Page 5 of Blood Sacrifice

“You are mine,” he said against my shoulder, his canines digging into the flesh to leave an indentation but not breaking the skin as I wanted.

We washed in the cold river, removing the evidence of our union in case we were discovered. Salvator once again lifted me to ensure only his scent was left on our journey.

We eventually came to the outlying village. Salvator slowly set me on my feet, my body intimately touching his as I stood. He strode over to speak to a man, whose gaze snapped to me. He shook his head at first, until he was handed a pouch, which seemed to be filled with items of value. The man nodded his head once, pointing toward a small tent.

Salvator moved back to me. “They will take you away from here and hide you from the search parties that Balor will send out in the coming days.”

I glanced at the nomads. “I wish you could come with me,” I said, desperate to keep him safe from whatever was coming for all of us.

“There are others we need to try and save.” He brushed his thumb down the side of my face. “Stay safe out there, and one day, I promise to find you if I survive this war.”

He handed me the package from mother priestess that I believed had been lost. He turned so suddenly that I almost fell over, watching his powerful stride as he walked away from me.

“Wait!” I moved to follow him, removing the single quartz pendant I wore since I had nothing else except my clothes and whatever was in the package. “Keep this safe and return it to me when this war is over.”

He nodded once, his dark gaze locking with mine in a way that made butterflies explode in my chest. I didn’t want him to go, but to stay and run far from this place with me.

“Until we meet again,” Salvator said, tucking my hair behind my ear. He pressed a kiss to the centre of my forehead, and I felt the echoes of it to my soul.

“May the great goddess keep you safe,” I whispered, leaning into his strength.

This time, I didn’t stop him, watching until he was nothing more than a speck in the distance.

I had never felt so alone in my life, and by the fear and dread rumbling inside me at the prospect of what I had to achieve to escape this place, I would be lucky to survive.

Chapter Three

Luna - Present Day

I stared up at the long dormant Misti volcano, her last eruption had been when Balor murdered Emperor Atahualpa and his family. Archaeologists had excavated this site a few years ago, and I had ensured I had been on the team as a form of atonement for being involved in the sacrifices all those years ago.

Our temple was long gone, but the energy was still engrained in the fabric of the ground.

Four centuries evaporated as I looked at the snowcapped volcano that had remained unchanged. The ghosts of my sister priestesses flashed through my head, their deaths shown to me as I stood here in a pilgrimage I carried out every few years.

I had felt the death of every one of my sister priestesses over the years. There were very few of us left in the world. I had no idea how many, only that I could feel the hum of their presence in my solar plexus.

Four hundred years was a long time to hold a grudge, but Balor had never ceased his quest to hunt us down. There was nothing I hadn’t seen in this world, no place I hadn’t visited, but it had been a lonely journey.

I had used potions and enchantments to sleep through decades to jump through time in properties I had purchased so no one would disturb me. Over time, I had learnt to covertly usemagic to aid me, ensuring it couldn’t be detected because it no longer resembled the magic we used in the temple in Peru.

Balor and his priests searched for energy signatures. I learned that from the visions of him tracking down and slaughtering the priestess who contained the magic he coveted. So I studied with other magic users, and changed the way I cast.

I returned to where my family had lived about fifty years after the night of the massacre. There had been nothing there, and I had never found my sister. It felt as if someone had eradicated my past.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” The tour guide stopped to ask me.

“It hasn’t changed in centuries,” I replied without thinking.

He shot me a strange look. “I guess it hasn’t. Nothing that big in nature ever really changes, creating the landmarks we use in maps. We’re travelling toward Cusco tomorrow. Are you looking forward to the rest of the tour?”

I had discovered it was easier to hide within crowds, being a tourist allowing me to conceal myself in plain sight in case anyone still guarded this place. “I believe Machu Picchu is the highlight of the tour,” I replied with the required response since it was advertised as the highlight of the tour.

“Visiting the site certainly takes you back to a different time,” he said.

He had no idea.

I moved on to avoid further conversation, walking on the ground where our temple used to be. The energy of the ley lines under my feet reminded me of the times we had joined our gifts together to form the unique magic we created as priestesses.

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