Page 64 of Blood Sacrifice

Dominic’s lips quirked in a half smile. “I represent the allied forces of vampires and lycans, and magic users sit on our council also. Our main role is to protect this realm against the threat from hellspawn. There is intelligence to suggest there is hellspawn activity here, and after everything I have heard today, that has been confirmed. These witches seem to know what is happening, and must be brought in for questioning. I advise you to consider what side of this war your pack sits, as you technically are under the laws of Lycan High Command.”

This vampire was impressive. Not many would have the balls to stand here and tell me I was governed over by the laws of the wolves who thought they ruled the world. Yet, his words were correct if anyone was listening to this exchange.

“Get the fuck out of my base.” I took a step forward and found a strange weapon aimed at my chest.

“Calm down or I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger of this blaster,” Dominic snapped. “We were ordered to take in the magic users. I have no problem neutering a few dogs while I’m here.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Luna said to Aisha. “But the elders identified unusual activity in this land, and it isn’t attributed to Balor. We are sisters. Can we not be thankful that we both survived?”

Aisha screamed again, her gaze flicking around the corridor before a frown marred her forehead. She was trying to summon the wolves on this base. Her eyes cut to me, and her body stiffened, her jaw tightening.

“You stopped being my sister the day you took the man I loved!” Aisha shouted, her fists bunched at her sides, her attention snapping to Luna. “You knew how I felt about him when we lived in the village. As soon as you arrived at the temple you bewitched him.”

My mouth fell open and Dominic caught my eye. He gave me the universal look that all men knew when they encountered a crazy bitch. This was about me? I didn’t even remember Aisha being in our village until Luna told me her sister was a priestess as well. None of us chose our fated mates, but if I had the option, I would still choose Luna.

The sound of the slap of Luna’s hand connecting with Aisha’s face echoed down the hall, stopping Jethro from tending to a wolf lying in a doorway.

“How dare you!” Luna snapped. “Love spells and bewitching is forbidden by our sacred laws. We do not bend the will of others for our own personal gain.”

“Luna used to hide from me,” I said, unable to stop myself from coming to her defence. “She lectured me on the ethics of relationships between wolves and witches. It took me months to wear down her defences.” She had been consumed with guilt after we spent our first night together.

Aisha’s deranged laugh forced me to have to lock my legs in position to prevent me taking a step back. Her face distortedas she viewed her sister. She had tried to pretend that we were together, but her mask was slipping, and her madness exposed.

“They are forbidden for your kind, but I chose a different path, one that allowed me to become the witch I am today, to access ancient powers.” Aisha raised her hands and a ripple of energy pushed our bodies back, as if a tornado was in the corridor that lifted us up and moved us.

Dominic landed crouched on his feet. He lifted his hand and indicated me forward with his middle three fingers. The twitch of his lips told me he was enjoyed the charade. Two could play at his game.

My muscles and limbs strengthened as I combined with my wolf, the two of us fusing into our hybrid form. I ran forward, side-stepping at the last moment to grab the vampire and slam him to the ground. He bounced back onto his feet, defying all the laws of gravity with the ninja shit he pulled off. We tended not to have a lot of vampires in this part of the world because of all the sun, so I hadn’t encountered many of them, and fought even less. Rumour reported they were fast and vicious fighters. Rumour hadn’t lied.

I had gotten used to being the biggest predator in a fight, and today I felt slow and lazy. A feral smile crossed my lips and I backflipped to bring myself in front of the vampire. Our fight wasn’t real, but that didn’t stop Dominic hitting hard and my reply being harder. Anyone currently watching us would know I would never allow someone to insult my pack by invading my base.

Dominic slammed me into the wall, leaving the imprint of my body in cracks and a massive indentation. I punched him, sending him staggering back several paces, my wolf stalking after him.

Both of us jumped back when an explosion detonated on the ground about two paces from us. Luna ducked, and whateverspell Aisha had thrown at her landed on the ground. There was no playacting in their fight as the two sisters went head-to-head.

Scorch marks marred the walls, there were holes in the floor, and the sweet, heady scent of magic made my back molars ache.

“Thank the great goddess you didn’t mate with the crazy sister,” Dominic said, wiping blood from his nose with the back of his wrist as we paused to watch the magical fight.

Luna flicked her fingertips and a net of light beams fell on top of Aisha, pinning her down. “You need to stop,” Luna pleaded. “I don’t want to have to kill my sister.” There was pain in her voice, a real emotion that was preventing her from inflicting the death blow while Aisha was incapacitated.

“There is a reason that dark magic will always triumph over the light,” Aisha snarled, twisting and turning. “Because we will always do what it takes to win.”

Aisha crawled onto her hands and knees, the floor under her starting to shimmer as the bars of light that held her began to erode. Her gaze swept the corridor to take in all the damage before finally landing on me.

“I can smell her on you. I knew the moment you walked into that room that you had found her.” She slowly stood as the bars of light turned black. “You were supposed to be mine. We spent centuries together as a couple, and now that she is back, you toss me aside. If I can’t have you, then no one can!”

I realised too late what she was planning, the floor opening under her for her to escape as the curse uttered from her lips. I had only heard it said a few times in the past, but the death curse was powerful and deadly, striking down the recipient of its mark. A flash of red filled my vision, a scream in the distance, and my body fell back to the ground.

Today was not a good day to die.

Chapter Twenty-One

Luna

I knew what she planned to do, saw it in my mind a few seconds before it manifested in her actions. There was no counter spell for the death curse, no way to change the direction it was sent. It was one of the prohibited spells that had been banned centuries ago during the witch wars. The elders had stepped in and punished those who had broken our sacred laws, bringing a quasi-peace that they still presided over today.

There was no decision to be made, no bargains to be negotiated, and no time left to call out a warning. I said a prayer to the ancestors who had guided me in my life journey, and put my fate in their hands, uttering a translocation spell and visualising my destination.

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