Page 10 of Savage Sacrifice
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Minnie. We didn’t send anyone anywhere.”
My nostrils flare as Minnie scoffs. “Then how did she end up there? Don’t lie, don’t do that, not when she so effortlessly took her own life to give me mine.”
A sigh comes from Mrs. James. “I’m relieved to know you’re both okay, and I hope Lincoln can survive the blood kin curse too, but I swear to you, I did not place Polaris anywhere,nordid I place Lincoln’s blood kin anywhere,” she states, addressing my own thought from earlier. “Now, let me know when I can start making celebratory plans at the park, it’ll be good for us all to catch up and have some fun.”
Minnie slams her fists down on the desk. “Did you miss the part where I said my friend died for me?”
“Oh, honey, that’s life, that’s?—”
Whatever Mrs. James was about to say is gone when Minnie ends the call. Her head hangs as her shoulders rise and fall rapidly with the pent up emotions building inside of her.
“I need to breathe,” she finally rasps, spinning away from the table and marching toward the door. She doesn’t make it to the exit before she shifts, transforming into her wolf and bounding down the hallway.
“I’ll go after her,” I state, but Lincoln stops me in my tracks.
“I’ll go.”
I nod, not wanting to get between the twins, but the moment they’re both gone, the weight of helplessness increases in the air.
“What now?” Blaze asks, gaze focused on the chalice and coins spread across the desk, and I sigh, mimicking his stance as I try not to crumble under the weight of the world around me.
“Now we hope Polaris is right,” I murmur, and Tatum clears his throat.
“She has to be,” he says, his voice barely more than a whisper, and Wylder claps his hands together.
“Let the worst game of hide and seek begin.”
I roll my eyes at his poor attempt at lightening the mood, but he’s not wrong. “Where do we start?” I ask, looking around the group, and it’s Bryony who speaks first.
“First, we find her body.”
4
POLARIS
Asoft beeping echoes in the distance, a sweet lullaby I’m unfamiliar with, but it soothes me, rocking me between darkness and light. Darkness wins out for the longest time, and the desire to sleep overwhelms me. The sound disappears when the depths of blackness claim me, but every time the light tries to prevail, it’s there again.
I feel like I’m floating, gliding through time on a rain cloud blanketing me in its chill, until a thud interrupts the beeping and I jolt awake, eyes wide with panic. I have to blink a few times to actually be able to see anything; it’s so bright in here.
My heart races as I look down the length of my body, noting the hospital-issued gown and bright white sheets that tuck me in. I’m propped up in bed, fluffy pillows behind my head as I run my fingertips over the material at my sides.
Where am I? And why? And… who?
“Miss Beauchamp, it’s a pleasure to see you finally awake. I’m nurse Belle,” a soft voice calls out, and my eyes land on the nurse by the window. She’s wearing pale pink scrubs with her hair tied back in a long ponytail. Her back is to me as she shuffles around some paperwork before she turns to face me.
There’s a softness to her eyes, a wisp of sadness, but the beam of her smile outweighs it as she grows closer.
I open my mouth, ready to speak, but my throat is so dry it’s impossible. A knowing smirk curls the right corner of her mouth even higher as she offers me a cup of water with a metal straw aimed in my direction.
Gingerly, I take it from her hands, trying to wrap my lips around the straw without spilling the contents all over myself.
“Miss Beauchamp, I’m going to ask you a few questions now that you’re awake, okay? Just remember, there are no right or wrong answers, just what you know.” She cocks a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me, waiting for a response, and I nod around gulping back as much water as possible.
She smiles, but reaches for the cup, slipping the straw from my lips. “Slow sips,” she muses, placing it off to the side before she returns with a clipboard in her hand. “What’s your name?”
I blink at her, my brain foggy.
Squinting, I try to focus, to settle some part of my mind, but all I do is draw a blank.
