Page 72 of Blood Sacrifice

“Sound familiar?” Cybele asked.

I side-eyed them. “There are a lot of lycans in this world,” I pointed out.

“But are they mated to a witch who was born under the blood moon?” mother priestess asked. “I was called by my sister near the end of her pregnancy as she was experiencing difficulties. We managed to keep the birth of her youngest daughter a secret for several days until the full moon had started to wane. There had been a meteor storm that night as well. All births under such an event were supposed to be reported to the high warlock back then. Instead, we decided to watch over the child.”

Her eyes met mine and the bottom fell out of my world. “You are my aunt,” I said. From the moment I met her, I had felt a connection. She had watched over me even in the temple.

She nodded once. “I had been harvested for the temple at an early age. The only reason your mother escaped that fate was because she had married your father and become pregnant with her first child before her magic manifested. She was left to become a wise woman in the village.”

“I never knew,” I muttered.

“That was entirely the point,” mother priestess replied, a half-smile touching her lips. “The only way we could ensure your safety was for you to remain anonymous. Your mother and I swore an oath that both of us upheld to the very end.”

I remembered the night she released me from the temple, the bundle she had handed me. “Aisha was right. You protected me and sacrificed the others.”

“No.” One of my sister priestesses moved forward, shaking her head. “I survived over a hundred years before I was caught. Every one of us was given help. We had to open our hearts to accept it.”

“What you need to understand is that everything is pre-ordained to a certain extent,” Cybele said. “Prophecies arecomplicated, and can only happen when destiny aligns in a certain order. You needed to meet and love Salvator to initiate the path, and then there were others along the way who you had to encounter to shape your journey. People like me!” Her smile was as infectious as it had been in life, lighting up her features.

Mother priestess took both my hands in hers, looking into my eyes. “We saw the magic in you the moment you were born. There is a brief moment when a baby is born when they are still connected to their soul mission, and my sister and I had the great honour to see what you had incarnated to achieve. Void magic is dangerous in the wrong hands, but in the right ones it has the potential to heal the rift between realms, and bring balance.”

“How can I do any of those things when I am here and have no body?” I asked, overwhelmed by all this information.

“I’m glad you asked.” Mother priestess smiled and led me across the room to where a grimoire lay open on a desk. “Part of your journey can only be achieved in spirit form, using the magic you have gained over the years, and because of your mating bond, are you able to walk the line between life and death.”

“I’m beginning to feel part of a conspiracy,” I grumbled, wrinkling my nose.

“Not at all, you are part of a legacy.” She tapped the page and my gaze dropped to the words written in black ink that had faded to brown over time.

I sank into a seat, my shoulders stooping forward as my attention fell to the grimoire in front of me. It was written in the old language, so it took me time to translate the words and symbols that had been penned so long ago. My finger moved across the page as I followed the intricate pattern that was used to write stories in the magical community.

There were too many overlaps with my life for me to put this script down to chance or synchronicity. Every word mademy heart beat faster. I had believed I had been the victim of bad luck and chance encounters with evil people. This told a different story, one of a person being challenged and judged to determine their suitability to be allowed one chance to journey to a secret place and face a test to evaluate my soul.

A faint background text changed as questions flowed through my head, answering them. I witnessed how my magic had evolved from what it had been when I was in the temple, every step of my life making me seek the next, changing me in inexplicable ways. Finally, I saw the relevance of the troubles I had survived, because without them I would have stayed in my comfort zone for temple life or a mate.

Instead, I had become a leader, a protector, someone who refused to be beaten down.

“I’ve had quite the journey,” I said, raising my gaze to meet that of the woman who guided me even though she was in the spirit realm.

“Every time you bled, we shared your pain,” she replied. “When you succeeded, we cheered you on. Over time, in this realm, we found ways to send you help in different forms, motivating people to aid you.”

Dominic flashed through my head. He had been an unlikely ally in one of my darkest moments. “Dominic?” I queried.

Cybele coughed, her hand trying to cover a smile. “That vampire has a story that deserves to be placed among the stars,” she said. “He surprises everyone constantly. There are several prophecies that I’ve debated might refer to him, but only time will tell which one does.”

That didn’t surprise me because he was the greatest ruler in the vampire nation that I had met, keeping his coven a place of nobility and integrity even if he would rip your throat out if you displeased him.

“What happens to Salvator now that I am dead?” I asked, running my fingers down the side of the grimoire and sensing the magic pulsing inside it. “Will he survive?”

Cybele clicked her tongue at me in the way she tended to do when she was annoyed. “I’ve already told you that you are not dead, merely straddling two worlds. Salvator has his own journey to fulfil before you two can reunite, and in the interim you must complete what you can only do in spirit form.”

“Which is?” Dread unfurled in my stomach.

“Only a worthy soul can claim the key to the lost realm,” mother priestess said. “Therefore, only a soul can stand before the karmic council.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because they dwell in the land of the winged messengers,” she replied.

---