaping from the murderous satyr.

  No, can’t think like that! I’m not helpless—I have power now. Except I need my voice to cast a spell. A fact that Sanchez doubtless knows or he wouldn’t be choking off my air until I see black spots dancing in my vision. I realize I have to hurry—