Page 98 of Blood Sacrifice

I slowly spun around, sensing the energy around me. I obviously hadn’t made it into the inner zone when I was in the area with the tour a few weeks ago. A familiar energy thrummed in the air, calling to me, whispering for me to come closer. All those years ago, I hadn’t been able to make out the words in my head, but they were stronger and clearer now, almost screaming my name.

“What do you feel?” Owen asked from beside me. He was tall and lean like all the vampires, but he possessed something his paternal line didn’t—eyes that could see into your very soul and almost read what was in your mind.

“I just never knew what it was called before,” I replied in a low voice. “Back then, I believed what I felt was connected to the ceremonies and rituals. It never occurred to me that they chose this place because of what resided under the volcano.”

“Most great sites around the world were chosen because of their cosmic alliance,” Maia said, coming to stand with us. “Stonehenge, Newgrange, the Pyramids, Easter Island. Our ancestors knew what many of us have forgotten.”

I grabbed their hands so they could experience what I was feeling, the throbbing hum that sent a unique music through the air. A silent drumbeat that spoke to my soul.

“I guess we’re in the right place then,” Owen commented. “Please don’t make me say I told you so.”

I squeezed his fingers before releasing both their hands. “Nature finds a way even when they concrete or tarmac over her, she finds the resilience to free herself from their confinement. Void magic is the same; if we don’t release her gently, she could explode with dangerous consequences.”

“Come on.” Owen turned and began to stride toward the car. “The sun is shining, the weather is lovely, it’s a beautiful day to die.”

“Technically you should be hiding since the sun is shining,” I pointed out.

“Only when I’m with those who think I’m just a vampire,” he called over his shoulder.

He was so much more than a vampire, and hid in Dominic’s coven with other hybrids who would have been put to death anywhere else in the magical fraternity. It was why their coven was so strong—they protected each other’s secrets and accepted everyone, no matter what their differences.

The closer we got to Misti, the louder the voices screamed in my head, like a million souls had been trapped and were desperate for release.

“What do you think is in there?” Maia asked, rolling the back window down to study the view.

“Every time I think I know, I sense something different,” I replied. “At one point, I thought it was like a primordial soup of void magic that had created its own realm much like the magical realm. Then I believed it was a place that the souls of the void magicians were held, and now I’m not sure.”

“Another reason we should leave it alone,” Owen muttered, earning a stern look that he refused to acknowledge.

“You’ve spent years combing through ancient texts,” Maia said to Owen. “Why are you so against this?”

He sighed, and his fingers loosened on the steering wheel for a moment before he tightened his grip again. “I’m not against it,” he finally replied. “I just don’t think we have researched it enough to know what is in there. What if we release the equivalent of Godzilla? This organisation was established to protect this planet and the immortals living on it.”

“What if everything we have endured over the past few centuries means we are the only people who can protect people from what is in there?” I asked. “What if we all went through trials to ensure we were ready?”

“Then I’d say Fate is a cruel bitch who has an awful sense of humour,” Owen replied. “Because every single person in this car has lived through too much torture and pain.”

Silence descended as we all lapsed into memories from the past. He was right—life hadn’t been kind to any of us, but each of us was still standing, and stronger for it because we would never let the same thing happen to anyone else.

“This is as far as we can go,” I said, pointing to the signpost for a carpark up ahead, signalling the end of the Chiguata route. “The rest of the way is on foot.”

We were at 3300 metres, and climbed out of the car to pull on our backpacks with potions in stoppered bottles, and other weapons, although the greatest weapon any of us possessed was our bodies. We had honed our craft, and turned our bodies in a walking arsenal with spells written on our skin, and symbols infused into our auras.

Tourists booked two-day tours to visit this volcano, starting from Arequipa. Some groups had gathered with theirtour guides beside buses while we prepared ourselves, blending in behind large sunglasses and tourist clothing.

The rest of the ascent would be taken on foot up the slope of the volcano. There was a camp further up at 4800 metres about 1000 meters from the top, but I knew where there was a cave network that could be entered using an incantation. It was risky, but would take us into the heart of the volcano.

We wandered off, pretending to take photographs with the other tourists, all the time watching for any warlock activity. I noticed some of the women shooting Owen covert glances as he strode around, ignoring everyone around him. In all the years I had known him, he had avoided relationships as if they were the cause of the greatest evil in the world.

We all bore scars that we didn’t reveal to the rest of the world.

About half an hour into our trek, we detoured off the allocated route, and I followed an older pathway that nature had reclaimed. My feet remembered the way, walking the trail of my ancestors.

A drumbeat sounded in my head, a chanting in my blood that beckoned me on until we reached the place that mother priestess had shown me so long ago. Now that I had finally returned, I realised she had already seen my future and was preparing me for this day. My fingers found the indentations in the stone, moving instinctively in the pattern which would allow me to open this entrance. The symbols on my fingertips vibrated as they activated the spell keeping this doorway hidden from the rest of the world.

The stone disappeared for a few seconds to allow us to step inside, then we were contained in the very heart of the volcano.

Chapter Thirty-Two

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