Page 113 of Savage Sacrifice
“Where is she?”Lincoln asks, and I shake my head.
“I don’t know,” I admit, my fingers hovering over the keyboard ready to ask her.
“What is she saying?” Tatum queries as my cell phone chimes again.
Bryony:Come down.
“She’s in the basement,”I breathe, my eyes latching onto the doorway immediately.
“We’re with you this time, Polaris,” Tatum promises, and I nod, but a sense of dread lingers through my limbs, leaving me frozen to the spot.
“It’s going to be a setup,” I admit, and Lincoln grunts.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
I take the biggest breath of my life, willing my nerves to calm, and my eyelashes flutter closed. The second they do, a memory flashes in my mind.
My bottom lip wobbles as tears gather in my eyes, the storm rattling in my chest, growing with every breath until I can’t contain it anymore. “But I don’t want to die.”
There, I said it.
I let the dam break open and the truth reveals itself. The soft smile on my mother’s face confirms my outburst isn’t a surprise as the sweeping of her thumb continues.
My hands are clenched in my dress. The soft silver color that matches my hair is a crumpled mess, but I can’t let go. Speaking the words hasn’t calmed the pain and worry simmering inside of me; it only burns brighter now that the words have escaped my lips.
“You’re not going to die,” she soothes, tucking a loose curl of hair behind my ear as I sniffle. “I’m right here. I didn’t die, neither did your father.”
“But Georgia said it’s a blood curse that I can’t control until I’m twenty-one, and if I haven’t by the time I turn twenty-two, I’m going to die. We’re all going to die.”
It’s not just Georgia, either. We learned all about it in school this week. The teachers spoke of it too. They weren’t quite as blunt as Georgia was, but still, a darkness seeped into their gaze.
“Darling, open your eyes.” I scrunch them tighter, feeling the tears track down my face, but my father pushes on. “I need you to look at me so I know you truly hear me.”
Lips press against my temple, and my mother’s hand on my cheek is gone. Despite my hesitation, I pry my eyes open and settle my stare on my father. I look at him, just like he wants.
“I won’t lie to you, Darling, what they say is true, but not yet, not now. Today is all about testing your blood so we can find out who was born at the exact same time as you, who your blood kin is. The curse doesn’t take effect until you’re twenty-one. There is time. Lots and lots of time.”
My face crumples as I shake my head. “Why do we have to know now if it doesn’t matter until then?”
“Because it’s important for both families to work together to ensure you both remain safe.”
“Why do we want to keep them safe too if only one of us can survive?”
“Because until you turn twenty-one, if something happens to one of you, it happens to both of you.”
“If something happens?”
My father glances over his shoulder, looking to my mother for help. She offers me her hand, and I take it, basking in the warmth of her touch as she pulls me into her side. “If they were to die before then, you would too, and vice versa, so it’s important for us to protect you both at all costs.”
Horror blossoms in my veins as I gape at my mother.
“B-but you said I wasn’t going to die yet!” I tremble beneath the weight of her words, and she nods.
“And you won’t. Not when we can protect you. This is a good thing, Honey. I promise.”
Two simple words, and I shake the tremors that threaten to make me explode.
“Just a pinprick?” I ask, glancing at my father, who remains crouched beside me, and he nods.
