Page 69 of Blood Sacrifice

Jethro stood beside me for several moments. “It’s good to be us again,” he finally said.

I nodded, my hand clasping at my side. “Give me a moment, and I’ll follow you to command.”

I watched Jethro leave the room in the mirror-effect of the window before I turned and made my way to Luna lying silently in the bed. I tucked her hair behind her ear, my thumb sweeping across her bottom lip when I cupped her face in my hand.

“Don’t you dare go anywhere without me,” I said, leaning forward to press a kiss to her lips. “My entire life, it was only ever you, it will only ever be you. I love you, Luna, now and forever.” I kissed her again, staring down at her and engraving every aspect of her features into my memory before I walked away without a backward glance.

With every step I took through my base, I buried my love for Luna since I needed to be a coldblooded killer to do what needed to be done. By the time I reached the command centre, all my emotions were locked down, and all that remained was my need to search and destroy.

Jethro was already briefing the top team, Tarrack typing on his keyboard, his fingers moving rapidly.

“You want the teams brought into a different location to be neutralised?” Tarrack asked, glancing up while still typing.

“Neutralised?” I queried, raising on eyebrow.

“Jethro said you want to ensure no one in the pack is still under magical influence. Maia has one of her people brewing another potion.” He stopped typing and gave me his full attention. “I will never admit to saying this, but that vampire was right. Every one of them needs to die for what they did. We backed down on our first law that we protected only the pack. We let them in because they said they had nowhere else to go and we didn’t want any more innocent blood on our hands. They bit the hand of friendship we offered to them.”

“I’d glad you recognise my greatness,” Dominic said from the shadows, and Tarrack groaned.

“I swear he hangs from the ceiling where none of us can see him and appears from the shadows,” Tarrack said, shooting Dominic a narrow-eyed glare.

“If we are going to war, then you need better weapons, and the element of surprise,” Dominic replied, ignoring Tarrack’s comment.

“There’s nothing wrong with my guns,” Paulo said, pulling his pistol out and pointing it directly at Dominic. “Nothing stays alive after several rounds to the head.”

“Vampires can survive bullet wounds, and hellspawn are barely fazed by them.” Dominic moved so quickly he had the gun out of Paulo’s hand and the magazine on the table before we even registered his movement. “One day, I must introduce you to a very talented lycan by the name of Radar. He created this majestic weapon.”

It was the strange object he pointed at me several days ago in the corridor.

“What can it do that my guns can’t?” Paulo asked, his expression dark as a thunderstorm about to hit land.

Dominic flicked the lever at the side and shot Paulo in the leg, who screamed and grabbed his wound. When he lifted hishand away there was no blood, even his jeans were unharmed. Paulo tried to stand, but he collapsed to the floor.

“What the fuck have you done to my leg?” Paulo demanded, dragging himself up by using the desk as a lever.

“I blasted it,” Dominic said with that terrifying grin he tended to use that made you fear for your life. “There are different settings that allow me to stun someone, incapacitate them, or kill them.”

“You should be thankful Dominic has the blaster on its lowest setting,” a vampire called Owen said. He had arrived in the attack on my base and seemed to be one of Dominic’s commanders. There was something about the guy, a predator contained in flesh and bone, and when he looked at me I knew he was calculating an attack in his head.

“I would rather he didn’t shoot anyone as we need Paulo out there. He’s one of my best trackers,” I replied dryly, rolling my eyes. “Maia and her team will test everyone being sent on a mission and also everyone coming back on base. Is that too big a task?” I asked her.

“It’s fine,” she replied. “I’ll set up screeners and someone to make the potion. I would prefer to be available for Luna.”

I nodded once, unable to mention her name or the composure I was hiding behind would break. “Tarrack, put our best trackers into the wind. I want Balor and his priests found. The witches who sat on our council are now to be treated as enemies. Don’t let them touch you, and if they won’t come in peacefully, kill them.”

I heard Maia’s intake of breath, but right now we didn’t have time to argue the intricacies of war. “Salvator—”

Dominic interrupted her instead. “None of us want to kill anyone, but Luna is somewhere between life and death because she hesitated and her sister didn’t. We can’t lose anyone else we love.”

My ears pricked up. Luna made Dominic sound like a superhero in her stories. He swooped in when she needed him most and saved the day. He flew halfway across the world because she asked for his help, and brought his warriors to protect her. Their bond was more than friendship, and that troubled me. Luna was my mate, but that visceral attraction to each other didn’t necessarily mean she loved me, it meant that our gifts were stronger together and we were compatible to have children. Wolves had refused their mating bond in the past to stay with a wolf they were raising a family with. I remembered the scandal of it in our village when I was young.

“I don’t want to hear any more,” Maia said. “I’ll return to the medical unit and arrange our people from there.”

“I’ll walk back with you,” Owen said. “I have a few questions you can help me with.”

I watched the two leave the room, an uneasy feeling settling on me for several moments. Sucking in a deep breath, I slowly spun to face everyone in the room. “We were betrayed,” I said in a low tone, giving them my full attention and making eye contact as I surveyed everyone standing here. “This organisation was formed for simple goals: to seek retribution for our fallen pack members and ensure tyranny was never allowed to prosper again. We failed.”

Silence so loud it screamed our frustration echoed around the room.

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