Page 51 of Blood Sacrifice

He was right. We no longer worshipped the old gods, but the same premise existed in that people gave what they had in order to access the divine.

Jethro started typing on his phone. “I’m bringing Paulo in. They think I’m still searching for you, and he’s my partner. It would be strange if I didn’t report in soon. When we’re off grid, Luna can work her mojo and remove his hex or whatever the fuck it is we were whammied with.”

“So we have a plan?” Luna asked, closing her laptop.

“Looks like we’re going on a road trip,” I said with a wink, and her cheeks flushed.

“Why is it that everywhere I go I have to endure witches and wolves having affairs?” Dominic groaned. “First Tasha and Levi, and now you two. Honestly, what happened to the bad old days when we all chopped heads off and had orgies to celebrate?”

Jethro laughed, and for the first time since he arrived, I saw the man who had been my friend most of my life. “Those were good times.”

Dominic raised his glass in a salute, and finished his drink. “Some of my coven are making their way here. I’ll mobilise them toward this volcano everyone is so interested in. What is the significance of that place?”

“We used to sacrifice young souls there,” Luna replied solemnly, her expression dark. “We took the lives of innocent children so that Balor could energise his spells. The land is steeped in blood and horror.”

“Which creates its own unique energy,” Dominic concluded. “Dark souls tend to be drawn to places like that toutilise the remnants of evil.” His creepy-ass grin was enough to make my back molars grind.

“Evil is subjective,” Jethro replied. “What we witnessed back in those days was so normal that no one queried it. That is the true face of evil, when no one questions innocent children being slaughtered to give rich men what they want.”

Silence so loud it screamed in terror stretched between everyone in the room, our minds on the deeds that had been committed while we stood there and watched without lifting a finger to help those youths. Shame was an emotion that burrowed deep inside your soul to remind you how to be a better man.

“We avenged every single soul that we could,” I said in a low voice, my hands forming fists at my side. “We punished the priests who collected them and helped in the rituals. The main person who has escaped our wrath is Balor, and that is because he hides in a hole like the rat he is.”

“I always felt there were others he was working with,” Luna said, her gaze meeting mine. “As if he was part of something else, something more.”

“It would make sense,” Dominic said. “In the witch trials, those in power sat back and revelled in the actions of their minions. Hitler was a figurehead, but it was his Schutzstaffel officers who committed the acts of genocide. Evil does not exist alone, it is supported by those who enjoy persecution and hatred.”

“We’ve been fed shit for too long,” I replied. “We need to get into the heart of their organisation and cut it out both physically and metaphorically.”

Dominic steepled his fingers under his chin, his gaze moving until it landed on Luna. “You have everything you need to achieve that in this room. He has searched for Luna for fourcenturies. If anything would lure him from his hiding hole, then her reappearance would be the temptation.”

“No!” My wolf surged through me, my voice deepening and my claws digging into my hands. “There is no fucking way that that lunatic will even get within sniffing distance of my mate.”

Dominic’s eyebrows shot up, but a slow smile curved his mouth. “No need to wolf out on me. What is it with lycans and their rampant hormones?” He held his hands up in front of him. “You need to stop examining this situation from the point of view of a mate. This is war. To win, you need to take risks, and move your strongest players across the chessboard.” He slammed his fist down on the table, the whiskey bottle shaking.

“He’s right,” Luna said. “We believed Balor needed all the priestesses to gain our collective power. Maybe there is something more since he can consume magical gifts, and would have amassed more than our power in the intervening years.”

“We could snatch one of his people and interrogate them,” I suggested. “Every time I suggested it in the past, something happened to divert our attention.”

“I encountered one of his bases a few years back,” Jethro replied. “But for some reason we never did anything with the information.”

“We would have stormed that place in a heartbeat if we hadn’t been spellbound,” I said. “It sickens me that we were manipulated.”

“I doubt they even changed the location since they had you on a leash,” Dominic remarked, and I knew the fucker was playing with me.

I ignored him, and gave Jethro my full attention. “Bring Pedro in, and we’ll form a strike team with Tarrack keeping watch over us. Make a list of anyone else you think we need.”

“Are we counting the vamp in?” Jethro nodded at Dominic.

“The vamp has no problem helping while I’m here, but as soon as I’m needed back home, then I’ll be on my private jet out of here. We seem to have a hellspawn infestation in my part of the world, and my help is required.”

Jethro shot Dominic a concerned look. “Should I even ask what a hellspawn is?”

Dominic shrugged. “A spawn that has crawled or clawed its way out of Hell. The name is self-explanatory. They have been troublesome in the past, but have decided to be a royal pain in the ass.”

“We’ll get back to this later,” I replied. “Right now, we have a problem on our own doorstep and I have every intention of creating all the trouble that Balor has spent a lot of time and effort preventing me from carrying out.”

“Excellent! I’m going to check in with my people while you plot the demise of your enemies. Let me know when you need me to bite someone or rip their head off.” Dominic strode from the room as if this was his own personal castle, and not one of the properties owned by Luna’s organisation.

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