Page 96 of Blood Sacrifice

“Fuck!” I said, staring at the body at my feet.

“There is more going on than we know about,” Dominic said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and rapidly typing as he snapped a picture of the body. “Nothing seems to be what we expected.”

“Who broke his neck?” I demanded, crouching down to examine the body.

“A rare creature that can reach out through time and space,” Dominic replied. “I believed soul walkers were eradicated a long time ago.”

I stared up at him in confusion. “So, there is a creature out there that can kill you without being in the same room as you?”

“It’s complicated, but it certainly explains why they were looking for hairs and nails.” The ancient vampire nodded slowly as he spoke.

An overwhelming fear spiked up my spine at the thought of my mate out there without my protection, and a madman who could kill from another location stalking her.

Chapter Thirty-One

Luna

Owen handed me his phone as he drove, the message from Dominic still on the screen.

“Soul walkers were supposed to be eradicated during the witch trials,” I said, passing the phone to Maia. “Even the magical community banded against them. All that power that could be used for good, and they sold their souls to the darkness.”

“Magic tends to find a way to survive,” Maia replied. “I recognise that man. Do we know who he is?”

I remembered the face of every warlock who had stood and executed an innocent soul. “They changed their names over the years, but he was in Balor’s inner circle.” Everyone in the car knew what that meant. He was an evil soul who had benefitted from the suffering of others.

“Thankfully, in our organisation, we all still observe the old ways,” Maia said, returning the phone to Owen.

“No one is getting anything with my DNA in it,” Owen muttered. “There’s always some creepy fucker out there wanting to get their hands on it.”

Technically, he was right. Any body part or liquid could be used by the soul walker.

“Dominic always was obsessed with the power of blood,” Maia teased.

“It is the origin of life.” Owen rolled his eyes as he repeated the words his coven leader had engrained into him.

Misti took centre stage of the main horizon, her presence resonating inside me, reminding me of the reason for our mission.

“There are myths that stretch across civilisations of creatures of great power being buried under mountains and volcanoes,” Owen said. “What do you think is under there?”

There was only the three of us, and they were about to walk this final part of the journey with me. “I believe today we are going to open the void,” I replied. Salvator had paced for an hour when I had shared the full extent of my time in Purgatory.

The car swerved before Owen controlled it, turning in his seat to stare at me as if I had committed blasphemy. “Are you fucking serious?” he demanded. “I thought we were just searching the area!”

“We are, but I think I know where the doorway is,” I replied simply. “I can feel her calling me, demanding I set her free. There is a reason it was contained, but there are also prophesies about why she needs to be released again. Life requires balance, and void magic is the balance of the natural magic we use today.”

“This world has been infested with hellspawn, and the magic users who swore to protect it seek power instead,” Maia said. “There is an imbalance in the divine order. Maybe void magic is the answer.”

“You are both crazy,” Owen muttered, his knuckles white from the grip he had on the steering wheel.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” I asked.

“I’m one of those anomalies that shouldn’t exist,” he replied. “Something like me could happen, only worse.”

He never saw the good in himself, only the differences that set him apart from the two races he descended from. Dominic hid him in plain sight in his coven because there was nowhere else for Owen to belong. Prejudices were changing, but when he was born, his mother faced death for allowing his birth.

“Being half vampire and half warlock is not a bad thing,” I pointed out. “You have all of their strengths, and none of their weaknesses.”

“I’m an abomination,” he muttered.

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