Page 54 of Blood Sacrifice

“Looks like my date has arrived,” Jethro said.

I silently stood up and went toward the toilets without a backward glance, standing just inside the doorway to give Paulo time to enter the diner. When I re-emerged a few minutes later, he and Jethro were in conversation with two mugs of coffee in front of them. The energy outside had begun to condense, and two men had entered the diner and sat not far from Jethro and Paulo. As I walked past Jethro’s table, I tripped and accidentally stumbled forward, Paulo putting his hand out to save me, our skin coming into contact with each other, the spell that existed on my right hand removing the magic that bound him.

“I’m so sorry,” I muttered, watching as he blinked in confusion.

Jethro took over the situation, chatting to cover the fact that Paulo was unable to talk right now as my enchantment sank into his body, eroding the spell that held him under the influence of another witch.

I took a seat at the counter, the waitress placing a glass of water in front of me as I smiled my thanks. From this position, I could watch what was happening as it unfolded. Itwas possible that whoever had infiltrated Salvator’s organisation had tightened security when he was released from their spell.

Magic was a strange creature derived from the essence of life, and manipulated by those who had an affinity with the elements. I followed the old ways, the symbols of the elements etched on my fingertips to ensure they were readily available to me no matter what the circumstance. Each combination generated a different spell that was created in my body and manifested in the world around me.

My hands were clasped in my lap, allowing me to rub fingers together without drawing attention to myself and the fact that I was casting. All my intent was focused on the “shadow people” that were in the diner. We were severely outnumbered, but our secret weapon was the massive predator currently sipping a cup of coffee under the disguise of a tourist who was enjoying the ambience.

I didn’t sense any other magic users, but there were supernatural creatures among us that were not Salvator, Jethro, and the incredibly confused Paulo. I lifted my glass of water, sticking my finger in and slowly stirring while muttering a purification spell, connecting to the open bottles of water outside.

The water bubbled gently around my finger, air entering the component of the spell. I carefully moved my attention to look at each shadow person in turn, adding them to the spell I created. One of the men who had entered after Paulo got up from his table and moved across the diner to Jethro’s table.

“Jethro, you disappeared off the map,” he said, stopping to stare down at Jethro. “There seems to be something strange happening, and Salvator has issued an order to bring you in for debriefing.”

I highly doubted that, and Salvator seemed to agree with me since his eyebrows shot up. I pretended to set my glasson the counter, spreading my ten fingers wide, and sending an electrical pulse through the room to disable any devices in the diner that could be recording or transmitting. It was a trick I learnt from a witch called Evelina a few decades ago when technology began to evolve and grow.

My eyes met Salvator’s and I nodded once.

“I would have remembered issuing that order,” he said, standing to reveal his true height. “Which brings me to the question of who you work for.”

The energy in the room condensed and pulsed as fear emitted from those gathered who believed they were unknown to us.

Jethro sat back in his seat and leisurely sipped his coffee. “There is no way, after all the time we’ve known each other, that Salvator wouldn’t have my back and me his,” Jethro said. “We’ve saved each other’s lives too many times to remember.” He set his cup down and pushed himself to his feet, creaking his neck from side to side.

A shadow man in a window seat was frantically typing on his phone. I walked over, placing a hand to either side of his head, and let the elements combine in a powerful surge of energy that left him slumped in his seat, phone on the floor, and blood dripping from his nose. I hated violence, but this was war, and no one won by having a baking contest.

The elements bounced across my fingers, waiting to be freed again, as I turned to face what was happening with the wolves.

The lycan who had approached Jethro appeared to lack common sense as he launched himself toward Salvator. There was a reason a hierarchy existed in the wolf world, the strongest being at the top because they were the most vicious and untameable. Salvator grabbed his attacker by the throat, hishand transforming into a furred claw, his other hand clasping the outstretched arm.

Bodies were able to endure large amounts of pressure, but at the same time, bones and ligaments were easily damaged when you had a six-foot-four angry alpha wolf with sharp claws and long canines. Salvator clenched his hand and ripped the guy’s throat out while twisting his arm until it cracked. He dropped him to the floor, glaring around the diner with his eyes glowing amber.

“You!” he snarled, pointing at another shadow person. “Who is giving you orders?”

The man paled under the anger of Salvator’s gaze, holding his hands up in silent surrender. “As far as I know, the command came from you.” He whimpered at the end of the sentence, his hands shaking as they remained up in front of him.

“Maybe it isn’t just the higher level lycans that have been spellbound,” I said, lifting my glass of water from the counter and throwing it high in the air, spreading my hands wide to control its descent.

I summoned the full force of my ancestors’ energy, and manipulated the water into a spray so that every person gathered in here was touched by it, chanting the words that would break through the spell binding them to a magical master. They had noticed the absence of Salvator, but I doubted with this many lycans that they kept track of all of them. I slammed my hands down, activating the enchantment, and watching as lycans collapsed and writhed on the floor.

“What the actual fuck?” Paulo said, finally finding his voice. “What is going on and where the hell am I?” He rubbed the side of his head.

“No time for an update, there is about a dozen of our guys outside who are about to attack us because they are spellbound,” Salvator replied. “I’d rather not lose any more wolves today, butI don’t have the time or the patience to negotiate, and I think we are all in agreement that none of us have a clue who whammied us.”

“I can barely tell you who I am right now,” Paulo said. “I feel like I’ve been drinking pisco sour for a week straight and have just sobered up.”

The waitresses were lying on the floor unconscious, which was the human effect of being hit by an enchantment. I went behind the counter, lifted the pot of coffee, and poured Paulo a mug, filling up Jethro’s at the same time. Salvator watched as I poured him a mug, stirring in an obscene amount of sugar that he tended to prefer when he was plotting murder and mayhem.

“This is civilised,” Jethro remarked, bringing his cup up in a silent salute. “In the olden days, we drank moonshine from bladders before we went into battle.”

“We’re getting old,” Salvator replied, his lips twitching into a half smile. “Next, we’ll be wearing slippers and sitting beside an open fireplace.”

“Our fans are waiting for us,” I said, nodding toward the window.

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