Page 22 of Savage Sacrifice
“What about where the other coin was?” Blaze asks, piquing my interest.
“Yeah, let’s go and check there,” I agree, desperate to do anything to get one step closer to Polaris.
“Witch, witch us,” Lincoln grumbles, and Bryony scoffs at him, but doesn’t utter a word as we stalk down the street to a more private spot.
“Someone visualize the location,” Bryony murmurs, and Minnie nods.
“Got it.”
Everyone places a hand on Minnie. I hold her forearm and close my eyes as Bryony whispers under her breath. A soft breeze flutters around my neck before quickly settling back down, andI open my eyes to find the scenery around us is completely different.
There are no symmetrical houses here. It looks run down. Tall apartment blocks loom over us, blocking the sun from touching our skin, and an eerie feeling creeps over me.
Lincoln takes the lead this time, Minnie at his side, since they’ve been here before when they originally got the coin, and the rest of us follow in tandem. As he nears the closest building, I can’t help but notice the boarded-up windows, shattered glass across the pavement, and burnt-out cars lining the road.
No one says a word as we head inside, taking the stairs two at a time until we reach the third floor. Lincoln stops in front of a door, but before he knocks, he turns to us, scrubbing the back of his head nervously.
“So about this,” he starts, and I raise an eyebrow in question.
“What did you do?” I ask, and he glares at me before sighing.
“We kind of left things messy,” he mutters, but he doesn’t offer any further explanation before he knocks on the door. A few moments pass with no noise from the other side, and he takes that as his cue to slam his shoulder into the wood.
The door busts open at his touch, revealing a small, open living area. The kitchen counters are cluttered with unwashed dishes and takeout boxes, while the sofa is hidden under piles of dirty clothes.
Lincoln ignores all of it, heading toward the door on the left, and I follow after him, an awful smell growing stronger with every step. I note the small wince on his face before he pries the door open to reveal a dead body splayed across the dirty mattress.
“I’d definitely say this is messy,” I mutter, eyeing the dead body, but I don’t recognize them.
“Does anyone know who it is?” Blaze asks, and everyone shakes their head.
The girls pinch their hands over their noses and hurry back to the living area.
“You really could have forewarned us about that before we left,” Bryony grumbles, and I agree, but opt to keep my mouth shut and focus on the task at hand.
There has to be something here.
Anything.
“Let’s look around and try to find something. We can’t leave empty-handed,” I insist, scanning the room. There’s a broken cell phone on the coffee table, lying on top of college campus documents, but otherwise, it looks like everything else in here is trash.
“There was a roommate, I believe,” Minnie states, pointing at the door on the other side of the room, and I nod, hurrying in that direction.
“They must not be here. Not with that smell,” I grumble, my nose curling with distaste, and she nods in agreement.
I knock out of courtesy, but no answer comes, so I turn the handle and the door creaks open.
My eyes immediately latch on to another dead body.
“Lincoln,” I grunt, gaping at the bloody scene before me, and he huffs.
“I didn’t do that!” he snaps, insistently, and the surprise on his face leaves no room to question him.
“Fuck.” I spin, finding the source of the curse, and my eyes land on Asher.
He shoulders his way through the crowd, stepping over the threshold into the room and shaking his head with every step.
“Asher?” I murmur when he stops beside the bed, turning to us with a mixture of anger and disbelief etched into his face.
